krormark

<p>I used to have UV filters in front of my lenses as well but I removed them many years ago. I have not damaged any of my lenses till now. Regarding your photo to me it looks sharp. I am not sure how you took this image but your should avoid stacking filters on top of each other. If using a UV filter this should be removed before attaching the polarizer. With two filters stacked there is an increased of lens flare. In your image you have used a wide angle lens. You can see a slight tendency to the unevenly colored sky, caused by the wide focal length. The sky is darker blue to the right compared to the center and left parts. It is not so much in this case it is a problem. More important is the sun is more or less in front of the lens. For a polarizer to have effect the sun must be 90 degree angle to the lens.</p>

<p>I have never had any concerns with diffraction. This is not as important as someone will claim it is. Mostly it is "theoretically" as few of us will ever notice the diffraction unless told about it. The way we present most of the photos me make - online - it is not a problem at all. Only if you plan to make large prints it might be visible. If I need to use the smallest aperture at f22 for sufficient Depth of Filed I will use it.<br>

At the end it is the composition and the execution of the image that counts. If diffraction is what is recognized by the viewer I would claim the image is not a good image. More important is to get rid of UV filters in front of the lens. Often people by cheap filters and put in front of their (expensive) lenses. This filter might sometime degrade the quality of the image more than the diffraction does. The intention of the filter is to protect the lens. Using a lens hood is often a better way to protect your lens from scratches.</p>

Thanks, anyhow Howard. Yes it is a crap how their site was set up. All the other paper manufacturers have done this

much more elegant.

I recently purchased a few boxes of Ilford paper to try out on my new Epson 3880. When trying to download the ICC profile from Ilfords

website I found the printer profile page no longer working. Later I got to know Ilford Imaging is insolvent and have closed down. I hope

someone here at the Photo.net forum already have the ICC profiles for the 3880. I am on Windows computers. The ICC profiles I need

are "Galerie Gold Mono Silk paper", "Galerie Fibre Silk paper" and "Galerie Smooth Fine Art paper" I appreciate a lot if anyone can help.

<p>Ellis, thanks you solved my problem. I have not read the manual as it is not available in the studio. I was not aware of the option of stopping down in 1 f-stop increments by pressing the the Setting Knob. I have only been using 1/10 f-stop increments which of course does not reduce the light to the lowest power possible.</p>

<p>Thank you everybody for great responses and advice. The strobes are Profoto D1 500 Ws (sorry for the earlier mistake as I wrote 1000 Ws). Even 500 Ws is to much at f1.4 and f1.8.<br>

It seems the use of ND`s is a good option. I will certainly get any of the ND filters you have recommended to try out. Without the modelling light I can fit the gels directly on the strobe head which seems to be the easiest way.<br>

Igor, I did not think about using the modelling light. I will give it a try. The colour temperature can be adjusted post as I shoot RAW. It is more cumbersome but could be an option.</p>

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<p>Thanks to all of you for the appreciated feedback. Each strobe has its own power (AC) so there is no way to reduce the output further. I actually did not know about ND filter for strobes but will consider this as an option. How will this work with softboxes (will there be room). I understand if using the ND filter with barn door. This will not be the soft light I am after. It might also be possible bouncing the light of from a white reflector on a distance. Bringing new strobes into a rented studio is not a good option. Actually I have used my Nikon SB900 in some occasions and that works fine like in this <a href="http://rormark-norway-photo.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Kaluma/G0000QP.WaiR9kCU/I0000qbKAw3BNrwg/P0000GjbkZv7bjNU">image</a><br>

<a href="http://rormark-norway-photo.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Kaluma/G0000QP.WaiR9kCU/I0000qbKAw3BNrwg/P0000GjbkZv7bjNU"><br /></a></p>

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<p>Anyone having any suggestions how to shoot at f.1.4 for shallow DOF. I am renting a studio with strobes (1000Ws). Even at the lowest possible settings on the strobes the portraits is heavily overexposed at f1.4 and even at f2.8. One option is using a ND filter on the lens but this make focusing very difficult. I am using softboxes with the strobes. Are there any light modifiers that can be used to reduce the light significantly? Appreciate any ideas on how this can be dealt with.</p>