mclain swift

Morey's photos like that are done with a large softbox ~45 degrees to the side, high, and a large reflector to the opposite

side. Sometimes there is one on the ground in front of the model. That's it--I've seen the setup. I want to know where he

got that canvas :-)

I use X3200's and X1600's. Love them. For the price you can't get a better outfit and the new Cybersync radio triggers are

fantastic. I am so glad they got rid of that last trigger...pure junk.

The 18-200 without a doubt is a very useful general purpose travel lens.

Nice shot, Erik. I haven't been in the studio as of late because of a new addition to the family

on Monday and the fact that we are moving in a week. Once my new and more spacious

studio is set up I am going to do a lot more experimenting.

Thanks everyone. I indeed share many of these theories and I guess I will just have to keep experimenting unitl I get it right.

Hi James. I think you are correct but in that image you posted you don't have the level of

deep shadow that this guy is getting. I wonder if that is just a matter of adjusting the size/

location of the strips?

I am curious if anyone has any advice as to how to light this type of shot. I

have tried a couple things and can't seem to get this look. The model is either

overexposed or way underexposed or the transition to shadow is horrible.

http://www.photo.net/photo/5707055 I would ask the

photographer but my success rate with that route is generally very poor. Any

insights would be appreciated.

I have 2 x1600's and plan on getting more. I shoot in a 24x24 garage with 10' ceilings and don't seem to have a problem. The x1600's are amazingly versatile. I can go from f2 to f22+ depending on the modifer used. I love them.

Looks very similar to Kevin Major Howard's style. He uses garage door light and a reflector. I prefer this photographer's style more though. I wish I could bring myself to shoot more portraits in the landscape orientation. I rellay enjoy them when other photographers present images that way. I just can't seem to get it right. Oh, looking at catchlights as a clue to lighting can be misleading as I routinely modify, add or delete catchlights in my photos.

I like NX and agree that it has great potential. They need to get it faster and fix the UI big time.

I just received mine today. I'll see if I can take some shots for you this weekend.

Which shots of Jessica in particular?

Good idea! Best of both worlds :-)

Thanks for the answers so far. I seem to be getting both sides of the coin from other places.

Some guys say go white and some say go grey. Why is there never any black or white (in this

case grey or white!) answers in the world? There seems to be good arguments for both.

I thought about white. I just want to keep spilled light down as much as I can. I will have one area painted white for a background though.

Try the WT-3a if you are concerned about cords.

I meter my lights to get the ratios I want by pointing the meter at the light sources. I then set my shooting aperture off the main light. This is how Dean Collins did it and I seem to prefer my results with this method over the other methods of metering the combined flashes or pointing the meter at the camera instead of the lights.

I just aquired some studio space in the form of a three car garage. The walls

are this pinkish sponge painting mess which I just have to get rid of. I am

thinking painting the walls grey since black is out of the question. Does

anyone have a specific make they use or should I just take a grey card to the

shop and get it matched

Don't rely soley on catchlights...I routinely delete double catchlights/reflections and even modify single catchlights or add them in if they are absent. This is not always a good indicator of lighting used.

I'll agree with some of the above posters tha NX gives a much better image straight off the bat. I have compared the NX version to the one ACR produces upon opening the images. NX is always better in terms of color and contrast. I have never been able to use ACR and get an image to look to look the same as it does in NX. I do all my major color and tone adjusments in NX and then bring it into CS2/3 for the rest of the work flow.

Hey Brian,

Well I tried the copy tone technique and while I was able to duplicate the toning of the same

image no problem but when saving the curve and applying it to a different image the results

were not even close. This leads me to believe that the success of any given B&W conversion

or toning method largely depends on the colors/tones in the original color imaage, no?

Hi Brian,

I have tried a method like this before and it didn't work at all--disasterous if you will. I will give your method a go when I get home tonight and let you know how it goes. Thanks so much for your help.

Oops...wrong Paul :-) You don't have any B&W images.

Paul, what is the best approach for duotone? I really like some of the B&W you have created.

Jeez. I use everything from channel mixer, gradient map, pluggins--I have tried it all. Well, all that I can think of anyway :-) I tried last night to get the tones like that image I posted above and couldn't even come close. That is why I am wondering if the results of B&W conversion are directly related to the colors present in the original image.