azlatic

<p>I was asked to photograph a statue of Mary, Mediatrix of Graces, on the campus of the abbey where I work. It wasn't until I got close that I realized the rain that morning made her look as though she was weeping as she stared at the child in her arm.</p><div></div>

<p>Right handed, but so left-eye dominant that I don't need to close the right while shooting. I didn't even notice I was doing it until someone pointed it out to me. I tried once to shoot with my right eye but it felt so weird and distracting that I soon gave up.</p>

<p>Very cool...thanks for sharing! (I read these types of articles and, while I'm all for progress, I can't help but wonder what would have been the harm in letting these little old ladies live out their remaining years in their homes? She was, what, 98 years old when they moved her? How much longer did they think she was gonna live?)</p>

<p>Candy corn...seasonally sweet!</p><div></div>

<p>Brian, how high do you take ISO on the D300s? I'm using a D300 and am wary of pushing it too far when shooting indoors with low light.</p>

<p>It's been awhile since I've had the time to play on photo.net. Happy to be back! (I just hope I'm posting correctly!) This photo is from our trip to the pumpkin patch this past Sunday. Beautiful day.<br>

<a href="/photo/17581029&size=lg"><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/17581029-md.jpg" alt="PumpkinPatch2013_3759" width="590" height="392" border="0" /></a><br>

Can't figure out how to caption the image, so I'll give my specs here: D300 at ISO 200 with a 18-200mm at f/5.6 and 1/160</p>

<p>These are fantastic. I love getting glimpses into times gone by. Thank you so much for sharing.</p>

<p>I started snapping selfies because I want my daughter to have images of me after I'm six feet under. I spent years hiding behind my camera, and always being the missing man (okay, woman) in family portraits. Then my friends started losing parents and lamenting having no photographs of their mothers and it hit home. I just want my daughter to be able to easily remember me.<br>

It's not vanity or narcissism. Vanity was <em>not</em> having my picture taken because I was 20 pounds too heavy and my hair was in that in-between growing out stage and I didn't sleep well last night so I have dark circles under my eyes.<br>

It's straight up documentation. <em>I was here.</em> Extra weight and bad hair and dark circles and all. My kid doesn't care about that stuff now, and she won't in 50 years when I'm gone. But she will cherish photographs showing how we can both cross our eyes and how we always had room for frozen custard.</p>

<p>Yep. Figured this out about myself years ago. I have about a two-week lag period, typically, between shooting and finally thinking they're acceptable. Most of the time now, I don't even try to process anything immediately unless it's time sensitive. Portraits are the exception. I can review those right away and know whether I've got it, what I've got, and what to do with it. Everything else needs to marinate!</p>

<p>I painted my "digital darkroom" a lovely deep shade of granite. So I guess if I don't call it a darkroom I'd just call it a dark room.</p>

<p>I tried Sam's once for canvas. It came back all "oil painting" like and artificial (thanks for the words, Simon!). I hadn't checked a box asking for modification...I guess someone in the lab just decided my view of Yosemite would look better if everything was blurred together with faux brush strokes. To be fair, they did credit everything back to me, but I guess I just felt I couldn't trust them anymore and didn't have time to waste going back and forth with future prints. They had no explanation as to why the image was manipulated, and really didn't care to even discuss it. I wasn't angry or anything...just wanted to ensure it wouldn't happen again. Since they couldn't be bothered, I couldn't be bothered to send them any more business. Another note: the canvas wrap from Sam's is only like 1/2" or so...felt pretty dinky.</p>

<p>I can recommend HelloCanvas.com, though. They did a great job on several small to large projects and their customer service is excellent. One of the large black & whites I had done had some streaking. An e-mail with an iPhone shot of the streaking was all it took - they reprinted immediately and I had the new canvas in a week. A Google search will usually turn up some discount codes, too. I'd e-mail them your questions concerning archival and color correction; they've always responded to me within 24 hours.</p>

<p>It's been gray gray gray here for weeks. The sun peeked out for a few minutes late yesterday but that's been it. Otherwise, life pretty much looks like this every day. Blah.</p><div></div>

<p>Many, many thanks to Jose for starting this wonderful thread all those weeks ago. I lurked for a long time before deciding to take a deep breath and participate, and I'm so glad I did. What a wonderful community! I am continually blown away by the variety and the quality of work displayed. I agree with Greg Jones...a Nikon Wednesday photo book would be spectacular.</p>

<p>Thank you, too, in advance to Matt for keeping the light burning. I really do think I'd have to sit down and have a good cry (and maybe a stiff drink) if my Wednesdays went back to the way they used to be...</p>

<p>Here's to the next 52 weeks of Nikon Wednesday!</p>

<p>Merry Christmas, everyone!</p>

<p>This was on our Christmas card this year. Had fun playing with a new flashgun softbox and reflector and, of course, our daughter.</p><div></div>

<p>Wow...that's really cool. I hope to be able to help someday, too.</p>

<p>Had fun playing with slow shutter speeds and our Christmas tree tonight. We got one of those bases that slowly turns the tree so you can see all sides. The LED C9 light bulbs are beautiful when they are still or drifting by slowly on the tree, but I like them this way, too.</p><div></div>

<p>I was just in the employee lounge nuking my lunch when I saw an eye-catching black and white of Britney adorning the cover of Elle. Being bored, I flipped through the spread. One of the pictures that caught my eye was of Britney with one or both of her small children standing by the giant pool in her yard. In the background (which was pretty empty, so it stood out), was one of those small, pedal-driven cars for kids, poised to drive right into the pool that had no barrier or safety features. As a parent of a four-year-old, I just cringed at the possibilities.</p>

<p>Funny the things you notice, eh?</p>

<p>Photographer was Carter-somebody. Didn't recognize the name. He needs an assistant to look out for things like that, especially given that particular client's history of making questionable safety decisions regarding her children.</p>

<p>Paul, instead of buying photo.net shares, why not play Santa and give a few anonymous gift subscriptions to those who can't afford it? While it may seem like $25 isn't a lot (maybe for you it isn't), for many people it means feeding their kids for a week. No need to make them feel bad for using this wondeful site while the rest of their world is difficult. Look at it this way: buying shares benefits you and the site. Buying a gift subscription for someone else benefits you (it's that warm and fuzzy feeling that comes from helping others), the site, AND someone less fortunate. 'Tis the season!</p>

<p>Happy Wednesday!</p>

<p>I read in the "other post" that there is some debate on requiring images created this week. I can understand the sentiment, and I strive to post only my most recent work. This week, though, please allow me to present a different viewpoint, along with my "old" image from a few weeks ago. This week my husband's grandmother fell and broke her hip (surgery today - and my little family is her only family), an uncle fell and gave himself a concussion (he's fine, but home resting for several days), work is an absolute madhouse, my two grad school classes are going into finals week, I had my second professional photo shoot, a doctor's visit to discuss another surgery to remove the ganglion cyst that has returned with a vengeance, and I still have the usual joys of life like raising my 4-year-old. Needless to say, I have images backed up in the D300 that I simply haven't had time to process.</p>

<p>This thread, and the people who participate, are truly a high point of my week. Especially <em>this</em> week. I so desperately want to participate (and remain a part of this wonderful little community that's sprouted up within Photo.net), that I'm pulling one of my images from several weeks ago. I apologize for "cheating," but desperate times call for desperate measures! I guess I'm asking that a little slack be cut when life gets in the way of creating photographs.</p>

<p>Thank you to everyone here...you all give me the most grand escape from my worries and I so appreciate that!</p><div></div>

<p>Wonderful Wednesday!<br>

Didn't get to shoot much this past week - too much work and school and all the other stuff that makes up a full, enjoyable life.<br>

Took this picture of my new cousin's foot on a visit the week after she was born. Baby feet get me every time.</p><div></div>

<p>Happy Wednesday!</p>

<p>Went to a hot air balloon glow in St. Louis' Forest Park last Friday night. The race was on Saturday, but the Friday night glow always draws huge crowds. Beautiful night...would've loved to been the person with the air horn that signaled the pilots to light 'em up!</p><div></div>

<p>Okay, that makes sense. I do have a few, though, where I cropped in quite a bit to get my finished image. Maybe Dad blinked but Baby looked great, so I cropped Dad out. What then?</p>

<p>I did a little family portrait shoot for some friends recently and am giving them a CD with their finished images in high resolution TIFF or JPG files so they can print whatever/whenever they want. I'm always concerned about cropping and such, and am not sure what size format I should provide the images to give them the most versatility when printing on their own.</p>

<p>For instance, if I crop everything to 8x10, that's going to really mess up their 4x6 and 5x7 prints as there will be too much taken from the sides (in a vertical) and the top/bottom (in a horizontal). However, if I crop to 5x7, what happens if they want to enlarge and print an 8x10 or 8.5x11?</p>

<p>My friend and I don't want to go back and forth with her letting me know which file she'd like in which size so I can custom crop each one. We'd both rather I just give her the high resolution files to begin with and she can do as she pleases.</p>

<p>Basically, after I'm done editing (for levels, color balance, sharpness...the basics), what size and format should I burn to a disk for her that will give her the most versatility?</p>

<p>(Many apologies if this has been answered before...I may not be using the correct search terms to find the information I'm looking for.)</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

<p>Sanford - I love The Homemade Jamz Blues Band! Great sound along with a great backstory. Am jealous you got to hear them live. Did you get any shots of the little girl drummer?</p>

<p>Happy Wednesday, all!</p>

<p>Here's a shot from my first ever paid shoot. 3-month old babies can be tough!</p>

<p>Looking forward to seeing all the beautiful work, yet again, and great job to everyone who has posted so far.</p><div></div>