drew_streib___sf_bay_area_

I have a set of monolights, and also use my SB-800 as a remote flash units either alone or with the monolights.

The one major drawback when using the SB-800 is the recharge time. When taking portrait photography (which has been my use recently), the ability to snap a couple of quick pictures has been great, and I feel the loss when having to wait a couple of seconds for an SB-800 recharge.

Other than that, it is of similar power to a 160J monolight that I have (which seems right for the rating given by nikon of 180J or so). It doesn't quite fit the other reflectors that I have, although a cheap attachment lets me use umbrellas easily enough.

(I also wish the SB-800 could be optically triggered, but ohwell, I _guess_ I can afford another pocket wizard receiver.)

I just recently made the switch from Nikon to Canon, under the same thinking as you, that my investment was small up to that point. (I went from a D70 and no expensive lenses to the 5D.)

It is all personal preference, I guess. Some of my observations:

* I generally liked Nikon's AF more. It just "felt" better to me. Can't quantify this one.

* I thought Nikon's whole flash system was better for TTL. Also, the SB800 has a manual trigger, the Canon 480EX doesn't, which I find ridiculous. I still bring my SB800 on shoots with my Canon camera and manually fire it.

* I like Canon's lenses better, both in selection, and for their implementation of IS. The Canon IS just reins supreme on handheld shots. I've been quite happy with the sharpness of the good Canon lenses. (I didn't even try the "kit" lens.)

* I like where Canon is heading with FF. Nomatter what anyone tries to argue, bigger sensors are capable (in theory) of yielding better results. This is true for film as well as for cheap cameras. Note that it takes more expensive glass to realize this capability, but that is a whole different flamewar.

* I have no real preference for the feel of the cameras. I liked my D70 for some things, and the 5D for others. I generally thought that it was easier to set aperture and shutter speed on the Nikon. I think certain other functions are easier on the Canon. Probably slight edge to Nikon for me at least.

* Canon has a bigger aftermarket and online support base. They simply have the numbers.

All in all, it was the combination of market share (for support/aftermarket/etc) and the FF that brought me to Canon. Otherwise each has their strengths and weaknesses, even camera to camera.

Do whatever "feels" right to you. Consider both your current purchase, and future ones.

In the end, either is obviously fine for any photographer, and far better photographers than me will end up with both.

Lead time is generally considered to be the time between receiving an assignment (including things you need in order to complete the assignment) and the completion of that assignment, including delivery of the final goods.

It might be best to give a qualified lead time, such as "If I get everything from you that I need, then it will take me xxx days/weeks to complete the assignment, but this timer doesn't start until after I get xxx (materials/description/etc) from you."

You: A professional wedding and/or bar-mitzvah photographer with gigs

this summer and knowledge to impart to an upstart.

Me: An upstart in the SF Bay Area, with a good knowledge of the

fundamentals and an eye for composition, but very little portfolio.

I'd love to help out in a 2nd shooter/assistant role. I take direction

really well, can carry a bag full of tripods and flash heads, and

won't spend (all of) my time hitting on the bridesmaids. I'll travel

anywhere in the SF Bay Area and surrounding California country.

I'm lucky enough to have a day job which paid for a 5D,

70-200/2.8L/IS, 24-70/2.8, and 580EX flash, which is the equipment I'd

be bringing along. I experiment with a set of monolights at home, but

I presume that you probably have whatever strobe gear you need which

is much better than mine.

No money is needed. What I'm asking for is for is the blessing of your

knowledge and experience, and for you to license me back a few photos

for use only in a portfolio.

In short, I'm a 30-year-old male Silicon Valley geek who has

increasingly found himself in marketing departments working on

corporate literature and messaging. I've always had an interest in

photography (was lead photographer and editor of my high school

yearbook, if that proves my geekiness) but have only recently begun to

re-explore the art.

Thanks for any consideration. Please email me at drew.streib@gmail.com

if this is at all interesting to you.

I just picked up a CompuTrekker a couple of weeks ago, so can comment on my initial observations:

It is a bit bigger than I expected, but has ample room for my 5D with 70-200L lens, which was a main concern. It also nicely fits two or three other lenses, a 580EX flash unit, with lots of extra room for batteries, etc. It looks like it could accomodate a 2nd body pretty easily at the expense of one of the lenses. Creatively configured you might even get a 2nd body with a small lens attached in there somewhere. The laptop compartment is more than big enough for my Powerbook 15", which is a larger than average laptop in terms of width.

The laptop seems fairly well protected, in as much as there are 1/2" or so fairly rigid pads on each side of it. It is allowed to move around a little from side to side, though. All in all I'd definitely take the Powerbook on a trip through the city with it, but I'm not sure I'd wear the thing while mountain biking. Anything in between would be a bit subjective. (Noting that I'm a bit overly protective of my laptop sometimes.)

As it stands, I'm pretty happy with the bag as the camera/lens/laptop/stuff side of a mobile studio setup. I just wish that my monolights, tripod, and muslin backgrounds were lighter.

Note, however, that there is a difference between commercial promotion (can be troublesome), and journalistic purposes, and this line isn't clearly defined.

It is, for instance, quite legal to take a picture in a public place of a recognizable person, and post a news story or a journalistic blog entry regarding the photo and/or the person. It is not legal to put that person on your products-for-sale site, and in some way suggest (even implicitly) that they are supporting your product.

Everything in between is fuzzy.

Non-public places are fuzzy, depending on the conditions of your entry.

Many people default to photo releases because it does remove much of the ambiguity, but it isn't always necessary to have one, depending on (1) where you took the pic, and (2) what you're doing with it.

There are books on the subject, quite specific to legal rules of photography in the US (or many other countries). It is a good idea for any photographer to read about the basics from a good source.

Answers from random people on the internet (including me) can get you in trouble.

0. I'm a marketing person, and a photography amateur, so only qualified to answer this from one direction.

1. Your name as a business is perfectly ok, and vastly preferable to some catchy but "cheap" business name which only shows off that you were trying to come up with a catchy business name. If you are legitimately trying to start a larger business, then a well thought out name can be helpful, but I wouldn't worry about such a thing until you feel you're large enough that branding beyond your name becomes necessary.

2. As a photography professional, you're in a bad spot if people are deciding upon your work quality based upon pictures on your business cards. It is more likely that the small print on a bad medium will turn folks off rather than show off your work. Stick with something simple and to the point. Don't go cheap on the stock or the printing, but a good minimalist (but quality) card conveys professionalism, and gets the major point across, which is your name and contact information. An online gallery or conversation is your selling piece. The card just needs to back that up.

The following was just posted to Apple's RSS feed, but hasn't made it

onto their website. It is dated for 5:30AM Pacific time tomorrow

(Thursday).

"Aperture 1.1, a significant update to the revolutionary all-in-one

post production tool for photographers, runs natively on both Intel-

and PowerPC-based Macs. The update features dramatically improved RAW

image rendering and a new set of advanced RAW adjustment controls.

Likewise, it delivers impressive speed gains on any Mac. At a new

lower price of $299, Aperture is within reach of anyone shooting with

a digital SLR camera. [Apr 13, 2006]"

This is great! I think many of us have been waiting for this update.

-drew

These days the word "macro" is often used to specify a lens that is capable of focusing at a relatively close distance. This differs from the more conventional use of the word to mean something more like 1:1 image representation on the film or sensor.

Modern "macro" lenses can be great for focusing on flowers, small objects, etc. They aren't generally capable of making something as small as an insect appear in most of the frame, a capability limited to a truer "macro" lens.

So yes, it is possible to have a 70-200 lens that might be labeled as "macro", and it might be quite capable of focusing close enough to handle much close-in work.

In the end, try one, and see if it fits your needs. I find that for mid-sized objects (a few inches and larger), these lenses can work quite well.

"Send you money" is a scam.

This follows up with him asking for account details to wire you money, since he wants to make sure you're paid up front.

On a worse case, it ends up in you showing up to some random location and being robbed of your equipment.

If you're feeling trusting, ask for a phone call about details, and make it clear that you plan to bring a couple of assistants, and insist on payment at the event rather than as some sort of wired transaction.

It is a scam, though. Asking for your name, address, and phone number is a mechanism for (at a minimum) applying for credit in your name, or trying to scam some bank account.