michaelbonner

What you're seeing is the effect of fast lenses shot wide open, combined with post processing that increases

contrast,saturation, and sharpness, and often incorporates a color shift.

Actions are no more than the scripts that apply the tools you already have access to in Photoshop. You can

download action sets from http://www.kubotaimagetools.com/to get results like the ones you're looking for, but you

can save a lot of money and become more proficient in Photoshop by learning how to create the results yourself.

Try duplicating the original layer (Ctrl/Cmd-J) and setting the blending mode of the layer to soft light or overlay.

Also, try creating a Channel Mixer layer, checking the "Monochrome" box, and setting it to either soft light or overlay.

From there you can duplicate the adjustment layers and adjust the layer opacities until you get a result you're

satisfied with. Once your colors and contrast look right, try Cmd-Opt-Shift-E (Ctrl-Alt-Shift-E on a PC) to "stamp

visible," or create a copy of the entire image on a new layer. Go into Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp mask and set the

radius to anywhere between 0 and 5 and move the amount slider around the 100-200 range. You can play with these

amounts until the sharpness looks right and doing this on a new layer keeps you from altering your original image.

Best of luck!

Yes! That is precisely the series I was looking for! Thank you so much, Phylo- if you are ever in need of a character witness, I would be more than happy to vouch for you being an outstanding human being!

Thanks again,

Michael Bonner

Hey, Everyone

<p>

I, as I'm sure many other photographers do, often spend hours clicking through pages of amazing photographs for

inspiration. However, when I find such inspiration, I'm not always thinking clearly and I sometimes forget to

bookmark the site where I stumbled upon the great photographs. This happens to be the case with me right now in

regards to the work of a certain photographer. I've been looking for it for a couple weeks with no luck. Here's

what I can remember about it:

<p>

-A series of modern high key portraits, mostly white-on-white <p>

-The subjects of the portraits were all flawless model-types wearing high fashion and neo-Victorian clothing<p>

-They had a dark theme running through them- small blood spatters, other traces of the macabre<p>

-I'm 90% sure the photographer was male<p>

If anyone has any idea what I'm talking about, I'd be thrilled. I really can't believe I managed to forget where

I found these.<p>

Thanks a lot in advance!<p>

Michael Bonner<p>

Thank you for the response, Craig. I've been shooting on and off duty for a while now and knew I was bound to run into a situation where the copyright grey area would have to be cleared up. Not to mention the prospect of Navy assignments for commands besides my own. As for the model releases, your response is pretty much in line with what I expected. However, there are a few photographs I think would still be viable due to the lack of identifiable subjects. Lastly, In the case that I do not own the copyright to the images, would I still be prohibited from issuing the photos to the housing company?

Thanks again for the response,

Michael Bonner

Hello, everyone,

I know everyone loves these last minute "How much should I charge" posts. I really did not intend to run into this

issue, as I have my pricing somewhat nailed down, but I found myself in a new situation today and would very much

appreciate some feedback.

I'm currently serving in the US Navy, and in addition to the photography I do for myself and clients outside of my day

job, I also spend a considerable amount of time shooting photos at work as part of my job. Last week, I

photographed a homecoming ceremony at a neighboring command for one of my friends whose husband was

returning home. I did this free of charge, and was mainly there to capture the moment that he got off the plane, but I

ended up having a great time taking photographs of the entire ceremony and meeting other military families.

Afterwards, I posted the photos on my website (http://www.michaelbonnerphoto.com/vfa97) and provided the link to

all the families in attendance. I envisioned as both a nice thing to do for the Sailors and their families, as well as an

opportunity for positive publicity with a large target market.

The surprise came today when one of the organizers for the event (a large military housing company) asked me how

much it would cost to provide a CD of the photos for them to showcase their participation in such events. They were

not more specific than that, but at the very least, I assume they are expecting to use the photos on their website. To

that end, the questions I'm trying to find answers for are

1) Where would I find an appropriate contract for usage rights and do you have any suggestions as to what I should

seek? (I realize I need to find out what they are looking to do with the photos more specifically, but when I do, I would

like to have an answer ready)

2) For usage as defined in the contract, what would be a reasonable price for the usage of all 109 photos?

Furthermore, I would think if a truly reasonable price were negotiated, they would most likely narrow their selection to

the most pertinent photos, so I am curious to know if there is a scalable pricing model that I could adapt to the

number selected.

3) As the photos will be used for promotional purposes and several of them have recognizable people in them, would

model releases be advisable and/or required?

4) I sent two photos to the local newspaper- does this create any type of conflict of interest or legal issue?

I would greatly appreciate feedback on any of these questions. I am well aware of my inexperience in such matters

and I hope I don't sound like I'm in ridiculously over my head.

Thank you very much in advance,

Michael Bonner

Awesome! Thank you, Ellis. I'm happy to hear that I won't have to upgrade my camera just to shoot with a ringflash. Now all I've got to do is upgrade my paycheck to afford one! Thanks again for your helpful answer.

Sincerely,

Michael Bonner

Hey, everyone

I currently have three lights- a Canon 430EX, a Vivitar 285HV, and an AB800, all of which I'm triggering using

Elinchrom Skyport wireless radio triggers. I'm considering adding the Alien Bees ABR800 Ringflash to the setup, as

I'd be able to use it as a typical ringflash as well as off-camera with modifiers. The only issue is that I'm working with

a Canon 350D/Rebel XT, which does not have a sync port. My question is, would I be able to use the ABR800 in a

standard on-camera ringflash setup, triggering it with a skyport receiver? Note: the skyport transmitter fits into the

hotshoe. I'd be curious to hear from ABR800 owners as to whether or not there would be physical or design problems

involved.

Thanks a lot in advance,

Michael Bonner

Hana,

I really like the way you approach your work with families. I find we have a lot of the same ideas. A couple things that I've found that might work for you:

As far as lenses go, my strongest recommendation would be for the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8. It's wonderfully versatile and it rarely comes off my camera. It's sharp, it focuses quickly and accurately, and the 2.8 aperture can get you into some pretty low-light areas. The wide aperture is also perfect for blurring out those less-than-ideal backgrounds. I love the wide-angle effect as well, especially for more environmental portraits. To that end, I would recommend against the 50mm f/1.4 and even moreso the 85mm f/1.8. On a small sensor camera such as the 20D, those lenses will frequently be far too long for indoor work and while the quality is higher with the prime lenses, you will be also be more limited in terms of your compositions than with a zoom, especially when you're photographing subjects as active as kids. At about $400 (close to both the 50mm and the 85mm, I think the Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 will give you far and away the best solution for your money.

For lighting, I've found that one of the easiest ways to get better light indoors is to change out bulbs- most people have 60-watt bulbs installed in their lamps, so if you bring along a handful of 200-watt bulbs, you should see a dramatic increase in the light you have to shoot with. I also recently bought a 430EX flash (around $250) and have had a good deal of success with it. That, along with a diffuser (I use it with the Sto-fen Omnibounce) should pull you through when there's no way to shoot with available light. More light should also allow you to handhold more of your photos, which will give you a better chance of catching that perfect moment.

Another thing you could do about the backgrounds is to bring one with you. A very cost-effective and very portable backround is a few yards worth of black velvet, which you can get from your local fabric store from under $20. Get a couple of metal clothespin-style clamps from your local hardware store and you're good to go. Hang it on a couch, a kitchen counter, a wall- it's an instant jet-black background and it's very versatile.

As far as noise in your photos, I am also very conscious of noise in my photos. For a long time I never let my ISO go above 400 most of the time, but a recent shooting situation forced me to bump it to 800 and I was surprised at how acceptable the results were. I can't imagine that the 350D's in-camera noise reduction is too much better than the 20D's so I might try shooting at 800 to see if that works better for you. I also think that a photojournalistic style, versus a Walmart Photo Studio style allows you more leeway with noise, especially when you capture those perfect moments and in black and white, noise looks like film grain. If the noise is still too much, though, I would highly recommend Noise Ninja. The results are pretty remarkable and I wouldn't hesitate to shoot at 1600 and then clean it up with the program.

That's about all I can think of. I hope some of this works for you. Best of luck!

Warm regards,

Michael Bonner

Peter,

Thank you for the critiques; they are very much appreciated. I looked back through the photos I posted and found that I had omitted several of the reception photos that had wider framings that encompassed more of the surroundings. I may have to upload a few of those. Also, I try to watch my backgrounds while composing but I've found that I sometimes slip up. Did I do that in the photos I posted? In terms of the perspective distortion you mentioned, would you be able to give an example? I'm pretty sure I know what you're talking about, but I want to be certain of what I'm doing wrong and how to correct it. Also, what would you suggest in this scenario- the formals were shot on a military base, which is not the most scenic of locales, so I tried to fill as much of the background with grass as I could, which probably accounted for the camera tilt and height you mentioned. Any other ideas for getting the best out of the available environment?

In terms of exposure, I haven't gone through all these shots to make exposure adjustments, but I plan to prior to presenting them to the couple. I was shooting at the limits of my equipment, especially in the chapel, so until I get better gear, I think I'll be adding more light in post for a while. As for the white balance, I intend to correct those as well, and when I get more flash cards, I intend to start shooting in RAW. Thank you very much for the advice and I quite like your corrected version of my photo.

Thanks a lot,

Michael

Karina, Brooke, and Paulsky,

Thank you for the positive feedback and thank you even more for the suggestions for improvement. I can use all the advice you can provide. The outdoor formals were definitely the shots I was the least prepared for, as I had visited both the reception hall and the chapel (dismally dim) more than once to get an idea of how best to shoot in the venues, but had never tried outdoor group portraits before. I shot with the Sto-fen on and with the camera in "P", partially because I haven't had much successful experience with using fill flash on another setting and partially because I was terrified about botching the formals and shooting on P outside, I can usually get something that's at the very least salvagable in Photoshop. That said, I saw the results and immediately went out with a friend to see if I could work to control the ambient backlight better with flash and had pretty good results with just the on-board flash. Definitely a learning experience. Thank you for all the critiques and I look forward to being able to post more wedding photos as I take them.

Best regards,

Michael

Hey, everyone,

<p>

I just finished shooting my first wedding and I am looking for some honest, candid, and if warranted,

brutal critique. I've been photographing for about four months now, and in that time, I've tried to pick up

as much knowledge from as many sources as I could and I've sought experience wherever it presented

itself- being in the Navy has helped a lot, as I've become the official photographer for my command and

have shot a few dozen ceremonies and events with low pressure and relatively free creative liberty.

Therefore, when my friend asked me to photograph his wedding, I made sure he was well aware of my

skill, equipment, and experience and then happily accepted.

<p>

I'm pretty comfortable with my equipment, as well as its limitations- I shot the wedding with my Canon

EOS 350D, along with a Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8, a Canon 70-200mm f/4 IS, and a 430EX Speedlite with a

Sto-fen Omnibounce.

<p>

Overall, I would consider the wedding a very rewarding experience and I enjoyed the tension and

excitement of the day as much as I enjoyed the photography. I came out with about 1,300 photos from

preparations to reception that I cut down to about 500 proofs that I intend to show the wedding couple.

However, I would also like to hear opinions from as many other photographers as possible, as I would

definitely like to do some more work in the field of wedding photography, ideally first as a second shooter,

but eventually on my own.

<p>

<a href="http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=782356" >Here</a> is a selection of the photos

from the wedding. I tried to include a broad range of coverage, rather than cherry-picking my favorite

shots so that I would be presenting a more honest depiction of my work in hopes of getting a more honest

critique. Thanks a lot in advance!

<p>

Sincerely,

<p>

Michael Bonner

Thanks for the suggestions. The problem seems to be rectified and I've come away with a few lessons learned.

I've been using the 'download to computer, backup to hard drive, then format in-camera' workflow for a while now with a good deal of comfort and success. I also always 'eject' the flash card from my Macbook before unplugging it.

I think I've pinned the issue down to using a USB hub with the card reader, as Joe and Jon have mentioned. I have a 4-way hub attached to my computer, but I don't think I used my card reader in conjunction with it until the first time the card crashed. I'm currently importing directly from my camera with a USB card and have had several (happily) uneventful imports. I'm probably going to go back to using the card reader, mainly because it's faster, but I'm definitely going to try it out with some unimportant photos. Thanks a lot for the help- very much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Michael Bonner

Georg- thanks for the input. I think I'll be shopping for card readers tomorrow and I'll have

to keep the Sandisk in mind.

Ken- Thank you for the advice. The friends for whom I'm shooting are well aware of my

equipment and experience and their expectations are in proportion. In terms of backup, I

will have to purchase more cards, but I do have several extra camera/flash batteries and a

backup camera if everything does go to hell the day of.

In regards to the flash card error, you mentioned that most card errors are user error.

However, you did not elaborate upon that fact. If there are certain things I need to watch

out for or avoid to keep this from happening again, I would greatly appreciate any

suggestions.

Also, I wasn't aware that this was a beginners' forum. If you can point me in the direction

of an advanced memory card forum, I'll be sure to post future questions there when I have

memory card failures as a professional.

Thanks for the suggestions,

Michael

Alright- I've decided to buy the software, but what about in the future? I don't intend to use

Data Rescue II as my primary photo-importing program. :) I'm using a different USB port now

and I'm going to buy a new card reader as soon as possible. Any other suggestions for

worry-free imports into iPhoto? Should I buy a new flash card as well?

Thanks a lot,

Michael

Hey,

All may not be completely lost. I just downloaded Data Rescue II onto my Macbook and using

a thorough scan, I was able to find 942 lost photos and with the demo version, I recovered

one quite successfuly. The only problem is, the program costs $99. It's a pittance compared

to what losing a thousand photos would be, but I wanted to know if anyone had any luck with

cheaper (or free) software for the Mac. Thanks a lot for any help

Michael

Hey, everyone.

I posted on this forum a while ago about a problem with my Kingston 4GB 133x CF card. It wouldn't

import, then crashed my computer, and I lost 50 photos. Since that happened, I stopped using it and

switched to my lexar 2GB 80x, which I've had since I bought my camera 3 months ago and have never had

a problem with. However, when I tried to import the files, the same thing happened- my computer locked

up andnow the memory card says it's empty. This time, I lost photos that were more important to me.

Could there be something I'm doing wrong that's causing my memory cards to become corrupted or could

it be the camera or the card reader or my computer? I've used the card reader and my computer for

months without incident. I just find it hard to believe that both cards are randomly failing at the same

time.

The crisis that I have is that I'm supposed to be shooting a friend's wedding next weekend and I obviously

can't have any catastrophic failures happen then. What would you suggest? If need be, I'll buy another

flash card, but if the problem is coming from the camera, human error, or the card reader, I'd rather not

pay $60 only to lose all my photos from a wedding. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Sincerely,

Michael Bonner

Thanks a lot for the suggestions and comments, Richard. However, I don't think my flash card

issues are over. After one successful import, the card froze up my computer not once, but

twice, forcing me to restart. I got the photos off the third time, but I'm starting to seriously

doubt the card's reliability. I tried looking at the card with Apple's Disk Utility, but that

resulted in one of my lock-ups. I think I'm going to send Kingston a carefully worded email

and keep the card in my bag for the time being. Thanks again for the help.

Michael

Thank you to everyone who responded. I appreciate all the help. I have a while to practice,

as well as a rehearsal the day before the wedding (at the same time of day), so I'll be

working on making the best of the situation until the day of. Also, I decided to make this

wedding an excuse to buy myself the Sigma 30mm f/1.4, so between all the advice on this

post and a faster lens, I feel pretty confident going into this. I will have to post the results

here once everything is said and done. Thanks a lot for the advice.

Best regards,

Michael Bonner

Thanks, Richard and Ellis

I did not know flash cards had a lifespan. Even so, I've only had the card for about a month,

and I don't think I've gone through more than 100 or so write cycles, if that. Perhaps it was

just a random event. Let's just hope it's a rare one.

Thanks for the suggestions and advice- the Navy definitely provides ample opportunities for

experience- I find myself regularly photographing two or three events a week, with a couple

larger events such as this one once or twice a month. I have also been keeping an eye out for

local photographers needing assistance. Being fairly inexperienced, I would love to be able to

work with a professional and learn on-the-job.

Best wishes and thanks for the help,

Michael Bonner

Thank you for the suggestions,

I'm usually very critical of noise in my images, but in this case I might have to suck it up

and see what I can wrangle out of ISO 1600 and Noise Ninja.

As I said above, I'm pretty green when it comes to flash and the ceiling was quite high, so I

had it pointed dead ahead, on E-TTL with no compensation, and I only used it in maybe a

dozen or so shots the whole time. I'm not sure I'd be able to become confident in the use

of a two flashes at once in the time I have.

Also, I don't know if it's a personal thing, but when I'm looking through my photos in a

given place, I find that processing them to where they match what I saw with my eye is

what comes out most pleasing to me, even if it doesn't always result in a centered

histogram. I try to go through my photos, correcting poor exposure and obvious color

casts, but I've found that pushing these further towards neutral tends to take away from

what I felt to be the ambient mood at the time of capture. That said, I looked again at the

photo Scott edited and found it to be underexposed. :) Are my sentiments in this regard

valid, or am I just not able to step away from my work enough to see that I'm making

underexposed, discolored photographs?

In regards to being able to do the wedding, I completely understand your sentiments

about equipment, Kari. In this case, though, I wouldn't have a problem with 90 percent of

the situations- even in the chapel, there's enough light on the altar, and even on most of

the pews- it's just that little section between that tests the limits of what I've got.

Thanks a lot for the help,

Michael

Funny thing- I already have the 50/1.8, but I haven't seen it in about a month and a half. :)

When I buy another 50, it's going to be the 1.4, but I'm looking for a short-term solution. As

for the tripod, wouldn't that just allow me to counteract hand-shake with slower shutters? I'm

not sure how it would help me capture moving people.

Thanks,

Michael

Thanks for the advice. I had already written off the images as a lost cause and shot over

them before posting, but I wil have to remember those programs for the next time that I

hope never comes.

I guess I'll be keeping the Kingston card, but I'll probably be using my 2GB Lexar card

more now- if it does go down, at least there will be fewer images on it.

Thanks a lot,

Michael Bonner

Hey, everyone,

<p>

I was the photographer for a retirement ceremony in a dimly lit chapel earlier today. I was shooting with

my Canon 350D at ISO 800, switching between a Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 and a Canon 70-200mm f/4 IS.

I also had a 430EX Speedlite, but as I've only had a few days' experience with it, I used it sparingly

(futhermore, my diffuser is still in the mail and the ceiling was far too high to bounce the flash). I shot in

M when I was facing the stage to get the best exposure for the participants and Av when I was turned

around, photographing the attendees. That formula seemed to work for most of the shots, but there were

some nice moments that didn't come out. The biggest issue I had was capturing any action that took place

in the space between the altar and the pews, due to the lack of lighting in the gap. Another one of the

difficulties was that all the participants were wearing white, which definitely did nothing to simplify my

exposure problems. A selection of the photos can be found <a href="http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?

folder_id=777862" >here</a>, including many of the hits and a couple of the misses for illustrative

purposes (I had roughly 100 'keepers'). Critiques are quite welcome.

<p>

The issue at hand is I'm scheduled to be photographing a wedding for a good friend in the same chapel in

a little over two weeks. He is well aware of my skill level/equipment and his expectations are in

proportion. That said, I would like to provide the best photography I can. Do you have any suggestions for

solutions between now and then? In a perfect world, I would have a second body, the 70-200 would be a

2.8, I'd have a bag of fast primes, and the ceiling would be lower. In reality, though, I'm on a budget. So

far, I've considered renting an 85mm f/1.8 or a 50mm f/1.4. If anyone has any other ideas, I would be

very happy to hear them. I've attached a photo I took a week ago of the interior to give an idea of what I

was dealing with.

<p>

Thanks a lot,

<p>

Michael Bonner<div></div>