sandra_schaffer

It is nice to have a little P&S pocket camera for shooting digital along side

my film cameras.. and sometimes alongside the big digital SLR. Prices have

dropped a lot and megapixels have increased a lot.. so you can get some nice

jpeg captures.

 

However, the trend I am really hating is the elimination of the view finder in

favor of framing with the LCD screen. This screen becomes somewhat useless in

bright light and I find it a misery to use in stead of a simple view finder.

 

Now, I am sure the REASON for this is that losing the VF allows for a smaller

design and saves the manufacturer money. I also suspect a lot of the snapshot

folks out there are happy with the LCD.

 

I am ranting here.. and I admit it. I will not purchase a digital P&S camera

w/o a view finder.. but the pickin's are getting slim for the less expensive

models.

 

Geeeze Loueeeze.. if I am going to buy a little inexpensive pocket P&S at

LEAST give me a view finder....

Yes Steve.. I mean Elwood.. Edsel.. F Stop Fitzgerald.. whoever you are today..

Anywhere lookling west is a pretty unhelpful comment.

"Since suddenly 99% of my competitors don't even know how to shoot, of course I mention my education and experience."

 

Now THAT is an arrogant Statement. Made me laugh!

 

You can go to school forever to be something but the proof in the pudding are results which usually come fron experience. Your work should sell itself if it is good enough.

Oh geeze.. since 2004? You probably weren't figuring on getting the money anyway. Maybe the child became ill and that is why theny never got the photos or made the last payment?

 

Just give them the pictures.

Sometimes the money is just not worth a lot.

Most of the time I must say it was not my photography that added ten pounds but the extra food eaten well in advance of the photography shoot that did.

 

Of course, you can take unflattering photos with poor choice of light, pose and camera position... and you can add weight and subtract some weight.. but if the subject has eaten too many burgers with super size fries and a shake it is difficult to hide it.

I suggest you rad through Zeltsman's free lessons on posing. You have some nice shots.. but some that are awkward (the girl standing to the front with her BF on the fire escape.. her arm looks huge.

 

http://jzportraits.home.att.net/

 

There is some great advice for couples shots, feminine and masculine posing etc. as well as lighting.. It is a very comprehensive lesson set!

The delays,lateness etc. ALWAYS is made up for out of the photographer's time. Speed is essential. Crowd control capabilities are essential. Knowing you get one chance for many photos is essential. Learning to redo ceremony shots because no falsh is allowed during the ceremony is essential.

 

Why do I always suggest people assist for a season or a few b4 doing a wedding on their own with a seasonced pro? You can learn in a few weddings assisting what you can never learn anywhere else.

Just a question.. why not use a polarizing or ND filter? Low ISO, filter and high F stop ought to cure the problem? Or, because it is digital and everyone fixes everything on the computer no one uses filters anymore????

Flash will remove the cast caused by the flourescent lights.

 

Knowing the proper use of flash will eliminate the color problems caused by flourescent lighting.

Sunglasses are hard because they have a curved surface. However, this is not impossible. Remember, the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflectance with light. This is relatively easy to figure with a flat surface, like a mirror. With a curved surface it is more difficult but not impossible.

 

You won't be shooting straight on at the front of the lens, but you could try a high angle for the camera and fill flash as well as side angles. Fill flash is at the camera, so that will help you. Check the shots with a digital if you are shooting film, tho I don't believe you will have to with enough thought.

Flash and F5.6 or F8.

Shutter speed depends on ambient light.

 

If I want to get rid of the back ground, I increase the shutter speed to make it dark.

 

You can go with a shallow DOF and a "kiss" of flash. I have done that as well.. if it is bright outside you may need to use a polarizer if you also use flash if you want to stay below the synch speed. BUT you CAN go over the synch speed outside on a sunny day and see little change in the photos because the film reads enough of the ambient light.. oh yeah.. it works for digital capture too.

Well, I guess that means in the future people won't be having the fun we have of looking at old still shots....

 

I really hate the idea of this. I can embrace change gbut don't take my newspaper and coffee away on Sunday Morning!!!

 

I still use a lot of film and I believe those photo journalists who could get great shots with their crown graphics had real skills.

 

I use digital too and it is a tool, but please don't make me a videographer....

This lighting is typical of wedding halls etc. in the NY/NJ area. the lights aroung the ceiling are common.

 

If I understand your question, you are attempting to have an in room set up with a single strobe and at camera fill light and are asking which single strobe would be best? I have seen the mid range White Lightning used (the 800 I believe) and a Novatron as well as various pack and head kits. Single strobes are used with an umbrella or soft box as the key light and an on camera flash as the fill light... Are you asking which one is best to buy?

 

I would warn against optical slaves in a room with people with other cameras as their flash will fire yours as well.

At 20 meters you don't NEED AF.. you can just focus at infinity and go or am I missing something?

Each situation is different.

If you have a studio, unless you are in their area for another reason or THEY request it, they come to your studio.. that is where you have your slide show set up and your albums and (hopefully) some large prints on the wall.

 

If you are working out of your residence and you have a less than optimal situation (IOW 6 flights up in an apartment building with no elevator and a neighbor playing loud music) you will want to meet them somewhere else.

 

I have done it both ways.. Starbucks can be a great meeting place or Dunkin Donuts, but it will have its limitations.

 

I have an office and house where clients can meet me. Both are pin neat and the office is large with an area to view a DVD slide show on a large TV as well as a slide show with a screen. The studio area is also in my residence and it likewise neat and businesslike.

 

You are selling YOU as much as you are selling your photography. Many gret photographers fail in this business for a lack of ability to connect with people and sell themselves in addition to their product.

 

An image that looks successful will BE successful.

Glacier IMO. Plenty of day hikes.

 

Yellowstone is also lovely but it is a land of fire and smoke and steam.. tho there is wonderful wildlife and streams. Plenty of Day Hikes there as well.

 

Of course, as close as the Grand Tetons are to Yellowstone, you can get them as well... if you go to Yellowstone.

 

I just love Glacier. It is less visited that Yellowstone, especially at peak toutist season.

 

I might hate it ALL at the height of tourist season.

I know on my film camera with no crop most of my shots are taken with a 35-70 zoom or a 50mm. Most of the 35-70 photos were taken at around 50-60mm.

 

I have an 80-200 that I rarely use.

 

I have a 105mm that I also use a lot.

I don't know about your area William, but around here you can't GET a photographer to take you on and allow you to shoot and allow you to build YOUR protfolio with images from a wedding he/she booked. He knows you are going to become his competition.

 

Yes, working for someone else is a great way to get the experience and if you can work out the rest, GOOD, but most realize that their studio will soon be in competition with the "hired help" if they let out images etc.

 

If they DO allow it and actually help you, they already have enough "help..."

 

It is the best advice if you can do it.

KEH is not the cheapest used equpiment seller but I have found them to be the most reliable. I never had a problem as long as I returned the item within the 14 days.

 

EBay? Well, that is a fine source too as long as you are sure of your seller.

 

KEH has never sent me anything other than what I have ordered and their grading system is quite generous, or seems to be, especially when it comes to glass.

Any exposure with the P67 under 1/125 you want to lock up the mirror and use a remote cable release on a tripod if you want sharp. Best at 1/125 to use a tripod and cable release as well, tho the mirror lock up is not necessary.

That is the moon reflecting in one of the internal elements of the lens (flare).

You need to shade the lens and that MAY eliminate it, but sometimes it does not.

The entire image looks a bit red.. his shirt looks pink!

Go into Levels and work on each level separately. Here is what I did quickly in PS 6<div></div>

I would wait until she books the videographer and then talk to the videographer. Before she books the videographer I would make it clear to her that there will be no video running during the formals. I know of a photographer who puts this in his contract.

 

Talking to the videographer has had mixed results for me. Sometimes it works and sometimes it is about as useful as talking to a chair.

BTW vindictive grooms will also cut the bride out of the photos....

Your Black and white tones need work.. highlights are blown and they look as if they were made Black and White due to noise? you have over flashed as well.

 

Please learn to pose people if you are going to use posed shots. The bride looking down at her flowers over her shoulder would be ever so much more pleasing if her pose were feminine and her shoulder was dropped (not pushed up as it is). The one where she is sitting on the lawn in the center of her dress is awkward.. try shooting so she is not flat front facing the camera (45 degree angle and again, feminine pose with her neck and shoulders, head).

 

When shooting 1-3 people, shoot vertical. The reason vertical adds interest is it improves framing and is different than how we see things (we see things in landscape).

 

The website loaded fine, but if there is a problem loading quickly for dial up customers that may be a problem. Some photographers say that if a bride can't afford cable modem service, she can't afford them (I have heard this).

 

However, some people are on dial up because there is no fast modem service where they live (rural).