iskandar_azaman___kuala_lu

<p>Just a simple convert to B&W and some cloning out of the stuff sticking out of the Groom's face. Added a sloppy border to make the picture pop out. I actually like that the dress is shown in full. It shows off the design of the dress and not just a couple posing.</p><div></div>

There are some lights with built in PW receivers. So if you buy those lights, then you won't need to buy 2 PW's.

 

Also, if you suddenly need an odd number of PW's you don't need to buy a two pack. For example, you have 4 Alien Bees. You'd need 5 triggers if you don't want to be using the optical slave for the other 3 strobes.

why would it be hurting the industry? it will change the industry definitely but not necessarily hurt it.

 

more photographers are taking charge of their own printing now. they make a whole lot more profit printing their own photos. if i remember correctly, there was a recent article in a photo magazine where joe buissink says he is making a lot of money from selling prints on his own. so you still get great prints from photographers. just ask marc williams, he has got his workflow down so tight that i doubt he spends much time fussing over printing the images.

 

there will also be some photographers who still don't want to do things themselves and outsource their printing

 

maybe you are just not comfortable with the digital photography business model. nowadays a lot of packages offered don't rely on reprints to make money. so most photographers price their packages to reflect this.

 

i personally love it. 'cos i don't want to be keeping wedding photos of people whom i don't know personally. to me they are just clients. even if we do become friends, i don't really want to keep gigabytes of their photos on my computer. so i might as well give them away. they can do whatever they want with it. of course with every package comes an album where i control the print quality. if they can't achieve that level of quality. too bad. you can bring your disc and come to me and i'll provide the prints. at a higher cost.

Aren't reviews supposed to have the pros and the cons? This one just seems too one sided. Or maybe the D3 is that perfect?

I just want a 5D with a dual memory card slot. Don't need the weather sealing and 10fps. My 'puter is already suffering editing 1000's of tiff files from a full frame 12mp camera so i don't really think i need anymore mp's.

Since i can't afford a 1 series i just make do with a plastic bag over my 5D. Just poke a hole through the bottom and put the lens through it. I'm not so worried about the lens. As long as i'm using my L's then i know they are somewhat weather sealed. Also, I make sure that after a rainy session, the equipment is left in the open to air dry. Here in Malaysia a lot of people just use dry cabinets 'cos of our high humidity. Again i'm too cheap to buy one of those.

 

I doubt it's the flash though. The new 580EX II's are weather proof aren't they? Should be alright. But the 5D's aren't. Have you tried the flash on any other cameras? I think you have to be ready for some costly repairs on the 5D's.

Steve C,

 

I think Photoshop does have presets for most of the standard print sizes like 6x4, 8x10 etc. If you don't want it to resize, just clear the resolution box. If you're shooting RAW, ACR has all the typical ratios. I use 2:3 most of the time to retain the ratio.

 

Shooting RAW and using ACR has been the simplest for me. When i need JPEGs, the Image Processor allows me to produce any file type i want and at any resolution i want.

Well, I'm not in the US but i think it's the same everywhere. I understand that some clients think they own you. Sometimes doing the cheaper weddings are nice. I offer packages but the photography fee is still the same for all shoots. I don't mind the editing but i really hate the other stuff like sorting out and designing the albums and sending photos for print and picking them up.

 

So i do like the clients who actually just choose me to shoot and nothing else. I don't reduce prices but i don't spend that much time on it. Just shoot and edit and hand over a DVD. How great is that?

 

Personally though i wouldn't want to go the mass market route. I'd rather do less weddings at a higher price than many cheap weddings. That's just too tiring. Having more than 2 weddings a week is already tiring enough for me.

Full Frame: 24, 35 and 85.

 

Will leave the 24 in the bag ready for the big group shots. The 35 and 85 will be on the camera.

I started using NiMH for my flash almost 2 years ago. I'm still using the same batts. I've bought newer ones but the older ones are still useable. There's no problem getting through a wedding with a set.

 

Even if they start dying off, there are loads of other uses. I put the really old 1300mAh ones in my wireless mouse. I get about a month's use per charge.

 

I can't tell you how many charges they last since it depends on your charger and the battery brand and what not. The best way to tell is just through experience and how well it works during the shoots. It'll start losing its charge faster and you'll get less flashes per charge. That means it is time to change. I'm guessing way over 50 charges.

We don't get that much choice here in Malaysia but the one i never fail to buy is Digital Photo Pro. After awhile, the wedding articles get kind of similar. So now i'm more interested in the Pro interviews and how they work and the marketing end. There's also some good business tips in there.

 

If i want inspiration in terms of photographs i just look at photographer websites or the photo.net portfolios.

I doubt it'd put a dent in Canon sales. And I doubt those people who converted to Canon will be converting back to Nikon. There is not much of a difference between a 1Dmk3 and the D3. Full frame 12mp at 9 fps. How many sports shooters need full frame how many fashion photographers need 9fps. So it's kind of a mixed bag. Fashion shooters will still stick to the 1DsMk3. And sports shooters will just have to decide whether it's worth the extra 2 megapixels and full frame to convert to Nikon. Other than that the 1DMk3 has everything else.

 

The D300 looks awesome though. Clearly beats the 40D in all areas (on paper at least).

Since you shot in RAW there shouldn't be any problems. It doesn't matter 'cos the colour space is chosen later. Try using ACR and edit in sRGB. Then just save as JPEG. It shouldn't look any different.

 

Also, try calibrating with Adobe Gamma. It's better than nothing.

I'm too lazy to carry around extra batteries in the bag so to have one already in the camera is great. The camera is so much easier to operate with the grip. Especially since i tend to change focus points a lot. It also feels much sturdier to have the grip on. I think it's because i use a 24-70 a lot and it is kind of heavy. Without the grip it just feels off balance.

There was an event i shot where there were photographers and videographers with pro equipment waiting in the foyer. I think they were just trying their luck in case the official photographer didn't turn up or something. I saw the red lines on their Canon lenses and they sure didn't dress like guests. So the official videographer i was working with actually went up to them and asked what they were doing there. If i remember correctly, the rogue videographer actually admitted he was the official one. Obviously he didn't know my friend was the hired videographer. HAHAHA.

Anything can happen at a wedding. I use a 5D but always have a fully charged backup 20D attached with a 10-22 and a 1gb memory card in there. If anything happens that comes out and i can shoot straight away. My assistant uses a 30D so all batteries, cards and lenses are compatible. I only have the 10-22 ef-s but the other lenses are 24-70, 17-40, 70-200IS, 50 and the 100. So there's always a last resort backup.

 

All cameras have grips so that's 6 batteries in total. So they can always be interchanged.

 

With regards to flash, i use the 580ex and my assistant uses the 550ex. I also have an old 420ex somewhere in the back up rolling case. So i can always shoot if something happens.

 

Back up goes into one rolling bag and the shooting stuff goes into a shoulder bag. The assistant will have to carry her own shoulder bag. So 3 separate bags in total. That way the only situation i won't be able to shoot a wedding is if we get carjacked on the way to a wedding. I'm quite sure the probability is very small for a multiple equipment failure i.e. 3 cameras, 3 flashes, multiple lenses.\ etc. That's just pure bad luck.

 

Even if that did happen, I'd probably get my assistant to go to the nearest store and get a 400d, 17-55IS and a 430ex.

For rather large groups i shoot 3 quick successive shots so that when i need to PS it, i can just copy the layer and it'll be almost spot on. If you take too long between shots then there'll be too much movement around which makes it a tad more difficult.

I just have a bag with 2 separate pockets. Used ones go in one, the fresh ones go in one. I don't even pack 'em in sets of 4. I just take 4 put it in the flash and i'm good to go.

I have to agree with Don Hill on this one. The Billingham Hadley Pro would be great for your set up. I use a 24-70L a 580EX and a 50mm 1.4 most of the time and they all go into the bag. The 5d is carried on the neck. If i need the 70-200IS L it will also fit in the bag. No problems. Jessica Claire makes the ShootSac but somehow i think it's kind of just a neoprene messenger bag. The Hadley Pro is much much sturdier and the insert is removable allowing you to also use it as a briefcase.

 

I actually have 2 Hadley Pro's. One for the assistant and one for me. Oh yeah, the great thing about Billingham...(and Domke too)...is that it looks better with age. My friend actually offered to buy my old Hadley Pro 'cos it looks so seasoned.

I wish i could afford a dual card DSLR. But as of right now, i just bring loads of CF cards and never format on site. NOTHING IS DELETED. When i get back home, i upload all the cards and do some metadata stuff and then copy it to a second drive. Then i burn a dvd copy.

I have 6 Canon Batteries and 4 Canon chargers. So just one change.

 

For the flash, i use the Ansmann Energy 16. A bit deceiving, it actually only charges 12 AA's at once. But that's still more than most chargers.

 

I also keep a set of normal alkalines for back up just in case a job comes up on short notice and i don't have time to charge.

Today was the first time i tried out my Lowepro Pro Roller 1 case. I didn't really need it but it's where all the back up stuff was. I just dragged it into the hall and left it by a corner where i could always keep my eye on it. Since i work with my assistant (my wife), there are always 2 pairs of eyes looking at the case. I guess someone could have run away with it but it isn't that light to be running with.

 

I planned to get a lock and just lock it to something immovable but didn't have time to go lock shopping. Here in Malaysia there aren't any insurance companies for photographers so i'm out of luck in that area. Next time i think i'm just going to hire a second assistant to just sit around and look at the bag.

If you had angled yourself a bit he'd be directly behind the groom and you'd barely see him. If they actually thanked him i'd just leave him in. It's just too much hassle.

Some of my important rules...

 

1) Turn up on time.

 

2) No matter what sort of problem you are having with the equipment or whatever...don't show panic.

First question. Have you ever actually printed an ISO 400 photo from the 30D?

 

'Cos i don't think there is that big a difference between that and ISO 200. If there is then it is not the camera but your shooting technique. Which means that you are not getting good exposures. I've printed ISO400 at 20x30 with no problems and displayed it at a wedding reception seen by close to 1000 people.

 

Just shoot at ISO400 and don't tell the client. Even ISO 800 is good on a 30D if you nail the exposure. Clients see the prints. Unless you've signed a contract that says you will only shoot at ISO 200 and no more, then you should use whatever technique gets the best picture. ISO 200 may be noise free but when you need to bump up the exposure 'cos you underexposed the shot, it might even be worse than a good ISO 800 exposure.