Jump to content

tomweis

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    457

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by tomweis

    Photo Journalism?

    in Business of Photography

    Posted

    <p>OK Lawrence... first it's spelled "photojournalism". It's one word not two.</p>

    <p>There's no reason why you couldn't sell images from your trip, but it will depend on where you are and what is happening, and it will NOT be easy. Most working PJ's (that's slang for Photojournalists) have been stationed or have been living where they are shooting. They have connections with local news outlets and connections with wire services. At the least they are foreign PJ's who have done a ton of research about where they are traveling and the situations they will encounter. They aren't merely passing through which sounds like what you are doing.</p>

    <p>Thirdly, you don't charge magazines or news wire services for your work. They make the determination what they will pay for images. Sad but true. Photographers have almost no negotiating power here (aside from the superstars of course). Oh, and as a general rule, magazines and wire services don't pay cr@p.</p>

    <p>Unless your name is James Natchwey no magazine is going to pay you a per diem for your travel expenses. Mary Ellen Mark once told an audience that even she cannot approach a magazine to pay her up front for whatever story she feels like shooting. She has to shoot it, finish it and the shop it around like anyone else.</p>

    <p>It sounds like you might have better luck showing your finished images to travel magazines, or shooting for stock.</p>

     

    Canon 1D Mark III vs. Nikon D3: High ISO Noise Samples

    in Mirrorless Digital Cameras

    Posted

     

    <p >I decided to take my 1D Mark III to a local store to compare it to the Nikon D3 with regards to high ISO noise. Personally I think they are pretty evenly matched with regards to noise. I included shots from the D3 at ISO 12800 and ISO 25600. You can see the results - including of course 100% crops from test images - in the form of a 1084 x 3201 pixel JPEG file <a href="http://tomweisphoto.com/Z/Noise_Test.jpg">HERE.</a> Have fun pixel peeping!</p>

     

    Considering change from Canon to Olympus

    in Olympus

    Posted

    <p>Alan, judging from your lens list I think the camera is the least of your weight worries. I say get couple of lightweight primes: 28mm 1.8, 50mm 1.8 or 1.4, and maybe an 85mm f1.8 or 100mm f2 if you need the reach. Leave the flash at home! If you really need flash swap the 5D for a Rebel XTi (not the latest Rebel, but you can use the CF cards you already have). Personally I carry a 5D with the 28, 50, and 135 and no flash which all fits in a small fanny/shoulder pack. If I need to travel especially light it's a pocket camera; Fuji F31fd and nothing else.</p>

    Wedding chapel lighting for formal portraits, help me out please

    in Wedding & Event

    Posted

    <p>You're on the right track. Instead of softboxes use umbrella(s). Softboxes look great, but are too time-consuming and awkward.

    Umbrellas go up fast and come down fast. When the priest/minister/pastor person says you have 5 minutes left to for formals you don't

    want to spend 3 of those minutes taking your softbox apart. Wireless flash control is great, either TTL or manual. Michael Bass Designs

    (Google it) makes a doodad to hold two flash units with an umbrella if you want twice the juice.</p><p>I use one light source for wedding

    portraits: two 580 EX II's on a Redwing self-collapsible stand (it's really too bad they don't make these anymore) with a white satin

    umbrella. Set camera to ISO 400. Set lens to f4. Drag the shutter speed to taste. Simple. Fast.</p>

    D3s at B&H is it just NAS?

    in Nikon

    Posted

    <p>A D3, glass, acce$$ories, and now a Markins ballhead? Man you are getting in deep. Kirk and RRS both make excellent products - I've used

    both. I believe they are even priced the same at this time. As for the ballhead, I've never used a Markins, but I have used the Kirk BH-3, Acratech,

    and now I own the Arca-Swiss Z1 (figured I'd try the original...) and I like it far better than the other two. I'm a Canon user now, but I feel your pain...

    getting the 50mm f1.2 I want would probably un-marry me real fast.</p>

    <p>Oh, and don't forget a real nice carbon fiber tripod on which to put all your nice new shiny stuff.</p>

    Change to Rebel XSI DSLR or Medium format?

    in Canon EOS Mount

    Posted

    Richard, yes what Derrick said. The Rebel 1.6x crop will drive you nuts. If you appreciate medium format quality you will

    love 5D RAW files. I know you will have to learn all this stuff, but it's worth it in my opinion. Yes there will be a 5D

    replacement *soon* (whatever that means), but it will cost twice what a second-hand 5D will, and the 5D is no slouch.

    What to charge for my services?

    in Wedding & Event

    Posted

    <p>Repeat after me; "I am not an hourly employee." Wedding photographers need to stop billing by the hour! There is no

    punch clock at the church when we show up for a job. We are in the business of creating priceless family heirlooms - it

    doesn't matter if the wedding is 10 hours or 10 minutes. Don't get lowballed by some cheapskate studio photographer

    who wants to give you $300 while they are making $5000 or more. Sure a relationship needs to be built between you two,

    but don't get shafted in the process.<br><br>

     

    I generally charge $300-$350 to assist, $600-$750 as a second photographer, and 50% of the package price (after the

    studio's expenses) or $1200 - whichever is greater - to shoot a wedding for another studio. If a studio books me to do a

    job as far as I'm concerned it's a 50/50 proposition. They book the client and do post production. I photograph it and

    create the heirlooms. Fifty-fifty.<br><br>

    Are Vogue ads shot LF or with a Hassy digital back?

    in Large Format

    Posted

    <p>Are you referring to advertisements in Vogue, or the fashion editorials? Either way, it seems you are talking about

    those super sharp photos of a model's face (cosmetics ads) or couture ads. Most are probably shot digitally now using -

    as you said - MF backs. Vogue isn't a very large publication (8.5" x 11" I think) so a good 12MP camera would suffice as

    long as it's not cropped, but at that level you can assume only the best gear is used for many of the shoots. However

    some photographers such as Terry Richardson and Ellen Von Unwerth shoot 35mm film at least some of the time. Heck,

    Terry uses a point-n-shoot camera with the little built-in flash. It's his signature style (which many have ripped off, but

    that's another discussion). These big names are considered artists and can use whatever tools they want.</p>

    <p>As for seeing every pore in a face, a professional retoucher told me once she spends about 40 hours of computer

    time on one face. And that's the face of a professional model with professional makeup. Believe me, it's NOT just the

    camera.</p>

    A flash like Vivitar 285HV but more powerful?

    in Lighting Equipment

    Posted

    <p>Talk to these guys - maybe they can build you something:

    http://www.khbphotografix.com/</p>

     

    <p>From their website:<br>

    Custom modifications can assist you with greater versatility in equipment usage and

    meet your creative needs as a photographer:<br>

    -Heads converted for use on a different pack brand or vice versa<br>

    -Adapter cables to enable heads to work on multiple brands of packs<br>

    -Extension cables<br>

    -Custom sync cords and plug conversions<br>

    -Fresnel spot lamps converted to flash<br>

    -Bare bulb conversions to portable flash<br>

    -Battery cells rebuilt or upgraded to the latest technology<br>

    -Battery performance testing</p>

×
×
  • Create New...