doug_axford1

<p>I've totally given up on Proms. I used to have 90%+ buy rate and a few years back it had dropped to 10%. I agree with Mark and Joseph. If you can catch a school that's not self absorbed by cell phones, you might be OK. It's just not worth an entire evening for a few hundred bucks and a headache.</p>

<p>Any schools that contact me now must agree to have a minimum pack included in the ticket price. For $10/couple, I'll go, otherwise stay home and enjoy a quiet evening.</p>

<p>Agree with David. My biggest push is to provide as much (within reason) to the sponsors for free. I want the league to prosper and each time a sponsor plaque is hanging in a store or showroom, my name is on it and it's free advertising.<br>

I have no problem offering freebies to coaches BUT we have reached the point where a coach must place a minimum order for their child's photo. Far too many caught on and simply took the free team photo and gave it to their kid. On smaller teams, that's a killer.<br>

I have not and will not offer % of sales. You get on that road and there's always someone who will offer more - just like prices.<br>

Last thing to ask yourself: Do you want to compete on innovation and quality or price? If it's price, you'll be struggling until you are out of business. I've seen hundreds of people go that route and that's the result 99 times out of 100.<br>

DougA</p>

<p>How many are in the teams that you are photographing?? I regularly shoot teams of 40 without bleachers. I use two 2x12x8' pine boards supported by black plastic milk containers (about 20" cubes) and they have held a row of football players that weight 250 lbs. each. One row standing on bench, one row standing on ground, one row on one knee, coaches at the sides. On the 16' of bench, you can get at least 13 big players and many more if they are smaller.<br>

Once you get to 50+, then you need bleachers but in those cases, they are usually at a stadium and I use the bleachers already there. You need a ladder to get yourself high enough so that you are shooting straight on.<br>

DougA</p>

<p>I do those kinds of shoots all the time. A few suggestions:<br>

If a child is having a real bad day then re-schedule. I don't even attempt shooting and most parents will contact you ahead to let you know the problem. Always, always book the sitting according to the best, happiest part of the day for the youngest in the family. It's their schedule you have to abide by, everyone else is secondary.</p>

<p>800 photos is way, way overkill. I don't shoot that many for a full day wedding. Stop, slow down and take your finger off the button. It's digital's worst nightmare - fill the card. Take the time to see the shot, then take a dozen, re-evaluate, let the family take a breather, then take another dozen, then change groupings.</p>

<p>Show ONLY the best dozen of each pose or each grouping. Anything more is overkill. Even if you have lots of perfect shots, they will zero in on a handful of bad ones. Even one bad shot that they see will set off a chain reaction you can't stop.</p>

<p>Take noisy bright toys, especially ones that the smallest child is familiar with. Simply ask the parents to bring a bag of the child's favorite squeaky toys. After a shoot like that I'll be out of breath and sweating - it's hard work acting like a clown and taking great shots at the same time.</p>

<p>Finally, the last resort is Photoshop. If you have nothing good, create it. Just make sure that your PS skills are excellent, there's nothing worse than a bad PS job. If it's good, no one will ever know that you switched heads. BTW, a bit of drool is super easy to fix and should have been done prior to showing the photos.</p>

<p>good luck - last advice, don't photograph family, they're always the worst. The only person I ever kicked out of a graduation sitting (I've done many thousands) was my own daughter - she couldn't stop giggling.</p>

<p>"what size and type do you recommend?"</p>

<p>As big as you can afford. Stay with name brands - NO EBAY !<br>

Personally, I prefer to go with larger cards that are a bit slower over the faster, more expensive cards. When I upload the photos, just go grab a coffee. High speed doesn't matter unless you are shooting and selling on site or taking huge quantities of continuous shots. I've never hit the buffer on my 50D and I shoot a lot of football action.</p>

<p>There are a few uploading software programs that would help you. Personally, I use Breeze Downloader Pro, works great and is cheap. http://www.breezesys.com/Downloader/index.htm</p>

<p>The other biggie for me is that CMOS uses far less power than CCD. I used to swap batteries all the time in the old days, now I have never had to use a second battery even on a full day of shooting.</p>

<p>In my experience, Bob is correct. Canon warranty varies by product and region.I have talked to Canon about different product warranties and it seems to be hit & miss.<br>

I have bought a grey market lens in the past but I think you are pushing the limits on a camera. Just too many things that can go wrong and it will only take one repair to make it cost more than buying in Canada. IMO Canon cameras in Canada (if you shop carefully) are priced very well compared to most markets when making a full comparison. Canon accessories are another matter entirely.<br>

I just got an email today for The Camera Store in Calgary with new lower prices on the 50D. I just bought one a month ago elsewhere. Most decent stores will price match any Cdn. competitor.</p>

<p>I've got tens of thousands invested in Canon - back in film days I owned Nikon. <br>

If I had to do it all over again I would have bought Google stock at $5. and then I could own both. Or better yet, retired and wouldn't have to take photos for a living ever again.<br>

The answers are correct, one is better this month, the other is better next month - take yer pick. A few months ago I did a hockey shoot with a friend who has all Nikon. We traded cameras for 30 min. just to see. After 30 min. we both equally decided that we both hated the other guy's camera. <br>

Get the picture?</p>

<p>I can only think of one scenario that would cause this and that would be the loss of communication during your selection.<br>

You aren't providing enough information to fully answer your question. Are you selecting with a mouse, pen tool or tablet? Do you have other cases where the keyboard is not resonding correctly. You could easily have a key that is not getting proper contact on your keyboard or a USB cable problem. <br>

For sure, you are running with way too little ram. You don't say what your O/S is but I have never heard of anyone running PS successfully with so little ram. I can't imagine that the lasso tool would be governed by a shortage of ram if other things are working but you're running on empty for sure.</p>

<p>You should have no problem re-fixing (in new fix this time) and re-washing your film. I've never had this happen but this technique works very well for film processed in exhausted fix. <br>

You may need to pre-wet the film and very gently wipe the film during the pre-wet to make sure that the crud isn't stuck so hard that it won't come off through gentle agitation. Folm is made with gelatin and gelatin is like a glue. Some particles may need help coming off but they should all come clean in the end.</p>

<p>To answer your question, most people (including myself) have the same problem when they first start out with raw. It does take time to get your conversion techniques up to par. In the meantime, you're better off shooting raw plus large jpg. and seeing how that works. I assume Rebel saves both but I've never had a Rebel so not sure.</p>

<p>Just to correst a few misconceptions posted here:<br>

Jpg DO NOT degrade unless you open the file, work on it, save on top of original jpg and do that multiple times. I've personally done the test twice and for a typical 8x10 I could not see any degradation until it was re-worked and re-saved 5 times. There are a lot of variables in the process (what the photo is taken of) and I would never recommend that anyone re-work jpgs and re-save unless there is no other alternative but I think we need to dispell that old wives tale. <br>

jpgs DO NOT degrade when they are on your hard drive or DVD (of course unless either one becomes bad on it's own, nothing to do with jpg) I've heard that one way too many times.<br>

When saving jpgs, it's far better saved at max. (12) in PS. Yes, I've done the test and once again it depends upon your photo but I CAN see the difference in an 8x10 saved at 10 vs. 12. The difference in file space is minimal, so if you are going to compress, keep it as the best possible.<br>

To answer your question, as a few have said, always keep your raw file (partly because your PS techniques as well as your tastes will change over time) and I would save valuable files as tiff and so-so ones as jpg. Of course if everything you shoot is valuable and you have lots of HD space, save it as all 3 types, who cares.</p>

 

<p>It makes no difference which camera you are using for a light meter. </p>

<p>If the streaks are not in the identical position on each frame and if they are running across the frame (perpendicualr to the film direction) then the processor may have stopped while your film was in it and the marks are from the rollers. If the amrks are going in the same direction as the film, then that's not the cause. From your image, it's going with the film but I'm not sure if you've cropped it for posting. <br>

If that's the case, I can't suggest how the processor could be at fault but anything is possible. It's highly unlikely it would be your camera.</p>

<p>As a long-time pro and former judge of pro work I can guarantee you that even during the top pro print competitions, many judges will have huge differences in opinions and scores on the prints they are working on. I've even personally seen one where the same print got a 0 from one judge and a 100 from another. <br>

Now, add the anonymous judges who are incapable of judging anything and you've got a great big mess on most forums.<br>

My solution - I reviewed 2 people on this forum a few years back and have never been back to the critique section since.</p>

<p>Two important things Alice:<br>

1. You've got aphids on your roses.<br>

2. If you want everything in your photos to be perfectly in focus, from 1" away to the far distance, go to your local camera store and invest in a pin-hole camera. The depth of field is infinite.</p>

<p>To add to my previous post. I did have one customer who complained prior to, during and after a portrait session. For the first time out of thousands, I simply gave her the money back and suggested she try Walmart.<br>

Sometimes we all make mistakes and a portrait is not as good as it should be. We always offer a free reshoot and go overboard to do a special job. At other times, perfection would not satisfy some people.</p>

<p>That's a very common problem with a bad profile. Sorry, I know nothing about the Huey so I can't help other than that.</p>

<p>Your sensor is filthy, plain & blunt. Have it cleaned professionally or you may make it worse. From the looks of it, you've got spots not dust on the sensor. Spots don't 'blow' away.<br>

Next time, take a shot of a plain blank wall that is exposed to make it mid-grey and the dirt will show much easier.</p>

<p>Generally, I think people are getting much harder to work for and work with. It doesn't matter what business you are in there are a number of people who seem to make bit*hing a way of life.<br>

Move on and put it all behind you. I have to admit that hearing others complain does seem to make the pain go away though.</p>

<p>Denny's sells a white vinyl that is perfect for kid's shots. It is not as shiny as you might want but I think you'll find the super shiny is going to be a PITA for working with both during and after the shoot. If you sign up for their email specials, Denny's puts the white vinyl on sale about once a month at half price.<br>

http://www.dennymfg.com/store/index.php?page=shop.browse&option=com_virtuemart&category_id=147&Itemid=26</p>

<p><br /> You can set the preferrences to not tab in one window like the old way.</p>

<p>The only time I use a cheapie camera is if I'm on a vaction to a place where equipment might get damaged or stolen. Then, it's a disposable from Walmart. Otherwise, with cameras going obsolete after 2 years, use it to the max to get your money's worth. If you're going to drop a lens, it's as likely to be on a paid assignment as anything.</p>

<p>I would say one softbox up high, slightly to the right and one light on the background on the right hand side. It has either been modified with scrims to get the lower light in some areas or most likely, heavily modified in PS, otherwise his back and pants would be bighter.</p>