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alisa_stieg

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Posts posted by alisa_stieg

    Adorama Kudos and USPS Disdain

    in Pentax

    Posted

    I know I already mentioned in a previous post that I took advantage of the Gear-up Rebate offered by Pentax in July,

    but I wanted to just let you all know of my great experience with Adorama camera and why they will retain my

    customer loyalty;

     

    I ordered my camera on the 18th and received it on the 23rd. When I took it out to play, I noticed a vertical black line

    running through every one of my images. I called Adorama and they called UPS to have it picked up. When I

    mentioned that I needed a replacment ASAP (for the wedding), they offered to ship me a new camera via next day air

    at no charge to me. They would then credit my account upon receipt of the malfunctioning camera.

     

    So, good to their word, they sent me another new camera, but then I had another problem. According to the Pentax

    rebate, all the items have to be on the same receipt. Since there were new SKU numbers involved, they sent me (via

    email) an updated receipt reflecting the new camera as well as the flash I purchased. I called the Pentax rebate

    center about the fact that the receipt had been printed out on my computer and got the ok to send in the whole

    shebang, so off it went in the mail, just 5 days under the 30-day deadline.

     

    TODAY, I received my rebate information back in the mail, stamped "Customer Refused". The USPS said that there

    was ONE CENT postage due. Why?! I have absolutely NO IDEA! The stamp was a normal old stamp, the envelop

    didn't weight much more than a regular envelope, but for whatever reason, that ONE CENT has cost me ONE

    HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS!!!

     

    I AM SO UPSET!!!

     

    (Yes, I'm yelling. No, it's not doing any good.)

     

     

    *sigh*

    Wedding #1, the best and the worst

    in Pentax

    Posted

    Honestly, I was so busy composing the shots that I don't remember even LOOKING at the meter to see what was happening. The bride failed to provide me directions to the chapel and bed & breakfast where they were getting ready. I had "map-quested" the directions but they weren't correct and we ended up getting lost, which resulted in my arriving late. I had planned (and left EARLY) to arrive at the chapel before going to the bed & breakfast to take the pre-ceremony shots in order to prepare my camera and test my settings. Instead, I made it to the B&B just in time to record her putting on her dress, fly over to the reception area and get shots of that before guests arrived, zip over to the chapel to take pictures of the groom and groomsmen with 10 minutes to spare before the ceremony started. It was complete MADNESS! My inexperience with both the camera and the event really shows...suffice it to say I was very flustered!. As I said, I had no intention of shooting in manual mode and I think if had used TaV like I had planned, it would have been better, TV would have been a good choice as well...even though pros shoot with manual mode, advising an amateur photographer to shoot weddings in manual is bad advice, in my opinion.

     

    Markus, with the ceiling being wood paneling, do you think bouncing it off the ceiling was a bad choice?

    Wedding #1, the best and the worst

    in Pentax

    Posted

    Thanks, Markus, for the info! Do you shoot with two cameras, or change lenses (between the 50mm and the 24mm)? I was trying to avoid that situation. The color is definitely a big problem for me as well. I can't decide if the blur is actually a blur or if it's the contrast situation. Was my lens unable to focus correctly because of the contrast situation, or is it looking fuzzy because of the lighting? I'm seeing both situations in various pictures. Can you please explain what you mean by insufficient DOF using examples from my pictures? I'm trying to see what you're seeing and learn from my mistakes, so whatever you can point out would really help. THANKS!

     

    Somanna, just to clarify, shots 1-3 are using my 50mm prime lens. The rest are with the 18-250mm.

    Black and white conversion passed through a green filter.

    in Pentax

    Posted

    Well, I like the first color one the best. The second color one has something funky going on with the trees (the ones that contrast directly with the sky). I like the color one better because you can see the mist between the the mountains in the background and the vegetation in the foreground. This is completely lost in the B/W conversion and the 2nd color version, IMO. I really like that...it adds so much depth to the picture and creates a great mood! I wish the wires were gone as well, though!

    Wedding #1, the best and the worst

    in Pentax

    Posted

    Ironically, this was a second wedding for both individuals. They were incredibly laid back. The only reason I was asked is because I was playing with my new lens on the playground one day during summer school when I didn't have duty. When she first asked, I absolutely refused! I knew I didn't have the skills for this! But when she told me they had planned on having pictures from peoples point and shoots taken, I decided it was worth a try if not for the experience only. This is really why I say I think they'll be happy with the pics. Had I been a paid photographer, I don't know if they would have been as happy with them. I mean after all, if you're paying someone for their work, you expect they have knowledge and expertise in this area! I, on the other hand, DO NOT! LOL!

     

    No one has addressed my question though! What should I have done differently under the circumstances? The only real suggestion given was to use a tripod (which, by the way, was completely unfeasable due to the space of the situation). I did consider a monopod, but decided against it in the end because I didn't know if I'd use it again. Exposure-wise, what should I have done differently?

    Well, it had to happen.

    in Pentax

    Posted

    Hey, good job Fredrik! I'd like to see some more! They look great to me!! I surely do know what you mean about being stressed out over this...not sure I'll be reliving that adventure anytime soon! LOL!

    Just need to share this

    in Pentax

    Posted

    Congrats and again, no surprise here! I love that leaf shot, and your VERY COOL lamp post in the POW is amazing! I wonder if you entered that one as well? I'm so very happy for you! Thanks for sharing your happy news with us!

     

    Lisa

    Wedding #1, the best and the worst

    in Pentax

    Posted

    Howdy!

     

    On August 9th I shot my first wedding. I spent an INSANE amount of time preparing for this. Read books, practiced

    shots, yada, yada, yada. I've been shooting a lot of portraiture lately and requests are getting more frequent, so I

    decided to take advantage of the Gear-Up rebate in July and buy a new camera and had to dive right in learning how

    to use it (getting it only a week before the wedding).

     

    Long story short, 1,200 shots were taken all told. After looking through them, I was very upset at first. I admit I have

    incredibly unrealistic expectations and hoped that they would all be great (HA!) and was very frustrated with the

    results. The conditions we were working in was basically a very small chapel with a TON of windows. This created a

    high contrast situation in nearly every shot (note shots #4 & 6 imparticular). I was really trying to avoid using a lot of

    flash during the ceremony. This wasn't requested of me at all, nor was limiting my moving around during the

    ceremony. I guess I'm just pretty old-school and I consider a wedding ceremony to be sacred and felt that using a

    lot of flash would be kind of crass. I realize now that if I'm going to ever do this again, I need to get over that. I used

    a higher ISO (I believe it was around 3200) and had a lot of noise in some shots and none in others (go figure!) and

    had my aperature wide open. I also used my 18-250mm lens (even though Maria suggested I stick with my 50mm

    1.7. being that it was the fastest glass I owned) and reserved the 50mm for the pre-ceremony shots only. I thought

    that would give me the advantage of being able to keep a reasonable distance from the actual proceedings and still

    get some tight shots. I had intended to use the TaV mode on my camera, but ended up going with manual instead

    (which I think caused me a LOT of problems). Weddings move really fast and not being an experienced wedding

    photographer, I didn't always get a chance to check the metering without missing "THE shot" (no do-overs at

    weddings, ya know!) My daughter was the 2nd shooter (shooting from basically the bell tower window) and the two

    perspectives really added a lot to the collection.

     

    Let me just say I learned a LOT! And looking at them now (after MANY adjustments in CS3), I think they will be

    happy with the shots. But I still would like to know how the situation should have been handled differently WITHOUT

    adding a lot of flash lighting to the situation. When I used the flash, I bounced it off the ceiling or walls, but this had

    little affect if I was very far away. Whatever suggestions you can give me for future reference, I would be most

    appreciative! Peter, since you shoot weddings professionally, would you consider being my mentor!? LOL!

     

     

    #1

    <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/skweekysoo/ScherylAlan/photo#5239740925664876482"><img

    src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/skweekysoo/SLdMnE1U18I/AAAAAAAACio/9vNC3ALO0Fs/s800/010.jpg" /></a><br>

     

    #2

    <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/skweekysoo/ScherylAlan/photo#5239740953389070434"><img

    src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/skweekysoo/SLdMosHSeGI/AAAAAAAACiw/m_5XcYupquk/s800/074.jpg" /></a><br>

     

    #3

    <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/skweekysoo/ScherylAlan/photo#5239740961775538962"><img

    src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/skweekysoo/SLdMpLWx0xI/AAAAAAAACi4/EWIkEBkeh3Y/s800/018.jpg" /></a><br>

     

    #4

    <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/skweekysoo/ScherylAlan/photo#5239740985244010530"><img

    src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/skweekysoo/SLdMqiyGSCI/AAAAAAAACjA/68N4jl1GDzg/s800/136.jpg" /></a><br>

     

    #5

    <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/skweekysoo/ScherylAlan/photo#5239741007841796722"><img

    src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/skweekysoo/SLdMr291InI/AAAAAAAACjI/sWV4Lg3dVnM/s800/160.jpg" /></a><br>

     

    #6

    <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/skweekysoo/ScherylAlan/photo#5239741026780283618"><img

    src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/skweekysoo/SLdMs9hHguI/AAAAAAAACjQ/M-8_OHpHvk0/s800/169.jpg" /></a><br>

     

    #7

    <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/skweekysoo/ScherylAlan/photo#5239741042265639730"><img

    src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/skweekysoo/SLdMt3NHSzI/AAAAAAAACjY/9zamsIkDQwM/s800/175.jpg" /></a><br>

     

    #8

    <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/skweekysoo/ScherylAlan/photo#5239741055073702178"><img

    src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/skweekysoo/SLdMum6y0SI/AAAAAAAACjg/CTL_vlUh9u4/s800/326.jpg" /></a><br>(Can

    someone please teach me how to use the burn tool better! LOL!)

     

    #9

    <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/skweekysoo/ScherylAlan/photo#5239741077401353842"><img

    src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/skweekysoo/SLdMv6GHvnI/AAAAAAAACjo/bA1VPYzLJ6M/s800/337.JPG" /></a><br>

     

    #10

    <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/skweekysoo/ScherylAlan/photo#5239741104097041474"><img

    src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/skweekysoo/SLdMxdi3nEI/AAAAAAAACjw/leNwJgfrhzg/s800/346.JPG" /></a>

     

    tripod help?

    in Pentax

    Posted

    I really like Haig's advice. I kind of think this is similar to LBA...you start out with one and then discover a need for more based on your shooting habits. You won't really know if you NEED an expensive tripod until you use an inexpensive one and find it's not fulfilling your needs. Does that make sense? It would be a shame to invest a lot of money if USING the tripod doesn't happen. That said, Justin has made many good points in regards to tripods in this post and others. I read through this thread quite quickly, but don't think I saw the point that what the tripod is MADE of is important (as per Justin, carbon absorbs more vibrations and inproves the resolution of your pictures...I had NO idea! LOL!).

    K20D dust alert

    in Pentax

    Posted

    "....btw the k20d is so much better than the k100d....I just love it...maybe more so because I never used the k10d"

     

    I 100% agree with you, but there's no way I'd EVER part with me K100D. It's still such a great little camera!

    Shooting in the shade

    in Pentax

    Posted

    There are some good tutorials on using a light meter on YouTube. You might check there before you decide to buy one. I've toyed with the idea myself. But they are kind of pricey.

     

    Reflectors are pretty cheap. You might try bouncing some of the light back on her face using a reflector.

     

    I think the image is pretty wonderful, but you could always adjust the fill using Photoshop if you want the light on her face brighter.

     

    Lisa

    New with Pentax K10D

    in Pentax

    Posted

    Stephanie, what Mis says is true. Bryan Peterson has written several books that are all excellent. I would also recommend two additional resources for you; Langford's Starting Photography and Digital Photography Master Class by Tom Ang. There are some excellent resources on the web as well that explain the concept of Depth of Field (commonly called DOF) to help you understand more (google Depth of Field and you'll find MANY articles!). One thing to remember is that as your aperture gets smaller in number, your lens opens wider and lets in more light. It also reduces the amount of area that will be "in focus". Think of it as vertical layers between you and your subject, and then even beyond your subject. Depending upon the DOF, you might only be able to have ONE of those layers in focus (shallow DOF, ie small number) or SEVERAL (wide DOF, ie big number).

     

    Bokeh is the appearance that your lens gives the out of focus areas in your picture. Some lenses produce better bokehs than others. In fact, several of the Pentax members have been posting pictures using mirror lenses, which produce very cool bokehs. Here's an article that you might find useful; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokeh.

     

     

    Welcome to the Pentax forum! Hope to see more of you!

    Lisa

    Request for critique, new to photoshop, too much?

    in Pentax

    Posted

    Exactly,Matthew. It all depends on your intent. My first thought when I saw the first post was, "Man it's noisy!", but then again, my daughter loves to add noise to her images because she likes the look. I actually like the color tones of the first one except for the colors of her skin. You could always use the erase history brush to make her skin look less "dead". Photoshop is a very powerful tool with a very steep learning curve and I'm still in the process of learning myself! Play with the same image and do multiple things with it to see what you can do! But be sure to keep the original somewhere safe!

     

    Lisa

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