imagestreet

Here is one using the technique suggested above - with simple $10 dollar sheet of A0 white foamcore on left. If you have the model too close to the window (as in this example) you get a nice soft effect however run the risk of burning out the window side of the shot. This shot is a reject because of the burned out highlights on her right side.<div></div>

Don't want to make anyone even more pissed, but http://www.istockphoto.com is one of the best stock sites on the net and it is even cheaper then Crestock! It also has the same deal (cheque when you get to $100). This one is legit though and much of the shots on it are of "pro" quality (especially for use by the intended target market of website designers). Whilst I sympathise with pro photographers whose ability to make a decent living from assignments is rapidly shrinking - as a global consumer I like my clothing cheaper, my cars cheaper, my consumer electronics cheaper and my foodstuffs cheaper and I bet you do too. I guess the same economic model applies to stock shots - these are now a commodity item and repricing your stock shots is likely to put you out of business...

Grey R2a is the one for me. I had the black R3a but prefer the R2a because the viewfinder has the 35mm framelines (I really didn't get on at all with the 1:1 finder). Here it is with some coffee and a CV 28mm 1.9<div></div>

Domke F-803 in black canvas. This is the satchel bag that everyone raves about. Discrete, comfortable, light and gets better with age (think professional photojournalist). No good for SLRs, but if you have a rangefinder there is no better bag.

The SR44 batteries that the R2/3a take last forever and cost about 30p each. With an R2/3a and a pack of 10 batteries you would be able to shoot for several months in [insert name of distant hostile environment here] without any problems. Unless you are a professional (where you could get sued if you don't get the shot due to battery failure) there is absolutely no reason for this fixation with mechanical operation. The R2/3a is a much better camera then the R2 and AE will assist in faster shooting for those grabbed shots.

The D70 uses the same sensor and default tonality curve as the D100 so I figured my earlier post might be helpful...

 

I have spent over a year with my D100 and been fairly unhappy with soft images, cold WB tones, and a lack of contrast. That was until about 2 weeks ago when I discovered this fantastic site .. http://fotogenetic.dearingfilm.com/custom_tone_curves.html

 

This allows you to download a free custom tone curve that improves significantly on the Nikon default. In addition I bought two Photoshop plugins, PhotoWiz ColourWasher and Focalblade.

 

My pictures from the D100 are significantly better (in fact I'm so happy with the results that I've shelved plans to get the D2X!). I use "low" in camera sharpening as PhotoWiz Focalblade is much better at doing this. I've also set the WB function in the D100 to "-2 Cloudy" to give a nice warm tone to everything I shoot (mostly portraits). If you are shooting in RAW, I've found you really have to turn off RAW compression as with compression enabled, the D100 takes about 140-200 seconds to write 6 images to my card.

 

Only problem with all this was that you need to buy Nikon Capture to upload the custom tone curve - bit of a cheek from Nikon given the default tone curve gives rubbish results that require Photoshop work to be usable.

 

If you are prepared to make these investments the D100 (and presumably the D70) is great...<div></div>

The D70 uses the same sensor and default tonality curve as the D100 so I figured my earlier post might be helpful...

 

I have spent over a year with my D100 and been fairly unhappy with soft images, cold WB tones, and a lack of contrast. That was until about 2 weeks ago when I discovered this fantastic site ..

http://fotogenetic.dearingfilm.com/custom_tone_curves.html

 

This allows you to download a free custom tone curve that improves significantly on the Nikon default. In addition I bought two Photoshop plugins, PhotoWiz ColourWasher and Focalblade.

 

My pictures from the D100 are significantly better (in fact I'm so happy with the results that I've shelved plans to get the D2X!). I use "low" in camera sharpening as PhotoWiz Focalblade is much better at doing this. I've also set the WB function in the D100 to "-2 Cloudy" to give a nice warm tone to everything I shoot (mostly portraits). If you are shooting in RAW, I've found you really have to turn off RAW compression as with compression enabled, the D100 takes about 140-200 seconds to write 6 images to my card.

 

Only problem with all this was that you need to buy Nikon Capture to upload the custom tone curve - bit of a cheek from Nikon given the default tone curve gives rubbish results that require Photoshop work to be usable.

 

If you are prepared to make these investments the D100 is great...<div></div>

The 50mm is an excellent lens for environmental portraits where there is a significant amount of background included in the picture, however it is not an appropriate lens for headshots. Closer then about 2m the 50mm will distort facial features, fattening the face in an unflattering way. Most professionals use lenses of 85mm upwards to shoot portraits. Given the size of a newborn,where you may find yourself shooting close, you might wish to consider a longer lens. The downside obviously being a need to use flash or a tripod for the cheaper zooms with slower maximum aperture.

I have spent over a year with my D100 and been fairly unhappy with soft images, cold WB tones, and a lack of contrast. That was until about 2 weeks ago when I discovered this fantastic site ..

 

http://fotogenetic.dearingfilm.com/custom_tone_curves.html

 

This allows you to download a free custom tone curve that improves significantly on the Nikon default. In addition I bought two Photoshop plugins, PhotoWiz ColourWasher and Focalblade.

 

My pictures from the D100 are significantly better (in fact I'm so happy with the results that I've shelved plans to get the D2X!). I use "low" in camera sharpening as PhotoWiz Focalblade is much better at doing this. I've also set the WB function in the D100 to "-2 Cloudy" to give a nice warm tone to everything I shoot (mostly portraits). If you are shooting in RAW, I've found you really have to turn off RAW compression as with compression enabled, the D100 takes about 140-200 seconds to write 6 images to my card.

 

Only problem with all this was that you need to buy Nikon Capture to upload the custom tone curve - bit of a cheek from Nikon given the default tone curve gives rubbish results that require Photoshop work to be usable.

 

If you are prepared to make these investments the D100 is great...<div></div>