ken_burns1

Here in the US, a contract written up by you might or might not be totally legally binding. To avoid contract issues, it can be extremely important to use the proper legalese terminology to avoid misinterpretation (especially if you end up in a court of law) or, even worse, unknowingly stating terms and conditions contrary to your intentions because of the misuse or lack of use of proper legal terminology. It is also important to include certain statements that cover certain contract conditions and liabilities that are known best by those involved in contract law. Therefore, the standard reply to your questions re contracts is to see an attorney. You might also check with a local professional photography association in your area. Oftentimes they have standard generic contract forms that might be useful.

 

You can use any title you want. I would try something a little more interesting than just "Photographer." Try something like "Master Photographer", "Master Image Maker", or "Master Pixelator". After all, just exactly what is a "qualified" photographer?

I've got an old FE that's shutter has been open now for over 10 years. So, I guess that's a tad longer than 8 seconds.

The threads have seized and it will require an abrasive plus a lot of work to loosen them up. Any repairperson who works with LF lenses and shutters has experience with this problem, it is fairly common. The person I always use for this type of repair is Bill Moretz at ProCamera in Charlottesville, VA. Call him at 434-979-1915. Make sure in the future that you occasionally lubricate the threads so you won't have the same problem again.

According to the Mini Mole specs found here: http://extranet.mole.com/store/images/backpage/2801-L.gif the lamp can be used with 220V if you use the FEV bulb.

Its difficult to draw very many conclusions from the vague descriptions, but I'll try. You say that the negs did not fully develop. Keep in mind that a fully developed but underexposed neg will not have adequate density. Lack of density is not necessarily an indication of underdevelopment. If 2 images look good and the others don't, then that inconsistency is probably exposure problems and not development. What exactly do you mean by "somewhat clear?" Do you mean that the image area on the film itself is clear and transparent or that the images are sharp and well-defined? There's a big difference there. However, you do say that some show up as gray. Is that grayness in the negs themselves or in the finished prints? If the negs themselves look gray, then inadequate fixing could be the problem. Are the edges of the film clear? If not, try refixing in a freshly mixed fixer bath followed by the standard wash and dry steps. If the film edges are clear and it is the finished prints that look gray, the problem could be either underexposure or underdevelopment. However, if the 2 "somewhat clear" negs actually have good density, that would tend to indicate that underdevelopment is not the problem. If you could give a bit more exact description of the problem, we can probably help you figure out what needs to be done next time.

Liquids can cause Newton's rings just as badly as air. If you've ever seen two pieces of glass seperated by a thin layer of liquid, you know that this can cause Newton's rings also. As a matter of fact, I guess that anything that is transparent and prevents complete contact between surfaces would cause visible Newton's rings. At least if it is thin enough to reduce the distance between the surfaces to less than one wavelength.

 

At one time, though, there was a negative carrier for enlargers that allowed the negative to float on a layer of oil. The negative never contacted a glass surface. This same approach might work here. So, maybe, if you could cover the glass flatbed with a layer of some sort of transparent viscous liquid, you could allow the negs to float on top of the liquid. Of course, the scanner's lid shouldn't be allowed to come into direct contact with the negs since it can cause Newton's rings also.

ISO settings on light meters oftentimes are only approximate. If you find that you are continually having to give more exposure than the meter indicates, then your meter probably needs adjustment. The better meters have an adjustment screw somewhere that will allow you to fine tune your meter to match your metering techniques. On my Sekonic, the adjustment screw is on the bottom of the swivelling head. The old Gossen Luna Pros had the adjustment screw on the back of the meter.

 

By the way, I downloaded your images and fiddled a bit with the histograms. I could make the darker one look almost exactly like the other one by adjusting the white point and gamma.

For products like golf clubs, you should have absolutely no problems working with tungsten lighting if you learn how to control both its quantity and quality. I've photographed furniture for decades using quartz halogen and tungsten filament light sources, and can say without a doubt that they are fine light sources for stationery products that will sit there contently while you adjust and fine tune the lighting. Hot lights have advantages with some products and disadvantages with others. I've not done food and wine photography, but from my experiences working with 1000 watt Moles, I can foresee some problems with food caused by the high heat output.

 

You'll have to learn how to control both the quantity and the character of the light using different types of light sources along with lighting controls such as diffusers and reflectors.

 

At first, I was going to try to explain the different kinds of hot lights I work with: kegs, broads, and parabolics with quartz halogen or tungsten filament bulbs. They each have their own personalities and quirks, and you can only learn these things by working with them. I also was going to try to discuss lighting character controls such as diffusers, reflectors, flags, scrims, softboxes, etc. But, its just too complicated to cover all these variables within the limited space of this forum. To master lighting techniques, it takes a lot of studying, so read the books others have suggested. It also takes a lot of practice working and playing with all the different types of light sources and the controls available.

 

You have to learn what will work correctly in which situations and what will not. Since you are shooting digital, it will be relatively easy to see what you are getting, and figure out what adjustments need to be made: where to hang a wire screen off of an umbrella to control highlights, where to place a reflector to fill in the shadows, where to place a diffuser in front of a keg to get the right amount of diffusion.

 

And, to get rid of the yellowish color, just do a custom white balance.

Photographing chrome is just like photgraphing mirrors. You end up photographing the images of whatever is being reflected by the chrome. You have to surround your chrome pieces with reflecting surfaces that also act as the light sources. You can use fabric that can be used as either a light reflector or light diffuser, or foamcore, paper, etc to act as light reflectors. Working with rounded shapes can end up requiring you to totally surround the pieces with these materials and engulf them in light. In order to give a three dimensional appearance, you will need to work with different light intensities and shapes to accent the shapes and curves. You might even want to work with light subtraction, using dark reflector boards or fabrics to accent the three dimensionality by creating what looks like "shadows". You will definitely need more than one light source to make something like this work.

I'm not familiar with the type of battery the Norman uses. Is it a dry-fit or Nicad? Nicads can be very difficult to recharge if they have been completely drained. Possibly, the fuse and transistor problem was the result of a short circuit that continued to drain the battery completely. I've had that kind of problem before with Nicads used with underwater equipment that shorted out and grounded to the water and totally drained the Nicads. Maybe a possibility.

I've used a Fuji 300 tele on my Tachi for about 15 yrs. It works fine, is a sharp lens though slightly lower in overall contrast than my Shcneider Symmar-S 210. Its a little heavy but not too bad for the Tachi, just make sure everything tightened down before you let go. All teles have smaller image circles, but that's never been a major problem. Within the rise and fall limits of the Tachi there are no problems at all. But, if you start tilting the camera bed up or down followed by bringing the standards back to vertical in order to get more rise or fall, you can get outside the image circle if you aren't careful. Just look through the GG corners and see if you can see through the aperture opening without interference. Overall I'd say its a very good lens requiring less bellows than my Schneider 210 at infinity.

Some P&S autofocus film cameras use the focus distance to determine flash exposure. Usually these cameras are fairly simple, and exposure accuracy is of course dependent upon auto-focus accuracy. Years ago, before auto-exposure flash systems, Nikon had a lens, the 45GN, that linked the focus ring and aperture ring together to adjust exposure as the lens was focussed. The linkage had a number of different linkage points in order to adjust for different film speeds (ASA back in those days). Of course, auto thyristor flashes spelled doom for that lens. So, it was a practical approach way back then, but those were simpler days. Today, multiple off-camera flashes, reflectors, diffusers, etc make it too complicated to base exposure just on the camera's focus setting.

Timber, what confusion is there in the replies?

Also, for info on classic lighting and poses for children and adult check here http://jzportraits.home.att.net/.

Amber, when it comes to buying equipment cheap, inadequate equipment is usually money wasted. As you have found, you really need a lighting system with modelling lights. Without them, your lights are mostly useless.

 

As far as where to place the lights, put them where they make the subject look best. Its that simple. There are certain lighting techniques that have stood the test of time and are used daily by pro portrait photographers. All kinds of books have been written about the techniques. Check http://www.amherstmedia.com, they have a lot of good books that discuss lighting. Check the free lessons at the Photoflex website: http://www.webphotoschool.com/newschool/Default.asp. And check the forums and archives at http://www.zuga.net.

Definitely go with the UV-coated tubes. Most white fabrics contain brighteners that absorb UV light energy and emit visible light in the blue part of the spectrum. This can be a problem not only with the bride's gown, but also the groom's shirt. You can also run into problems with hair dyes and makeup. These oftentimes use the UV light energy to make the colorants fluoresce. Believe me, the bride will not like it at all if her hair looks red with orange streaks in the photos but the hair dye was supposed to be brown with blonde streaks!!!

Bokeh is just hekob spelled backwards.

My first guess would be that the shaver cord is the problem. Paramount Cords used to offer a bi-post to PC adapter cord. I'm not sure if they still offer it, but you can check at http://www.paramountcords.com/.

You might try keh.com and see if they have a board. There really is no reason to assume that a Caltar lens would come mounted on a Calumet board. The lens can be put any camera, not just teh Calumet cameras.

I never tried toking pictures. I'll give it a try tonight and see what hoppens.

DO NOT ACCEPT THIS JOB!!! If you do, you will end up in a court of law. Just tell her to find another photographer, do not explain why, and do not make any recommendations. This one is not looking for a photographer, she is looking for someone she can use to become a real lawyer (in her own mind at least). THIS ONE WILL BE NOTHING BUT TROUBLE!!! Let one of your competitors suffer, but not you.

My 1000W Mole Nooks sometimes stay on in the studio for 8 hours a day. They always get where they look like that. When they finally burn out, its usually with a loud pop, a bright flash of light, and a lot of smoke.

We don't see numbers, we see colors. So quit looking at the numbers and shoot test rolls. Compare them on a good light box and see which colors look best. Characteristic curves and logarithms are for scientists, test rolls are for photographers!

By the 1930s, ortho films had all but disappeared from Hollywood. Early in Hurrell's career, he did use some that was purchased from another photographer. My guess is that the other photog was getting rid of it cheap because it was mostly worthless after panchro films came out. However, the panchro films of that era didn't have the level of sensitivity to red that today's films do.

 

Most of the Hollywood glamour effect was acheived by using pancake makeup, heavy negative retouching, harsh keg lighting, long focal length lenses at large apertures, and Super XX films.

A local collector has a number of glass plates in their collection. I have printed a number of them, by both contact printing and enlarging. Great care must be take to prevent damage from handling and from excess heat from light sources. I used a Beseler enlarger with a Dichro 45S color head for both the contact prints and enlargements. Additional filtration was added to the enlarger light system to remove both UV and IR.

 

The contact printing was rather easy to do. Two problems that needed solving were 1)how to insure firm contact between the glass plate and paper and 2) how to prevent light leakage creating a flare effect around around the edges. Both problems were solved by making a two-layer masking device using black gator board. The two-piece mask was made about twice the size of the 1/4 plates I was printing(all the plates were 1/4 plate, so that simplified it somewhat.) The bottom piece was cut out to fit nicely around the perimeter of the plate. The top piece was cut out to overlap the glass plate just enough to give me the ability to hold the glass plate down firmly with downward pressure on the edges of the gator board mask. The opening in this layer was cut with bevelled edges. The mask itself flexed enough to prevent any chances of breaking the glass plate from excess pressure. I had to shim up the mask a little with black graphic arts masking tape to get it to work right.

 

Enlarging required a little more effort, but wasn't really that hard to do. I made a three-layer plate holder out of the same black gator board. The top and bottom layers overlapped the plate slightly while the middle layer was cut slightly larger than the plate. The openings in the top and bottom layers were cut with bevelled edges using my mat cutter. This "negative carrier" suspended the glass plate in the enlarger without any excessive pressure. Like I said earlier, even though my enlarger already has heat absorbing glass and UV filtration built in, additional filtration for both UV/IR was added(I still use this filtration to help prevent "negative popping" with conventional films.

 

Now, the print exposure and contrast control are really what proved to be a major challenge. I found very quickly that the images on the plates were very high in contrast. Normally, a low contrast grade of paper will solve that problem, but not in this case. Apparently, the contrast characteristics (characteristic curves) of the old plates do not match the characteristics of today's printing papers. Getting proper detail in the highlights, midtones, and shadow areas was quite difficult. I ended up using a bit of contrast manipulation with variable contrast papers to get acceptable but far from perfect finished prints.

 

I'm sure there are other techniques that would work. But, I only had the opportunity to work with this type material the one time. If I had more time to experiment with printing-out papers or with other media like platinum I probably could have been more successful.