meghan_krevolin

<p>As Joey mentioned, my primary reason for wanting a lens of this length would be during the ceremony, when I'm forced to stay at a considerable distance. The reason I wanted a 300mm rather than a 200mm is because my main lens is a 105mm, I didn't see enough of a difference for the $$, I'd rather have longer. There are certain shots that I want and just can't get with the length I have. I had a Tamron 70-300 2.8 for my Nikon. It came in very handy at those large/cathedral-like catholic churches but I freely admit that's ALMOST the only times I used it. I always thought speed was my first choice but I wanted to know what everyone else is doing since something will have to be compromised.</p>

<p>I recently traded my Nikon equipment and have fallen in love with my new 5DmII! It's about that time that I need a decent zoom and I'm disappointed to see that Canon doesn't offer a zoom that is 2.8 AND zooms to 300mm. Should I look off-brand? Should I settle for a 4.5/5.6? Do I need an L series, or is the $$ not worth the benefit? Please tell me what you use. Tell me what you like and what you don't! Thanks!</p>

<p>I'm looking for some new and different and amazing ways to display prints in my studio. I've come across acrylic prints, canvas of course, and even prints on wood. But I want something that wows. I did see an amazing illuminated acrylic type thing at a bridal show but haven't been able to locate exactly what I saw. Can you give me any ideas of some really awesome ways to print large display prints? Thanks!</p>

<p>That was DEFINATELY worth my 30 seconds! Amazing</p>

<p>For the first time I will be shooting a Santa meet-and-greet you know like at the mall. I'm curious what type of software I should use (I was thinking maybe express digital darkroom) and what kind of printer will get me the best quality the fastest. I had read a bit on the sony snaplab and I'm considering that so any thoughts would be VERY helpful. Thanks!</p>

<p>I'm on the prowl for something I saw another photographer using. I think it's called a shade screen but I can't seem to find anything anywhere and my local photo shop looked at me like I had 2 heads. It was big, about 10-12 feet tall and just as wide if not wider. Looked like a big piece of sheer fabric on a real lightweight frame. It allowed this photographer to shoot in direct sun but acted kind of like a giant sun diffuser. Can anyone tell me what this is called and where on earth to get one? I need it like now!!</p>

<p>I don't want to use the optical slave sensor because it will fire every time someone uses a flash and I'm looking for a portable setup for weddings. Until now I've been using only the speedlight because it's all I could afford. But I'm finally in a position to get some decent equipment. And I'm looking to use my speedlight as a master.</p>

<p>I'm exploring the option of moving from continuous lighting to flash. I currently shoot with the Nikon D80 and have the SB600 although very soon I will be upgrading to the D300 and the SB800. I've been looking into alien bees lighting with the remote trigger. The little transmitter just fits conveniently into the hotshoe and all is done wireless. But, I don't want to lose my ability to use my SB on camera. Is there such a thing as a hotshoe splitter? Or does my SB600 have a way to transmit to the receiver on the lights? What about the SB800?</p>

Up until now all of my shoots with babies (I do primarily weddings) have been

clothed. But I've seen a lot of great looking naked baby shoots that I would like to

start offering. But, I've never done it so I have nothing in my portfolio to show

parents what I am referring to and "Hey, can I take off your baby's clothes" just

doesn't really say what I want it to say. How can I suggest to parents the types of

photos I would like to take without seeming like a pedophile. OBVIOUSLY I want

these pictures for artistic value, nothing gross or creepy.

I recently made the switch to wedding from landscapes which are two totally

different beasts. I've also simultaneously switched (finally) from film to digital. I'm

shooting with a d80 and haven't had a ton of success with it and got an earfull

over in the nikon forum. What I need to know is , what are the most important

things to know about shooting weddings and people in general. I'm getting poor

color, no sharpness, and extremely ugly skin tones in almost all of my shoots.

Please help before I never get another job again!

Thanks for all the feedback, some of it more helpful than others. I'm 99% sure the reason for my substandard pictures has something to do with my relationship with the camera and it's settings. Or perhaps I'm expecting more from it than I should. To respond to Anupam, I thought I had white balancing with this camera down but the more I look at my pictures the more I think this may be largely the problem. Any suggestions on the best way to white balance this camera. Of course I know the photographer takes the photo not the camera so I apologize if I've offended anyone in saying it takes crappy pictures. I'm merely saying that with all the research I did, all the praise it receives and all that I know it is capable of, I REALLY expected a much better shot out of it.

So I've recently switched from taking beautiful landscapes, nature, and misc shots

that rarely involve people with a nikon film slr to shooting big fancy weddings with

a Nikon d80. I know I know, it's not the best camera for the job but it'll have to do

for now because I am not made of money.

 

Here's my problem, this is my FIRST digital camera!! I've been a purist for a long

time and resisted the change as long as I could (I didn't even get a point and

shoot!!) but I need the flexibilty that a digital lends me when shooting the fast

paced world of weddings.

 

In any case, I find that when I set my aperture/shutter speed/iso to what I would

normally do with a film camera, I'm not getting a good quality picture and I'm not

sure if it's me or the camera. I've taken it to 21890 different camera stores, all with

different explainations none of which help. My outdoor shots tend to be extremely

washed out lacking color and definition and my indoor shots are too dark and lack

correct color and any definition. Likewise, the wider my shots the worse. I've tried

playing with all the settings, stopping up and down, even putting the camera into

full auto mode but NOTHING works.

 

Because I know you'll ask, the lenses I shoot with 99.999% of the time are either

my Tamron 28-80 or 75-300. Nothing special or fancy, what I could afford at the

time. Yes, I've tried Nikkor, same results.

 

Can you help??<div></div>

I am using the D80 and finding the exact same results. I've tried everything that's been

suggested here and some and I just can't get a crisp clear picture without cropping! I've tried

every lens I have that fits and tried adjusting my fstop, shutter speed, iso sensitivity, plus all

the user controlled operations also. And still I get blurry blurry blurry.

I'm a purist and resisted the digital age for a long time. Several days ago I

purchased my first DSLR, the d80. It promised to be the easiest switch from my

more familiar N series and the lens mount took the sigma lenses I've loved for

so long. I intended on purchasing just the body seeing as I have the sigma

lenses already but I came across a bundle with 2 tamron lenses that I just

couldn't pass up. My good friend (and business partner) wanted an engagement

shoot and since it's what we do, I did it! We went out, I used ONLY my sigma

lenses since they're what I'm used to and I hadn't heard overly wonderful

things about tamron. They looked great on my moniter but when we got back and

unloaded them, they were all blurry! Not real bad, but not good. We went out

again the following day, this time I used the Tamrons and also brought along

her canon xti for comparison and the laptop. We were able to unload onsite and

were just as unhappy with the results. We went back out for one more round of

shooting this time to really dive into the settings. We messed around for hours

with different shutter speeds, ISOs, fstops, and auto fuctions. We took side by

side comparisons with the nikon and the canon and the difference was uncanny,

the canon shots were clear and my shots were hazy. I called Nikon and they said

it's possible that the lenses and body aren't communicating properly and I

should upgrade to Nikkor lenses. I would love to however, my last $1100 went

toward the system I just purchased and now I'm not sure what I should do. I'm

just wondering if anyone else has had this problem or knows what I should do.

Thanks!

ps I had posted a picture but someone said it was too big and deleted my

thread. I'm not going to repost it because I would like some help and don't

want to get deleted again.