randmcnatt

I heard of a guy years ago who occasionally tacked up all his images on the walls, waved a movie camera around, and registered the resulting film. <p>

See also <a href="http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-register.html#multiple">this faq at copyright.gov</a>:

<blockquote><b>May I register more than one work on the same application? Where do I list the titles?</b><br>

You may register unpublished works as a collection on one application with one title for the entire collection if certain conditions are met. It is not necessary to list the individual titles in your collection, although you may by completing a Form CON. Published works may only be registered as a collection if they were actually first published as a collection and if other requirements have been met. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section "Registration Procedures."</blockquote><p>

It should be possible to register the entire blog, images included, as a single collected work, like a book, then register a new "edition" every time you add a few hundred more pages, properly referencing the original registration and noting the additions and changes. That would be enough to establish provenance; you can save the trouble of individual registrations until you actually needed them to sue somebody in federal court. However, IANAL and this is something you should find out from your attorney.

Frank Meeker asks <i>What do you photograph?</i><p>

Portraits, mostly, families and individuals. Although, on a nice night the restaraunt across the street fills up with 100's of motorcycles, many of which cost more than my house, so I've got my eye on that market ;)

<p>Let me rephrase a bit: I quess we need the absolute lightest solution available, and/or a simple, reliable way to deliver heavier equipment to where it's needed. <p>We want modeling lights, if at all possible, although I can work without them if the payoff is right. We use a mix of lighting styles, so flexibility is key. We like using gels, snoots, grids, etc. <p>I like to work relaxed, but I also like to work fast, which is why we think we're going to love the new studio: we can move the subject from location to location instead of changing backgrounds and/or rebuilding a set for every pose.

My wife and I have just signed the lease on our dream studio, and move in next

month. It's a converted two-story Federal (well, maybe) style house with a fully

usable attic, lots of neat-looking rooms and windows, multiple fireplaces, two

decks, and a small overgrown yard with some nice trees. We also hope to spend

considerable time on location.<p>

It hit me that I may have to play <a

href="http://strobist.blogspot.com/">strobist</a> without leaving my own yard!<p>

So, we're trying to come up with reasonably affordable lighting solutions that

won't involve me lugging heavy gear all over the place every day. So far, we've

considered [1] moving around the house with one or two shoe-mounts on

lightweight stands with gel-cell batteries, [2] hiding small strobes

semi-permanently in light fixtures, and [3] leaving gear on each floor and even

outside (in a small locked steel shed next to the dog house!).<p>

Anyone ever had to face a similar situation, or have any outrageously clever

ideas for portable lighting that won't break our budget or my back?

Jonathon Wilson <i>...often wondered how a big sheet of plexiglass would hold up...</i>

<p>

That could be a great idea. A quick search shows translucent white in both plexi/polycarbonate and PVC available around 1-USD/sq.ft; don't know about in large sizes, though. A few years ago I priced a 4x8 sheet of pebble finish vacuum-formable thermoplastic; I seem to recall it was around 250USD. The stuff they make suitcases from might work nicely.<p>

Clear Lexan polycarbonate with a scratch-resistant sulfonyl coating of some kind has been used around hockey rinks for decades. Kinda pricey, I'd imagine, but that could be the ultimate backdrop saver.<p>

PS, Mike: I realized that you could already be using the type of bath panel panel I suggested. My appologies if so. When I go to Lowes or HD for Melamine panels I come back with a 4x8 (closer to 50x98") slab of 3/4 MDF with plastic coating on one or both sides. We use it all over the place for custom shelving.

The best I've found is to run your white background - be it paper, muslin, or coated - under a 4x8 white "bath panel". With proper lighting the panel will melt right into the background. They sell at Lowes or Home Depot for less than $20. The panel resists scuffs and such, is fairly easy to scrub clean if needed, and protects the background from considerable insult. White scuff-guard shoe polish can fill in any scratches and gouges pretty well, although arctic white auto touch-up paint works better. A panel can last about a year in heavy use, if you're careful with it. The drawback is the weight; be careful of your back.

I once ran into a photographer from California who used a stucco sweep (ie, cement over wire wall and curve, down to a concrete floor); she had the floor mopped and scrubbed every day and repainted every week or two, and had to have it stripped and recoated annually. A real white background fanatic, there.

You might try:

http://www.tecwest.com/lighting/tec_xenon_flashtubes/studio.htm

http://www.bulbman.com

http://www.topbulb.com

Standard travelling photographer's posing bench from the 60's/70's, very strurdy, very versatile:

Start with a 12x24 inch piece of 3/4 plywood, furniture grade if possible, round the corners to about a 2 inch radius. Add four legs of 3/4 galvanized pipe, 16 inch if you can find it, 12 inch otherwise, along with four floor flanges and 16 1/4-20 machine screws (I prefer carriage bolts, but countersunk work well, too) and 16 lock nuts (the kind with a nylon insert), and 4 rubber/plastic "crutch-tip" furniture leg ends. You can wrap it with upholstery if you want, but if not, lacquer or paint it heavily to prevent splinters.

(Actually, nowadays I'd go with 16x32; my target customers seem to be putting on some weight lately ;))

A 12x12x3 pillow or box can be used to adjust the heights of the subjects. In the good ol' days we used four 70mm-100' Vericolor film boxes duct-taped together.

For cheap adjustable seating, haunt the thrift shops looking for serviceable pneumatic office (task) chairs; the kind without arms are best, and if you can find one without all it's rollers you can usually get it really, really cheap. Replace whatever rollers it does have with simple furniture glides, and take off the back.

Have you checked with vets in the area?

I'm assuming from the phone number on your site that you're in Minnesota.

You might try Lakehead Cooperative Rabbit Industries in Esko; I don't have an address. They seem to be the representatives of the rabbit-for-dinner industry in your area (yum, yum).

There's also Minnesota Companion Rabbit Society,

http://www.mnhouserabbit.org/

and/or

Companion Rabbit Network/Companion Rabbit Society of Minnesota c/o Joanna Campbell, 9806 Hamlet Ln S, Cottage Grove, MN 55016

Every family photographer deserves the adventure of at least one LIVE! Easter Bunny promotion, but let me warn you: they're messy and sometimes hard to get adopted after the holidays*, and of course you could never let any of your customers think the cuddly little darlings are headed back to the Circle-0 Frozen Boneless Rabbit Ranch after the session. They can be dangerous around small children (sharp claws for digging, you understand, and they DO bite if they're squeezed hard enough), so you have to watch them at all times. Keep some peroxide and incident reports handy. They can get BIG fast, bigger than a tom cat; 20 lbs is not out of the question (we had a female Red that tipped 25 lbs; she died from heatstroke while chasing the dogs around the back yard).

There are some very realistic toy rabbits available; that's what we use now. You might look into somthing like that if/when the new wears off the cute widdle bunnie-wunnies.

(*Maybe that's why there's a need for a Companion Rabbit Society?)

We have to do this all the time.

1. Grab a (usually rectangular) section of the background.

2. Resize the selection so it runs off the edge. In Photoshop it's Ctrl-Alt-T (free transform), then drag the edge(s) or corner(s)

3. Clean up the edges.

Attached shows part-way through the process.

If your careful it works with canvas and muslins, too.<div></div>

I recommend the Photogenics.

We have about 25 mixed-heritage posing stools where I work. The lever-action pnuematic Photogenics are definitly the easiest to use. The mechanism is smooth and lasts forever, and the removable padded seat (19 USD extra) stays in good condition for a long time.

I don't like any of the pull-the-seat-to-release types. Norman sells one model now, I think, which I haven't actually used. My experience has been that the clutch will eventually wear out, usually with an elderly client sitting on it, or lock up just when you need it not to. I think they were called 'Magic' something at one time. And while I'm thinking about those elderly clients, stay away from anything with wheels.

I don't like posing tables for people: they swivel too easily, and you can't lock them in position. We've got them, but I use them only for small inanimate subjects. A small table or desk the same size is preferable. You can't truly appreciate the combined horror and humor of watching someone on a wheeled, rotating posing stool leaning on a wheeled, rotating posing table until you've witnessed it yourself. (*Splat* kinda describes it.)

Strictly from my own experience, you should start with a good overall illumination for cleaning, repairs, moving props and equipment, etc.; the recommendations I've seen for a well-lit kitchen, for instance, call for about 1 watt of florescent light per square foot -- in your case that's at least 4 4-tube 4' fixtures. It's also very helpful to have one fixture on it's own switch. Get the best and most efficient fixtures and ballasts you can afford. T8's are supposed to be 'the thing' right now.

Then add 4-6 incandescents (or dimmable CFLs), either ceiling cans or RLM-type, on one or more dimmers, to use during shooting sessions. If you have a specific layout in mind (backdrops all on one wall, mostly shooting in one direction) it's handy to have a light more-or-less directly over your normal camera location.