carl photography

I have been delighted by KEH, for their customer service and good used equipment. "Excellent" in KEH-speak really means EXCELLENT.

B&H is equally honest (but not so user-friendly), but the used-equipment prices and selection seem better at KEH.

I go to B&H for new stuff, and KEH for the oldies. For a significant purchase, like a camera body or lens, you can call KEH for exact descriptions of specific used items listed at their website (and their flaws, if any: their "Bargain" items can be a good value).

"Brandon's Dad"

I agree that the Zeiss Softar 2 has an unnatural effect (these dogs were composited with a Softar-2 photographed background, f5.6, Nikon). I wish that I'd bought a Softar 1 instead.

The effect does vary somewhat with aperture (please email me if you'd like to see photos of this background at various apertures).

"Brandon's Dad"

I have a Pentacon Six TL and three of the old Carl Zeiss Jena lenses. Wanna buy 'em? I never use this outfit since buying a Mamiya 645E outfit.

It works OK, after flocking the camera body interior to block the flare caused by shiny paint. But the frames occasionally overlap a bit, and I don't dare use 220 film since I read that it can cause the overlap problem to permanently worsen. The film winding mechanism is said to be very fragile. I've read that film flatness is an issue (but I shoot at f11 and never noticed any problem).

I really like handling the Pentacon, but the Mamiya is 100% reliable and I prefer 220 film. I bought an adapter for a few dollars that allows me to use the old CZJ lenses on my Mamiya (in stopped-down mode only).

"Brandon's Dad"

I'm a pet photographer who also thinks that Dale and Kerrin wrote the best book (I think they had lived in Dallas, by the way) on pet photography. Page 163 has some excellent advice on positioning lights (this page appeared at their website as an example of their book, at one time anyway).

Dale personally advised me to overexpose dark dogs by more than one stop, while underexposing the background, to bring out the fur texture and emphasize the subject. (He uses saturated slide films.) Their website is: http://www.dogphoto.com/html/info.html

Can you set your camera to trigger the flash immediately, and prefocus to reduce the lag time? On-camera direct flash isn't the best lighting, but you could use it for a fill light if outdoors.

You probably don't want to spend much money on this assignment, so I'd suggest working outside (an employee could hold a leash) and shooting "head-and-withers" (i.e. "head-and-shoulders," for you peopleshooters!) close-ups to throw the background out of focus and show some personality (don't let 'em look scary, though!).

Here's a Rottie photographed up close and personal, using two strobes (1-stop difference) mounted in umbrellas six feet away, in front of a $15 piece of tan flannel that was purchased at Joann's:

"Brandon's Dad"

For pictures of a special trip like yours: it would be worth selecting your favorites, and then having those negatives custom-printed (or scanned and edited) to make final prints that really show what you saw.

"Brandon's Dad"

I use PS Elements 2 to edit medium-format photo files up to 350MB, with no problems (I have 1GB of RAM). You might want to add RAM, if you have less than 512MB and plan to do complex edits (creating multiple layers will increase the file size).

Elements is a professional-quality program that provides many options. If you need to limit file sizes, you can either "merge" or "flatten" layers during the editing process, or save the files without layers -- if you won't need to go back and change your work later. Or you can downsize a file, if you won't be making large prints from it.

Brandon's Dad"

I've used Nikons for 35 years, and bought a 645E with three lenses eighteen months ago. I did use the 645E for some handheld kids-playing photos (using the 645E's optional winder grip, pushing outwards to tension the neckstrap, held like a rifle-sling for stability) with ISO-800 Fuji negative film. But I've gone back to using an autofocus/autoflash Nikon for those pictures (due to the speed of handling, and the greater depth of field). I print up to 8x10.

We now use the 645E on a tripod -- mostly in our new "family hobby business," which is photographing families with their pets. It is definitely better than the Nikons, when there is enough light (multiple strobes, in our case) for sufficient depth of field.

"Brandon's Dad"

Alex, any non-dedicated "automatic" hotshoe flash unit would work for you. They all have thyristor circuits (if built since 1970 or so), meaning that they don't waste the unused battery power whenever full-strength flash isn't needed. They don't meter thru the camera's lens, but a normal-angle flash meter is built into the flash body.

However, if you shoot on "manual," you need a unit such as the Vivitar 285 that can be adjusted to reduce its power. Avoid the very-old Vivitar 283 and 285 units, which shouldn't be used on a sensitive electronic modern camera (I have three of 'em more than 20 years old, but never attach them to my newer camera bodies).

You can buy reliable used flashes at outlets such as keh.com, bhphoto.com, and so forth. Ask for a unit with a head that tilts up, and also swivels sideways, if you want the most versatility. With a fine medium-format camera such as the GS-1, I wouldn't "skimp" on the cost of a good used flash (Sunpak 120J?).

-1 to -2 stops of flash compensation would put a "catch light" on your subject's eyes, without overpowering the "main" ambient light.

"Brandon's Dad"

You can "unlock" the curves, color channel separation, and some other "pro" functions in Photoshop Elements 2!

Buy Elements for $60 at Wal-Mart (or get it "free" if packaged with a scanner, as I did), and then buy this book: "The Hidden Power of Photoshop Elements 2" by Richard Lynch. This book is available at Amazon.com for $8 -- go to: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/offer-listing/0782141781/ref=dp_pb_a//002-5325421-1397639?condition=all

The book comes with a CD that you install to unlock the curves, etc. The only "catch" is that your adjustments can't be changed after you save them. So, if you want to revise your curve settings for a picture, you need to delete its Adjustment Layer and start a new one (easily done!). Works for me.

Or if you want a simple-to-use but competent program, try Microsoft's latest version of its digital picture editing software.

"Brandon's Dad"

Hi Jason,

Medium format would be my recommendation. It's cheaper and faster to use than large format; the medium-format equipment is cheap (used - not new - from KEH, etc.) nowadays; and you don't need "swings and tilts" which are mostly for architectural and product photography (and those rare instances when a commercial photographer needs a monstrous and unnatural depth-of-field in a landscape shot).

I'm an amateur who uses 645 and 6x6 medium formats, and have never needed anything larger. For panoramic landscapes or portrait prints between 24" and 36" long, you might want to consider a larger film size (e.g., 6x7 or 6x9); but then you'd need larger and heavier equipment, and your film & processing costs would increase proportionately.

Used Mamiya 645 gear is a particularly good deal these days, and it produces excellent photographs. I'd avoid buying quirky/antique gear, and stick with the major brands such as Mamiya.

If you want new equipment of high quality, you can't beat the price of a new Mamiya 645E outfit! I love mine, which I bought used for $550 (with 80mm lens and winder grip) from a photo.net classified ad.

On the other hand, I recently bought a Yashicamat 124 TLR (6x6) on eBay for less than $100, and it takes beautiful pictures if stopped down to f11 or f16! But that's a hit-or-miss proposition. Do you feel lucky?

"Brandon's Dad"

I use Fuji's 220 films, but you might feel more confident using Kodak film (since you use a Kodak-equipped lab). You have terrific equipment, and will probably use the 80mm mostly.

Indoors, Portra 400. Outdoors, either Portra 400 (the same ISO speed, to simplify), or UC 400 (which is said to be an excellent available-light portrait film, but I haven't used it.)

If you do use FUji, NPH 400 (like Portra) has the latitude desired for wedding use.

"Brandon's Dad"

You could stay at least five feet away from your subject, use the 90mm lens, and then crop that big ol' negative if you want a closeup print. This will maintain a natural viewing perspective (no bulbous noses!).

"Brandon's Dad"

Our son and his Princess

"Brandon's Dad"<div></div>

For a consistent effect, the light direction should be 90 degrees beside or above the camera-subject axis. Otherwise, for example, the sky may appear dark blue on one side of the picture, but light blue on the other side.

With an on-camera flash, the polarizer wouldn't help (because it is parallel to the camera-subject axis).

I have three similar strobes ("SP" brand), and have found identical reflector lamps at Home Depot or Lowe's for $7. However, I like to use brighter lamps, because the original-equipment lamp is less than the 60w capacity of the modeling-lamp sockets.

When using umbrellas: I often use generic-brand $8 flourescent non-reflector lamps that use approximately 35w of power, because they put out a lot of light. I use a "200w equivalent" lamp in my key-light umbrella, and a "100w equivalent" lamp in my fill umbrella if its strobe is set at half power. I choose lamps that are narrow, to avoid blocking much of the strobe output. When I need even brighter lights, I mount a small quartz-hotlight reflector onto each umbrella shaft along with the strobe.

(Flourescents should not be used in a socket that has a variable-power attentuator switch that isn't specifically designed for flourescent lamps.)

"Brandon's Dad"

Don,

keh.com is another reliable, honest, reasonably-priced source for used GS-1 and other photo equipment.

"Brandon's Dad"

Adobe Photoshop Album 2.0 (less than $40 at Wal-Mart) can make slide shows with music, and burn them on CDs and DVDs.

Brandon.s Dad