bob_peters

Thank you Nadine. So I can have the camera in manual, set for the sunset exposure, and the flash in auto (I do trust it) and as long as I ride the compensation on the flash I can get something I want. That's the simplest explanation I've ever read!

Thanks Robert, but in the example I've given how would I measure the aperture for a correct flash exposure? That's my problem - how do I calculate what the flash exposure would be?

I've been reading Strobist and various others and can't find an answer to this.

If I am balancing ambient background at sunset with a bride in the foreground

how do I know what power to have the flash at? Especially if I am in a hurry.

 

I read that if I expose for the background the flash will light the foreground.

 

So this is what I am thinking will work quickly and accurately. Am I right?

 

- decide aperture for the depth of field I want (say f5.6) and set camera to

manual mode f5.6, changing shutter speed using the "needle" in the viewfinder

to tell me where I am until I am correctly set for exposing the background.

 

- change to AV mode and spotmetering. Change Av mode aperture to f5.6 and

spotmeter the brides face. Dial f5.6 and the shutter speed reading I get into

the flash

 

- change camera back to manual mode and take the shot

 

Then camera and flash are set to depth of field I want, the camera is set to

expose the background and the flash is set to expose the bride? Right?

I've got a 5D and want to be able to get something that looks close to Fuji

Reala, especially for skin tones. Is there an action or package that emulates

this and takes into account the various variables that can come out from in-

camera. Like, if I have mid settings for tone, contrast etc the action or

package will take that into consideration when doing the film emulation?

 

thanks.

I'm going to be doing a project where I will be asking people dressed in a

certain type of footwear on the street to pose for a photograph. End result will

be likely be an exhibition, possibly magazine publication.

 

Do I need to ask them to sign a model release (UK)? That would break the flow

and make people less likely to pose but if I have to I will.

I'm looking for a Flash file for a photo slideshow so I can build a website. I

can hack around with Flash but need an .fla file to work with in the first

instance. I'm looking for the kind of slideshow effect where you click a

thumbnail picture to load the bigger image with left and right arrows to scroll

through.

 

I know there are things like SimpleViewer but I found that not flexible enough.

I'm after an actual .fla file so I have maximum flexibility. Does anyone know

of any free resources?

 

Thanks.

"AW files tell much more about what the camera's image quality and in this the M8 and DMR are second to none." Quite simply not true. That's far to subjective a statement. Medium format digital backs destroy anything the M8 or the DMR can produce. In fact, the 1dmk2n doesn't exactly produce anything inferior. Neither does the (now "old" in digital terms) 5D. Put an L lens on a 40D and see if you can tell the difference from an M8.

I'd like to replicate the effect shown in some of the

photo's.<br><br>Particularly the two on the homepage here <a

href="http://www.pjddr.com/" target="_blank">www.pjddr.com</a><br><br>I'm

reluctant to spend 500 bucks on the actions just to get these two though so can

anyone tell me step by step either how they are done, or provide me with links

to cheaper alternatives that have the same effect? The one on the left I know

is desaturate and textures, and I can probably work that one out. The one of

the bride though I wouldn't know where to start! Thanks.

I'm a dedicated Canon user, love my 5D's (two of them) but they've been so

abused I'm about 3 months away from needing to change at least one of them.

What I need is a full frame DSLR, but I don't want to buy another 5D because

the high ISO performance, while good, is behind the times. And the lack of

weather sealing, most importantly, is proving a hinderance to my shooting.

 

I can get 2 D3's for the price of a 1dsmk3, the only Canon camera that is full

frame and weather sealed currently being produced. I can trade in my lenses and

get comparable Nikon glass. Canon's failure to do produce a sub 3k (uk pounds)

full frame camera with weather sealing, despite an obvous market for it, is

making my decision seem not just inevitable, but a no brainer.

 

Can anyone give me a reason not to jump ship and go Nikon? Anyone done it and

regret it?

I know this has been asked before but no harm in getting an update. With so much

wedding photography samey and cliched, who do you think is really producing

stunning images that stand out from the crowd? Who do you look to for that

inspiration? What standard do you aspire to? My vote: Jeff Ascough.

That is correct Neil.

I'm thinking of getting a 135mm lens for my 5D but don't want to spend the cash

for the 135mm f2L, by most accounts the best 135mm lens ever made. How does the

Elmarit-R stack up? How good is it wide open? Anyone using it on a 5D care to

comment on how it fares compared to the 70-200m f2.8L?

I met a couple earlier in the year who said money was tight and they may or may

not hire a photographer for their 2008 wedding, as they had a friend who was

capable. We left the meeting with me giving them a contract, and saying if they

wanted to book they could have 8 weeks rather than the normal 7 days to send me

the deposit as this coincided with the grooms first pay packet from his new job.

 

They've now emailed me saying they sent the contract back to me straight away

and they are asking me when I want the deposit. My contract states a deposit

must be paid at the time of the booking. More to the point, I have never

received the contract back from them (I send them a copy, signed by me to

confirm the booking when the deposit has cleared, which also obviously hasn't

been done) and as such I am under absolutely no legal obligation at all.

 

I was aware my packages were changing so didn't follow up with them as it's a

low value wedding compared to my new packages and because they were so non-

commital I never got an impression they would go ahead. So now it becomes a

reputation thing. I'm still free on the day of their wedding so do I say "I

never received the contract, as stated the deposit has to be paid at the same

time however you are welcome to book at my new prices if you like" or, because

the date of their wedding is approaching so fast and they are going to have

problems finding someone else, do I offer to go ahead at my old prices when to

me it is apparent they are pulling a fast one having got last minute cold-feet

about their friend?

It seems there are some great Canon firmware hacks for 300d, 400d and a lot of

point and shoots...are there any for the 5d? I can't believe a p&s can be

hacked to give a live histogram display but the 5d can't.

This is a bit stream of consciousness but I'll try and be clear. I've been

asked to quote for a package I've not done before. So I've found out the costs

involved, I know the minimum amount I need to charge to make a profit and make

it worth my while and I'll quote that figure appropriately.

 

I've done some research though and in my area there is someone charging around

42% less than I will be charging and there is someone charging around 48% more

than I will be charging. For exactly the same thing in terms of product.

 

The person charging 42% less however doesn't take bad photographs at all. In

fact they are very very good. But they can only be charging that low if they do

not have to make a living from photography - or at least weddings (though they

are good enough to do so) - the profit margin is ludicrously low. Likewise, the

person charging 48% more is very very good.

 

I know there is more to it than just delivery of final product (service and so

on) but that variation is so vast how do you explain it to the client? Charging

42% less does not mean they are not professional and they are clearly not an

Uncle Bob. I'm not in the business of disparaging other professionals so I'm

reluctant to say "they must be cutting corners" or even "if they aren't full

time how do you know they will turn up this time next year" (which is a lame

answer anyway - probably just as much chance they will turn up as they don't

have to worry about going bust) though there is a good chance there is a grain

of truth in both answers.

 

So when my potential client says "Mr X quoted me this, his shots are great and

his testimonials read like he is the Second Coming, why are you so much more?"

how do you answer? Or do we let weekend warriors (that most of us have probably

been at some time or other, let's face it) slowly chip away at our market? Or

are you honest and just say "if he can make a living barely covering his costs

he's a lucky man."?

Thought I'd start a fun thread. What are your least favorite comments you get

from your customers. Here's mine: the "you must have a good camera" comment

that dismisses everything you put into getting a good shot and implies it's

entirely down to the money you spend on equipment.

 

I handed over some photographs last month and there was one of the couple on a

beach. They had requested a particular backdrop to kiss in front of which, at

the time of the day of the wedding was harsh sunlight and huge shadows over

their faces. With their timings on the day too it gave us around ten minutes to

get the shot before they had to move on.

 

So I went to the beach the day before (about 30 minutes drive) and found the

spot I could with the best light in a bad situation. I asked my wife to pose so

I could judge the best spot for my off camera flashes, and whether I could get

away with using a reflector as a diffusing scrim without getting it in shot. In

all I spent around two hours setting up the shot and an hour round trip

driving. On the day we got it out of the way in less than 10 minutes, and hit

the jackpot (I'd love to post it here but I have an agreement that I don't use

their shots on the internet).

 

I handed over the photographs and they were over the moon with them. When they

came to that shot (that had been in their "must have" list) the bride cried.

The groom said "we've tried that before but it didn't look anything like this -

you can tell the difference having a pro camera makes can't you? How much would

it cost me to get one of those?"

 

I wanted to let him know it had taken a huge investment in learning, several

years experience, hours and hours of practice, 3 hours of my time setting it up

in advance and had nothing to do with the camera I used. The secret is in the

making it look seamless and knowing what you are doing, not in the camera you

buy. You could have shot it with a P&S and it would likely have been just as

good once the groundwork was in place. But I didn't let my art-side override my

business side and I smiled sweetly and just said "I'm glad you like it. It was

a Canon 5D..."

I've got a bride who is 5ft without heels on, and a groom who is 6ft 2in - they

are obviously aware of their height differences (I took some portraits of them

where the bride sat on the grooms lap to balance things up a bit) but would

appreciate any tips for posing them together that can show off the fact she is

wearing a stunning dress.

 

I know I can do things like bride in the foreground, groom in the background so

the height difference is less obvious but any ideas on how to pose them best

standing next to each other?

Thanks Steve. So I plug the flash into the hotshoe on the clamp of the lightstand and gaffertape the pocketwizard to the lightstand?

Sorry, should be more plain - two questions: 1: is it all I need to get up and running with wireless flash, and 2: how is the flash connected.

Just a quick question - I think I'm about to buy a PocketWizard plus II

transceiver set (two transceivers included) but before I splash the cash just

want to confirm it's all I need for wireless flash. What I can't see in any of

the shots of the kit is how the flash is connected. I can see the hotshoe

connector to put the flash in camera, but no means of attaching the flash. Is

it attached by cable only (I'm trying to picture how the two go together on a

light stand if it's cable only).

This one is a tricky one to explain. I'm shooting a wedding in a couple of

weeks where the wedding party is setting off Chinese laterns. Previous

experience is that the laterns provide enough light to get 1/30th at f2.8 and

1600 iso for the foreground, but that's not fast enough to get a decent shot of

whoever is holding the lantern.

 

What I'd like is to use flash to freeze the person holding the lantern in the

foreground so they are sharp, but while keeping an exposure long enough for the

background to show too (blurred, whatever, doesn't matter, I just don't want it

under-exposed to complete blackness) - ideally it won't look like flash is used.

 

Any advice on how to achieve this look is gratefully received.

I've got a flash hotshoe that screws into the tripod screw (that normally

attaches the bottom of the camera to the tripod) so I can use my flash off

camera without having to cart around both a tripod and a lighting stand (I

rarely use the two at the same time). Screw the hotshoe into the tripod, attach

the flash and I'm up and running.

 

My issue is finding a way to attach an umbrella too - does anyone know of an

umbrella clamp that will attach to a normal tripod?

I'm glad you asked this - it's never been asked before. If it had been you'd be able to use the search that shows around a thousand responses saying fast primes and zooms with a constant f2.8 are pretty much deemed essential.

I'm thinking of getting into event photography (I already cover weddings) but

have no idea of what kind of setup is needed. Is it just a portable background

and a studio light (and printer etc)? Any recommendations for a light / softbox

or background?

 

Thanks

Can anyone who has used both the 5D and the 1d mk3 tell me how they compare for

tonality of images? Also, does anyone know any of the specs of the 5d upgrade

(due around Christmas apparently)?

 

thanks