german

<p>Hey, thanks again Leslie, and thanks Hector!</p>

<p>i'll need to narrow my search or specs for my sound collecting and recording devices! (looking for the digital kind, like you guys mentioned. i imagine it'd be easier to work with later on, during editing)<br>

need to look into the solar power chargers!<br>

mosquito net would work fine also, thanks!<br>

one other thing i remembered was the possibility of uploading my images (and hopefully the video, though these might be pretty big files!) while i am away, unto some site (i used to have a good account w/ Photoshelter ... that is now only used w/the basic, free features. but i could upgrade again and upload from somewhere near the jungles, if possible!)<br>

mikes would be "simple" ... just for people, and i guess background sound too ... but nothing like, for example, to catch sound from a distant bird or anything like that. (i am trying to stay simple, not too much equipment, but equipment that will serve me well and that would allow for a good quality documentary)<br>

... i don't plan to donate food. just eat it! ;) ... and by the way, i am now thinking i might have to break up the trip into smaller chunks of time, like a month at a time, or less, with in-between trips to nearby cities or towns. a 3-month stretch of time might be a bit too much!!<br>

i just don't want to eat all their food! (i can pack quite an appetite ... which i am sure would have to be tamed while there!!)<br>

i'll look into the cooking utensils (and that stove), thanks!<br>

about memory, i am thinking of cards plus an outside memory-holding device -- with a somewhat "big" capacity -- but small in size!<br>

Anthropologist ... good idea. i'll look into that.<br>

Languages ... i am glad i can speak Portuguese, as I see the Guarani in Brazil, the ones i've seen (!) do speak that language. I speak Spanish, which would help me with the Guarani in Paraguay ... and i can ask my father with help on the Guarani ... he is from Paraguay but i failed to learn that language from him, though i can say a few words, like m'bae cheico (which now i don't find in the online dictionaries, finding instead m'bae ichapa, for hello)<br>

he used to say something like "m'bae cheico ch'amigo" (please do forgive the bad spelling) which he said was hello my friend ... plus there's other things/words/expressions i know which might come in handy to break the ice! ... i hope! ... and I am good at replicating the local language, the sound, the music of their voices.<br>

in any case, i'll keep searching!! <br>

it's time for me to follow this saying: a ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for, by william shedd. <br>

i've been trained as a photographer but have stayed in the safety of the "special events" and later the office work ... it's time to take on the seas! ;)</p>

<p>(middle age is kicking in! ;) </p>

<p> </p>

<p>.. thanks Leslie!</p>

<p>I grew up on film photography, so, i shoot a lot, but i don't "overshoot" .. i think! I am planning on shooting daily ... but also on doing video (through video DSLR cam), which we know uses a lot of memory!</p>

<p>I'll need to see about the solar power situation. Would that be a solar charger?<br>

3. camping or a communal tent would work, if available!<br>

4. i've contacted some photographers doing work over there already who tell me it's not easy to get into the tribes to photograph (the ones I am speaking of are a seemingly Portuguese descendant and a Guarani chief, who is also a photographer). I do need to look into the NGOs and local organizations, yes.<br>

5. yes. i probably should have asked, does one pay for said food? or, perhaps one has to do some work to be able to feed with them! <br>

6. the sound recorders i looked into -- well, the microphones i looked into are not inexpensive ... going for about $700 for a good one. the sound recorders I'll have to look into. ... i would prefer to work with outside microphones for better sound quality than the quality the cams give you. ... any suggestions?<br>

... no problem with the lack of experience .. we are in the same boat! ;)<br>

thanks once again!</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Hi,<br>

I posed this question on the journalism part of the forum, but I'd like to ask the questions here as well, as I don't know which one would be the most appropriate forum to discuss it. Please forgive me if this is inappropriate forum behavior!<br>

In any case, here are my questions:<br>

has anyone made a somewhat long or long project photographing and/or documenting (documentary work) the lives of some of the many Guarani Indian groups in Brazil, Paraguay and/or Argentina, and the issues they face<br>

if so, what are the logistic problems one would face when attempting such type of work, and how did you or how would you solve them? and what I am talking about are mostly a beginner's questions like:<br>

1. how much storage capability do you carry (how many gigs of memory space do you or would you carry), keeping in mind that you are the one carrying all of this, maybe in a back pack. what storage device, small, with plenty of memory space, and not too expensive would you recommend?)<br>

2. how do you or would you go about charging the camera batteries, and the laptop batteries, and any other electronic equipment one might need? would you carry a bunch of extra AA batteries, if you equipment does use such batteries? (I don't want to and will not be able to take a truck full of equipment.)<br>

... and by the way, I am thinking of staying a few months (maybe 3 to 6 months or so). ... i guess this answers part of my questions ... i would have to go to town (any nearby or faraway town) every once in a while.<br>

but, going back to the questions, how would you handle those problems before having to go to town?<br>

3. would one camp with the people one is photographing? (some of these groups live in tents they make with big, plastic garbage bags, by the side of the road, like in the Mato Gross do Sul (Southern Mato Grosso), in Brazil.<br>

4. how did you handle the first assignment? how were you introduced to the tribe? <br>

5. anything else that might be necessary? -- how did you handle the eating over there? ... the drinking of the water? (any filtration, or did you just use/drink the water from the water wells?) (I guess using those chlorine tablets would help there!)<br>

6. and I dread this, coming from a photography background, but how did you handle the sound recording, if you did make any "documentary" work? (I am planning on sticking with still images just to avoid the additional requirements, such as good sound, a steady tripod for filming, etc.)<br>

... in any event, thanks for your recommendations whether you did go on any such trip, or whether you simply have some common sense advise!<br>

oh, and could you please point me in the right direction as far as where to find all this information -- if there is such a site for "documentary photography work necessities" or such.<br>

thanks again!</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Hi there,<br>

is anybody using the Lumix GF1 for street/documentary photography? HOw is that working? Please let me know. I am interested in said camera. It seems to have great features -- nice 20 mm 1.7 lens, nice sensor, HD video, quite small, raw capture ... but a bit pricey! (But it seems to give us more control than cheaper digital point and shoot cameras.)<br>

I am also interested in the Sony Alpha Nex-5.<br>

Thanks,<br>

G.</p>

 

<p>Hey,<br>

I've seen from some last year's posts that there is debate, of course, about the pros and cons of using either Photo Mechanic and/or Lightroom.<br>

Now, there might have been some upgrades that might have changed things. (I've seen photojournalists that are happy with Photo Mechanic, and I've seen others who prefer Lightroom.)<br>

In any case, here's my question. I need to choose the best images, caption them, edit them and then simply save them to use/upload them. I've just re-started photographing special events here in Hollywood, California -- and we do need to take a lot of pictures, and we need them ready yesterday!<br>

Now, what do you think is the most appropriate software for the task - Photo Mechanic or Lightroom?<br>

Please let me know.<br>

All the best,</p>

<p>Germán S.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Hey, thank you guys for your answers. This is a bit overwhelming to me right now. (Looking for work, along with all kinds of trouble that not working brings, etc!)<br>

I just wanted to get some decent images for publication and so I captured them in RAW, thinking it would be better (better image quality, perhaps larger file size, the capability of working on said "negative" if you will, etc). Little did I know what I was getting into!<br>

I see the images can potentially look much better than the jpeg captures but man, I had no idea it would be this much work. <br>

In any case, and let's stay positive here (that's for me!). What is "ACR" that is mentioned a few times here? Please let me know.<br>

Jacopo, I do see now that the color profiles are different. It seems I was looking for that info in the wrong place.<br>

Doug, I'll follow your instructions and will see what happens. Levels and curves first, then hue/saturation. <br>

With respect to conversion to sRGB, should that be done only for the image I want to display online -- usually a smaller image?<br>

What about if I submit the other image to an agency, for publication. Should I keep that image as Adobe RGB (which might look odd to them in a computer screen), or should I send the one in sRGB? Or would that depend on the agency? (I guess the latter might apply.)<br>

But Doug, I will send you an email for a link to some tutorials, which I need badly!<br>

Hey, thanks everyone. I'll keep working on this -- along with working on finding work!</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Hey, thank you guys.<br>

Both the jpeg and the Raw show up as sRGB in PS. <br>

There were a ton of images to be taken that afternoon. I usually do not take a grey card for that as it would slow me down a lot. Now, I know trying to get the colors right now is slowing me way down!<br>

In any case, I did not know it would be so much work to capture the image in Raw format.<br>

Anyhow, thanks Greg for your rendition. It's not quite what I wanted. But thanks for the suggestion. I did go to "hue/saturation" and worked on the red, bringing the hue down to -10 and the saturation up to +20. That seemed to do the trick. (I'll upload that image. I forgot to to the unsharp mask to this last one.)<br>

Tim, thanks for the suggestions. I just wanted to bring back those redish leaves. I loved the color/tonal separation in the raw file and how the sky and the snow look so much truer than the jpeg version though. Now, what are the HSL and ACR calibration sliders that you mention? Are those separate programs? (Please pardon my ignorance here.) I wish your colors start getting better for you!<br>

Rob, like you say, I love that tonal separation I got in the raw files. I did not know the images could look so much better -- color and all -- via raw capture. See, I shoot weddings and events and generally use jpeg. Raw would just slow me down, or so I think. And the problem with that image is that I could not find in it the colors I saw there in the mountain. Those reds that looked just spectacular when I was up there. But now, thanks to the suggestion on the hue/saturation it seems I'll be able to get them back!<br>

Let me show you what I got so far, and thanks to all once again. (We'll see if there are any more suggestions I could use.)</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

<p>And here's the jpeg image as I got it from the camera.</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

Hey guys,<br /><br />I usually shoot in JPEG but I decided to use RAW capture (with a basic jpeg image to accompany the raw one) in my D200, since I intended to blow the up or submitt the images to an agency.<br /><br />Now, when I tried working the RAW image in CS2 the colors I get are not the colors I got in the jpeg file, nor are they the colors I observed when I took the photo (these were all Fall foliage in the mountains).<br /><br />The reds (and oranges) almost disappear.<br /><br />I tryed bumping the saturation (up to 75 or even 90), as I noticed this makes the oranges come alive, but the reds do not seem to come back into the image.<br /><br />I worked with "tint" (from -6 to +5) and this made a little bit of a difference, but I still do not get the colors I am looking for -- which, again, are in the jpeg image and were in the tree leaves themselves.<br /><br />I also worked on saturating (+50) the images a little bit (on the raw image), and sometimes reducing the exposure (-1/3) a bit too.<br /><br />Please let me know what else I might need to do to get those reds (and all original colors back in the image), and not end up with a somewhat opaque version of the photograph.<br /><br />Thanks.<br /><br />German Silva<br /><br />PS. I'll post two versions of a certain image (if I can), one from the original jpeg and one from converting the raw into jpeg so that you can see what I am talking about.<br /><div></div>

Hi,

 

Has anybody used the Academy of Art University (sponsor mentioned in this part

of the forums)?

 

what's your experience like?

 

please let me know.

 

best,

 

g

Thanks Dan.

Hey,

 

is it possible to connect studio (or portable) strobes/lights to this camera?

I believe it's the 127 mm. (I left it upstairs.) And you are right, I need to look for a 120 back for it and/or a longer lens -- if one would fit the camera.

 

(I would need to see it in person and put it in the camera on the spot to make sure it works. I would not know the necessary specifications for this camera -- unless I measure the lens board -- but I would not know what else to ask when shopping for one.)

Hey guys,

 

thanks a lot for all the help! I finally got it to work ... and yes, it does move only about 3/8 of an inch -- not the 2" I had read (or mis-read) who knows where!

 

I will use the back tilt for the swing movement I had in mind for portraiture (the selectively out of focus look).

 

Thanks again! It's great to be able to count on a group of knowledgeable -- and helpful -- people as you guys are.

Thanks Sheldon.

 

I am trying (and have tried) doing what you suggest but it does not move more than about 1 degree. I know I must be missing a step somewhere!

Hi,

 

I just got my first Crown Graphic and have been playing with it for a couple of

hours, but I cannot seem to figure out what I need to unlatch or move to shift

the lens. I can barely shift it about 1 degree either way, but that's it.

 

And while I have found mentions of how it can be shifted about 2 inches either

way, I have not found a post describing how to make/achieve such movement.

 

Thanks.

 

G.

Hey,

 

thanks guys for the suggestions! It seems like getting a Graphic would not be the solution I am looking for for my LF needs. Perhaps I would need to close my eyes and just get another view camera instead -- if all the things I ask for do not exist in one such Press camera, or if I would need to compromise on the lens quality, or other features of the camera(s).

Yeap. Hopefully he has to lower the price for his next offering!

Hey Paul, thanks, but it seems people are catching on and raising the price on those Pressman D's. I see one with min. of $635 on the "e" site right now.

Hey guys,

 

I just read about the Chamomix 45n-1. It sounds interesting (and not expensive!).

 

There are some images here: http://davidbram.blogspot.com/

 

Please let me know what your thoughts are on said camera.

 

Paul, that RZ sounds interesting too!

Hey,

 

Thanks Ian & Brian!

 

I may have to go for a MF instead, if I have all those requirements --which are not met in one single 4x5, Press camera.

 

I like the Mamiyas (both RB and RZ) in this respect! Not too expensive, quite sturdy, a nice 6x7 neg, several good lenses available, etc.

 

Or I may just have to get some more money together and get another 4x5 view ... but, wait, they're kind of heavy!

Hi,

 

So far I purchased and resold two 4x5 view cameras that I had intended to use

for both landscapes and portraiture. The last one was very heavy, including

the metal case, etc. (With the one before that I did not have enough time to

develop the film -- and I did not want to spend the money necessary to send it

out for developing.)

 

Now, I'd like to try one of the Press Graphic 4x5s and I know there is a great

variety of them, each with its own pluses and minuses.

 

The reasons I'd like to try said cameras, again, for both portraiture and

landscape, is that they don't seem as cumbersome (and/or heavy) as the whole

view camera equipment I previously had. (And of course I love the 4x5 for many

reasons I am sure many of you share. So, no need to "go there.")

 

Now, this is what I need:

 

1. Portable, graphic camera (either speed, crown graphic, classic, etc)

2. Back that may be rotated to use vertically or horizontally, and that could

be used with a Polaroid back (I love Type 55 film!)

3. The ability to change lenses (to use longer, portrait lenses)

4. The availibility of said lenses (and that they are not too expensive). (I

think I need to get one that accepts "barrel" lenses, or something to that

effect.)

5. Tilting and shifting and whatever other movements one could do with the lens

(or the plane of the lens) for either architectural shots or to provide

variations of depth of field in the portraits)

6. I don't remember what else I need from said camera, but I am sure one of you

guys can point out some other "necessity" in such a camera!

.... Oh, and by the way, I don't want to spend too much money on this thing!

(Hey, it's Christmas time! We can just ask for whatever we like wholeheartedly

and it will probably happens!)

 

In any case, which one of the available Graphic cameras (or any other portable,

relatively inexpensive 4x5 camera) could fit the description mentioned above?

 

I'll really appreciate your input.

 

Thanks again and Merry Christmas!

 

G.

Hi,

 

how do you price a high school drill team photo session? They're about 14

young ladies and they need a head shot and an action photo each. Somebody

wanted to charge them $100 per person but they thought it was too high of a

price.

 

Please let me know.

 

Best,

 

G.

Hey William, thanks for the response. And thanks everyone.

 

Now, I know I mentioned I wanted to learn some differences, but not minute by minute descriptions! :) I am sorry if I was not clear. Thanks anyway though!

 

It would be awesome to get some business perspective on wedding photography in North Carolina, if someone can contribute a little bit more on that.

 

Thanks again,

 

G.

Thanks Jennifer.