mariah_smith

My 2 yr old pressed like 2 keys on my keyboard and now the background color of

my viewing screen in CS3 is blue! I can't get rid of it...please help...it's

driving me nuts! I'm on a PC, if that makes a difference. Thank you!

Thanks all...I ordered the 1.8 yesterday and am really excited (now I can get my Shootsac and 40D also)! :)

 

I really appreciate the feedback!

Yay...thanks a lot you guys! I don't have a need for the extra stop but I do have a need for less pp time so I was worried that I'd have to sharpen and color adjust a lot more with the 1.8. But, I absolutely hate slow focusing and would trade that for a little less bokeh and quality color.

 

I was thinking of using this for my candids lens at weddings (possible posed portraits but it might be a bit close on my 30d). My 17-55 works great but doesn't provide enough zoom for me. I think I'll give the 1.8 a try and FD's right..I can always sell it and upgrade if needed.

 

BTW - FD, I'm way too sensitive on this forum after reading the high number of slams. Sorry I misunderstood you and took it as a slam...every time I post I'm just waiting to have to defend myself..wow, I need to calm down :)

Thanks David (even though I really wish it was the 1.8 that was all that :)

 

Low light and fast focus are really important to me. Do you think the 1.8 outperforms in low light because if it's focusing speed and/or images quality? aw man, this is gonna be a tough choice. I really appreciate the feedback.

 

And you're probably right about FD. I'm just so used to being defensive on this forum.

Thanks FD...but I'm not clueless and if you've shot weddings and portraits you know that the environments are totally different and can require different things from lenses (ie...focus time). And the 1.2 goes for almost $2k, not $1300 but I appreciate your post with no help at all.

 

Thanks to the others for the info! Color's important to me so that's definitely something I'll consider.

I've read the reviews on these and it seems that I can get a sharp crisp image

from the 1.8 (with faster focus). But, the info's geared to portrait photog's

and I'm more interested in using it at weddings. It'll be on a 30d (and 40d

soon) and I'd really love to save that $1300.

 

Anybody think I should save up for the 1.2L in order to get super crisp images

or will the 1.8 provide enough sharpness and contrast?

I think it really depends on how much you want to make per wedding and how much people are willing to pay in your area. Here's what my '08 package is:

 

6 hrs coverage by me and my second shooter

full resolution dvd of final images

10x10, 10 page flush mount or matted Zookbinders album

$100 print credit

online hosting

maybe a dvd slideshow

 

I realize that I'm offering a bit more than the other's in my price bracket but I'm new and what I lack in experience, I make up for in goodies :) I basically decided how much I wanted to make off a wedding, then added my cost of all the included items and came up with what I'm charging and it's average for my area.

Hi,

 

I looked for a thread, that I though was posted here, that had the sites of

companys that do your editing for you. I can't find it...obviously.

 

So, does anyone recommend a good editing .com?

 

Thanks!

Got it...I had to delete the mask and select another layer. Yay! Thank you!

I'm creating a wedding album from scratch in PS CS3 on a PC. I create a new

background and then I create a new fill layer to make the background brown.

Then, I select the paint tool, click the little paint color square and select

the blue that I want to paint with. The problem is, the square only shows

shades of gray and will only paint in those shades.

 

I can get it to paint in the blue on my background layer but it won't come

through to be over the brown fill layer....argghhh!

 

Any advice? Thanks!

Cool, I'll try that...thanks Gerry :)

Thanks guys...I've tried both ways and here's what I'm running into:

 

With the Web Photo Gallery, I can't find how to choose the output size and they're coming out too small for my site. The dpi is right but the image is too small in pixels.

 

W/ the image processor I can't set the dpi or max size. I can pick the size of the file and what size of pixels I want for each side but since I have portrait and landscape images, I don't want to size them all to fit the dim's.

 

Am I missing something?

I have a PC and want to know if there's a way to do a batch resizing for

uploading my prints to my site in Photoshop. I have another software I usually

use for this but it's not working :(

 

I need to turn all my high res jpeg's into 72 dpi, etc. I know how to do this

individually in PS but I'd rather do a batch.

 

Can anyone walk me though it...if there's a way?

 

Thanks!

I think that this is one area of photography where advertising actually works. Word of mouth is always the best way but if you're just starting, I would contact your local schools and find out about putting an ad in their school papers and/or yearbooks. They also sometimes provide address lists for mailers. The seniors I talk to, actually have their little pile of mailers and flyers that they search through and don't throw away :). You may want to check w/ your local schools to make sure they don't have a contract w/ someone already...some require their students to use a specific photog.

 

I've also heard that myspace is a great way to network w/ that age.

I think they're great!! There's no such thing as too edgy as long as the couple saw that in your work before they hired you...if not, two options is definitely a good idea since it's takes someone who appreciates art to like what you've done.

 

1 is definitely my favorite...is the steeple really crooked?

 

Honestly, 2 is a bite too white/flat for me. If that's what you were going for, than it looks good. Just isn't my style but it looks well done.

 

Great job!!

I love it! I think it's clean and eye-catching. I really like how simple your logo and contact info are...it makes me think you're confident and I definitely look for that in a photog.

 

I think the picture's awesome too! Dang, she had a big 'ol bouquet, huh?!? :)

 

Good luck on attracting clients!

Aha! Just what I'm looking for Emre...thank you thank you

Thanks but I know the highlight recovery deal and it's not working how I want. I'm really just looking for what I asked for...how to merge two images (layers), one exposed for shadows and one for highlights. Thanks.

I don't really care about recovering too many details...don't really care if any of them come back, actually. I just want to underexpose her dress a bit to match the exposure of the rest of the pic (even if that means still no detail).

I've searched but can't find what I'm looking for :(

 

At my last wedding, the bride was in direct sunlight and the groom was in the

shade..ahhh. So, I exposed for him and obviously she's a little blown out. I

shoot in raw and know there's a way to correct this by creating multiple layers

that are exposed differently, and then merging them together somehow.

 

I've experimented and just can't figure this process out. I should also

mentiond that layer masks still kinda confuse me. I've watched the tutorials on

lynda.com but if they're involved in the process, you may have to go

slow...sorry. I'm also on a PC, if that makes a difference w/ the directions.

 

Can anybody help? Here's an example shot.

 

Thank you!<div></div>

The column doesn't bug me. I think it looks like it's just the angle it's being shot at and not that it's falling on her. But, if you come up w/ a way to change this, please let us know...that seems crazy hard :)

I'm voting for the original too :) I really like the bright white sky! The mod is done well but I think it got a little too busy. The original is simple and stunning. Great work!!

Awww man, Sorry Tim but you asked and I don't think you're getting really good feedback here. Honestly, I think you need to do quite a bit more work and practice before you take on someone's wedding. All the images were underexposed and off on their white balance. They also lacked composition and focus. I'm sorry to be harsh but you do want to get better, right?

 

I would definitely recommend shooting in Raw so you can easily adjust exposure and white balance in post process (or learn how to do that in camera, but that's a bit harder when things are moving fast and different shots are happening in different lighting and the same time). Also, study up on composition and how to pose people...and watch your horizon lines (there's a few crooked ones). You had a good idea with the bow in front and the bg in back but it's so underexposed you can't really tell what you're going for.

 

You definitely need to work on how to shoot in low light situations. It's a hard thing to do!! Try upping your ISO and dragging the shutter a bit (already mentioned). I would also watch your crops. I'm a big fan of cropping close but you have to watch what you cut off. Some have random extra bouquets in the corner, etc...

 

Alright, enough critiquing. I hope you get something out of this and don't just think I'm bagging on you (you should hear me critique my own work....which needs a lot of improvement too :)

 

Good luck and keep practicing!!

Ooooh, Brian, I love her skin in fix 2. Can you tell me how you did it or email me the file so I can play with it? mariah@mariahsmith.com Thank you thank you!! :)

good idea.