jennifer_durand

Just joking!

I did see this but had to sort out another thread. Have you tried muslin or very fine net. This

gives a veiled effect that can be a bit mysterious. Also taut nylon - get the kids to press

hands and bodies against it and photograph the bumps and shapes it produces along with

the feint detail behind. Try lighting from behind as well.

I'll try to think of some more and send them to you.

I only listen to music while I'm working on my computer. In the field I listen to the sounds of

nature.

"Now that we have photography there is no need for painters"

even so, people are still painting! Young people are just getting into it seriously as we speak.

When they stop painting I'll worry about photography.

Every fine art or professional photographer will have their own ideas about the help they

need. I myself would take on an assistant to carry equipment and assist me set-up. My

preference would be for someone with no experience so that I could train them to work

the way I choose.

I do however know that some professional photographers with large studio's take on

students looking for work expeerience. Usually this is a couple of days to a week. Students

going on work experience can't expect to be taking photographs, they usually get to

shadow the photographer as an observer. Its still valualbe experience and its done as a

service by professionals.

William says : "beautuful photographs that he has taken from the car"

This is very true. I have so many beautiful photographs taken from car windows either

because it was too dangerous to get out of the car or because one saw a fabulous scene

from a view site.

I keep a homemade bean-bag in my car/motorhome (cloth bag filled with rice actually)

that I put on the vehicle window and rest the camera or lens on it. It's a great way to

steady the camera. I use the same bean-bag to prevent my equipment sliding around

when the vehicle is in motion. Of course if I run out of food on holiday I have a 3kg's of

rice to get by on. He he!

Very enterprising and original. I can't ay I've seen the cushion you speak about. Maybe they

don't have them in the UK. I should get two for my motorhome as extra seats. Wherever one

can get a useful item to double up as something else campers get interested.

When you start to count the cost of film it's maybe time to hang up your light meter for

good.

Digital is fabulously expensive if you get into it and you'll always want a bigger camera

with more bells.

On the other hand if you really fancy digital then commit wholeheartedly and sell up all the

analogue gear while others still want it.

I changed to digital and I am speaking from own expereince. It can be a very expensive

change indeed, but I won't go back to film now, not seriously, digital has proved to have

many advantages, but they don't necessarily outway the cost,

Big step, I'm glad I've made mine.

I use different tripods for different occasions.

My favourite when I on my own for comfort ease of use and lightness is the Benbo

Trekker. If I need to walk with kit its fabulous. When the wind blows its a bit light but one

can use a tie-down similar to what campers use to firm it up on the ground. I place the

strap over the camera while its on the tripod and pin it down with tent pegs. It's very

sturdy then.

When I have an assistant I take out my largest Manfrotto, its ancient and its heavy. No

carbon fibre here. Its a killer to carry, the same weight as a full set in a Ping Tour bag.

Welcome to Photo.net and I hope you are going to enjoy photogrphy as much as I do.

One of the most basic things when starting out in photography is reading. Most people

chuck the instruction manuals out when they buy something. Photographers don't. We are

a special breed of people and our cameras instruction book is your only way forward. Even

after you think you know it all, you'll still be looking for something in that book.

I have a camera bag for each camera and along with its lenses and cleaning cloth, and

other necessities I pack the cameras instruction manual.

A college course in photography is a great start. While you are doing that its also a good

idea to keep reading stuff on this forum. Search for older articles in the top right hand

corner of this page. There is a wealth of information at your fingertips.

One of the first things you need to understand about photography is exposure. This is a

helpful book which you can buy on Amazon secondhand which will help you :

Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera

(Paperback) by Bryan Peterson (Author)understanding the significance of the numbers etc.

If you can understand exposure before your college course starts you'll be set up for your

course.

John "we don't have to ask questions to evoke conversation."

Some of us read the message and the link and don't comment on either. Its not that we

don't appreciate the link or the artist, in this case, we are all under pressure on some

occasions when we pop onto the forum.

I believe many more people have appreciated this link than messages posted to it.

Posters and photographers wanting critiques need to be patient, non of us do what we do

here as full time job. We are all photographers who contribute when and where we can.

Perhaps it may be an idea to have a counter on each thread to see how many people stop

by and read. That would give a better indication of what was of interest to the forum

members. This would need to be requested by someone - perhaps Chip who has concerns.

Underneath the comment you'll see "Contribute a critique", click on this and leave a message

as if you were doing a critique but direct the message to the person you want.

If you want to mention a particular comment put the quote from their critique in " " and then

write what you want underneath.

Welcome to Photo.net

One more thing......

When opening your digital camera for sensor cleaning you could do as I do and wear an anti-

static wrist band - the same one that computer technicians use when working on the

hardware and if you have one, an anti-static mat. Digital camera are just mini computers are

are subject to attracting static.

I have long locks so I also cover my head and work in a safe area. For me that's in my Studio

Cubelite. I know this sounds fussy, digital cameras are very expensive and I love my

equipment. I'm fussy about everything actually.

Do not blow - VACUUM ONLY"

Green Clean Sensor Cleaning Kit : http://www.warehouseexpress.com/?PHOTO/cleaning/

greenclean.html#PC304699

I use the above product for sensor cleaning and everything else including my keyboard,

lenses and any other sensitive and precious equipment.

When you blow into the camera or onto the sensor all you are doing is displacing the dust,

not removing it. The pressure within the air can are far too strong for sensitive equipment,

you'll do more damage than you intend.

If the dirt is stubborn use Dust Aid : http://www.cameraclean.co.uk/main/technical/

dust_aid.php

I use dust aid only after I have tried Green Clean sensor vacuuming as a last resort. ideally

you should never touch your sensor.

You're on Pete, it's better than reading about moaning. I'll contribute to your photo and give

this a miss.

When on looks through the thousands of photographs on PN one has to agree that a very

small percent of it is something we've not seen before. There are many thousands of images

of flower macro's for instance so if someone thinks they are below average (3) or average (4)

there isn't much in it. They need to be totally new, exciting, never been seen before if you

want the image to get 6's and 7's.Only 1% of images fall into 7's and about 2% into 6's.

Anyone who constantly wants 7's needs to come back down to ground level. Very few

photographers achieve that standard and even fewer achive this standard on a daily basis.

"For me to write as much as I do about photography without sharing my own images

suggested fakery and cowardice."

This is possibly the most insightful thing you have ever said on PN. How did you reach this

decision after all this time.

"The thing I hate about an argument is that it always interrupts a discussion."

G. K. Chesterton (1874 - 1936)

JDM ....."This is not exactly plowing new ground."

I agree.

john kelly......""Artists" seek things that are impossible, and the struggle makes magic if

we're lucky. Academics seek tenure."

Please explain this complicated passage in words of one syllable for me.

"There is no such thing as an "academic artist."

You should add "in my opinion", because that's all it is.

PN members know all there is to know and most call themelves artists. One lonely dissenter

won't change anything, Samuel Johnson knew that all those years ago. Knowledge is easily

attainable es[ecially with the advent of modern technology. Research this topic yourself.

"Mankind have a great aversion to intellectual labor; but even supposing knowledge to be

easily attainable, more people would be content to be ignorant than would take even a little

trouble to acquire it."

Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784), quoted in Boswell's Life of Johnson

"Art is anything you can get away with." and "Art is what you think art is."

The above defintions are narrow uninformed views of art, what art is and means in civilised

society for now and how it was perceived hundreds of years ago.