jeff_fiore

Nikon or Canon? Only amatuers argue which is better. Pros pick the system that fits their needs and get down to taking photos. You are not buying a camera, you are buying a system - choose what fit your needs.

The poles go on the ring, there should be 4 holes. The other end of the poles go in each corner of the front white diffuser, look at the corners, you will see they are reinforced for the rods. Once the poles are all set, you put on the black cover.

 

Hope this helps, I wasn't impressed with the softboxes but they do work fine.

 

Jeff

I use the Epson paper on a Canon i950 with the Lyson Quad Black inks and get excellent results

Anything is negotiable with a reputable photographer, If the photographer is unwilling to negotiate, find someone who will. My model releases for a TFP shoot gives the model the right to choose the images that I can use and how to use them. At the same time, any images the model uses can only be for self-promotional purposes only unless she has my approval. I do this for a reason, the complete comfort of the model. When a model shoots with me, she is confident that any images will not be used without her approval. What this does is allow the model to try things she may be reluctant to do under a standard model release. Some newer models are unsure about nudes but want to experiment with it. They are afraid to do it because their images may be "plastered all over the internet". Some models give me the right to use the nudes in my book but not anywhere online such as OMP. Some models want to try something really wild and crazy but are afraid of the outcome, this puts them at ease and gives me opportunities for more experimental work.

Being a member of OMP and also living in NYS, I did see the protfolio you mentioned. Yes, I was quite shocked that any parent would let their minor child be shot in such a manner. I am also surprised that the photographer shot these. My rules with minors are only age appropriate attire and I am the final judge and referee. If the parents don't like that, they can find someone else to do the shoot. Some parents, such as the case here, seem only interested in their child's "success" more so than what is appropriate. The point is that whether the law says it is ok or not is totally irrellevant because it is not ok with me.

 

 

What outfits should you shoot? What you have listed is fine. Also consider that a portfolio needs a full body shot also. This can be achieved with a swimsuit shot (one piece or two - NO string or skimpy bikinis) or excersize/dance wear.

 

This is an example of a good underage portfolio.

http://member.onemodelplace.com/member.cfm?ID=125461

The reason you light the background more than the subject is to prevent shadows on the background. Chromakey needs evenly lit backgrounds in order to lift the subject cleanly. Check out Digital Anarchy's Primatte, a plugin for photoshop that does a great job - especially with colorspill. keep in mind that the whole background does not have to be evenly lit, just around the subject - you can cut out the rest in photoshop. Some photographers use kicker lights on each side of the subject to reduce color spill.

Your problem is probably that the flash duration is longer than the shutter speed. The Excalibur 320 flash duration is 1/300 sec at full power (according to the specs on B&H Photo). This is longer than the high flash sync speed of 1/500 sec on the D70. Apparently, your shutter is only capturing part of the flash and will still be evenly lit. Try a shutter speed of 1/250 or lower, this will keep the shutter open long enough to get "all the light" from the Excalibur.

Maria,

 

You have to set the expectations in a written contract and have him sign it before the shoot. It should spell out exactly what he will get; # of photos, # of images for web use, types of poses, how many outfit changes, makeup artist availability, etc - what you will do as far as editing; light editing (mainly blemish removal) included. Anything else will be extra.

 

Most models expect a CD of the entire shoot so this is common but you can also include that in the contract as to the expectation of a CD.

 

In a nutshell, even with a signed contract, some clients are big pains in the collective asses but at least you can quote the contract and tell them "that's extra".

On the layers palette, the layer with the mask, the image is probably selected, try clicking on the mask icon next to the image icon.

Beau's advice is good but you also have to go into the print setup and select "Borderless Printing" under "Page Setup".

John,it has to do with the actual size of the photosite or photodiode. Comparing the Canon 10D 6.3 mpxl sensor with the Canon Powershot Pro1 at 8 mpxl - the 10D has less pixels (or actually photosites but they are much larger - say about 7-8 microns in size as opposed to the Powershot Pro1 whose photsites are about 2 microns. The larger the photosite, the better it is at collecting light, less signal amplification is required hence less noise. smaller photodiodes cannot collect as much light info as the larger photosite so the signal must be amplified to a much higher degree so you get more noise.

 

See this article by Bob Atkins for a more comprehensive explanation.

 

http://www.photo.net/equipment/digital/sensorsize/

Printing B&W on color printers always leave a colorcast. They don't handle shades of gray well because there is no "gray" ink to use so the print driver will mix in some color.

 

Try this, on your print driver, check "Grayscale printing" - when you print from Pshop, use "print with preview", in the print space section, change the print profile to "Gray gamma 1.8". I have gotten good results with these settings but I still prefer printing with Quad black cartridges from Lyson. Unfortunately, they don't make cartridges for your printer.

Looking at the photos you listed, it appears that they are not heavily manipulated in photoshop. It looks like the only thing really done in photoshop is tweaking the curves or levels to give better and more dramatic shadowing. Perhaps some skin softening. Most of what is done appears to be good camera technique. Due to the small size and poor quality, it is really hard to tell more.

You could try the Kodak color chart. It comes in two sizes and two charts - a color chart and a grayscale chart.

 

http://www.adorama.com/KKQ13.html - Under &20<div></div>

I use 60" Photek umbrellas with the diffusers and have been very happy with the results. I also like the round catchlights in the eyes rather than square or rectangular catchlights. The 60" Photeks give me a soft, even light suitable for most of my work.

The main difference is the exposure. When shooting with hot lights, if you shoot at 1/125 sec, you will use the entire 1/125 sec for the exposure. When shooting flash at 1/125 sec, you will only use 1/1000 sec or whatever your flash duration is. This makes a difference in the image. I found that the only way to use studio flash with similar results is with very large softboxes.

Bummer. I ran the image through Extensis pxl smartscale boosting to 600 dpi but it only works on the pixels there so it did a great job of resizing a low rez image. Reshoot it.

 

I have made the same mistake the first time I used a digital camera and learned the hard way to ALWAYS shoot at the highest resolution and buy a larger memory card.

Had the same problem with rich blacks until I put in a set of Lyson Quad Black inkjet catridges in my Canon i950. Blacks are deep and rich on matte paper. On glossy, it looses a little of the depth I get with matte but the finer detail is slightly better. If you like labs, a lot of B&W photographers use www.Autumncolor.com I haven't tried them yet so I cannot comment on their quality but they seem to specialize in art printing. It may be worth giving them a try.

Virtually any Sony or Olympus is renouned for their infrared capabilities

What Beau says is essentially correct. However, the ISO setting on digital cameras does not adjust the sensitivity of the sensor. The sensor is fixed as to how much light it can handle. What the ISO setting actually does is increase the amplification of the digital info from the sensor during the in-camera processing. Once amplification occurs, digital noise increases as a result.

White background, Lighten the subject a bit. I like it.

I've found several models for tfp work through www.craigslist.com. there is one for the LA area. Just go to the artist section and do a search for tfp

Wow! This looks like one of my shots when the fill flash fails to fire. And I was worried about blowout highlights. Not only didn'y the photographer give the poor girl time to button her blouse, she didn't even get a chance to brush her hair!

As Gena Davis said in "The Fly", "Be afraid, be very afraid". Rule of thumb, if it going to cost you money to get into an agency, don't join. Agencies will pick you if they want you.

I agree with Douglas. I've gotten great results with the Lyson quad black ink on a Canon i950 - once I tweaked everthing. I have gotten good results on Canon glossy paper but Matte paper is fantastic (and I'm using Epson Matte heavyweight paper - I expect even better results on better paper). Like Douglas, I think once I try the Lyson glossy paper, I meay see better results