whitworth photography

I use a 420EX with my 350D and a Sto-Fen Omnibounce to soften it a little bit and have liked the results. <br><br>

 

<a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=cart&A=details&Q=&sku=216907&is=REG&addedTroughValue=206436_USA&addedTroughType=accessory">Here's a link to the Omnibounce</a>

I've got the AB 13' stands and they are fine with a 2'x2' softbox attached. I've been using them like that for about a year, but I'd like to get a slide counterweight to put on each of them just to help improve the stability some. I also have one of the AB 13' stands holding up the 30"x60" giant softbox they sell. The Bogen stands would probably be steadier for this size softbox, but I haven't had any problems.

 

Just to throw this out there, I wouldn't buy the AB boom if I had it to do over again. It's not very sturdy at the height necessary for using it to hold a hair light. If you're working on a table or something and using it at a lower height it would work much better, but still isn't as sturdy as I would have liked (it was only $60 so you get what you pay for). I'll probably replace it one of these days.

I've got 800s and a studio area that is almost the same size as yours and haven't had any problems doing fashion/glamour photography. Now I'm getting into colored backdrops, but I've done quite a few with a 9' wide white paper backdrop and had no trouble blowing it out using a pair of 800s (one on each side). I shoot at f/8 and 1/200.

 

For outside I can't help you because I've never taken my strobes outside. My guess would be that the 1600 would be more handy outside because it's got more ambient light to compete with.

I absolutely love my XT. I upgraded from a D60 and it's amazing how much faster and overall better the XT is than the D60.<br><br>

 

I did an exhaustive comparison between the XT and the 20D and found that very little of the differences matter to me. The only main points for me were:<br><br>

 

1. The better focusing system of the 20D would be nice (lower light and overall faster on the 20D)<br>

2. The 1/250 flash sync the 20D has would give me a little more room than the 1/200 that the XT comes with for studio work (although based on my testing the XT also seems to have a sync of 1/250)<br>

3. It would be nice to have a built-in PC terminal<br>

4. The 5 fps the 20D has would be good to have over the 3 fps of the XT<br><br>

 

Everything else (for me anyway) was completely negligible (keep in mind my "standard" is based on the D60). Even for the 4 points above I decided that the extra $400-$500 wasn't worth it. Of course it's probably worth noting that I plan buying whatever replaces the 20D if it is a decent upgrade so I can use the XT as a backup.<br><br>

 

Plus when I bought mine you could get the XT with the kit lens (for doing wider shots) and a Tamron 28-75 (which is a great lens) for basically the same price as a 20D. I have been using this setup since I bought them and like the combination a lot.

Not knowing exactly what you're trying to light, I would recommend the book "Light - Science and Magic". Instead of focusing on how to light for specific scenarios, it explains how light behaves under certain conditions so you can evaluate your specific scenario and make your own decisions about what form of lighting would be best.<br><br>

 

Here's a link to the book at Amazon.com <br><br>

 

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0240802756/qid=1118935690/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/104-8390372-4183963?v=glance&s=books&n=507846">Light - Science and Magic</a>

Are these photos going to be published? Do you plan on hiring a makeup artist/hair stylist?

 

If he/she thinks the shoot will benefit their portfolio you may be able to get models to do Time for Prints or Time for Tears (Tearsheets) if the pictures are going to be published. The only thing about TFP/TFT is that you need to take a good look at the model's portfolio because sometimes these models are not all they're cracked up to be.

 

I'm in Atlanta and from what I've seen, around here the going rate for fashion work is around $50/hr - $300 per day. Something in that ballpark, but that day rate could easily swing +- $100 depending on the experience of the model. Also, if you're offering TFP or TFT in conjunction with pay you might be able to get the model to cut their rate in half or something like that.

 

It's worth noting that this ballpark is assuming you don't go through an agency. I use sites like onemodelplace.com and others which will require more work on your part. The benefit is that I don't have to pay agency fees on top of the model fees and with a little practice I have been learned how to quickly identify the good models from the bad ones.

If you're going to purchase wide paper like 9' wide, I would recommend Ritz/Wolf camera if you have one locally. Their price for paper is comparable to B&H, but they charge a flat $7 shipping fee per order and if you spend over $100 the shipping is free. If I remember right, B&H charges something like $25 per roll. It may be similar for the shorter rolls of paper, but I haven't checked into those sizes.

 

For portraits I have been buying 9' long, 60" wide pieces of cloth. There's a couple different types, but the kinds that I buy have some spandex in them so you can throw them in the dryer before you use them and get all the wrinkles out. Kind of like the best of paper and muslin, and when I catch sales the prices aren't terrible either.

 

Kirk

From a quick search on the web it looks like your keyboard is "fully programmable" and apparently includes it's own microprocessor that automatically detects the system it is connected to and configures itself. That says to me that most likely your keyboard and Photoshop aren't playing together nicely.

 

First I would get a plain-jane keyboard and see if that works. If it does then you've isolated the problem to the keyboard driver/configuration and not some issue with PS or the OS.

 

If that doesn't work I would try re-installing Photoshop in case somewhere along the line the registry or some of the Photoshop DLLs got corrupted or modified. I recently installed a well known antivirus/system management program that changed all kinds of crap in my registry it had no business modifying.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Kirk

A friend of mine use this software to get his images off some damaged CD's he had. Then he used it to recover previously deleted images from one of his CF cards. I would think it might be able to help you recover your data if the drive is accessable from a hardware standpoint. I think they have a free trial that you can download that will let you see what images might be recovered. That way you don't have to buy it if the MD is a total loss.

 

http://www.jufsoft.com/badcopy/

 

I reiterate what Edward said about staying away from MD. Personally I use Lexar 80x 1 GB CF cards. If you have some patience they periodically have rebates that Lexar has honored for both of the cards I have bought.

I don't know if they're any safer or not, but here's my take on MD vs CF based on my experience...

 

I bought a microdrive for my D60 a few years ago and a few months after I bought it started makeing this "chunk chunk" sound. At the time a microdrive was a lot more economical so I just used it and hoped it wouldn't die on me. Quite a few times the camera would fail to read the drive and I would have to turn the camera on and off multiple times to get the drive to initialize correctly. Luckily I never actually lost any pictures.

 

In the past couple of years all I have bought is CF because the price difference isn't that much anymore and no moving parts is a good thing. I have never had any problems out of any of my CF cards.

I agree with Beau and so does Tom...<br><br>

 

From Tom's Hardware Guide:<br><br>

 

"There are measurable 2D performance differences between individual cards and the various chip generations. However, the 2D performance of current graphics processors has reached such a high level overall that these differences won't make a tangible difference in everyday use, for example in a Windows XP environment. Applications such as Word, PowerPoint, Photoshop or Acrobat won't run any faster on a bleeding-edge high-end card than on a mainstream offering. "

<br><br>

Here's a link to the full article <a href="http://www20.graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041110/buyers_guide-01.html"> Tom's Video Card Buyers Guide</a>

<br><br>

Personally I would spend the extra money on extra system RAM if you're looking for better performance.

I haven't ever gotten a color shift when I use daylight for my white balance. I did get some major color shift when I used "flash" or "AWB" white balance settings.

 

A photographer I took a seminar with explained to me that daylight WB is typically the best setting because the whole point of a flash is to emulate the sun. So a good flash setup should be color balanced to daylight for use with daylight film.

I also have 4 Alien Bees 800s and haven't had any problems when my D60 was set to daylight white balance.

Kevin,

 

I am currently taking the NYIP course and have found it to be pretty good. I think the text is well written and the example photographs do a good job of illustrating the principles described in the text. I just finished unit 2 and am about half-way through unit 3 right now. I have also enjoyed the audio tape instructor critiques of my work that I mail into the school.

 

Overall what I'm finding is that the NYIP program is giving me a solid foundation to continue teaching myself and improving my skills. As I take the course I have also picked up a number of photography books such as "Light - Science and Magic" that go deeper into certain areas.

 

Also to note, if you get on NYIP's mailing list and are patient, after a couple months they will send you a deal to take the entire course for $650 if you pay up front.

There was an ebay scam a couple years ago that I'll try my best to describe. I'm not sure if that is what this is, but just to show how some of these scams can be set up...<br><br>

 

1. They buyer purchases camera from the seller through ebay including payment.<br>

2. The buyer receives camera in the mail and is happy with it<br>

3. A couple weeks later the buyer receives a bill for the camera from the company that shipped it to him - ie NOT the seller<br><br>

 

What was happening is that the seller was ordering the camera from a 3rd party and having it shipped to the buyer?s house. The seller would pocket the buyers money and disappear. This left the buyer with the camera and a 3rd party company who had not been paid and wanted their camera back.

<br><br>

Now obviously your case is a little different since he's willing to give you the camera up front, but that doesn't mean he's not banking on it taking a couple weeks for the 3rd party company to contact you looking for their money. In that couple weeks you see that the camera is in good shape and send him the money.

<br><br>

Also, the fact that you had to email him to find out it's refurbished doesn't lead me to believe this guy is completely forthcoming. Given that and the money-order only payment method, I personally would pass on this one.

Thanks for all of your responses and the book recommendations.

 

I have been thinking about this a lot since yesterday and actually talked to a lawyer here at my day job, just to get his take. He said if I'm only doing this part time that a Sole Proprietorship would be good for just getting started because my exposure should be fairly low. He also said as my clients increase so will my exposure and at that point I should probably look at LLC - when the business can afford to pay for it.

I tried searching through the archives, but didn't find anything that

covers this...

 

1. I'm curious to know what form of business most you are in (Sole

Proprietor/Partnership, LLC, S or C Corporation).

 

2. In your personal (not necessarily legal) opinion, is running a

portrait/wedding studio as a sole proprietor putting myself in a

precarious situation? I plan to have liability insurance to cover

any mishaps that may occur, but is that enough?

 

I know, none of us are lawyers and I should consult one before

beginning any business venture, but I'd like to hear what has worked

(or not worked) based on each of your experiences.

 

I did actually talk to one today about forming and LLC and they want

$800 plus registration fees for the state...does that sound

reasonable?

 

Thanks,

 

Kirk

I have always had good luck using sunlight WB with my Alien Bees strobes and D60.

I would look at how many pictures you think is the maximum you would take in one sitting (ie before you would have a chance to download them someplace). For example, if you go on vacation and don't have a way to download the images you're going to need enough space to store your images for the entire trip. Based on the sample shots in a review of this camera, a 256 MB card can hold roughly 90 shots in JPG format.

 

Keep in mind that you're probably going to take more pictures with digital than you currently do with film. Since I switched to digital I take a lot more shots because I know I won't have to pay for the development and printing.

 

As far as what brand...my first card was a Viking and my last 3 have been Lexar. I haven't had problems with any of my cards. I'm sure others can chime in with their experience using other card manufacturers.

I don't do any work with nudes, but I have done some fashion/glamour work...

 

First off, have you seen any pictures of these models at all? I mean if you're going through an agency then I would think they should be able to provide you examples of the model's previous work. If you're going through OMP or some other online portfolio website there should be examples there for you to look at.

 

Personally I have set up plenty of shoots just through email. I also use the phone depending on how things progress or how the model prefers to be contacted. If I have concerns about a model, I arrange to talk to them voice which is usually enough for me to gauge their personality. Again, you're in a genre that I have never worked in, so maybe you have a specific need to meet the person before-hand, but that has never been a requirement for the work I do.

I've got 4 of the Alien Bees 800 series lights and they have enough power to take a full length shot like this: <br>

 

<img src = "http://www.desiredexposure.com/IMG_6504.jpg"> <br>

<br><br> The only modifications made to the image that came out of the camera was a slight adjustment of contrast/brightness in Photoshop.<br><br>

I've got two lights on Ilona and two lights on the backdrop. Of the lights on her, the main light has a 2'x2' softbox and the fill light has a 3'x5' softbox. The two lights on the backdrop both have a 2'x2' softbox.

 

According to Alien Bees, the 800s are 320w/s, but I think I've read here on photo.net that the true number is less than that - ie 320 is more of a max than a continuous rating. Maybe somebody else can respond with the true w/s rating.

My wife dropped our D60 a couple months ago and put a nice dent in the bottom. The LCD on the back isn't level any more and I think the CMOS sensor may have moved a fraction of a hair because the focus doesn't seem to be quite as sharp as it was - or maybe the AF assist is off, but the camera is still totally usable and the focus is fine most of the time.

 

I keep going back and forth on the 20D vs 350D and build quality is definitely a consideration. After having held the 350D I can't imagine it taking the kind of hit my D60 did and living to talk about it.

I am also currently enrolled at NYIP. I just completed lesson 2 and have really enjoyed the course so far. One thing I wanted to note is that if you get on NYIP's mailing list and wait a couple months they will eventually send you a deal to take the whole course for $650 if you pay up front (I think month to month was like $750 total). This is posted other places here on photo.net which is how I found out. NYIP starts out with their most expensive price and if you wait them out will drop the price to get your business. Just a thought...

I tried searching for something related to this in the archives, but

couldn't find anything...

 

Here's a couple questions I have about corrective posing to minimize

the effect of bulging eyes on a portrait:

 

1. Should I turn my client towards the main light, away from the

main light?

 

2. What about camera angle? Would it help to frame the shot with

the camera slightly above the subject angled downward?

 

Any tips/tricks you guys may have are certainly welcome. Worst case

I'll just have to see what effect different poses have and make a

decision during the shoot.

 

Thanks,

 

Kirk

Thanks for posting this.