Hamor Photography

Since you're looking to sell the image commercially, paying the models up front for the shoot is also a great way to prevent them from

retrospectively asking for cash.

Most Time for Prints model releases (free modeling) are aimed for portfolio expansion and not the end image being used for commercial use.

In a nutshell, all Web sites that allow you to upload your photos need rights to republish your work

publicly.

"Second, you grant photo.net the right to edit, modify, quote, or reformat your User Content on the Site.

You also grant us a perpetual non-exclusive worldwide royalty-free license to use, reproduce, adapt,

publicly perform and publicly display your User Content on the Site and to promote the Site."

OMG, Facebook is trying to steal...oh, wait, that's the Photo.net terms of service. ;)

Additionally, if you're a decent social engineer and find a sympathetic employee or manager, you can

get Best Buy to price match Adorama or Amazon even though they usually only price match "local"

shops.

The night before a shoot a couple months ago I stopped at a Best Buy down the street from my hotel

to pick up a pair of SanDisk Extreme 16 GB UDMA CF cards. SanDisk's MSRP was ~$250, Best Buy

had them for $399 (yes, $399), and Amazon had them listed for $79.

I asked a floor employee if they price matched and showed him the Amazon price on my iPhone. He

said there was no way they could match that price so I showed him the SanDisk Web site and boldly

asked (in front of all the other customers waiting behind me) why their price was $150 over MSRP. He

quickly changed his tone, said that it must have been a pricing error, and of course they'll match the

Amazon price.

As Matt points out above shopping at Best Buy is a "need it now" convenience charge and they make

their money on accessories. It's the same reason a $4 6' HDMI cable sells for $50 at Best Buy (or they

recommend the Monster Super High Speed Thingamawhatzut HD Mega Speed Warp HDMI Cable for

$200).

Wow. The first thing that comes to mind would be to do a whimsical outdoor shot instead of using a

backdrop. This would obviously require a teardown and transport of the table but something in a park.

If you need seamless, this is the type I used to use in a studio setting. I can't vouch for this brand but

it'll get you pointed in the right direction if you have a local shop:

Savage Seamless Background Paper, 107" wide x 12 yards, Super White, #1

* http://www.adorama.com/SA107121.html

Savage Seamless Background Paper, 140" wide x 35 yards, Super White, #1- Must Be Sent by Truck

* http://www.adorama.com/SA140351.html

Obviously wider is better but more expensive; you'd probably have to use multiple pieces of 107" and

shop out the seams. It would also be more difficult to hang from a frame.

Using the 140" would be optimal since you can just use two heavy-duty lightstands with wooden

dowels. Cut a closet dowel in half, drill holes in it to slip over the top of your lightstands, and use that

to support the seamless (use springclamps to hold the seamless in place to keep it from falling).

* http://www.lowes.com/pd_19414-261-436515_4294934297__?productId=3040777

Start by reading:

* http://www.danheller.com/model-release-primer.html

* http://www.danheller.com/model-release.html

IANAL but basics are that you need a model release to sell or distribute the likeness of a person, identifyable pet, or copyrighted architecture

for commercial gain. iStockPhoto is all about selling for commercial gain. iStockPhoto needs model releases. Show me photos for sale on

iStockPhoto that contain crowd shots with hundreds of faces or identifying marks visible. You just won't find any.

As far as not making sense war and documentary photography is totally different. Journalism is covered by a different set of laws and does

not require model releases. Just read up on model releases and it will make sense.

Edit: On a side note, there are exceptions, where an official photographer for a venue is covered by a blanket contract where the purchased tickets state that by entering the venue their likeness can be used. This is still a form of model releases; just not explicitly signed by every single attendee.

To quote Lex, "But if the only thing standing between me and death from dehydration was a gallon of

water with a modest amount of Photo-Flo in my darkroom, I'd drink it. I'd damn sure drink it before

drinking urine if it came to that.".

http://www.photo.net/black-and-white-photo-film-processing-forum/00FpTT

With that said I wouldn't put it in my dishwasher but feel free to experiment and report back. ;)

Colleen,

From the viewpoint of compatibility Canon has two lens lineups. Canon EF are standard lenses that will work on any

modern Canon SLR or DSLR and Canon EF-S are special lenses designed just for newer Canon DSLR crop bodies.

So any Canon EF lens will work fine on your SLR Rebel Xs (bigger lenses with IS will drain batteries faster but will still

work fine).

Since you dug up this old thread you're obviously searching and doing your research. :) To choose the right lens for you

just look for any threads discussing Canon EF lenses on 35mm SLRs or Full Frame DSLRs (I know you're not digital but,

from a lens standpoint, Full Frame DSLRs are not cropped thus giving the same image as a 35mm SLR).

I thought Lightroom allowed changing down to the second but, if you can't get that kind of granularity in

Lightroom, try Photo Mechanic by Camera Bits so you can at least fix this immediately:

http://www.camerabits.com/pages/demoreg.cgi (20-day free demo)

Although I primarily use Lightroom I still have a place in my toolbox for Photo Mechanic for browsing

undumped cards and raw directories (make sure you're working on a copy when you change the date just

in case).

@Leigh Also, the most important thing I forgot in my first post, depending on the heat/humidity you'll

probably have to add some hot water to the dry ice. Submerging the dry ice in hot water will produce an

immediate and long-lasting cloud but is hard to control. If it's hot and humid then adding a sprinkle of hot

water will get things started. The best way to achieve the effect you're looking for is to just play with it for

a while before shooting. :)

@Luc Here's #4:

@Leigh The way you describe the scene you'll definitely want to practice resetting the shot a couple

times as I describe in 9 above. The longer the dry ice is out flowing over the table the softer the fog will

get much like cigarette smoke dissipating in the wind. Resetting the scene will definitely help keep that

silky look.

1) Only use what you need. A little goes a long way.

2) Keep your extra dry ice sealed in a cooler (sounds obvious but I've been on shoots where it was left out and

disappeared rather quickly).

3) If the dry ice is to be visible in the bowl then supplement with normal ice on the bottom just setting the dry ice on

top (no need to use more dry ice than needed so you don't run out mid-shoot).

4) If you really want to make people in the room cry, lick a metal spoon and then push the curved side of the spoon

as hard as you can into the dry ice. Believe me, there's no describing it, you just have to experience it.

5) Gloves. Don't touch.

6) The CO2 is heavier than air so it will pool in the dish or spill onto the floor. Use this to your advantage (creates a

waterfall effect).

7) Don't use fans to blow it around or you lose the smooth silky effect; just wave your hand lightly to move it around.

8) It's CO2. Don't breathe it (exposure is fine, just don't stick your face in the bowl and inhale it for 10 minutes).

9) To clear the scene between takes just take something heavy (binder, book, etc.) and cover the bowl of dry ice

then use a fan to blow all the vapor away. Then slowly pull the cover off the bowl creating as little turbulence as

possible. Doing this resets the waterfall falling out of the bowl onto the table.

All I can think of off the top of my head.

Nothing a dumped bucket of paint can't fix! I don't even want to think about how many times I repainted

the cyc in my dad's warehouse studio instead of cleaning it. :D

@Jay, there is just such a listing:

* http://www.photo.net/bboard/unified/q-and-a-new-answers

You get to it by selecting Unified View from the above Forums tab and then clicking New Responses on

the blue bar that appears in the upper-right. :D Then Notify me of Responses on each thread will email

you replies.

Edit: I also just noticed that there is a New Responses option on every forum listing but I usually browse in Unified View.

For the same reason that movies and TV shows have press photographers and paparazzi holding 300mm

lenses with both hands on the body while standing inches from the person they're photographing. Or, in

the case of the new V television remake, photographers holding cameras with their *left* hand on the

camera body and their *right* hand on the flash with *no* hand anywhere near the shutter release.

Either a) it looks/sounds impressive or b) ignorance.

I do believe you'll find the following relevant to your interests:

* http://speedliting.com/how-to/dimming-the-sun-with-high-speed-sync-2/

@Zymantas, the US has State Sales Tax instead of VAT; each State can tax purchases however they like (or not at

all). So if you physically walk into a store in CA then you'll have to pay CA State Sales Tax.

But if you order an item online and have it shipped over State lines then you may not have to pay State Sales Tax

depending on how that shop is set up.

So to stay on the safe side plan on budgeting for 8.5% to 10.75% tax (see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales_taxes_in_the_United_States for source).

If you plan on ordering online you'll toss red flags if you give a foreign credit card and hotel address but give

http://Adorama.com or http://BHPhotoVideo.com a call and I'm sure they'll be more than accommodating since I'm sure you wouldn't

be the first foreign photographer to have something shipped "on location". Be sure to have them ship the item to "Hold

for guest: Yourname" care of the hotel you're staying at; I do this all the time.

Regarding the rumor, it's just a rumor, but CanonRumors.com is usually on-target with their predictions. Their rumors

were on right on target with the release of the 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II. If you need a 24-70mm now and your budget will

only allow you to purchase it at US prices then by all means grab it now.

Yes, click on the Settings icon under the thumbnail for the gallery you'd like to change the sort order on.

Scroll down to Look & Feel and select your Auto sort and Sort direction preferences.

Zymantas, just a heads-up, the 24-70mm f/2.8L is rumored to have a replacement announced soon. Many

retailers are confirming backorders and difficulty sourcing the current generation. See

http://www.canonrumors.com/ for more info (there are multiple 24-70mm postings on the front page).

Wherever you plan to pick this lens up be sure to call ahead and make sure they'll have one in stock.

I don't know where Canon draws the line on which cameras can control Speedlites from the LCD but

you're looking for the External Speedlite Control menu item:

* http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=GetArticleAct&articleID=3010

Kou, some do (sort of; see William's point above about which Rule of Thirds). From Wikipedia:

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_EOS

"Canon's latest professional SLRs, the EOS-1D Mk III [sic, looks like this wasn't updated when the IV

was released] and EOS-1Ds Mk III have 19 cross-type sensors for higher accuracy, as well as placing

the cross-type sensors to complement the Rule of Thirds."

This is also illustrated on Canon's product pages under the features tab showing the location of the

sensors roughly lining up with the Rule of Thirds.

Totally off-topic but JDM tickled an old memory of mine from ~15 years ago. The only time I've ever

apologized for what I was wearing was the first day of a new job where I showed up in dirty jeans and a

charred white t-shirt.

"Sorry, I apologize for my appearance, but my house burned down last night and this is all I could

salvage..."

Ha!

Alan, sorry, my first reply should have been "the only time I've ever bothered copying/photographing the

model's ID with the address visible is for 18 U.S.C. § 2257 Compliance". Their address is on the model

release but, as an information security freak myself, I personally don't like the idea of having full in-tact

copies of another person's identification.

Luc, sorry, I was being tactfully vague; I guess I'll be more blunt. If you're shooting porn, which is what

it *sounds* like the original question is referring to (I apologize to Alan if it's not), the documentation

requirements are a lot more strict.

With normal shoots the client only needs proof of age and a signed model release implies that the

model's age was verified when the release was signed. If the model turns out to be underage, oops,

that sucks, time to find a different model.

With porn shoots the client becomes a secondary producer and must maintain a proof of record proving

the models age (photo id) thus also proving the model's identity. If the model turns out to be underage,

oops, that sucks, you're going to jail.

So I inferred porn since the original question was referring to public record and the client needing proof

of identity (not just implied proof of age with a signed model release). I haven't had to deal with this for over a decade so my

knowledge on the subject is a bit rusty but I did have to maintain proof of record and proof of identity

for models I shot in "exotic" situations.

Alan, the only time I've ever bothered copying/photographing the model's ID is for 18 U.S.C. § 2257

Compliance (proof of age for sexual situations and maintaining a public record that can be inspected)

when the shoot requires it.

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_Protection_and_Obscenity_Enforcement_Act

Very rarely has the shoot required it.

+1 for Matt. Pick up any 1500VA APC or Tripp-Lite UPS that has a USB port to inform your computer

when there's a power outage. Don't bother with installing the CD that comes with the UPS; your iMac

has built-in UPS support and a UPS tab will appear in your Power system preferences once you plug it

in. You'll see options like "Shut down when there is XX minutes of power remaining" or "Shut down

when there is XX% battery remaining".

And another +1 regarding maintenance. A UPS is a wear item and requires testing to make sure the

battery is in good shape. YMMV. I have two ten year old 1500VA UPS units that have never had a

battery replacement and two newer 1500VA UPS units that required a battery replacement after 2

years.

Here's the latest generation of the Tripp-Lite UPS that I use:

* http://www.tripplite.com/en/products/model.cfm?txtSeriesID=743&txtModelID=3151

And the latest generation of the APC UPS that I use:

* http://tinyurl.com/yk74sfp