josh_baker

What I get is a big reflector to bounce off of. I don't have an assistant so I usually find someone (usually an usher) to hold it, or I use a tripod and cable release, and hold if myself.

I would give the guy another "polite" e-mail, and if you paid pay pal threaten to lodge a complaint. With a little bit of

evidence (like you already have) they will likely refund your money. I know it probably isn't much, but it is sort of

satisfying to make them take responcibility.

I did this to a guy that sold me a counterfit CF card. In the end I charged him $10 to ship it back (plus my refund),

then I sent it in a letter so it only cost me $1. The remaining $9 I kept as a fee for my time.

 

Just as a side note, if you get your hands on a file you could file it down so you can use it.

Depending on where you are you could back up some of your more important photo's to an online service. There are quite a few, just make sure that you get to back up the whole photo, not just a conpressed version for online display. International post is always risky.

If you search the forum for "hot pixles" you can find lots of results. If you look through them you'll find a procedure that can "correct" the bad pixles sometimes. I had an anoying green pixle show up on my 40d. I followed the procedure (something like turn off, take out battery ... etc) well the green pixel disapeared. If you have only red pixles I don't know if it would work, but I can't see why not.

 

I think it may have been called a "stuck pixle".

I have had no luck with off brands. I have had two, and both crapped out in less than a week. Beyond that neither one could be recovered with software. I have had a Sandisk act up, but I was able to get the pics back using imagerescue, then I got a replacement for no charge.

You may be lucky, but if the images mean that much to you put in the extra coin.

On a side note I have read that for some reason people have trouble with Lexar in Canon products. I have no experience with this it is just something I have been told.

Have you considered a black roll of paper? You can get it a B&H for ~190. I like the 10' for group work myself. And with 35 yrds to work with I can get rid of it if anything happens.

I had/have the same problem you do. I have had lots of luck with dragging the shutter. I have only been working with this technique for a few months now so I don't think I am confident enough to try to teach it here, but if you search this site for "dragging the shutter" you'll find a lot of posts and links.

You may be able to get the help you are looking for here:

 

<a href="http://www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org/start.php">Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep</a>

 

They donate their time for purposes like this.

For me I would rather use filters than digital. In certain circumstances a filter is the only way. If anything is moving (waves, trees in the wind, people, etc.) you can't do HDR with a good result.

If the subject is static with no movement then HDR is great, but I have had bad results with anything containing water, or plantlife in the forground, and don't even think about it if wildlife is in the picture. I bet you could get away with a portrait it you shoot at about 3fps with auto bracketing though.

Sorry to throw another wrench in your plan, but I read a review on dp review that found bible to produce sharper results than the other programs tested with NEF files.

Sorry I can't find the link now, but it quotes it on the bible home page.

http://bibblelabs.com/

As long as the trigger voltage is not to high (which is only a problem with old flashes) then any flash can be used with any camera in manual mode. Just to note, it is a good idea to tape over all but the center post on the hot shoe of the flash. The other posts are for advanced modes, and can cause problems.

This is how I use a nikon sb24 on my canon 40d.

The bride and groom can't sign away the rights of the other guests for them, but if they are not the subject of the photo then you don't need a release. This means that if there are pics of the bride and groom with guests in the background then you don't need thier release, but if you are using a guest are part of the shot composition (and they can be identified) then you need the guest's release. This is the way it is for street photog. here in Canada as far as I understand.

I haven't heard of it as a problem yet, but I bet someone with too much time on their hands will make it an issue soon.

Try GIMP first. I went off and bought editing software (elements, lightroom), became dissatifited with it, and went back to GIMP. Why try GIMP first? Its free, completely free. So if you hate it you are not out a cent. Also there is not a single thing that I do in Photoshop that I can't do in GIMP. The real problem is you can't buy all the plug ins for it that you can for PS. But there are quite a few free ones on the internet to download.

 

If you want to try it go to www.gimp.org, and download the mac version.

Tape over all but the middle (center) post. The other posts are for TTL, and could possibly damage a camera that does not use the same ttl. That is what I do with my old SB24 to use it with my 40d.

What I do is, stop down my lens to ~F11 then I switch to live view (eos40d, before this camea I did this in the

viewfinder). With the dof preview I start with the lens focused at infinity, and back off until the farthest object goes out

of focus, then I focus out just a little out to bring it back in focus. Then I look at the closet objects and make sure

they are in focus, if they are not then I need to increase the F stop.<br />

Live view makes this easier because the view is much brighter than the view finder ever was.<br />

After this is all done I use a steady tripod, shield the wind if possible, and use a cable release.

The main problem with an adapter like this is that the focus scale is of no use. The different distance from flange to focal plane changes the focus scale, but the lens will focus as infinity without the adapter needing any correcting element, so there will be no reduction in image quality.

I have noticed this in the reviews that I have read. When the Lexar cards get a bad review, it is almost always from a canon shooter, and the good reviews come from nikon users. I came to the same conclusion, though I have no hard evidence to back it up.

I use a nikon sb-24 with my 40d. The only thing that I did was tape over all the post on the hot shoe adapter except

the middle one. (The others are for TTL, and could only cause problems.) In manual I have no problems, all the other

settings ... well ... if they fire at all it's always a full burst.

<p>Yes, and the adapter does not need class to compensate for the difference in flange to focal plane difference since the nikon should be designed for more than the canon. If the distance is less than the canon eos's 44 mm then the adapter needs to correct for it so the lens can focus at infinity. Nikon to EOS adapters do not need the extra glass to focus at infinity so a cheap adapter is fine. As suggested one with focus contirmation would be nice.</p><br />

<p>

You can find an article on this at: <a href="http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/eosfaq/manual_focus_EOS.html">http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/eosfaq/manual_focus_EOS.html</a></p>

I am young, but I come from a medium format background, so shooting full manual is not that bad to me. I usually show up a few days before the wedding (the day of the rehersal) to the venue and if the forcast is the same for the wedding day I take some readings and test shots then (if I'm lucky the lighting will be the same on the big day) that gives me a head start.

With digital now I find that RAW processing lets me get away with missing exposure by a stop or a bit more if I need to, so I actually shoot much more freely than I used to. My suggestion is shoot manual for personal, not professional events a bit first (both indoors and out) that'll give you some good practice. Then you'll feel comfortable when the time comes that you want to. I don't think it's necessary, but I find I like to shoot manual instead of fiddle with exposure compensation.

 

If you do get it down be carful you'll find yourself going manual flash setting as well. Oh the horror, lol.

Two ways:

 

1.

New layer.

With the dodge/burn tool pic a large brush (large enough to do the area in one or two passes. Then change the opacity of the layer to 50% or around there. This should make the edges less defined, but you may need to paint over a few time so get the desired effect.

 

2.

New layer.

Where it says normal in the layers palet use the drop donw menu to select multiply (to darken) or screen (to lighten). Then take a large brush with low opacity to make a layer mask over the area that you want unchanged in the original. (Alternatively fill the whole mask with black then paint the desired effect into areas using a white brush.)

If you tell photoshop to adopt the colour profile made by the calibration then that is what it'll use. On the other hand IE has no colour management in it. The talk about mac isn't all that necessary since it's browser doesn't either. As a matter of fact the only browser that supports ICC profiles that I know of is Firefox. Without the ICC profile there is always the possiblility that different programs will represent the same image differently, this is why the profile is so important.

If you edit in more than one program (I use DPP and GIMP) you will often be asked to keep or disregard the imbedded colour profile (and/or space) always say yes or you'll have to do your colour correction again.

People that edit all in adobe (ACR and Photoshop) or with connected programs (as on a mac) they don't need to do this since the programs communicate better but the "freeness" of the two programs I have I like quite a bit since they don't sacrifice quality.

 

Just as an end note I also use the spyder2express on my monitors.

<p>If you bought it from e-bay then you should check to make sure it is not a fake. I got one once, and now I never

even look at cards on e-bay.

Take a look at this link to see if you got a real one:</p>

<a href ="http://reviews.ebay.com/FAKE-SanDisk-Extreme-Compact-Flash-Cards-

Exposed_W0QQugidZ10000000001456539"> Ebay Fake Sandisk Cards Exposed</a>

Just as a side note, if you clear the card don't use it again. Once it goes bad it is too risky. Hopefully it is a card with a waranty so you can return it. If you bough a no namer (or any card from e-bay is the same thing) they call it a lesson learned. (I have a great series of bird photo's durring migration at sun set that I lost to a "sandisk ultra ii" bought on e-bay. I got my money back by resorting to threats, but the images are gone forever.)

I like save a few cents if I can without sacrificing too much. In that light I find that pure energy has a type of NiMH that come precharged. That makes them great because I can buy them and forget them 'till I need them. Also since they come charged they don't self discharge much. In addition they are about $10 for 4.

I generally have to change them every 100 shots or so firing my speedlight at full every time (I set the flash manually). To me this is more than acceptable, and If I need to I can push them to 150-175 in a pinch, but the time they take to recycle is noticably long.