keithdunlop

<p>"If you have changed the aspect ratio through creative cropping, nothing you can do in the software will make it 2:3 again without distorting the image."</p>

<p>Which is why you perform your cropping to match the original aspect ratio (assuming you want to maintain it). It's super easy. I use Lightroom for wedding post-production and in the Develop module you can lock to the original aspect to maintain proportion. Just click the lock icon in the crop tool dialogue and crop away.</p>

<p>Another way to do it in Photoshop is to set specific crop dimensions that match a 2:3 print. For example, if you want to crop a file and resize for a 4x6 print, just set the width and height to 1200 x 1800 @ 300. Drag the crop handles to your liking and the aspect ratio remains the same. You may have to make some decision about how "creative" your cropping gets in order to keep your aspect ratio. In other words, you will have to determine your best possible crop while still maintaining aspect ratio.</p>

<p>Having said all this, the number of images you crop should be a fairly small percentage assuming that your paying attention to your in-camera composition at the time of capture.</p>

<p>If you consider a "standard" print to be a 4x6, then the aspect ratio of the original file (3,008 x 2,000 pixels) already matches the 2:3 ratio of a 4x6 print. No cropping needed. If your client wants to make larger prints, i.e. 5x7, 8x10, 11x14, then cropping on the long end is needed. However, not knowing what eventual prints might be made, I would leave the original file alone.</p>

<p>You can still perform your creative cropping in post-production (although I would limit this given the already small size of the D40 files), but I would maintain the 2:3 proportion in the final file.</p>

<p>I used a Hexagon 28mm on an M7 0.58 body without any issues whatsoever. In fact, I found it to be a gem of a lens. There is no reason why it won't focus correctly on an M8, although if you wear glasses you might find the 0.68 M8 finder a little tight.<br>

To BangWon Ko, can you define what you mean by "focus issues" and specifically which lenses you are referring to. You may be talking about some of the well documented focus shift issues with non-ASPH CV lenses on the M8, but I have not heard of this being an issue with any Leica lenses (or Zeiss for that matter).<br>

Also Mr. Ko, would you mind expanding on your comment, "M8 is very weak"?</p>

<p>If BluDomain is also hosting your site, they provide you with a file manager that you can use to setup additional folders on the server. I have a folder called "invoices" on my BluDomain server that I upload an HTML invoice page template that I design with Dreamweaver for each client. That page includes a PayPal payment button that links to my customized PayPal payment page that displays my studio logo. It's all very easy to setup. Once the HTML invoice page is customized for a specific client, I just upload it to my BluDomain invoice folder and send the client a link to it in an email.</p>

<p>I little more information about your current gear would assist in answering your question. In the meantime, it is highly recommended that you go to the venue tomorrow or Wednesday and check out the lighting and take some test shots. You can't be prepared unless you know what to expect. See if you can get the stage manager to turn on the stage lights that will be used for the performance so you can get some accurate meter readings. You'll need this information to determine if your current lenses are fast enough (again, your equipment info would be helpful here), or whether you need to rent something. And by the way, if you were hired as the "official" event photographer, this planning should have occured a long time ago, not two days before the event.</p>

My understanding is that CS4 has enhancements of interest to graphic designers, but not much for photographers. Photographers I have spoken to who are running CS3 are waiting for the next version (CS5).

I wanted to post a follow-up if anyone is following this thread.

 

I found a downloadable OEM copy of Windows XP online for $60.00 and installed it using VMware Fusion. I then installed a trial copy of FotoFusion to test, and it works really well on my MacBook Pro under OS-X Tiger (avoiding the additional expense of an upgrade to Leopard). As Chris said, not having to reboot into Windows with Boot Camp is very desirable, especially when it comes to sharing folders and accessing my image files for the album designing. It's a little slow even with 3GB of RAM, but it's acceptable.

Do dovetail into what Cliff said, I think a sound business plan should come first in any new venture, well before evaluating your equipment inventory. Owning "enough" equipment does not a successful photography business make.

Thank all for the responses!

 

I downloaded and tried CrossOver Mac and unfortunately it will not run FotoFusion because the VXD drivers required are not supported by CrossOver. So it looks like the way to go is to find an OEM XP license and go with VMware Fusion.

 

Chris: Lightroom is a terrific post-processing tool, and many of the things I used Photoshop for in the past I now do in Lightroom, but it doesn't have the layer-based design and masking tools necessary to layout album templates.

 

Again, thanks to all!

I am planning to purchase LumaPix FotoFusion to speed up my album production (I currently use CS3 for albums and

this is not a question about the virtues of template software), but I also work on Macs.

 

I have no problem with having to run Windows on my Intel-based Macs, but how to go about it has me asking

questions. I currently run OS-X 10.4.11. So if I want to run FotoFusion I need to buy an upgrade to Leopard so I

can have access to Boot Camp, and I also need to buy a copy of Windows. Then I can buy and run FotoFusion.

However, several people say they run FotoFusion with VMware Fusion rather than Boot Camp. Why? If VMware is a

better platform to run Windows on Mac with, should I stick with OS-X 10.4?

 

So, I guess this is a question about VMware vs. Boot Camp, or am I missing something?

 

Thanks in advance.

You have to first convert the old 1.0 catalog to 2.0. Open the 1.0 catalog with LR 2.0 and it will ask you if you

want to convert it. Once the old catalog is in 2.0 format, simply open the other catalog you created in 2.0 and

select "import from catalog" to bring in the other files from the converted old catalog.

You gave the model the images and you gave her permission to put them on her site. If you are now regretting that

you gave her inferior images, that sounds like your problem not hers. "Legal recourse", for what? You want to sue

somebody for something that you gave them permission to do? Paranoid - no; idiotic - yes.

 

Why not just tell the model that you mistakenly gave her unfinished photos, give her replacements, and ask that

she change out the images on her site. Problem solved.

Again, the player is Flash. Go to Adobe for info. Your Sony software does not create Flash movies.

It's Flash. Any software that creates a Flash-based slideshow could be used to create something similar -- the SlideShowPro plugin for Lightroom for example.

Jason,

 

The problem with using an external drive for portability is that it requires that I perform repetitive catalog exports in Lightroom to preserve the edits on the files I want to work on remotely. I thought that if I had the NAS plugged into a router that I could assign a dedicated IP and log into it remotely through the internet.

While it is probably a well-intended and thoughtful gift to the bride and groom, it sounds a little odd. You say that the couple is to be unaware of you shooting the wedding until you deliver pictures. Are you invisible? You're not a guest taking occasional shots with a pocket P&S. You're a hired professional photographer. Somebody at some point during the day is going to ask who you are and what you're doing. The other issue is that your client appears to be a "friend" of the family. Does the family know about you as a hired photographer? If both the couple and the family are unaware that you have been hired as a professional photographer, that is a recipe for issues/questions about what you are doing.

 

I can't speak for other photographers, but my contract states that I am the sole hired photographer. If your couple already has a hired photographer with similar contractual stipulations, you would not be welcome as the "second" and secretly hired pro. You say that you are unaware if there is already a hired pro in place, and I think that is a problem.

 

If none of these things are issues, then great. But my advice to you would be to find out if there is already a hired photographer and make sure that you will not be causing problems for the couple, no matter how well-intended this gift may be.

I have a copy of Photoshop CS2 (Upgrade) that I will sell you with a signed Transfer of License.

I am busy wedding photographer adding a second studio location and I have reached the point where I need to

modify my image storage scheme for network access. I currently have a string of external firewire drives

daisy-chained together at one location, and when I need more space I either add another drive to the chain or

swap out the one with the lowest capacity. If I need to work on files when traveling it means unplugging one of

the drives and hauling it with me; not very practical. The tangle of wires and power adapters has got to go, so

I'm looking at NAS.

 

These are my requirements:

 

1. A single NAS device for two hot-swappable SATA drives (RAID 1); 1 TB each for now.

2. Able to access my files from two computers; a desktop and a wireless laptop.

3. Able to access my files from a remote location and edit in Lightroom on a wireless laptop through the internet.

4. Firewire or USB port for plugging in backup devices.

 

Regarding DROBO: I had seriously considered this, but I'm not crazy about having my drives configured to an

unknown proprietary format. I prefer that the drives be readable in any SATA device rather than be solely

dependent on the DROBO.

 

I'm looking at the Netgear ReadyNAS DUO which appears to have good reviews.

 

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Are you sure the virtual copies aren't being sorted in "stacked" mode? Is there a page-turn icon on the lower left corner of the thumbnails?

The image corrections (along with ratings, flags, etc) you apply in both the Library and Develop module are stored in the Lightroom catalog file, so yes, the changes are non destructive to the RAW image. But as Amol stated, once you "Export" your selected images, your processing adjustments get embedded in the resulting exported image. The Export dialogue pop-up is pretty straight forward and you can save your settings as a preset for commonly repeated export tasks.

I think I know the answer to this is "no", but is there any way I can soft-proof images with various printer

profiles in Lightroom so I can bypass the step of soft-proofing in Photoshop?

To add to Christina's response, if you want a simple border with space around the image, do the "canvas size" adjustment two times. For example if you want a thin black border with white space between it and the image, add canvas size with white the first time, then repeat the canvas increase with a smaller amount of black.

My experience with bridal fairs is that less than half the crowd takes any literature. Many already have photography booked and are looking for other vendors, and not everyone will be interested in your booth.

My first reaction is that it would be stunning to get a bride and groom in Arches National Park near sunset. Having a bride hike out to some of the arch formation locations might be a challenge, but some locations are relatively road-close.

1) Open the catalog with the RAW image in Lightroom (I convert everything to DNG on import).

2) Select the image.

3) Perform your Lightroom edits.

4) Right-click and scroll to > Edit In . . > Edit in Photoshop CS3.

5) Perform your CS3 edits and "save".

6) Original DNG shows up in Lightroom as a virtual copy with both Lightroom and Photoshop edits.

7) Export the new virtual copy as a JPEG.

 

You can also perform additional edits on the virtual copy in Lightroom after your Photoshop work.