anthony_bridges

<p>Hi Tom,</p>

<p>I looked at your samples. Very nice. Several of your photos use shallow DOF which a telephoto might help to do. I would agree that the 70-200 f/2.8 would work pretty well on your Canon 7D. Rent it as planned and see how it fits. For weddings I always take my 70-200 f/2.8 IS. It's a great lens. I have it mounted on my 7D as my back-up camera and use my 5D3 as my primary camera using the other lens I will carry.</p>

<p>Thank you, Matt! Just investigating my options for a high powered unit. </p>

<p>- Anthony</p>

<p>I see that the Zeus pack & head from PCB are A/C packs. They suggest using the Vagabond battery to power the pack when shooting remotely. I have the Vagabond Lithium. Is this combination practical? It seems like a heavy load on such a small battery.</p>

<p>If you haven't already done the gig, I would ask if it were OK to visit the site before the shoot. If that is OK, you can bring your lighting gear and take several reference shots at different locations within the area. You can be the subject by using a timer or remote. Take at least two strobe/umbrella combos and place them slightly behind you - flanking you on each side. The umbrellas should be elevated above the group point down at an angle. Test shots will help give you ideas on what angle works best for the space. You on a small step ladder would be helpful, too.</p>

<p>All this being said, clients may choose a space for you and change their minds at the last minute. When visiting the site, you may find that it is inappropriate so walking around the office is good for having a back-up site. Most clients are looking to you as the expert. So, they may be responsive to your suggestions. They want a good photo of their people just as much as you want to make one.</p>

<p>I just found out Monday that they were closing. Sad to see so many people loosing their jobs. The prints at the Wolf Ultra in Plano ( a Dallas suburb) were better than say Sam's Club. </p>

<p>Thank you for the suggestion. I'm still fiddling with getting the right light ratios for an exposure like this. Will do this several more times before springing on a client.</p>

<p>The max sync speed on my Canon bodies is limited to 1/200. X-speed is a Nikon setting I believe you guys got it a little better. :)</p>

<p>The below image are the untouched exposure tests before I photographed the young couple and their family. The initial exposure without flash at f/8, ISO100, 1/160. The second exposure with flash at f/8, ISO100, 1/160. And, the last exposure with flash at f/8, ISO100, 1/80.</p>

<p>No dramatic exposure difference on my assitant that day between the last two photos. Big difference on the background exposure for the last photo. 1/80 is not ideal handheld with a portrait lens but it worked as an experiment.</p>

<p>The last time I tested my max power on my AB800 I got about f/13. F/22 with a more powerful flash is just too tempting. Still, the weather in Dallas is forecast to be nice the first of next week. Will probably volunteer one of the kids, grab my AB800 and my vagabond and do some more experimenting.</p><div></div>

<p>Ha. You never know. :) Generator? Nah. A pack & head could work for me.</p>

<p>In the lighting situation this weekend the key light was the softbox and light/pack. Not a big hardlight fan but thank you for the info. It was great to shoot in manual and roll the shutter dial to lighten and darken the background while the subject was (relatively) the same in such harsh light.</p>

<p>Below is a photo from the session. This was a lighting experiment so some things I would do differently in the future for a client such as changing the relative position of the subjects to the sun. Clouds appeared and disappeared a little so exposure changed between shots.</p>

<p>Equipment: Profoto 7b pack & head, Photoflex 2 x 3 softbox, Canon 5DIII, EF 85 f/1.8, 2 stop ND filter. F/8, ISO100, 1/80 sec.</p><div></div>

<p>Hmmm. I didn't consider that. Very good idea. </p>

<p>I just returned from my shoot. The sky was about sunny 16 outside. I used an ND filter to get the aperture I wanted which sucked up more power. This tells me for my style of shooting I would want 1600 ws or more from a head. I normally shoot in the shade but I like the option of shooting anytime of day if need be. Of course I can use scrims, reflectors, etc but that a different post. :)</p>

 

<p>I have a 5D, 7D and 5DIII. My initial thoughts on the 5DIII were similar - the images just don't seem as sharp as the 5D. After goofing with the sharpness on the 5DIII and shooting with it for awhile the problem somehow disappeared. :) I use Digital Photo Professional a lot. It comes with your camera. Download the latest version from Canon. Shoot in raw and do some tripod tests as described above and process a few images in DPP to see what happens.</p><div></div>

<p>I'm a monoblock guy. I use a AB800 and a Vagabond lithium for portraiture and product shots for local artists. I've used other monoblocks as well.</p>

<p>For the weekend I thought I'd rent the Profoto 7b pack and head for some outdoor portraiture. I did some tests last night and I must say, I am highly impressed. I was able to get F/22 at ISO100 shooting through a 2 x 3 softbox. A little underexposed but manageable. The controls are easy to understand, the head adjustment knob is great. The speedring is very manageable. This thing just performs. </p>

<p>However, this is not your shoot in the shade umbrella and speedlight. This kit is heavy. I will have to use a dolly to move the gear to the location. Also, at $US 5000 this is not cheap. It is an investment.</p>

<p>I had thought about getting a more powerful monoblock in the future like the Einstein (sp). I may have to rethink that. I much prefer the ease of changing my light setup at the pack instead of readjusting my lightstand everytime for a monoblock. The 7b is too pricey for my budget so I may try an Elinchrom or Speedotron in the future to compare.</p>

 

<p>Fast apertures is not really a necessity for landscapes unless you're going for a particular look. Quite often there is vignetting at wider apertures. Generally speaking, however, your sharpest aperture is stopped down 2 stops. So, f/2.8 maximum aperture is probably sharpest at f/5.6.</p>

<p>The most prudent advice is to rent your own and find out for yourself. All popular glass is rented online and quite often locally if you live in a large metro area. I rented all my more expensive glass before I bought it and turned away the Canon 10-22 because it was too wide for my taste. I shoot landscapes mostly with ef 28 f/1.8 on a 5D or 5DIII. Lots of people hate this glass but it is light, sharp at the apertures I prefer and the edge problems are not THAT bad. I'm not recommending this glass. I am recomending that you rent, rent, rent. Life experience is a very valuable tool.</p>

<p>Very cool photos. Creativity is the needed addition to any gear setup.</p>

<p>I should stop browsing around in camera shops. I walked in last month looking for a release plate for my tripod head and walked out with the rp and the new 40 f/2.8 pancake lens. Jeesh. So far so good. The lens is fairly sharp & performs like most of the reviews you've seen online for it. At US$200 it was hard to pass up.</p>

<p>Later this week I am planning a trip to Portland. Planning to take my 5D classic, my little Nikon waterproof p/s, the 40 f/2.8 and my 70-200 f/2.8 IS. The pancake lens is so compact it looks like the end cap to the 70-200! The 40 f/2.8 has been a very fun walkaround lens thus far.</p>

<p>- Anthony</p><div></div>

<p>I was reading an interesting equipment article by Kirk Tuck on using high ws flashes for portraiture in broad daylight. As a portrait & event photographer, most of what I shoot for clients is indoors, in the shade or at sunset.</p>

<p>Just curious. What would your mobile flash setup be for portraits in broad daylight? The parameters being 1 -3 people in typical poses using a flash modified by an umbrella or softbox in late morning to afternoon sun.</p>

<p>+1 on the nice photo David. <br>

I have the 7D as well. It has a responsive AF system but the 5D3 is even moreso! More autofucus pts and very quick to lock on the subject.</p>

<p>For my 5D, one day it stopped taking photos faster than 1/125th or 1/160th. Tried multiple settings, lensese, etc. I sent it into Canon service. They replaced my shutter assembly for US$216. It took about 10 days I believe. You can search the discussion on this forum.</p>

<p>I've enjoyed mine thus far. Shot a children's birthday party for a client recently. A lot of kids running, jumping and having fun - indoors! I was able to shoot f/5.6, 1/320th and ISO 6400 and get acceptable photos. Little ISO noise and very few missed shots for focus. Couldn't do this with my 5DI.</p>

<p>Speaking of the 5DI, I plan to leave my 5DIII at home and take my 5DI with me instead on a trip to Portland next week. Despite all the horsepower I get with the 5DIII, it isn't needed for the landscape & snapshots I plan to take. Leaving the 580 flash at home, too, and taking an old Sunpak flash for fill. The newest and greatest is not always needed.</p>

<p>Thanks for the responses!</p>

<p>One of the kids (adult children) is getting married. They asked me to photograph their wedding. I shoot portraits and events as well as wedding so I'm fairly comfortable with the gig.</p>

<p>I read briefly about something called a virtual 2nd shooter. You setup a camera on a tripod. Set it in a corner. Choose a wide angle and a good, manual focal point and fire away with a remote trigger from time to time when you see something interesting come into focus. Has anyone tried this? Did it work out for you? Sounds like a fun way to get alternate angles on non- critical shots.</p>

<p>Thanks for the responses. Yes, I was writing to both cards. Bummer on SD card limitations. I didn't have high ISO noise turned on. May get a faster SD card as an experiment. Need another one anyways.</p>

<p>Did I say I didn't mind the slow write speed in raw when running dual cards? Most times I don't. I was photographing guests dancing at a party last night. Internal memory got so bogged down the camera wouldn't snap. I had to switch to single card or use my back camera I had dangling from my neck. Maybe some faster cards or shooting in jpg for action would help. I don't know. I had a 200x Lexar in CF slot and a similar Sandisk in the SD slot.</p>

<p>Thanks, Tudor. I've been to Maui several times and traveled along the road to Hana. Very nice. I had considered visiting New Zealand at one point in the future but the long flight is a little daunting from Dallas. But, the same thing applies to other places in the world that I want to visit so you gotta do what cha gotta do. </p>

<p>I made reservations for my extented weekend in Oregon awhile back. Looking forward to the trip. Thanks for all the advice!</p>

<p>Just shot a gig with the 5D3 at a doctor's office. I had my 5D classic as my back-up camera body. Still need to review all the photos. The increased number of AF points was real handy when composing. Easy focus lock on most points except for really dreadful contrast situations. For a business shoot, the back-up drive slot is a good thing to have. Have a wedding scheduled for July and I can see how the second slot can come in handy as a just in case thing. Write speed was "OK" writing raw to both drives. Not an issue for me since I mostly do portraiture in different situations.</p>

<p>Lurking in the thread and looked at Jim's photos. Very nice. Makes me want to set a trip like Alireza.</p>

<p>I've had it for a week now and it's been fun to use. Usable photos at ISO 12,800, a cloud of autofocus points to choose (I prefer single point mode), Live View and faster frame rate like my 7D. (I've been using the 5D for several years now). What I don't like is the preview method. Why change it? I keep hitting the top right button on the back thinking I can enlarge my image. Also the Info button is near the viewfinder with a rate button in it's place. Huh? Rate button is useless for what I do. I do that in post after reviewing all the images. Anyways, cool camera. </p><div></div>