josh_e

<p>1-If you take a clothed portrait of someone with their oral consent do you still need a model release form to use the photo non-commercially such as adding it to your online portfolio?<br> 2-Do you always have a third person present for a nude or lingerie photo shoot for legal protection? Does it have to be someone you know such as a makeup assistant or would model's chaperon be enough? Even with professional models?<br> 3-Is it possible to book a professional studio when travelling? <br> Thanks. </p>

<p>OK, for seamless paper I've heard thunder gray is the most versatile. Now I found these gray muslin backgrounds on B&H:<br> http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/816259-REG/Impact_BGS_1012_DG_Solid_Muslin_Background_10.html<br> http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/602738-REG/Backdrop_Alley_BAM12DRKGRY_BAM12DRKGRY_Solid_Muslin_Background.html</p> <p>Are they good? Also do they block the outdoor light from coming in? </p>

<p>Actually it may be better to get translucent film as I have see though curtains on the windows already. But then I'd have no control over the natural light that comes in (other than the aperture of course).</p>

<p>I don't think recording audio is against any law. Also if you record video with her knowledge, you can encrypt it and then no one can watch it without knowing the password for the encrypted file. Look at a website like howtogeek to find out how. Even if you have a female assistant having an audio record is not a bad idea. </p>

<p>OK, I'm getting (gray) seamless paper however my studio needs curtains for two windows (one big, one small) so I thought I may be able to kill two birds with one shot, i.e. use the curtains as background. I think the selection of the fabric boils down to its texture and how much light it reflects and I don't know much about the latter one. I'll be doing mostly prostrates and fine art. <br> Looking at the market I find some polyester <a href="http://go.skimresources.com/?id=27015X856183&site=photo.net&xs=1&isjs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.onlinefabricstore.net%2Ftype-fabric.aspx%3Fapplication%3Ddrapery%26product_group%3Dlinen%23product_group%3Dlinen%26application%3Ddrapery%26price_sort%3D2&xguid=&xuuid=8695b4f62aba69b5f58787165300cf2a&xsessid=&xcreo=500005&xed=0&sref=http%3A%2F%2Fphoto.net%2Fbboard%2Fq-and-a-confirm&pref=http%3A%2F%2Fphoto.net%2Fbboard%2Fq-and-a-post-new%3Ftopic_id%3D1550&xtz=300&abp=1">linen fabric</a>. As well as<a href="https://www.onlinefabricstore.net/type-fabric.aspx?application=drapery#product_group=muslin&application=drapery"> muslin</a>.<br> Although there are many other options as well. Any thoughts?</p>

<p>You are right, absolutely right.</p>

<p>Thanks for your responses. Using a wired gets pretty cumbersome if you want to move the light and camera around. If you have a fixed studio setting yeah but otherwise...<br> Good to know that built-in CLS is not so good. Would PW be easier to use with LP180R than Odin? Also any thoughts about HSS? It seems my only option for HSS with this flash is to get a Canon. </p>

<p> I have a Nikon D5300 and today I received my <a href="http://mpex.com/wireless-ocf-jump-starter-kit-w-flash-for-nikon-31311.html">jumpstarter Strobist kit!</a> <br> <strong>Odin vs. PocketWizard vs. Nikon's built in commander</strong><br> In the kit LP180R was just $50 more expensive than LP180 so I thought it wouldn't hurt to have TTL as well as HSS. The Odin transmitter was also just $60 more expensive that PocketWizard<br> so I thought it wouldn't hurt to have more control either. Now that I got my hands on them Odin's interface is pretty complicated and it seems to be overkill for me. I've been using manual flash mode also. TTL didn't give good results.<br> Another thing that I couldn't find the answer to is how the built in IR flash commander in models like D7100 compare to Odin or PocketWizard.<br> <strong> </strong><br> <strong>High speed sync</strong><br /> It's useful to have for shooting outdoors but D5300 does not support it. I've been thinking of selling my D5300 and getting a (refurbished) D7100 which would bring other benefits as well (such as manual controls). Basically D5300 is almost the same as D3300 with GPS added which is not useful to me. <br /> Anyway LP180R does not seem to support HSS when controlled wirelessly. (Look at the table on page 10 here: http://lumopro.com/skin/frontend/default/blank/images/lp180r_Instruction_Manual.pdf)<br> So I'm a bit confused.</p>

<p>Thanks again. <br /> "hardly any lens is at its best at the widest aperture, so stopping down (to f/5.6 for example) will improve the optical performance of the lens."<br> <br /> OK, but what if I use a lens whose widest aperture in higher than mine, say, 2 instead of 3.5 then 4.8 would be farther from the widest aperture of the lens. No?</p> <p>Here is one more question: When the subject is too dark (say, a long exposure at night), the camera cannot autofocus and so I have to turn the switch on the lens to manual focus. But then the subject is too dark to see if it is sharp and the distance are not written on the lens, only the focal lengths. I can't remember how one can convert subject distance to focal length?</p>

<p>Thank you. I shoot JPG+RAW but have not got around to experiment with editing RAW images yet.<br /> @Lex Jenkins: Would a different lens give a better result in such a situation? Also can reducing the number of focus points from 39 to 11 help?<br> And yes, I use GIMP but used it only to resize those photos ("cubic resizng").<br> <br /> @Jose Angel: Good point. I can do all those corrections in post processing with more control over the outcome.</p>

<p>Third image</p><div></div>

<p>Second image</p><div></div>

<p>It's a Nikon D5300 (that I talked about in a previous question). Before buying this I only shot in the auto or program mode with a mirrorless<br /> (not counting the old days when I had a film camera as a teenager). I shoot mostly in aperture priority mode with the Nikon and it gives good results but quit often it seems that it doesn't do the right thing. I've attached three photos. The first one is underexposed, the second one seems to be out of focus and the last one looks too "coarse" for ISO 200. Why does this happen?</p><div></div>

<p>I took some more shots and although the amount of detail in Sony's shots are close to Nikon's, the latter provides much more realistic colors. Now it seems there is something wrong with Sony's white balance (probably a result of the signal processing postproduction that I was touting at first.)<br> <br /> But the fact that a tiny camera like RX100 can deliver image detail close to that of D5300 is sobering. Now I should make up my mind whether I want to keep the Nikon, exchange it for an A6000 or collect my pennies to get a hardcore beast later. It seems that I expect too much for an inexpensive camera. I like it to be able to take low noise photos of candlelight objects (using a tripod)!</p>

<p><a href="/photodb/user?user_id=282122">Q.G. de Bakker:</a><br> Yes, that's exactly what my question about.<br> <a href="/photodb/user?user_id=640949">Jochen Schrey:</a><br> Yes it was a VR lens. Both cameras were focusing on a tree part of it you can see on the right side of the pictures. I cropped and resized the photos. (The part I chose was for convenience reasons but other areas were not much different.)</p>

<p>Both cameras were on auto. It overcast AND dusk.</p>

<p>Here is a section of the Nikon shot.</p><div></div>

<p>I compared them on a high resolution laptop monitor of course. By image quality first and foremost I mean detail. In the Sony RX100 image there were more tree leaves distinguishable. <br> One thing I like about the Nikon is that you can leave the camera on without loosing much battery power. </p> <div></div>

<p>Yesterday I got my hands on a DSLR for the first time, a Nikon D5300. The first thing I did was to take a few shots and compare them with my favorite fixed lens mirroless Sony. The result surprised me because I had heard that D5300 delivers great image quality. First let me say that I used the auto mode and probably that's not where DSLR shine?<br> One of the shots was of a tree in overcast weather at 6 pm. Sony's picture surprisingly had much better detail and color balance. Here is the point: In low lights the Sony takes a few different shots in a burst and composes them together. I also took a photo at night with fluorescent light on. Image qualities were similar although Nikon was using a much higher iso. So again it seems that the Sony has tricks up its sleeve to compensate for a smaller sensor. So far the only advantage of the Nikon, apart from the ability to change the lens, seems to be low light photography of moving objects.</p> <p>So optics and sensors are not all of the equation and software signal processing can do a lot. Something like D5300 seems to be behind in that department. For a price similar to that of (the refurbished) Nikon's I can get a Sony A6000. Do you think I'm being naive comparing the two cameras?<br> Also what goes into taking great shots with a DSLR? Is postprocessing RAW images a necessity?</p>

<p>Yes, but the kit lens provides as low as 18 mm.</p>

<p>OK, I see. Adorama has it refurbished for $510. Now back to the lens, based on what you guys mentioned and what I read around the internet, I thought a higher aperture lens can be useful to have. Searching Amazon I found Sigma 28-70mm f/2.8-4 DG Aspherical Large Aperture Zoom Lens:<br> http://www.amazon.com/Sigma-28-70mm-Aspherical-Aperture-Cameras/dp/B000AYW00Y <br> <br> Do you think it can give me an edge over the kit lens? It can be useful for photographing outdoors (with or without model) as well. Has no stabilization though. <br /></p>

<p>Thanks a lot for your detailed response. A strobe with modelling light would be great. What I meant by home studio was to use the place I'm living in as a location (sorry for confusing language). It's a descent 2-bedroom, single story detached house and it has windows all around it (most of them either face east or west).</p> <p>Now a question about buying gear on Ebay: I finally decided to get either a Nikon D5200 for D5300. A new D5300 is $579.00 on ebay:<br /> http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nikon-D5300-Digital-SLR-Camera-w-18-55mm-VR-II-AF-S-Nikkor-Lens-/380942534211?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58b1f1c643<br /> but on Amazon it's for $746.95:<br /> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I1CPA0O/ref=twister_B00PHRVNKM?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1<br /> and the ebay store has 99.5% positive reviews. How is that even possible??</p>

<p>Thanks a lot for all your input. The reason I was looking for continuous lighting was that you could see the effect of lighting before taking a shot. I quickly went through Strobist's 101. Because flash is instantaneous you have to take a shot to see the effect of the light positioning and adjust it if necessary. And you have to analyze the shot on the small camera LCD. You may have to adjust the exposure or flash intensity as well. I don't know, maybe one gets a handle on it with practice? </p> <p>The reason I was looking for a tripod was that I'd like my photos to be as sharp as possible. A tripod would also be useful for shooting with low or natural light. But yeah, adjusting the tripod for each shot can be cumbersome. I think I'll leave it for low light photos.<br /> The size of the studio is also something I hadn't thought about. So for example for "boudoir" photography does one need something larger than a normal sized room?</p>

<p>I want to pick up model photography as a hobby. Mostly indoors but occasionally in nature. (My previous experience is with urban photography but only with 1" sensors so I'm a noob.)<br> My main question is about what type of lens to choose but also wanted to ask about the following:<br> -Is there any (inexpensive) DSLR (or mirrorless) models which are specifically suitable for this genre? On Adorama website <a href="http://www.adorama.com/INKD3300K.html">Nikon D3300</a> with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR II Lens has very high reviews and is inexpensive but I don't know if it's suitable for my purposes. <br> -Will a tripod in $100-$200 be good enough? I've had my eyes on SLIK PRO 700DX. What do you think of it? Or do you have any other suggestions?</p> <p>-Finally indoor lighting is something that I hardly know anything about. I'm thinking about continuous lighting that delivers soft shadows and gives a good white balance, similar to natural light. Is this possible without breaking the bank?</p>