brandtdelorenzo

<p>Take him to a Best Buy or local retailer and get him to play with the laptops there. Find out which ones he likes and then buy it a week later.<br>

The PC and the Mac will both do the same thing for different prices if you're using Photoshop.<br>

I'd recommend staying away from netbooks...they are cheap and easy to lug around, but I can barely edit anything on mine because the 10" screen is just too small to edit large images. I always use my 15.4" laptop screen over my 10" laptop screen if I want to get anything done quickly.<br>

I do recommend dual-core or quad-core processor with lots of memory. Laptop memory isn't as expensive anymore, but if you can get away with getting a laptop with 4GB of ram, go for it.<br /> Once you find one, buy it online and save a ton of money.<br>

I spend $0 on antivirus and maintenance on all of my Windows-based computers. There are very good free solutions. But it's all up to him based on what he liked in the store and what you can afford.</p>

<p>Looks good. Seems like there is pretty good lighting at the venue which is usually the downfall for boxing/mma photography...most of my events are smaller and the lighting is sporadic. How far back were you?</p>

<p>Thanks! Some are mine and some are others...some are just too dark because of the lighting, but we do what we can.</p>

<p>The promoters take care of all the paperwork when they give us the press pass access. Fighters general enjoy getting photographed when fighting so they can look back, evaluate their performance, show their friends/family, etc. Never met a fighter who didn't want pics of the fight online...yet. :)</p>

<p>Hey Steven,<br>

I have been photographing MMA cageside for a little over a year now in NJ/PA for promotions like Ring of Combat, Kings Promotions, and Central PA Warrior Challenge.</p>

<p>I actually missed your first question about the 35mm f/1.8 lens...that would be pretty decent for MMA...you'll have some trouble when the fighters move closer, but it will be great elsewhere. I got my Tamron 17-50mm F/2.8 used in nearly perfect condition for $300...you just need to scour craigslist and photo message boards for a little while. I let other photographers borrow lenses if they're nearby...you may find others in your area who will let you trade lenses for a weekend.</p>

<p>Your pic that you uploaded is good although it is a little dark on my work monitor (might be my monitor)...you can simply lighten it just a tad and share it with the fighters...they are usually really happy to see the pics from their fights, even if they are not perfect.</p>

<p>I rarely shoot fast continuous unless the fight turns into a slugfest...then I have pics that resemble animated gifs when I go back to review them, haha. You can anticipate many of the punch combos and kicks as the fighters step into them...I've been a MMA nerd for a few years now, so I watch for certain movement and then click away!</p>

<p>You'll always be at the mercy of the cage lighting (when they use lights that sit above the top of the cage) unless you can be above the cage and nearly at the same height...which is tough at local shows that put 25 video cameras up. A lot of the images in my gallery from Central PA Warrior Challenge tend to be darker because the lighting is nothing more than chandeliers hanging from a ceiling...yeah, far from good professional lighting. My pics are up at MMAPrints.com along with images from other MMA phtographers.</p>

<p>-Brandt</p>

 

<p>Hey Steven,<br>

I'm a MMA photgrapher and I was actually just looking around this forum hoping to find some MMA-related topics to discuss. I shoot through both rings and cages and use three different lenses depending on the lighting and/or my distance from the cage/ring. I use a Nikon D300 as my primary DSLR.<br>

When I first started, I used a Nikon 50mm F/1.8 because it was cheap, but it was hard when the fighters moved too close. I currently use the 50mm, a Tamron 17-50mm F/2.8, and the Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8 and all three work well. The 17-50mm is great when the lighting is decent, but I usually have to use the 50mm because most small regional promotions don't spend the money for good overhead lighting.<br>

If you look at pictures from UFC, WEC, or Strikeforce events, you'll notice that the lighting is great, allowing the photographers to use fast zoom lenses, lower iso, and higher shutter speeds. I'm typically limited to ISO 800, F/2.8 or F/1.8 depending on the lens, and a shutter speed from 200-600. There's lots of blur between 200-320, but a little bit of motion blur is better than complete darkness or noticable grain in combat sports, in my opinion.<br>

Grappling and karate is much easier. I use the 28-75mm at F/4, ISO 400, and a shutter speed between 125-200 to allow only minor motion blur. Grappling tends to be slower and more methodic, so you can anticipate the movement and compensate throughout the bout. MMA is hectic and all over the place. :)</p>

<p>I use a $16 Prolight Inverted Clear Dome. Amazon has them for Nikon SB flashes and they do a great job...saves you $35 over the other brands.</p>

<p>I feel that any pro photographer should use a store setup like Ktools Photostore. You can create categories and subcategories (school graduation would be category and student name is subcategory) and password protect each. They can search, you can add watermarks, they can download for a fee, they can order prints from you, pay with Paypal or other payment gateways, etc.<br>

I use this for my MMA Photos at www.mmaprints.com<br>

It's about $300, but well worth it!<br>

And no, I don't work for them, haha.</p>

<p>I used Wordpress for everything. I run my own dedicated server and host all types of sites, but Wordpress is free, has thousands of free and hundreds of great paid themes. I use photostore (ktools.net) for galleries since you can order prints, download images, create private galleries, all the money goes to you, and it's also customizable. It helps that I can edit php/css/html quite a bit to get whatever look I want. I link the gallery to the blog and have it open in a seperate window.</p>

<p>Tokina also makes a 16-50mm F/2.8 lens...Tokina seems to be a tad more consistent as far as quality - all of their lenses are solid and reasonably priced, but just slightly edged out by Canon/Nikon glass.</p>

<p>While it's always great to save money, I think it's even better to support your local or regional partners when it comes to supplies or post-event products like these albums.</p>

<p>The extra 4MP just crowds the sensor and adds noise at higher ISO. If you plan on always using AF-S lenses and don't mind clicking through the menus to change nearly everything, go for the D40.</p>

<p>I have a Nikon D300, D40x, and D50. The D40x and D50 get used for family photos and stuff around the house mainly. The D300 is used for bigger gigs like when I go shoot MMA events or weddings.</p>

<p>Any good software recovery program can help.</p>

<p>Jim provides a pretty good answer. When it comes to sports photography on a pro level, a Canon may be a better fit due to availability of long and fast zoom lenses. That's why you see 37 huge white lenses at a pro football game. When it comes to anything else, both Nikon and Canon are fair game. I'm a Nikon guy, but my partner in photography crime is a Canon fanatic. She likes Canons, I like Nikons...</p>

<p>There will probably be a few factors here. I'm assuming you'll be using flash or be outdoors when this happens which will help you out a lot. If you don't want to lose focus on the objects around the bridge, just be sure your depth of field is allowing objects around the bride to stay sharp. You wouldn't set your aperture to F/1.4, instead, use a flash and set the aperture to capture more depth - like F/4, F/5.6, or F/8. Coupled with a fast shutter speed, you should freeze everything around the bride.</p>

<p>If you get a D300, look for Nikon Factory Demo units. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to say where I bought mine *cough*Cameta*cough* but I saved $250 and got a D300 with only 200+ shutter accuations and a warranty. $1460 vs. $1219...now you can afford the D300 if you were a couple hundred bucks short before. :)</p>

<p>RedCart looks awesome, but very very pricey.</p>

<p>If $1k is a little much to drop on a shopping cart, you can try Ktools.net PhotoStore. I use it and it's only in the mid $300 range.</p>

 

<p>I used Wordpress with a nice professional theme for our wedding site with a portfolio, package info, contact form etc. Then I used Ktools.net PhotoStore to host the actual gallery where the bride/groom/friends/family can view the images with a copyrighted watermark, purchase individual high-res images to download, purchase individual prints, and show off their pics to everyone without us worrying about people stealing and printing them.</p>

<p>My Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8 is ok...definitely worth the $350, but nowhere near as good as my Nikon lenses when it comes to AF speed and build quality. It's like a Toyota and a GM. You get what you pay for. The Tamron feels a little loose, but I just can't afford a Nikon F/2.8 right now. Once I can, I'll be selling mine to the next person who needs a decently fast zoom.<br>

I'm looking and grabbing a Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8...for $600+, looks to be a great deal. Even the 12-24mm F/4 is looking pretty good at $400 or so.</p>

<p>Scam scam scam. It's all about sending you stolen funds and you sending them a 'refund' which is your real money. The stolen funds are taken back out of your account and you are stuck with a negative balance.<br>

These are so common that they rarely get investigated. If someone can't call you or meet with you, forget them.</p>

<p><em>Not letting a camera adjust to temperature/humidity changes, or not drying it off before opening doors/changing lenses, is operator error regardless of the level of weather sealing. I don't care what brand you have or what the manufacturer claimed, you'll ruin a camera by making those mistakes. Even a Nikonos will die if you do something that stupid.</em><br>

I guess that means that everyone using a Nikon on the boat knew what they were doing in these weather situations. :P<br>

I could care less either way. I've owned Nikons since my wife bought me my first one and I have nothing against Canon's. I would use them except I began purchasing lenses and a flash for the Nikon.</p>

<p>Someone on another forum (non-photography) went on this trip and also stated that 20-25% of MK2's failed.<br /> He has a MK2 or another Canon body.<br>

His words: <strong><br /> BY THE WAY, 6 out of 25 Canon 5D MkII's FAILED on this trip... Just a note. * </strong><br>

http://forums.clubsi.com/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/3424350</p>