randmcnatt

Look up 'event photography', both here and on the web-at-large. In fact, doing an internet search for 'event photography turnkey' will get you some good hits on equipment and software.

 

A couple of hints:

 

It's practically the same set-up as Ye Olde Time Photo Studio, so thats a good subject to research, too.

 

Wireless doesn't work well yet. Tethered can be better for relatively untrained camera operators (but stay clear of Firewire - the connectors and cables don't work as well as USB) otherwise stick with CF cards.

 

Dye-sublimation printers are expensive and their supplies are too, but they travel well.

It has a standard 1/4-20 threaded socket on the bottom and is about 50mm (2 in) square. Your head should have come with both 1/4 and 3/8 screws for the quick-release. I'd say it would fit.

Robert's absolutely right: cute don't come cheap these days.

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If you don't faint viewing <a href="http://www.photographyprops.com/">PhotographyProps (dot-com)</a> or <a href="http://cart.owens-originals.com/PHOTOGRAPHY-STUDIO-PROPS-s/40.htm">Owen's Originals</a> and can avoid a <i>severe</i> case of whiplash from <a href="http://www.wickerbydesign.com/">Wicker by Design</a>, try <a href="http://www.dennymfg.com/store/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=106&Itemid=26">Denny's</a> - they're about as economical as it gets.<p>Window display suppliers have cute stuff, too, and the prices are reasonable, but those props aren't really designed to stand up to ham-handed seniors and your typical maniacally destructive toddlers, so you end up paying at least twice for any prop you buy.<p>

If you get a chance, hit the state, regional and national photographers' conventions. The vendors don't like to pay freight to get their stuff back to the factory and will cut you some pretty good deals, especially after lunch on the last afternoon of the confab.

Tyvek...We've been rebuilding our old house, AND my daughter works for Lowes, but it never crossed my mind.

 

Diane, you're a genius!

What kind(s) of props?

If you want the definitive answers, bookmark <a href="http://www.irs.gov/formspubs/index.html">http://www.irs.gov/formspubs/index.html</a>, the IRS forms and instructions page. There's also a 'Businesses' button on the menu that takes you to a wonderfully strange world full of deductions and amortizations.<p>Also, work through the tutorial about <a href="http://www.irs.gov/publications/p535/ch01.html">Deducting Business Expenses</a>. That's where your CPA is going to be getting her answers.<p>

I haven't done one in years, but we used to give the directories to the members gratis if they got their picture(s) taken (some nominal charge if not), and made money on the back end selling packages. These days, you can buy software to layout the directory, then have pages made at your favorite lab or almost any quick-print place or office supply superstore (Kinko's, OfficeDepot, Staples or: got a color laser printer?) and have them spiral bound at one of the places.

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http://www.abcfastdirectory.com/index.php -- some software. I'm not recommending, just mentioning. <p>

http://www.memorybooklets.com/photo.html -- looks like a fairly good introduction to the business.<p>Do a web search for church+directory+printing and you'll get a fair number of hits.

Digital, probably. It's pretty easy in Lightroom.<div></div>

http://www.jensenbest.com/product_p/2322.htm

 

is the same basic strobe as

 

http://www.adorama.com/SAS100.html

 

and

 

http://www.adorama.com/LTBF.html

 

etc., etc. They're not professional quality. They're not even amateur quality. They might be *mart quality. That 6.5 foot stand is not going to be sturdy enough for day-to-day studio use; even among cheap stands those are CHEAP stands; Adorama, Calumet and Savage make decent 8 footers at reasonable prices.

We started looking for a CF-to-DVD solution this weekend, too. What we discovered is that a simple CF-to-HD (eg, Wolverine) runs $100-300 USD, and if you just want an on-site backup for the cards you won't be reusing for a while, that's the way to go.

 

A decent multimedia bank (same thing, but with a screen to review the images) like the Epson3000/4000/5000 is $400-700. Nice to show the customer sometimes.

 

However, none of them, so far, will burn a DVD. On the other hand, BestBuy, et al, have laptops that will do it all for under $500. That's the way we're going to go.

I see a hole where a Flash thingy should be, so I'd guess it's there, sort of.

 

One thought: do you really want people to have access to the original-size images? They take forever to load, and on most monitors your viewers are only going to be able to see an eyeball or two anyway. (And don't assume SmugMug's "protect right-click" will actually work: they download to my computer just fine <wink>)

"...vicegrips..." <i>*shudder*</i> See if you can find a wrench or socket that will fit that top lug first, and a

strap-wrench for the shaft. <p> If that threaded hole in the center goes all the way through it's a good place for a drop of penetrating oil.<p> The heat-it-up idea is good, but I'd recommend wrapping the shaft with wet rags to help prevent possible warping. After you get the top piece smokin' hot, give it a sharp rap with a hammer or other tool (don't beat it enough to leave scars ;) just tap it a good one!); it there's any Loctite or such on the threads it should come free.

GASP! A photographer who actually has an option for us poor fools who don't like, don't need, don't want and only barely tolerate Flash? That's definitely refreshing. Thanks also for putting your location on the opening page; it's strange how many photographers expect to get work without even letting customers know where in the world they are.

 

Since my browser doesn't open new windows, I'm not particularly upset by that target-attribute that Aaron dislikes, but I do agree with him: you should stay in the same window.

 

Next, you may want to look at scalability, unless you are using your site to weed out the deadbeats who don't own a widescreen monitor.<div></div>

<i>I'm partnering with a friend that has many years experience at event photography...and also most of the hardware.</i>.<p>In that case, it would make more sense to find compatible or even identical equipment. I know from hair-tearing experience that wedging new hardware and software into an existing workflow is the hardest part of the equation.<p>Unless you're already committed to Mitsi printers and/or software, or are ready to buy into the entire Mitsubishi system, I don't especially recommend the Click Lite; ditto for the Fujifilm kiosks, etc. In other words, if you want to go that route, do it because you want the system, not just the terminal.

First, forget about dpi and print sizes inside PS, just output full-size jpegs. PS Quality 10 is just fine, but you can go to 12 if it makes you feel better.

 

You don't say what size enlargements you are getting printed, but our local Sam's only makes prints up to (I think) 8x10 on a Fuji minilab; everything larger is on an Epson wide-format inkjet (but they don't advertise that fact). That may be part of your problem. You may need to gang-print some smaller images to get a reliable test (ie, make up an 11x14 composite from a bunch of small pictures and get that printed as a test).

 

If you're sending to Sam's, don't bother with profiling, just set everything up for sRGB. (and I don't know that I'd trust Easy Batch to convert from (presumably) AdobeRGB to sRGB as much as I would Photoshop.)

 

 

Once this little crisis is over, either take Jeffrey's advice and find a good pro lab or two (there are "advanced amateur" labs that don't charge much more than Wally) or invest in a good high-grade inkjet printer for yourself.

Linux

Find a lab that offers Duratrans (do a web search and you'll get plenty of info).

 

Many ink jet printers, like Epson's large format line, can print on roll paper. Print too dark and will be viewable like a transparency.

 

For mounting, either strip old thrift-shop lamp shades or braze copper or brass into a new shade -- MAP gas torches and solder at any home-improvement store, copper and brass at hobby shops.

 

The images can be glued on (high-temp hot glue works, for a while at least). You can also use glued-on or iron-on fabric bias tape. Or get a leather-shop lacing punch, punch lacing holes along the edge, and bind on with plastic lacing (very appropriate and popular with Old West themes).

They appear to be mainly a distributor of cheap Chinese accessories, despite their claim of being "dedicated to" design and manufacture. I'm dedicated to a 7-figure income, myself, but it doesn seem to happen very often ;)

 

Everything of theirs that I've seen can be purchased from Gadget Infinity or other ebay store at lower prices, although their shipping and delivery may be less expensive and more reliable in the States. As a matter of fact, they sell on ebay, too, at lower prices than their Yahoo store (try http://myworld.ebay.com/uniphox/).

The site's not there as of now (10:12 CST) and neither are photo-control.com (was up as late as April 6th) or promarkbrands.com (Promark International, Inc.) which is the parent company of Photogenic, Smith-Victor, Norman, Lindahl, Cool-Lux and Logan. To add to the confusion, there are about 100 different "Promark International"s

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From the Photogenic website:<br>

Promark International, Inc.<br>

1268 Humbracht Circle<br>

Bartlett, IL 60103-1631<br>

(630)830-2500<br>

<p>

promark.com's whois lists an email address if you want to try that one.<p>

 

normanlights.com: registered with Network Solutions, but no DNS entry (ie, no ip address); updated in March, expires in 2011

<p>

photo-control.com: same, expires in 2013

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promarkbrands.com: ditto, expires in 2010

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5 meters is the "official" maximum length, to guarantee compatibility among consumer products. If you're willing to take the risk, longer links are quite possible.

<p>According to the <a href="http://www.usb.org/developers/docs/usb_20_092407.zip">specification</a> (9.7mb zip file), the length is set by the maximum allowed signal delay, the minimum signal strength, and the maximum allowed voltage drop on the 5vdc lines. It's not necessarily to maintain 480mbps, but because the host may consider a connection lost if a response is not received within 1500 nanoseconds.

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If you have a strong sender and forgiving software on the host a longer delay may be possible. Also, the spec requires 4.4vdc at the end of the cable, but if you use larger wire than officially allowed, you can get a smaller power drop and a longer cable; or if the device on the end of that cable doesn't really need the power, the length is only limited by signal delay and signal strength the system will tolerate.

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I've ordered and used custom USB cables up to 10 meters. That's not to say that you should, or that it would work with your camera/computer combo. Just adding a mini-usb adapter is enough to put the rig seriously over the edge. But if you're willing to pay the price for a custom cable and to take the hit if it doesn't work, it may be possible.

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Even better are the Cat5 extenders Anthony mentioned, and there are fiber links which can reach over 40 meters.

The Walgreens printer, like most these days, probably has a skin-tone rendering algorithm built in. In the picture you posted, the baby's skin is a bit off-color, especially on the near cheek, which is a definite magenta. The lab's computer tried to correct the hue on the skin and the neutral background became orange. The same thing happened to the density: they're not used to customers with absolutely pure white backgrounds, so the computer "corrected" it for you. Like Nicholas said, be sure to choose the no-corrections option.

 

We use Walgreens from time to time, when we need real glossy prints done fast and have had no color problems with them.

Sounds like what you want is a "snoot"; search for that. Adorama carries about 100 different models, including a LumiQuest wrap-around.

 

Or just make a cone out of black paper and tape or rubber-band it to the strobe, or wrap some heavy paper around the head, like a tunnel. A small box about the same size as the strobe can work, too (a jumbo Jello box, maybe).

www.simplephoto.com

Dichroic filters operate by covering a part of the light beam from the lamp. The mixing chamber, as the name implies, mixes all the colors back into a uniform light source.<div></div>

I save the skin texture in a separate layer with a combination of high-pass and gaussian blur, and add it back in later. It's a fairly common technique, I believe.