robert_kennedy

I'd nix the outdoor shoot or at least learn to shoot quickly. December is DAMN cold in NYC. That said, the beaches outside the city should be pretty empty that time of year.

And "supposedly" elected officials are only concerned with helping the voters....

I guess my question is why you WOULDN'T go with a film based MF system?

 

1 - Film is not going to disappear any time soon. And by that I mean in the next 20 years. It won't.

 

2 - If you get an MF system now, you won't have to upgrade the body to get better resolution. Not so with digital.

 

3 - You can get into MF pretty cheaply. A 6x6 folder, or something like a Mamiya TLR can be had for a low investment. MUCH less than going digital.

A decent camera shop in your area should be able to test the shutter speeds to see if they are correct.

And lock up your cat... :)

 

Another way to help make legs look longer than they are is to make sure they are wearing high heels. No kidding. Pointing the toes down can make legs seem much longer than the they really are.

And you still have to carry a whole laptop and power supply into the field.

 

OWTCH!

Get a large plastic container of some sort (bug bucket, small rubbermaid trash can, etc.) and let the sink drain into it. Put an automatic sump pump in it with the outlet running to the drain.

 

That is all you need.

My rule of thumb is this -

 

1) Will the camera stay still on it 90% of the time?

2) Will I be able to carry it in the field?

Hold on, she is actually allowing you to take your camera?

 

No wonder you are marrying her!

 

I've heard that the best way is the box system described above. That or Quickloads/Readyloads. But then cost and film type can become an issue. Get three empty boxes and use them. Make sure they are help together with some rubber bands. That is a must.

You know at first I thought the title was:

 

"Micheal Jackson: his skin tones in latest Dutch mag"

 

Whcih is probably worth an article in it's own right....

Actually I just shot a random shot today on some Polapan and decided to save the paper negative with the intent of scanning it and seeing what I could do with it.

As you can see in the attached image (as dusty as it is), simply inverting the image doesn't work, as the whole thing has a solarized look.

 

But that isn't to say it doesn't have a lot of potential.... I may start saving those things.<div></div>

I dunno, but it looks great! I'm jealous! I love the beauty of wood cameras. What size is the lens board? That might help (or it might not).

I've had two rolls out of lord-knows-how-many scratched. Both in a row. I went back and tried to figure out how to avoid this.

 

I realized that most of my dust seemed to be coming from the film cannisters. I keep them in a pocket in my camera bag. Which I wasn't cleaning out like I should. Dust sticks to the film cartridge and is transported into the camera. A good cleaning of the film pocket and of the back every once in a while is all it takes.

 

I do think the N80 is more prone to scratch than say an old FT2 or something like that simply because it seems to hold the film flater. It has those funky rollers to keep the film tight. Tight film and grit can spell problems.

Go with the N80. It comes with a warranty. Some people may flame me for this, but one of my best friends is a resident here in town. Your time is limited in med school and in residency. Messing around with sending a used camera out to repair for a month is probably not gonna be fun for you. Plus there is the cost of repair. Now a used Nikon could be a good buy. Sturdy, well made, reliable, but used is used. Any piece of equipment that has been around the block will in theory be closer to needing a repair than a new one. Getting a new one puts the odds more in your favor.

 

Plus, I use an N80 for nature photography all the time. I have hauled it up mountains in 110 degree heat. It has been in sand dunes. Exposed to hig humidity. And it is still running well.

That is poor advice. The N80 is a very capable camera. I've used the fancier Nikons and they do the same thing in low-light. No worse and no better. In fact the built in AF assist light is quite nice. Too bad the pop-up flash is under-powered. Which is why I use a flash with a built in AF-assist light. It throws out a nice red spot of light with a pattern of stripes to it. The AF sensors love this and it helps focusing in a big way.

 

Ignore the few N80 naysayers out there. The N80 is a VERY nice camera. Especially for the money.

Actually I've been trying OneModelPlace.com and have foudn it to be mediocre at best for nude models. I am looking to do some artistic nudes since I really haven't done those before. After discarding half the ads where the model lists things like "Starred in High School Honeys" or "had part in Forrest Hump", I was left with a handful of possibles. 90% of whom seem think TFP means "Time For Pay". The few left were all linked to this so called "agent" in town who is little more than a hack who runs around getting her "models" TFP jobs and then selling off the prints for publication! She basically comes on with thsi whole "I have these models who need hots for their portfolios" line, tries to get you to agree to shoot something to the models specs as well as your own (which isn't disagreble in itself. I'm always willing to run off a few rolls to spec for a portfolio), and then starts to change the rules on you! One minute the date is set and the models are doing fine art nude shoot with partial nudity, the next they are doing NO nudity, but you are expected to shoot HER pictures!

 

Which she sells to publications!

 

Caveat Emptor. I'd avoid OMP if I were you.

"I doubt they can make a zoom that's as sharp and fast as a prime and costs less! "

 

They can if you use it on a D60 with a 2x teleconverter!

 

:)

I can NOT emphasize enough that going to a "nudie bar" to find models is the WORST way to do it!

 

I know of a few people (none of them me) who have gotten models either this way, or gotten models who work at such venues.

 

NONE of them had a good experience. In one case extortion was the name of the game with a big old boyfriend showing up in the middle of the shoot and demanding extra money. In another the model was drugged out of her gourd and totally useless. She also kept offering "other services" for an extra $100.00.

 

Strippers make poor models.

Art - Any women that were Foxy in the 1970s are now married or divorced with kids and lots of wrinkles. :)

Hey, I've actually seen crooked buildings. You try acurately framing a Tudor era building and then realizing that the beams ypu are using as a reference have bent over the last 500 years!

Richard -

 

Ixnay on the Ironwooday!

 

Now EVERYONE will show up!

The real question is why he smothered that guy with a handkerchief. Everyone knows that bludgeoning them to death with a Graphic is much more efficent and doesn't harm the camera....

According to the latest from the ASDM, the hummingbird aviary should be opened this month.

The Desert Museum is a great place to shoot. It is very natural and many of the enclosures use a special netting to keep the animals in which is almost invisible. No kidding. I was there once and I swore that the coyotes were just wandering around until I noticed the netting! Make sure you have a lens that has a close minimum focus for the aviaries. The humming birds alone will come extremely close. To the point of where I had to step BACK to focus with my 80mm lens on my Bronica. The hummingbird aviary is worth a few rolls alone. I'd also look at spending either a whole day there or coming back at various times of the day over the week. Activity for many of the critters there can vary with the temperature. You might also want to call ahead and get a schedule of things like the raptor shows. Those are always good for a few rolls.

I am so glad I have a local lab which gladly deals with film holders....