paul_serafini1

David thanks for your comment but I'd prefer something slightly more constructive. :)

thank you all for the comments, and robert for the beautiful image. let me clarify my question though. I'm clear on the need for light, lines, composition, etc., but what I'm really most curious about is aperture. I guess I would assume that deep depth of field would be desirable in landscapes, yes? therefore long exposure at say f22, would be better than f2.8? Obviously a tripod in this case. Also, in terms of focusing, in the absence of a clear cut center of interest (i.e. robert's image), should I be focusing on horizon? or is there something I havn'et considered?

Wife and I will be headed to yellowstone national park this month and sure to be shooting hundreds of landscapes.

We've been to many national parks and shot landscapes before but I've always wondered if there are any tips I

should be keeping in mind, regarding proper exposures or focusing. I will be shooting in raw so I'm not too

worried about exposures...easy enough to adjust later, but does anyone have anything interesting to say about

depth of field, exposures, etc. I hate to say it, but landscapes sometimes strike me as the epitome of point and

shoot.

I have recently upgraded to all "L" glass and I'm wondering about UV filters. Does anyone have any opinion on

decent filters that won't break the bank. I've seen them from $18 all the way to $150. I'd like to get filters

that don't compromise the quality of the L glass, but also won't make me spend ANOTHER fortune.

I like to travle light so I only use a few lenses. I have the canon 70-200 2.8 L which I use alot. Today, I am buying a canon 2x teleconverter for that one. I also use the 28-70 2.8 L, I have a 50 mm 1.8 ("fantastic plastic") which rarely comes out of the bag. Next lens will be the 16-35 2.8 L, and some extension tubes.

I would get a cheap back up and start investing in "L" glass. I've recently started doing this, and I'm really amzaed with thje results. The L's are a lot pricier but to me, they're worth it

I agree with starvy. I think it makes it look cool. I think many photographers are overly concerned with such minor wear. I was selling a lens and the person passed on it because there was a scuff mark on the hood. who cares?

Can anyone explain to me - in plain english - the concept of sync speed, and its implications on flash

photography? I would understand it better if you started at the very beginning.

Not sure if this would matter, but do you have the lens set to af or mf?

I hope I'm not wearing out my welcome on this forum. I'm using two canon ex 580II's and a sekonic 358 meter.

The flashes are communicating with the built in infrared. I have one flash on the camera, one on the light

stand. Both set in Manual. I've been told to set my main at f8 and my fill at 5.6 in most cases. I'm using the

sekonic 358 to meter my output. No problem so far. the next step in the recommended process is to fire the

flashes together and meter the combined output. Every time I do this, I get "Eu" (underexposure) on the meter.

My retailer says this is because the flashes are talking to each other via a preflash and this is what the

sekonic is picking up. I'm also told that there's no way around this. The "workaround" is to set up the flashes

as outlined above, then shoot at f8 or f9, and adjust in raw as needed. However, I didn't spend over a $1,000 on

this stuff to have to use a workaround. Another option, I know is pocket wizards. But I'm getting a little

frustrated that every time I spend some huge amount of money on some new gizmo, it just introduces a whole bunch

of new problems and leads to more gizmos. My understanding of preflash is that one flash is communicating

metering info to the other, but if both are set in manual, it's not necessary. Ideas?

One more follow up...I just discovered that the sync cord works just fine, even with the on camera flash, if the flash is not set to wireless shooting (i.e. is not set as a master or a slave). Also, for the record, I have the sekonic set on corded flash.

the 580II has a pc connection, as does the sekonic. I made my own pc sync cord with two female plus. for the record, i also tried plugging the sekonic into the pc on the camera.

Sorry for the rather elementary question, but this is new to me. I'm using my two ex580II's for a portrait set

up. I have one on the camera, and one on a light stand. They're both set on Manual. I'm using a sekonic 358 to

set my flash output. I have made my own sync cord to get the flashes to fire test flashes from my model. Here's

my question; my sync cord works fine for the flash which is off camera, but not on the flash which is on camera.

When I take that flash off camera it works fine. WHY?

Greg, thanks for the excellent advice. There is indeed a custom function (it's CF 7 by the way). This did increase my output quite a bit, but still having trouble getting to 8 from more than a few feet away. However, when I removed my umbrella, I got f32. Hmmmm.

I've been getting interested in taking my 580II off the camera and using it on a lightstand for portraits. I

either shoot with one light on a lightstand, but sometimes I leave another on the camera for fill. I've been

having pretty good luck with it, but I recently bought a light meter to use for these images...everyone I talked

to said I should be setting my key light at f8 and fill at f5.6 or so, but I'm finding that when I put the flash

on manual and 1/1 (i.e. 100%), I can rarely get up to f8. I would assume that my 580II just isn't strong enough,

which was my main concern all along. ANy other suggestions? Also, is there anyway to trigger the flash from my

subject, so I can hold the flash meter, take a reading and trigger the flash, all at once, and from the same

location? Somebody told me I could get a sync cord, but I don't know what that means.

Hi Gabe. If I were you, I'd buy a new ex430 on amazon ($239). I would also keep your old one, until you have the funds to have it repaired, although I have no idea what's wrong or what the repair cost is. Then you would have two great flashes and could start getting into off-camera flash, and/or have a backup for future weddings. However, I don't know if the 430 can work as a a master.

please don't even consider the sunpak over ANY of the canon EX's

thanks for the answers gentlemen, bu tI think I may not have been clear. What I would like is to not have these folders at all. It sounds like William has a firm opinion on tis idea, and the manual seems to be no help.

Hello all. I have a canon 20D and 30D. I no longer use the canon downloading software, instead I purcahsed a

card reader and I simply create a folder on the hard drive, remove the card from the camera, put it into the card

reader and move files from card to folder "manually". Since doing this, I have noticed that all images are

nested into one of several different "folders" or sub-directories on the card. They are named "canon 166",

"canon167", and on and on. I don't know what these folders are, but they're slowing down my workflow. WHat are

they? How do I get rid of them? I'm wondering if the camera is creating a new folder or sub-directory each time

I power up the camera.

I'm curious if anyone else has had this issue, or better yet, a solution. A friend and I have recently started

shooting a few weddings. She uses two nikons and I have two canons. When we are done, we dump all images from

all four cameras into the same folder to start reviewing, organizing, and deleting. We always synchronize the

times on all camera prior to shooting. When all the files are in the same folder we use bridge to first sort

them by time, so they should all line up in chronological order. We are having three problems:

 

(1) Images just flat out disappearing. For example, once the files are sorted chronologically in bridge, we will

notice that some are gone (we know because we can still see them on memory cards, etc.)

 

(2) 99.9% of the images will be in chronological order, as we want them to be, but a few random images will be

way out of sequence...for example, mixed in with shots of getting ready, there will be an image from the dance.

I know these can be placed in the correct order manually but that's a real hassle and to be honest, we shouldn't

have to.

 

(3) Least importantly, after the files have been sorted chronologically, the last image of the day will be moved

up to the front. For example, if we have 100 images, they will be arranged in the following order; 100, 001,

002, 003, 004....All of these issues are occurring repeatedly, and I am convinced they are not user error. Any

ideas?

i have used adorama and amazon, for dozens of purchases. Never had a single problem.

I don't know why you thought we would laugh...it's a primary consideration. When I was just getting into photography, I owned a the rebel xt, for about 30 minutes. I could barely get my hand wrapped around it.

Chris-

 

wow, this material appears to be EXACTLY what i've been searching for. Thank you very much, I'll take this home tonight and memorize it, i assure you.

Thank you to all responders, but let me clarify my original question. Is everything I said in my original post correct? In other words, for the most part (with the exception of these radio poppers) these are the only ways to get both flashes off the camera and maintain ettl. Secondly, am I wasting my time trying to figure out how to get two 580's off the camera because they will be so underpowered.

I have a 30D and a 20D, and two ex580II's. I do a few weddings per year as a part-time gig. I'm interested in

taking BOTH flashes off the camera and use them on light stands, for formals/semi-formals, and perhaps during

dances in particularly dark venues. I'm also interested in using just one flash, off camera on a light stand

(although I'm pretty sure I can do this by simply setting the master to "off"). My current understanding is that

to take BOTH flashes off the camera, I will have to buy radio controllers like the pocket wizards or the new

alienbees, but neither of these will do the ettl so I'll need to use a flash meter and set the flashes to manual.

Obviously, this may work for formals, but not for candids and dance shots. The only other option is to use the

canon ste-2 infrared transmitter, but that is line of sight and especially outdoors, may be unreliable. Is this

information correct? Also, has anyone tried using this approach for formals? If so, did you find it to be

underpowered? I don't want to buy studio lights and/or a softbox unless I have to.