ekaterina_s
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Posts posted by ekaterina_s
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<p>Hello, everyone!<br>
A friend of mine is buying a camera for family use only, and he is trying to choose between Nikon D3100 and Canon EOS Rebel T3. Problem is, he wants to be able to use his old TAMRON lenses from film Nikon N65, so the question is - will they work on either camera bodies?<br>
Lenses are: (1) AF Aspherical 28-80mm and (2) AF Aspherical 75-300mm (Tele-Macro (1:3.9)<br>
Any advice is greatly appreciated!<br>
<br />Thanks!</p>
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<p>I am leaning toward d5100, because:<br>
- my old D60 is DX and uses AFS lenses<br>
- 16 MP is enough for my modest needs<br>
- I am curious to see what "effect" mode does!<br>
- battery and memory cards will be interchanheable<br>
- I can get it without the kit lens (I can use kit lens from my old D60) or use it with my Tamron 2.8 zoom lens<br>
- I can buy a 35mm 1.8f/G fixed lens to go with it still within my budget</p>
<p>Thanks again for everyone's input!</p>
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<p>No, I don't normally shoot weddings for pay, but I think I need two cameras anyway. Extra batteries are on my list too. Thank you!</p>
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<p>Thank you all!!! Great advice, all valid points - I've got some serious digging to do now and I know where to start! Didn't even think of refurbished ones and yes, I do have a DX and AFS, so I will have to look into that as well. Thanks again.</p>
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<p>Hello, everyone!<br>
I have a small photo business, doing mostly maternity, family and kids photos. I work a lot with preschools, and I also do a lot of free/charity photo work for friends just because I like it and they can't afford it. I can't afford a very expensive back-up camera body, but I do need one, because they do break and I can't afford to loose clients over this. I was once unfortunate enough to leave my house without my camera battery (left it charging) and lost about 40 minutes of the event I was shooting. Even though I offered free family session and ended up doing a free album and did my best to deliver great pictures in very difficult low light situation, I pretty much lost a client and another potential client. Lesson learned, I have to be prepared.<br>
So, anyway, I have to buy a back-up camera body and I need a relatively inexpensive one. Problem is, I don't have very strong arms, so I can't carry around a very heavy camera along with my metal Tamron lens and heavy SB-700. Does anyone have any suggestion for a camera body that would almost border prosumer in quality and weight and yet be acceptable for my (not very high-end) photography needs?<br>
Thank you!</p>
<p> </p>
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<p>Thank you, Maryann! That's exactly my reservation - why do I have to worry about decorating their party and providing entertainment for the guests, which can only distract me from doing my job, right?</p>
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<p>Thank you, Will, I truly feel the same way about what I do, that's why I was so puzzled when props were brought up. I do use props a lot for infants and young children, but even with kids after certain age the pictures look more natural when there is nothing distracting from the person. With events, I tend to follow a natural flow of things. But I hope to learn something new today!</p>
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<p>My dear fellow photographers, I know all about how competitive this industry is and, at the same time, how creative one has to be in order to be successful, but PLEASE share some secrets!<br>
I've been asked to photograph a baby shower. Now, I do events on a regular basis, but not once was I asked to bring photo props with me! They could not tell me exactly what they wanted, but they said something about another photographer bringing baby bottles as props for the adults??? <br>
Not only am I puzzled as to what to bring, I also don't know how I can be concentrating on photographing the best moments at a party with 50+ people AND provide people with props such as baby bottles... <br>
PLEASE if you have any advice whatsoever, I will greatly appreciate it. I did so many events, including for people who keep coming back to me that I never thought I'll be this nervous in this stage in the game.<br>
THANK YOU!</p>
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<p>Thank you, Andrew, great advice!</p>
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<p>Andrew, thank you for your response! Sounds like this would be a great option, but wouldn't floor materials like that produce glare and unnatural look? Companies that sell photo floors advertise them as no-glare natural-looking material, which makes me think regular flooring materials would not be a comparable choice. Do you have experience with it?</p>
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<p>Thank you all for great suggestions! I like the idea of thank you notes with promotional offers for referrals, and also appreciated the idea of creating a specific business FB page, and creating a specific mood and feel for a FB page is something I definitely would not think about. Free ink is something I need to explore further. Thanks again!</p>
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<p>Michael, thanks for your response. I do have an online portfolio, and a personal facebook page, but have been reluctant to advertise via FB only because I don't want my friends on FB feel like I am targeting them as potential clients. I might be wrong and they won't think much of it, but I have yet to make that big step.</p>
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<p>Hello, everyone!<br>
I've been operating a very small scale photography business for a couple of years now, and have an established clientele - several families and preschools that do come back to me for my services a few times a year. They are repeat clients who are always happy with my work. I even have clients who tell me "if you can't shoot this event, I won't hire another photographer anyway", which is kind of flattering. However, I need to expand, I just simply don't have enough work. <br>
After reading and reading about it, I've come to realize the most effective marketing tool is word of mouth. It just does not seem to bring enough work.<br>
So, I am considering:<br>
1. Ad in a local newspaper, including an ethnic paper (I have Russian background)<br>
2. Ad at a local my gym (kid's sports club)<br>
3. Possibly a restaurant where they cater for events?<br>
4. Craigslist - seems oversaturated, I don't even know how potential customers would be able to go through all of those ads...<br>
Am I not seeing something that is obvious? Do you have any comments about this plan? Any and all input will be greatly, greatly appreciated! <br>
Thank you!</p>
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<p>Danny, great idea! It brings me back to considering shooting green screen. Thanks!</p>
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<p><img src="http://www.ebay.com/itm/LARGE-5ft-x-4ft-Thin-Light-Wood-Vinyl-Photography-Backdrop-Prop-Floor-/251147700335?pt=US_Photography_Background_Material&hash=item3a7991c86f" alt="" />Danny, thank you for your response! I do have backgrounds that are large enough to be used for the floor covering as well, but I am looking for a different look, primarily for infant photography. Here's an example of the look I am trying to accomplish:</p>
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<p>Hello, everyone!<br>
I've been looking for a nice floor backdrop, and I find there is a pretty big variation in price depending on the size of it. What I can easily afford is a 5x3 or a 4x4 backdrop, but then wouldn't my model have to site too close to the hanging backdrop? Is there a size that would be easy to work with yet reasonable in price? <br>
Thank you very much!</p>
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<p>So, my dear friend went out and got herself a Nikon P510, because none of the other options were at the store at the time. After the fact, she says her main reason was to take pictures in low light situations, like at family gatherings at her home and possibly at her children's school concerts. I wish she told me that going in, that would have narrowed down the choices, but I would have leaned a lot less then, so I am thankful to her for giving me this opportunity to learn, and to all of you who posted such insightful comments!</p>
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<p>Alwin, what a great approach to school shoots! Thanks for sharing, I have a lot to learn. I do about 3-4 schools twice a year, and I've been extremely inefficient. I make my profit, but it's very time-consuming. I don't own a pro account, because I am way too small for anything but a basic at this point, AND most parents I've worked with don't even know how to navigate through a web-site, really. When I do portraits, families and events, most people want a gallery for viewing, a CD and/or album, not prints. I tried only shooting those who signed up in advance at schools, but it just did not work. Two families signed up, and when I said it'd go ahead and do it anyway, I had 10 orders at the end of the day (it was a small preschool). So when I say I waist my time, it means I am sitting there while my projects pile up on me... I am sorting through great advice like this to implement a new system though, learn something new every day!</p>
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<p>John, beautiful work, and the watermarks are pretty obvious, I agree...</p>
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<p>John, do you have different systems for selling prints at triathlons and parties than you do for weddings or is it just a different kind of crowd? I also wonder if watermarks are not a big deal for doing screenshots and then posting them on social networks or keeping on your computer for viewing? And I think in light of this discussion keeping the gallery up for 30 days only makes a lot of sense! </p>
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<p>Jeff, thanks for advice! Clearly, my problem is that my session fee is way too low, but raising it now will make some of my regular clients angry. I wonder what would be a good business approach to discussing these things with them, especially with those who do order albums and prints. I charge what I feel is reasonable for digital images, but what upsets me is when people don't even want that, because they've used my site as a sharing platform for "this is what my life looks like right now" for their friends and family.</p>
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<p>Hello, everyone!<br>
So, I've set up a very simple web site, where I can upload pictures onto galleries and have my clients review them and pick which ones they want. What I've noticed is that it actually got worse, not better.<br>
When I had families look at the galleries, they were all so excited, loved the pictures, showed them to the whole world.... and lost all interest in them. Even though it came as a surprise at first, I slowly realized it's sort of a social network effect - "if all of my friends saw my pictures and how beautiful I am, why do I need anything else? I'll just move on..." So my income stops after I get my session fee, and then people tell me "I'll def do something, just not right now". <br>
The other situation I am facing is that when I do preschools (which I do a lot), parents just don't look at the pictures online. Either they are not computer literate, or they don't want to bother checking something on the computer when they get home, or they simply forget to look. Even those who said they were definitely going to purchase a specific package. So I end up printing what I choose, which is not a bad situation, but I am loosing on a potential up-sale from parents who might like to have more pictures than what I've included in the package, because there are always more than 3-4 really good ones for every child. AND I am loosing time waiting for parents to log on and look at the pictures, which is also a huge problem, as I don't have that much time to begin with.<br>
So was that web site a not-very-smart investment? Should I go back to paper proofing or not do proofs at all (for preschools), and in-person proofing for families? </p>
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<p>Thanks a lot for all your feedback. Canon G12 seems the most reasonable way to go, good value for the money, given that my friend is so not pro neither does she want to become one. After some research on Canon G12 I came across Nikon Coolpix P510, which seems pretty comparable, so I'll probably just give her these two to choose from and she'll have to take it from there. Thanks again!<br>
<br />... And, I agree 100% with those who said that pressing a zoom button and picking the right scene mode in a compact are no easier that operating a pro grade camera sometimes! I've used my MIL's point and shoot once recently, and was utterly frustrated with it after just one day. </p>
Will these lenses work?
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