martin_alston

I don't use PS much except for making digital negatives which I always change to a resolution of 360. That's what I set this photo to by habit.

I took some family portrait shots last night with my Rebel XT in RAW

mode. After opening the photo in Photoshop I cropped with a set crop

size of 16X20. While fit on the screen the shot looked great but if I

changed to "print view" things got a little fuzzy. I normally shoot

in large JPEG format for everyday shooting and believe the size of

the pic comes out to something like 30X40 when opened. Therefore

making the photo 16X20 would be reducing the size and shouldn't loose

any quality. Why did the RAW, which is supposed to be superior, do

this? Is it just my monitor showing the pixels? 16X20 isn't THAT big.

Which one of these lenses would you recommend and why for a Rebel

XT? Looking for something to replace the kit lense. I also plan to

shoot weddings so that could affect my decision as far as the zoom

range.

I don't have either one actually. I'm really asking to see which one I should purchase. Unless someone has a better suggestion. And no, I can't afford to buy a $1000 lense.

My debate is over the Canon EF 28-135mm f3.5-5.6 IS USM and the

Sigma 18-125mm F3.5-5.6 DC. The camera is a Rebel XT. Of these 2

lenses which would you recommend for doing a wedding?

What size memory card do you guys feel is sufficient for a wedding

shoot?

I have a Sto-fen diffuser on my flash head. I've always heard that bouncing the flash is best since it produces light from above. Recently, however, I went to a wedding and the photographer didn't use bounce or a diffuser. Seemed to go against everything I've heard.

I have a Rebel XT with a 430EX flash unit. I've never done wedding

photography but it is something that I want to get into. I know that

having the flash mounted on the hot shoe is not idea but would

mounting it on a flash bracket be sufficient or do I need to have the

flash off to the side? If using a bracket would the Canon EOS

Dedicated TTL Off-Camera Shoe Cord be the best bet for connecting the

camera to the flash? Would this still give me E-TTL II or not and

does it matter?

Thanks Martin...hey wait..I'm Martin. LOL! Anyways, thanks for your comments. I use Strathmore watercolor paper and it works great for my cyanotypes. Of course moving to Kallitypes is a different ballgame. Next time I'll try double coating the paper and avoid drizzling the sensitizer on the paper.

Thanks Jeff, I can understand that.

This just hit me, but after looking at this uploaded image it looks like those marks could be from where I dripped the sensitizer on the paper. If so, how would I avoid this? I drizzled the sensitizer on the paper and then immediately spread with a brush.

I've be trying to print some kallitypes with not much luck. First of

all the developer I'm using is supposed to produce a black image.

I'm getting a rather brown, Van Dyke look instead. Could this be

just from not enough exposure time? I exposed this print for 10

minutes under a blacklight bank. Also, when developing, I got water

marks on the print. At least that what they look like. I placed the

print face down in plenty of developer to make sure the entire print

got even coverage. Here is the print I am talking about.<div></div>

I don't know much about Photoshop yet but I am trying to combine 2

images into one. Basically I have one image that I would like to

place on top of another. To maybe clarify this, say I have a picture

of a person. I have another picture of a skeleton. I wish to map the

skeleton on top of the person to give an appearance of seeing that

person's bones. Can someone help me out with this?

Yes, the film counter is on 1. I can no longer andvance the crank. I tried everything with the switch in multiple exposure position. Also, I cannot remove the lense since the shutter is cocked. Anyways, I sent it back to be looked at. Hopefully I will get it back in working order soon. I'm ready to shoot with it.

Well this is pretty late so I don't know if it will be of any help now or not. The way to do these portraits like Annie is she takes a flash reading using softboxes and adjusts the flash(move back or forward, increase or decrease power) until the flash reading is 1/2 stop more than what her camera is set to. This brings down the background and "pulls" the subject forward. Also look at some of Micheal O'Brien's work. It's the same technique. He has done many magazine covers like this.

Well, the trigger isn't locked, the dark slide is out, and the crank has been turned and won't turn any farther. In the manual there are a few scenarios given that will cause the shutter not to trip and I believe I am free of them all. Just weird how it just froze like that.

Like Rowland, I also use Strathmore papers. They're nice and thick and don't require any sizing. One cause of the spots may be from heating the emulsion to liquify it. If the emulsion gets too hot it will fog. I had a girl in class that fogged her whole bottle like that and all her images came out almost black. Liquid Light fogs at around 105 degree F or so. I think other have a higher tolerance for heat.

I've never tried this but how about replacing the enlarger bulb with a blacklight bulb? Then you would actually have UV light emmitting from the enlarger onto the door. Of course it will be a longer exposure than a contact print but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

I just got in a used Bronica SQ-A. I was testing it out and reading

over the manual while going over the buttons and switches. Everything

seemed to be working fine. Then all of the sudden I can't trip the

shutter. The mirror lock-up switch was stuck in "N" but the mirror

was locked up. I could press the shutter button and there was

pressure on it but it wouldn't release. I finally got the mirror lock

switch to move but still couldn't fire the shutter.I tried loading

the back with film and that didn't help either. Anyone go any ideas?

I recently made a UV lightsource for my cyanotypes. I just mounted 6 blacklights as close as possible to each other onto a white piece or shelving. Then made some legs to hold it up. I have all 6 cords connected to a power strip so they will all turn on at the same time. I also have a fan that blows on the bulbs to keep them cool. It has worked great and only cost me about $75.

Thanks guys, I've never even heard of an air release timer. Thanks for the info. I did really want to find a way to do these without the help of someone else. Like you said, it really doesn't feel like a self portrait if someone else trips the shutter. I've been studying a lot of Francesca Woodman and wondered how she did all those self portraits when square format cameras typically don't have a self-timer. I guess now I know.

I recently purchased a SQ-A and have some self-portraits to take for

a class project. Is there any way to incorporate a self-timer for

this camera or will I be forced to have an assistant trip the shutter?

I just got an old Sekonic model 36 analog light meter but don't

really have an idea how to use it. Can anyone help me out? Thanks.