dave_lawson1

I've been using a 35mm prime to great advantage. With the improvements in software these days, I simply shoot a sequence of

overlapping frames and stitch them to whatever size needed for the landscape.

Beyond that, the 35mm prime will be a normal lens (close approximation to how the eyes sees) and I have observed that this generates

the most natural images. Lastly, I'm a big fan of primes for their clarity. Run them as wide open as the required depth of field will permit,

and you really can't beat the sharpness.

There is no such business as photography. There is only the business of selling photography.

If you want future business, satisfy the customers needs. If that is financially beneficial to you, you have a viable business. Never lose

sight of that.

But, know the difference between needs and wants. This is crucial.

Tim,

As I noted in my post, I have had several Epsons before.

I moved from the 3800 to the 7890 for a purpose similar to yours.

I did need to buy the Spyder Print spectrometer to make accurate profiles for b&w since the Epson profiles were

muddy in the shadows.

The golden ticket promo is not currently in place, but I'm from Canada, so have no clue beyond my border.

I do quite like the machine. It does every bit as well as the 3800, just a whole lot bigger. It IS HUGE, and HEAVY, so

explain that part to your spouse in advance!

<p>I purchased the 7890 a few months ago when Epson had their Golden Ticket promo and the price was just too good to pass up.<br>

Since I've been running it, I find that sometimes when I run a nozzle check print it will show certain inks completely missing. (Generally after not printing for a week or more - summer break, etc)<br>

After running the standard head cleaning command, it will come back with a "Failed Cleaning - Retry?" message. The first time it did this I said yes and it still came back with "Failed Cleaning - Retry?", to which I said yes again, only to get the same failure message. At that point I decided to NOT retry the cleaning cycles (while watching my ink levels drop) and just did a nozzle check print and found that all nozzles printed fine. I'd proceed to make a few prints and it worked a charm, no issues.<br>

This situation has repeated itself (except I only do one cleaning, regardless of failure message), run the nozzle check and all is well each time.<br>

1. Has anyone else seen this issue with either the 7890 or any of the large format Epsons?<br>

2. Is there a 'best practice' regarding these printers to keep the head's clean? One obvious one is to print more, or even just a nozzle check periodically even if I'm not printing images for a short while.<br>

3. Can anyone say if it is better to keep the unit powered up, or power it down if not to be used for, say, 2 weeks?<br>

I've had the Epson 1270. 2400 and 3800 and never saw this issue except on the very old 1270 if I didn't use it for a while. The others just motored on through and were clog free the vast majority of the time.<br>

TIA,<br>

Dave</p>

<p>Use good primes (I use a 35mm Nikon prime) and stitch 3 frames. If you get true 200 dpi, for this size of print then you are all set. Viewing ditance for a 40 inch print is 4 to 6 feet away. Don"t get too wrapped up in pixel peeping.</p>

<p>I had the 3800, but the 3880 is now the way to go.<br>

i recently upgraded to the 7890, but this is likely out of most folks price reange.</p>

<p>I do two events each year with such a business model. 8x10s matted to 11x14 are $25, 11x14 matted to 16x20 are $45. These are my open edition prints. Limited edition prints, matted to 16x20 go for $120, but my edition size is 10, so not all that lucrative.<br>

Sales in this business are limited. Some years I'll turn a few hundred dollars in a day, other times nothing.<br>

Needless to say, this is not my moneymaking part of business. It's mainly to meet new customers.</p>

<p>Susan,<br>

Working for a photography company, and having your own sideline photography business may easily be considered a conflict of interest if you will provide any services that are directly provided or even subcontracted to partner companies.</p>

<p>I'm likely taking a totallydifferent (and perhaps wrong headed for some)approach but this whole thing makes me wonder if this isn't ulitmately going to be just a huge educational exersize for Mr. Hagan. Legalities aside (which would take years to sort out), there seems a huge opportunity to make maximum use of the 'work' done as a commercial portfolio centre piece. The higher the quality and importance of the ad campaign and related media is, the greater the potential benefit to the photog.<br>

I submit that perhaps the best way to make peace with this is to learn from it, and make maximum use of the experince to build the business into legitimate contracts with new clients.<br>

$0.02 tossed in.</p>

<p>$250 per quality print is not unreasonable, unless you spent bottom $$ in producing it.<br>

I've had good eperience with Ikea frames (as long as you get the real wood ones, not pressed fibre), cut your own mats, back then with acid free mounting and paper the back of the whole thing.<br>

I've been selling matted 16x20 prints for $45 and will be moving that price upwards. My club counterparts have, on occassion, sold small unmatted prints for as little as $12 and it drives me crazy. Next show I plan to have a matted print on display for over $100, just to prove a point. Even if it won't sell (limited $$ demographic), it's worth making the point to not undersell quality work.</p>

<p>I've been pondering the very same question recently, as I look into entering the business on a part time basis. Every business book I have read on this general subject says that you need to find a really good reason to NOT use your own name for the business. This is part of the branding element behind building a business. I would imagine (and willing to stand corrected) that this would extend to the domain name element of business naming also.<br>

It could be that DanaTitusPhoto.com is available, for example.<br>

$0.02</p>

<p>Sorry about this, but I'm a bit anal when it comes to the writing. Think about the following "about us" edit.</p>

<p>"The first thing you should know about me is that I have a true passion for photography.</p>

<p>Everything I do is with the goal of capturing a moment in time. I understand the importance and special nature of your wedding or event. I fully accept the responsibility entrusted in me to make your images special.</p>

<p>If you would like more information or have a question, please email or call.</p>

<p>Thanks for considering Lou's Photography,</p>

<p>Lou d"</p>

<p>Basically, the customer doesn't (for the most part) care that you are using digital technology and these day's it's pretty much assumed unless you make the point otherwise. <br>

About the site itself, I would lose the faux picture frame since about half the images don't fill the frame. Perhaps just fading the images instead of scrolling them would be more pleasing. Nathan's points are also well made.<br>

I hope this helps, and is purely taken as helpful, as is my intent.<br>

Good luck!<br>

Dave</p>

<p> </p>

I've been shooting with the D70 for nearly 4 years, I can't really say that I've ever felt short in the resolution department. Well exposed and composed images will print up to 12x18, not problem at all. I've won lots of appreciation from the local camera club.

I have pondered the D300 for some time but I don't feel that the upgrade will take me where I'd like to be, which is closer to 18Mp (ie, 3x the resolution, or 170% larger in both dimensions).

Where I'm noticing the big issue is more with the glass than with the body. I have the wonderful 18-200 VR lens which is my travelling lens and it spends 60% of the time on the camera. When I'm out to shoot more seriously I take my 50mm/1.8 and my 90mm/2.8 macro. Those give much nicer images to my increasingly trained eye.

I was told once that the body is just a place to hang the glass. With film I'd tend to agree. With digital it's more complex because the body is the equivalent to the body and the film in more traditional terms.

The next conundrum comes with the expectation that Nikon will expand it's full frame lineup, possibly down into my amateur price range, in the future. Then what glass does one buy, DX or "FX" capable lens?

Personally, for now, since I'm fundamentally happy with my combo, and "touch wood" it's reliable enough, I'm holding firm and will look for older fast lens that will still cover the "FX" frame. Then again, the next DX00 may change my mind!

Do not mistake a government for a people. Sadly, this is often the mistake that many regions make about the USA and they end up looking like radicals and jihad-ists (or may well be accussed of being so, based on the flavour (tangy hoisin sauce?) of the above.

As someone who travels to China regularly on business, I meet so many people who are very aware of the difference between the government reality and their personal reality. As a whole, the Chinese people are working tirelessly to change that and in the past 15 year the Chinese goverment is allowing the strings to loosen a little and see where it goes. In other words, working for an evolutionary process instead of a revolutionary process.

So, this week as I travel to Shanghai and Guangzhou, I will drink my Starbucks, chow down on a really good burger in an Irish pub owned by 3 Canadians and go for a stroll in the evening in one of China's largest cities, free of fear of robbery or other dire events.

I like China, but it scares me. Not the government, for at worst that's a temporary issue, but the incredible thirst for over 1 billion people for their own personal progress. It isn't the cheap, low quality merchandise you really need to worry about. It's the very high quality stuff that's starting to come from there that will be the downfall of the western industrialized economy.<div></div>