joseph_i

Camera is in manual?

ISO matches the meter?

Holding meter in subject position and pointing white dome back at camera lens?

Are you using a sync cord, or an optical slave? If optical, + TTL = trouble...

 

 

I'm going to guess (wildly) you're triggering them with the camera flash... if so, google 'slave flash with ttl', & you'll see the problem. That's my 2 dollar bet.

*edit- IMHO*

 

just stick with photoshop 7 for everything but raw conversion. Upgrade photoshop soon if you intend to shoot RAW images.

Create a photoshop action. Install as little software as possible, INHO. Photoshop 7 is very robust. Learning to use actions is important anyway, and batch resizing is really one of it's best time saving features.

 

Basically, pick one robust program, and learn to exploit it fully. Photoshop, Elements, Gimp, whatever. Then choose software or plugins to fill in the gaps. I believe you'll learn to get more done in a more consistent manner, quicker, this way, than using 10 different programs in your workflow.

 

Especially if you use multiple computers.

 

Google "photoshop action resize"

Much better! It's very nice...

Or you could ask him for the copies he surely made...

"I have never heard of a circle flash but, I do know there is a RING flash."

 

Seems you were able to decipher the code. Good for you. Also nice to know it's not something you would use often. Great!

 

Where did you see his budget mentioned?

 

It is definitley something you can rent, even through the mail, to try before you spend a grip on something you may or may not use often. One would probably need to know what you intend to use it for to make that determination, eh, Giamp?

Like Tom says. Shoot in manual mode on the flash (camera too for studio strobes). Either Meter the flash, or chimp it in.

 

The studio is about controlling light anyway, so TTL should really be avoided. Set a consistent exposure to begin with, then shoot away. Each frame from the shoot will match, vs. some too light, some too dark, some right, 1/2 not, etc.

"We are subjected to a non stop variety of "beautiful people"."

 

OH, the HORROR!

You do know skinny women are just as real as fat ones, right? Kids or no kids, right?

 

Models are there to sell product. Aesthetics apply.

Don't worry, Dave-- as soon as the check clears, they'll accept you ;)

At 400$, I wouldn't go above 20". The 22" offerings from everybody all use the same panel (PVA), which bleeds light horribly at top & bottom and doesn't show true black.

 

Maybe keep the Sony for checking email on the road, offloading cards (but they're so cheap now), etc, and add a 24" imac. Save some bucks AND get a bad ass display.

 

Color profile software all pretty much works the same. Buy one of the big 3 and you won't know the difference. The real decision is are you ever going to profile a printer? Scanner? If so, buy something expandable.

 

I'd be more concerned with what quality display I was going to be staring at and evaluating my photography on for the next 2 years, than what brand software created my ICC profiles.

And always take blanket statements like:

 

"If you get the Canon, expect it to have IS faliure sooner or later. Its a known issue that Canon fails to address."

 

with huge grains of salt. I've been shooting IS lenses on jobs in all kinds of conditions for years. No known issues Canon fails to address.

CUT THE FENCE WITH PLIERS??? LMAO!!!

Just about all legitimate (not counterfeit) cards manufactured in the last couple of years are absolutely fine.

 

There is no reason to 'overspend' in this area. Many quality memory manufacturers also make cards, PQI, Kingston, etc.

You'll get more per$ with a macbook (not pro, although the formula would apply to a high end PC book too) than a Dell at the 1000$ mark. The cost issue is an often repeated left over assumption from many many years ago.

 

I run both systems... no uninformed bias here.

WOW-- RIDGE RACER!

Sounds multi-grade to me...

[rant]

 

Would you like to see the 2300$ lens saved by my 90$ BW UV filter?

 

You know the Canon 600 (I think it's the 600) comes from THE FACTORY with a plain piece of glass over the front (built in protective filter, i.e. it does no optical corrections).

 

I'm with you that the 22$ crap they sell at Ritz for your 69$ Quantaray is a scam, but your blanket statement is wrong.

 

I was shooting stills for a vintage automobile documentary film when it happened-- I was shooting out a car window for almost 7,000 road miles (among other stuff). How would a hood have protected the front element form 60mph debris impact?

 

Wouldn't a polarizer with 2 glass elements degrade an image more than a filter with only 1? That's not my argument, but it is your contradiction.

 

There's zero to pixel peep at with my L + B&W combo. There's just no difference. I used to only put it on for scenarios like described above, but there's no difference, and I do have a chipped filter to further help my decision, so...

 

Sh*t, I was pissed enough at the 90& B&W, if I had chipped the front element, I would have gone postal on myself.

 

[/rant]

p.s., I'll take a caase full of solid state 25$ 1GB card over a magnetic storeage portable HDD option EVERY TIME. That's a poor gamble.

Add a dimmer switch to each light... those are better for learning than a strobe IMHO, as you can SEE EXACTLY what the light is doing.

 

As a result, when you work up to strobes, you'll produce much better results quicker.

2nd above. There's a FLOCK of Best Bought didgi owners doing exactly as stated above, some even label their incompetence as "photo journalist style", lol. Main difference being I've never known a learned photo journalist to post "which zoom best for news indoors?", or "why no ISO 6400-- manufacturers don't listen!", or "flash sucks! I only shoot available light!", etc. etc.

 

On the positive end, it is an exciting time to work if you have some foundations in technical photography... it all applies the same of course, PLUS there's so many options available to you now, from capture, to processing, to finals... it's a Brave New World out there.

 

Don't get me wrong, I think all the renewed interest in imaging is awesome-- but... I wouldn't buy an airplane, call myself a pilot, and charge for rides without knowing WTH I was doing, lol.

f5.6

photography school?

Agreed, the answer is ND filter and high powered strobes, not adding another camera systems consumer model...

you can't sync a d70s or anything else "high speed mode" with a studio strobe. The High Speed setting on the flash makes it strobe so it covers the fast moving shutter... at a cost of range. The body doesn't do anything different at all during this process.

Your exposure is *almost* a bigger problem... your lighting strategy only enhanced the texture.

 

Didn't you see that under the modeling lights (or hot lights)? A minute of thought before the shot will save you hours in photoshop, and usually provide a much better look.