david_rosenthal1

<p>Oh My God! 4 pages on how to load an M-6???????</p>

<p>Now it's my turn:</p>

<p>With the old roll out, I use the advance lever to reset the rewind mechanism. Next pull some film out of the cassette using the spool as a measure. Insert film cassette into body and make sure that film leader engages sprockets or is just about to. With back OPEN, attach baseplate, Leicavit or Motor-M (I use all three) so as to enable the end of the leader to be fully pushed into place. Do this without turning the catch to lock bottom piece onto the body. Let the back come into contact with the baseplate, Motor or Leicavit, then simply lift the base off of the body so as to enable the back to fall into correct position. Reattach bottom plate (or the other two devices) this time with the locking mechanism. Immediately turn rewind crank to take-up slack, then press release button and advance just one frame while watching rewind crank turn in opposite direction of the arrow. Trip shutter release and you're done!</p>

<p>39 frames on every roll of film! I own (4) M-6 TTL's and 21,28,35, 50 Noct., 90 APO & 135 APO lenses, (2) Leicavits, (2) Motor-M's. What's a "baseplate" anyway, lol!</p>

<p>Phil hit the nail on the head! Our local Malls collect a basic sitting fee for every kid on Santa's lap, then immediately after the shoot, you get to look at electronic proofs on computers set-up at the same angle as the studio camera. A minimum purchase is required in advance to get onto Santa's lap, so everybody wins! </p>

<p>One more thing--sort of like using that 283 for flare......not every big umbrella has to have a strobe head that's actually turned "on". This gives the "Mommy Snappers" a side image taken from behind the fence, not the same image as what the studio is selling with both Santa & the Kid looking into the camera.</p>

<p>There's more than one way to skin a cat!</p>

<p>Shoot a test roll, and bracket your exposures by 1/2 stops to determine current speed of the emulsion. All of the exposures of the same subject lit the same way. Check for fog between the frames and use a lupe to see what you've got.</p>

<p>Maybe it might be usable? Maybe you'll need to get some developer additive (if still available) to eliminate the fog. Either way, the speed of the film needs to be checked!</p>

<p>Have fun!</p>

<p>Hector,</p>

<p>You need not run to the mountain to take that incident light reading! IF the same amount of light is falling on the meter's cell where you are, then the reading is the same:</p>

<p>Sunny 16 worked just fine on the Apollo space missions on the Lunar surface: </p>

<p>If you ever get a chance to go to Washington DC, check-out the Smithsonian Sea-Air-Space Museum. Contained therein at the Apollo exhibit is a set of Moon Cameras by Hasselblad. On the parts of the cameras facing the Astronaughts, ID plates with Ektachrome 64 exposures of !/60 sec. @ F16 can be plainly seen! So at 240,000 miles away from those mountains you mention, Sunny 16 did just fine! With the Sun being 93 million miles away from us, a mere 1/4 million didn't change the exposure!</p>

<p>Another interesting note is that those 70 mm camera backs had specially designed long-roll double perferated thin emulsion Ektachrome 64, custom designed by Kodak for NASA. Seems NASA didn't want them changing back up there too often, so the figure of 200 on the exposure counter on the 70mm backs can be plainly seen. Normal thickness of the same emulsion would produce only 70 exposures of 70mm in the same size back. Kodak got three times the amount of exposures in the roll and the film didn't break in the void of Space!</p>

<p>Sorry that I digressed. I hope some of you enjoyed the photo history lesson. I toured the Museum with my family years ago!</p>

<p>STOP! Email Stan Tamarkin of Tamarkin Camera in Woodbridge CT.!</p>

<p>The Motor alone may be worth big bucks! A small fix to the top plate, and check & adjust the rangefinder and what you have their has serious collector value! I just checked ebay and saw a similar unit (without the microscope adapter, in mint- condition) going for 4,000 Euros!</p>

<p>That Pawn Shop guy is a theif so STAY AWAY!</p>

<p>Stan will give you a fair estimate and maybe an offer for thousands (if indeed it's a real M2-M)</p>

<p>1. Get a REAL lab!</p>

<p>2. Grow a "set" and put your copyright through the middle of everything that goes on line, instead of over to the side. This image is still "good enough" for Grandma, so they don't have to buy it from you!</p>

<p>3. What you have in the photo above is advertising for your business, NOT a copyright! The word "Copyright" is nowhere to be seen! Not even a capital letter "C" with the year following it!</p>

<p>4. Your Husband is right! No harm, no foul! So NO case!</p>

<p>In the response above I meant to say that dislodging the bubbles as fast as possible is a GOOD thing, since the shorter development time was in effect. Sorry for any confusion, the rest of what I wrote is correct. Phone call interrupted my train of thought.</p>

<p>Back in the day (many moons ago) when Tri-X was still Tri-X, doing news work, we used Ethol UFG film developer. Ultra Fine Grain, yet full emulsion speed. Could push it to 2000 ASA or pull it as you want to do.</p>

<p>Using Tri-X rated at 200, we used to develop for 4.5 minutes @ 70 degrees F. 400 ASA development times was 5.5 minutes @ 70 degrees. Roughly 20% pull. The results were "creamy" negs with great shadow detail and highlights that didn't block-up to the point of very little dodging & burning was needed, if any. Negs were a bit "flatter" and needed some punch from grade 3 paper. This overcame your thoughts of murkiness quite well! Don't confuse a reduction in contrast (which is normal) with signs of incomplete development due to improper handling such as banging the tank to dislodge any bubbles as fast as you can in the developing process. We used Kindermann tanks & reels (less blood in the soup).</p>

<p>Fast-forward to today, and I too am at the point of doing some of my own negs again. I might try T-Max developer instead of HC-110 since the graininess of HC-110 dil. B never thrilled me. Or one of the Ilford developers with HP5 plus or Delta 400. Sadly, UFG is no more.....but the 20% rule is as good a starting point as ever, in all kinds of light, not just contrasty light. Once you have the correct negative density and the least amount of grain, just use a higher grade paper to get the "snap" that you're looking for, especially if you're thinking about toning the prints. "Creamy" is the look you're going for. Once you find it, it's hard to go back!</p>

<p>JD,</p>

<p>This entire thing is a shame and proves once again how cheap people really are. If you love your sister, make her a print and put it in a tube for her to custom frame at the mall. Since you're not yet in business (no web site, no sales, etc.) just let it go. Take the high road. You never know how kind she might be if your Mom tells her about that big oil heat bill (hint, hint) and she wants to do something to help. Mom will be happier if you both get over this, especially at Christmas! Don't burn bridges, especially with family! Life is too short to get into a pissing contest over what a print is worth......</p>

<p>I guess the best place to start is to get a calendar of events from them to see what you can do and what your day job will prevent you from doing. Also determine (with family) how many weekends you want to give-up to make this all happen.</p>

<p>Next do a tentative time-line as to the amount of time needed for each project on the calendar, then do the math using your regular fee schedule. Now you have an idea of what they're asking for is really worth. Whether you ask for that number, or offer some sort of break based upon quantity is up to you. Or you can write it up based upon the number of events as well as a guarranteed minimum dollar, so if they change the schedule and/or add events, you're not left hanging in the breeze!</p>

<p>If this place is busy enough to keep you working, maybe they can just pay a professional day rate like other per diems such as an engineering firm doing a "study"? If they can swallow say a $500.00 day rate and all you have to do is to shoot raw and deliver the disks, and you're happy with that, then it's a win-win! How much do you need to make in a day to give up the whole day for them?</p>

<p>All good answers so far.</p>

<p>Here's a couple more things to think about: the going price in your area for something very similar and the perceived value of the presentation product (album). Also take into consideration what you've made so far on the sale. I'm going to assume that this question is from a Newbie or a bride, so I doubt that five figures has been reached yet in product & service. I say this due to the fact that there is only so much to purchase (from the client's perspective) and that after a certain level is reached (say $10K), the level of profit that a studio needs is less for the fifth full-size bridal album than for the first, which is most often tied into a package involving the photographer & assistant's time as well as all of the usual business expenses.</p>

<p>Your question leads me to ask about what the parameters are for this wedding. Is this the only album and therefore the only product from which you are offsetting all of the expenses and paying for your creative fee, or is it the mother in-laws step-mom's album? If it's the ONLY real tangible product other than the famous "here's your disk" than it's worth a lot more than a simple cost times two formula!</p>

<p>Rob,</p>

<p>The best recommendation I have (besides a lot of back-up equipment) is to join a statewide or regional professional photographers association. They sponsor "photo schools" at hotels where for a mere thousand or so dollars you go to school for 6 days and learn both the art & business sides of the industry. Look up www.PPANE.com, as they're in New England. Most PPA Schools also have sites you can visit to learn more and they're positioned all over the country.</p>

<p>Education, travel, association dues, etc. are deductible expenses, but they do affect the bottom line. Just like better equipment such as constant aperature F2.8 zooms, F1.4 primes, and that third or fourth body to hand to an assistant so you have two on you to use.</p>

<p>It's a good idea not to assume that word of mouth is all you need, especially in this economy. I had the sister of one of my brides in my office (planning a holiday affair) for an interview. She already loved the work and obviously came to me due to her sister's complete satisfaction. Her image (with all of the girls in the bridal party) was on my web site. I found my older price list that her sister booked with and gave it to her along with my current one, thus taking away the "what can you do for me" scenario, or so I thought. She WANTED MORE OFF THE PRICE! So I made a counter-offer that wasn't satisfactory enough to get her to book the wedding and still let me have a little something without just breaking even! She obviously was interested more in price than quality, so I let her walk and spent my holiday weekend with my FAMILY! Sometimes jobs aren't worth doing and this potential client was completely unrealistic in her expectations. So never assume that word of mouth is the "Holy Grail"!</p>

<p>My site's images can't be "grabbed", especially those posted as event proofs in my secure shopping cart. Even with the password to view them, they can't be saved. So it is possible.</p>

<p>For the newspaper, tell them to go pound salt! They're making money on your back! Besides I'm reminded of what a friend of mine once said: they wrap up dead fish in yesterdays' newspaper! They pay their regular staffers for images or they pay freelancers. Either way, they pay!</p>

<p>As to the idiot in issue #2: Go back to your web site and make your images be unable to be simply downloaded behind your back! Some of this is your own fault, so just let it go. Instead, turn a negative into a positive with a letter thanking them for using your image, along with a request for assignments in the future. They already like your work enough to use it, so let them pay for it in the future and PREVENT any more images from being "borrowed" in the meantime! More of a "better to give them honey instead of vinegar" thing........</p>

<p>Whoa there! We're talking about a Wedding Hall, that's all! You commercial guys are way over your heads here! In my locale, we give them the files to use with our name in the images, and they recommend us to future brides. What Tiff should do is to get some free meals out of the joint (if they have a regular restaurant--some catering halls are just caterers!) and an arrangement to put the owner's favorite image in a nice frame in the office where he sees prospective clients and makes his deals. </p>

<p>And while she's at it--if her work is any good, a copy of the bridal album featuring his place to give to the owner is a good idea too!</p>

<p>Now IF this joint is a low-end hall whose demographic doesn't fit Tiff's usual client, take the $35.00 per image and RUN!</p>

<p>There's more than one way to skin a cat as they say. You could consider this nothing more than a charity event, or you could do some advance planning and make it work for you. It all depends upon how much time & effort you're willing & able to invest. You could donate a family portrait session(s) used for an auction and make the sales on the portraits more than make up for the loss of the sitting fees. </p>

<p>Plan #2: Every family that gets a photo also gets a coupon good for the family session for signing-up to receive their 4x6. You mail the coupon along with the 4x6 (and price list) as a thank-you for letting you be a part of this special evening. When they sign up you get their email info (mandatory) so they can be added to your marketing data base. Now instead of an instant "fix" (getting a photo that night), you have the time to get names & addresses. It turns out to be a win-win if it's the right demographic.</p>

<p>Tripod is the only way to go! And a cable release along with old-fashioned mirror lock-up (if your camera does this?). What you really need to capture is the vows, rings & blessing. Hardly anybody actually buys the reading shots anyway! And by the kiss shot, all of the guests will be popping away, so you better use flash too or you risk a blown shot due to overexposure when Aunt Gertrude's point & shoot starts strobbing!</p>

<p>Forget about the coke bottle variable aperature cheepie zoom lens! Leave that one on your second camera body with the flash attached, so you can do processional & recessional shots along with the kiss shot at the end of the ceremony. Turn off the auto focus and practice with some candlelight in your house. IF you know what you're doing you can take 1/4 sec. exposures and get crisp results, provided the camera isn't trying to focus on the "hole" in-between the couple when they face each other dring the ceremony holding hands. I can't count the number of times our assistants got the background in perfect focus and the subjects were fuzzed out! Happens more with autofocus than it did with tradional film camers like our Hassleblads!</p>

<p>One more point....don't expose for the candles, as they're not 18% grey (that's what your built-in meter will interpret them as). Take several test shots to determine the actual exposure, which you may have to set manually or at least over-ride the camera, otherwise you might wind-up with extreme under-exposure, especially if the isle is all candle-lit and the camera sees all of this in a wider shot!</p>

<p>Using my M6TTL with Leicavit I like to frame either way IF I'm only taking one exposure. Using the Leicavit in the left hand and pressing the release with my right pointer, I can grab several verticals in rapid succession without much camera shake at all. Right side is at the top for this mode. That leaves my left hand to focus and change f-stops without blocking either the rangefinder patch window or the viewfinder. When taking a single slow shutter image, I like to do the reverse, and flip the camera the other way, with the shutter release on the bottom, while I hold my breath.</p>

<p>IF I'm taking flash exposures, I always have the release & advance lever near the top since it's just easier to wind the camera that way (without using the attached Leicavit) for me while I hand hold a shoe-mount flash with home made bounce card in my left hand.</p>

<p>While using the Motor-M, I'm most comfortable with the release topside while taking verticals, unless I turn the motor off & on in-between exposures since the release button jumps up with each exposure and can cause shake during those available darkness opportunities with the lux or noct.</p>

<p>It's all really a matter of how big your hands or paws are and what gets in the way when. I use my left eye for cameras and my right for firearms, so I give my Optometrist fits!</p>

<p>How about two cameras, two strobes, and two main lenses as a minimum. Drop one on cement after being pushed by a guest trying to get a picture, and what do you do for the rest of the job? And in addition to camera insurance, there's liability insurance, and errors & omissions insurance coverage. Runs more than four digits a year!</p>

<p>Seriously, what's your advertising budget? $100.00 per month? $1,000.00 per month and you're starting to get serious! Do you have a web site? If you don't you're not a real photog yet! Ads, direct marketing emails, bridal shows and SEO send brides to the web site, and then they email or call.</p>

<p>In reality, you need a couple jobs a month just to break-even! In this economy everybody with a computer and a home-made business card calls themselves a wedding photographer. The brides want everything for nothing, and sometimes they can get it that way. Sometimes it's not worth trying to be in business, paying rent, insurances, payroll, materials, supplies, shipping, repairs (there's that 2nd camera bugaboo again--now you need a third while #2 is being repaired!), etc.</p>

<p>A spreadsheet of reality is what you really need to make sure that you can make money in this business.</p>

<p>Sounds like what you need is a Reversible Mounted Album to contain the photos that were already produced. You can call Capri Album Company in Mt. Vernon NY and speak to Chris in Customer Service. He'll be able to help you.</p>

<p>Forgive me, but if you could post an image of this album with plastic pages we would be better able to determine what exactly it is that you received. Sometimes brides write a contract for a professional proof book and a DVD of the files. Said proof book would have the photos behind an archival type plastic as you describe. THEN if what you have is proofs, the design route as outlined above is in order.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>I was using hyperfocal for high school baseball coverage for the local papers. Positioned equidistantly betwwen 3rd & Home Plate, I could cover 1st & 2nd base with equal sharpness. This was my first experience with hyperfocal, circa 1977.</p>

<p>Since then, I've used the DOF scale and focusing ring to get "acceptable sharpness" doing what you're doing. For landscapes, I tend to focus where my eye stays within the viewfinder's frame lines. Infinity is sometimes too soft to make big prints, so be careful!</p>

<p>Selective focus is a technique that I've used for decades. It works really well to enhance the feeling or emotion in a photograph.</p>

<p>They both have their place in good photography IMHO, and I enjoy seeing younger photogs experimenting with these techniques!</p>

<p>Dave</p>

<p>Without seeing the end result, we're all merely pontificating here, which is par for the course these days! Practice can yield a better quality result, especially at slower speeds. Many years ago, our studio used to shoot 3200 Ilford Delta (rated @1600) with our Hassys and 40 & 50 mm lenses. I used to shoot brides getting ready in their dressing rooms at 1/15 hand held with the Zeiss 40mm on a 503 CX held over my head! All I had to sell in this genre was a 10x10 for the album, and most of the time we sold 5x7's & 5x5's on multi-print album pages. Going "BIG" is a relative term, since no exact print size was mentioned.</p>

<p>Many many moons ago I hand held my Pentax 6x7 with 90mm lens @ 1/8 sec. shooting Panatomic-X 120 (ASA 32 for you Kids out there) indoors at a well-known NJ camera store (now gone). The store owner's son was installing 12x12 carpet squares in a well-lit area. I took a few to get it just right, and the results spoke for themselves. Out of about three exposures, I had one that was tack-sharp! So sharp that you could see individual threads of carpet in the same focus zone as the son's head & eyes. Part luck, part skill! Would I make 20x20's from hand held shots with a Hassy? Probably NOT! But a rangefinder with no mirror swinging up, maybe--but I'd have to practice again!</p>

<p>So IF you know what to do it can be done. These days I don't know if I could still do it. Back in "the day" I was shooting almost every day for the local papers, processing the B&W film & making 8x10's sometimes several times in a single 24 hour period. These days, thanks to the internet, I spend more time on a computer than working a camera. Oh, for the good 'ol days!</p>

<p>Also keep in mind that Fuji may still make their 800 speed color in 120 format. I have beach portraits in 24x30 shot hand held at 1/60th sec. with my 180mm lens so sharp that you can see five o'clock shadow on the dad! Takes practice in the field......</p>

<p>Dave</p>

<p>Working all day for just the image use rights (to make samples ONLY) is downright pitiful! By paying something to number 3 they become an employee/contractor. Easier to do contract since actual money changes hands. Number 3 was a sc@mbag for handing-out their card. This business is so cut-throat sometimes I just wanna puke! Handing #3 your own CF cards & business cards prior to the start of the job would have prevented most of this (I know you gave her your business cards), along with a stern reminder that handing out their own cards wouldn't be tolerated. I grew up in this business, and have assisted other photogs, always leaving my cards at home and saying the line (it's Ali's wedding and all contact is through Ali) that that other poster suggested.</p>

<p>I had a similar situation happen to me, only it wasn't with a business card transfer. After the event, the third shooter wanted me to hire them to shoot a bunch of weddings for my studio and have me tell my Brides that I had told, "I'll be there for you", that suddenly I wasn't available (lie to them), so he could keep working and not go to another studio looking for work. Who the hell knows what that guy did behind my back!</p>

<p>I let the Bride decide what SHE wants, and then I sell it to her. We have samples of every way that is common practice, and SHE doesn't have to decide until the day she's in the studio to do the lay-out! A series of couple shots, the dress by itself hanging up with jewelry close-ups layed into it, a close-up of flowers, a pic of the invitation, and many, many more! Starting with some formals in the front of the book means that I get to sell more formals after the ceremony spreads in our albums! Don't fret about what to do, just make the sale!</p>

<p>Photo covers are an upgrade! Images used as backgrounds count in the image count! </p>

<p>Basically, your job is to tease her with several ways to invest more dough into her precious memories, and to do so in an inviting, upscale style, whether the images go into the album, into the wallet, on the wall, in a frame, or in a folder. Learn how to become an order Maker instead of an order taker.......</p>

<p>Dave</p>

<p>All good points, even if we did get off of the main subject for a while.</p>

<p>Booking an overlap is an easy thing to do, especially in this economy! All it takes is for a mailed contract to take a little longer while someone else writes the check or swipes the credit card for the date. Just because you sent a contract doesn't mean that you'll ever see it again. Some couples take advantage of business owners by tying-up their date for a considerable period of time, costing the studio money in the process. I've LOST jobs because of this! And sometimes they cross in the mail, and sometimes you never see the contract come back to the Studio. In Jersey, we used to call this "Growing Pains". The Studio really doesn't need a full second crew yet, and a little "help" from a friend is all that's really needed. IF the studio owner is going to do most of the "money shots", the wedding couple will most probably be fine with the OP doing the "finish-up", since the two photogs will be working side-by-side until the studio owner has to leave. Walk a mile in my shoes and then come and talk to me! </p>

<p>When I was being mentored decades ago, it was normal for the Studio Owner to shoot the formals at the house, and we'd do the ceremony & formals together at the church & park. After the "bread & butter" shots of the grand entrance & first dance, he'd say goodnight to the couple and I'd stay there for the rest of the evening, as previously planned (the couple knew this in advance). This is what this "thing" is beginning to sound like to me. </p>

<p>In my professional experience, it sounds like the OP hasn't done that many weddings (1st Shooter vs. 2nd Shooter) and doesn't really want to be left to do a simple "finish-up" as we used to call it back in the days of 220 Hassy backs. All of this chatter about image useage in a help-me-out situation is leading me to believe that the OP is getting second thoughts about helping someone. Or being left by themselves....</p>