daniel_dester

<p>I had my first gig two weeks ago, and while some things went well, I was disappointed with many other things.<br>

I was doing a photo shoot at a factory, and I was asked to take pictures of products, things on the floor, and portraits of people. The portraits turned out really well. The lights I brought worked wonders, and I got many good shots. The products also worked well. I put bits and pieces of things on a large roll of white paper, and with the strobe lights I got, they also turned out pretty well.<br>

However, I was somewhat disappointed with the factory shots. The factory was pretty old, and most of the equipment was dusty, scratched up, and not exactly colorful and shiny. As a result, most of the shots were kinda dull and boring. I tried to include people, and I tried to focus on details, but in the end nothing really jumped out. Some of these shots look better in grayscale, but I am sure the customer would prefer color photos. Does anyone have similar experiences and what did you end up doing?</p>

<p>I would go with the lens, (though I must say the D700 is a thoroughly amazing camera). Good lenses actually appreciate in value (at least against the USD and the way it's going) so buying lenses is always a good, low-risk bet. Besides, you wouldn't want to use cheap glass on the D700 anyway. That said, there are two reasons to get the D700, in my mind. 1: if you do plenty of low-light photography without tripods, the D700 comes in handy because you can routinely shoot at ISO above 1600 with tolerable noise. 2: if you care about full-frame.</p>

<p>I just rented the 14-24mm f/2.8 lens, so I could play with it for a week before commiting to an $1800 purchase. But, the lens is not as sharp as I would expect. Ken Rockwell (and almost every other review that I've read) had only good things to say about it, and pretty much everyone agreed that it is by far the sharpest ultra-wide-angle lens money can buy. However, whether it's at f/2.8, f/5.6 or even f/11, I still find everything a little soft. I'm pretty sure it's not a depth of field problem, but I can clearly identify the sharpest area in an image.<br>

That said, the lens is not bad. However, it doesn't give me the "sharpest wide-angle lens ever" feeling. So,I'm wondering if I'm just expecting too much, or if something is wrong with the lens.</p>

<p>Thank you guys for all the input! It's taking me some time to digest all this, and I've had quite a time looking everything up to see what's right.<br>

As it turns out, they are now also interested in taking some portraits of the executives, so I will certainly need a solid lighting setup for that. Because this will be a one-person job (just me), I'm trying to minimize the gear as much as possible so I won't be overwhelmed. I'm also trying to get something simple to use since I'm still new to all this.<br>

So right now I'm leaning towards a setup with:<br>

-3 monolights (1 main, 1 fill, 1 back)<br>

-1 additional speedlight for the rest of the factory shoot.<br>

-stands, umbrellas, and a background.</p>

<p>Do you think I should use a remote trigger for everything, or should I have all the monolights flash off one of the flashes?</p>

<p>I'm mostly an amateur, but I might be getting my first gig to shoot a factory for their web site. I need to send them a quote/estimate this week, but since this will be the first time I'm getting paid for my work, I have no idea what I should include, or what kind of legal verbage I need to include.</p>

<p>For example, how should I break down my estimate? I think I would be quoting for about $800-$1000. This includes one full day of shooting, and 175 miles of travel (~3.5 hrs) each way, to/from the site. They're also looking at about 50 shots or so. I can provide them with all the shots, but should I price out each one separately that needs editing? Should I price out travel separately? Or, should I just leave the estimate at say $900 and say that it includes everything?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for any thoughts or suggestions. If you have a sample of a quote/estimate, that would be even better! Thanks.</p>

<p>I am somewhat of an amateur, but I might be getting my first gig to shoot a factory for their web site. I really don't want to mess it up, so I'd really appreciate any advice on what you can suggest in terms of lighting.<br>

The material is mostly going to be about things in the factory: machines, welding equipment, an assembly line, etc. I was told that the factory has normal factory lighting (whatever that means), so it's indoors, not particularly bright, and they told me I would need to responsible for my own lighting.<br>

So my question is, what kind of lighting equipment should I bring for these situations? I would certainly bring a good tripod or two, but what kind of flashes or reflectors should I consider? I can probably rent whatever I need, so please share your thoughts and your experiences.<br>

Thanks so much!</p>