General Photography Chat

[ChiTownCity]

Originally Posted by Robert Pence

I'd like to add one more comment to the responses above. Have you looked at your photos on another monitor besides the one you customarily use? If your monitor isn't properly calibrated, or a CRT that's old and tired, you could be getting a distorted view of what your photos look like on a properly calibrated monitor.

Before I built my present setup, I was working with a CRT monitor that was top-of-the-line when I bought it, but by the time I replaced it it was six years old. When I got my new monitor, I realized I had to rework a bunch of stuff that looked OK to me on my old monitor, but had exposure and contrast way out of whack on monitors that gave an accurate view.

Actually come to think of it I never have. I've had this desktop monitor since 1998 so that could definitely be the problem (or a good part of it). I do notice that the pictures always look better exposed from the camera's LCD vs when I upload them onto my computer. I'll definitely see if that's the case next I go to the library. Thank you for bringing that to mind!

[diskojoe]

Originally Posted by ChiTownCity

Thank you for the detailed response! I'll definitely give everything a try. The pictures I posted here are only of shots during the afternoon when the sun is the highest so I'm sure you can imagine how dark or grainy the pictures can get when the sun is still rising or setting.

Right now I have Lightroom and I have tried to just adjust the brightness/exposure with the brush tool and then re-darken the blacks, but that hasn't worked out (It actually softens the image). So I'll get Photoshop CS5 and see if I can get better editing quality.

Just to give you an idea of what I'm looking for you can view any one of Sabotai, Sekkle, or KingOfTheHill's photo threads (Lol I'm not going to bother naming you, hydro, or anyone with a $1000+ camera or lens for obvious reasons). I don't know if they edit their pictures, but whatever they do it doesn't look like they have to do much of anything at all.

All of them edit their photos somewhat and do have lots of nice gear. But personally I think that you are a little to critical on your work. The photos that you posted look pretty good. Thats how mine look before editing. You can really enhance photos with photoshop though. Definitely worth the money.

[diskojoe]

Originally Posted by ChiTownCity

Actually come to think of it I never have. I've had this desktop monitor since 1998 so that could definitely be the problem (or a good part of it). I do notice that the pictures always look better exposed from the camera's LCD vs when I upload them onto my computer. I'll definitely see if that's the case next I go to the library. Thank you for bringing that to mind!

You are working on a dinosaur. Time to Upgreyedd!

[flar]

Chitowncity: pay attention to lighting conditions and you can have beautiful photos with cheap gear. Having the best equipment money can buy doesn't make any difference if you don't look for good light. Good technique helps a lot too--moreso than any equipment. Most of my best photos were taken with a Nikon D50 and 18-55mm kit lens.

[Doady]

Lighting is everything! I tend to avoid photographs in midday when there are no clouds in the sky for example. It makes a huge difference.

[diskojoe]

Originally Posted by flar

Chitowncity: pay attention to lighting conditions and you can have beautiful photos with cheap gear. Having the best equipment money can buy doesn't make any difference if you don't look for good light. Good technique helps a lot too--moreso than any equipment. Most of my best photos were taken with a Nikon D50 and 18-55mm kit lens.

This is something that took me a long time to grasp. Good lighting is a photographers best friend.

[mr.John]

Originally Posted by Okayyou

^ yeah, I thought I was having issues but now it sounds like a bug. You can circumvent it by using excel or word or notepad, anything with "find a replace". Ctrl + h on a PC. If you replace ".jpg" with "_b.jpg" you change all the images to their large size. You'll have to double check the image code on flickr but I got it to work.

huh? how does word or notepad enter into the picture? can someone explain how to downland large photos from flickr pickr. it seems they aren't in hurry to fix the huge mess they made of their program,and please no computer geek talk

[Okayyou]

You need to take the BBC code output and paste it into excel, or word or notepad. Once you have the text pasted run a find and replace, which is ctrl + h on a pc. If you are using notepad, make sure your cursor starts at the beginning of the code, I think it only searches from the placement of your cursor on. In the find box, type ".jpg" and in the Replace with box type "_b.jpg" Then click replace all. If you are using excel or word it will tell you it replaced xx number of items (xx should be the number of photos you have). Notepad won't tell you it made the replacements, it will just execute the replace command but you should see the new image code in the text. Then copy the updated code to SSP. Let me know if you are still confused.

[ChiTownCity]

Thanks for the help everyone. Lol I'm starting to regret not taking a photography class when I had the chance...

[diskojoe]

Originally Posted by ChiTownCity

Thanks for the help everyone. Lol I'm starting to regret not taking a photography class when I had the chance...

I have never taken any photography classes. most everything you would want to know about photoshop is in tutorials online for free.

[flar]

Different people have different ways of learning. For me, I pick up photography books at the library all the time. There are literally hundreds out there.

[Ramsayfarian]

Originally Posted by ChiTownCity

Thanks for the help everyone. Lol I'm starting to regret not taking a photography class when I had the chance...

There's no need for classes. There's no shortage of photography stuff on the internet.

[Okayyou]

Adobe Photoshop CS6 beta is now available for download. You can try it for free for a limited time.

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/photoshopcs6/

[diskojoe]

Originally Posted by flar

Different people have different ways of learning. For me, I pick up photography books at the library all the time. There are literally hundreds out there.

But you go the FREE method first I would assume before paying.

Save your tuition money and buy lenses.

[toyota74]

My old D70 is sitting in my sisters house in London and Ihave finally made up my mind to go ahead and get the infra red conversion.I enquired by email about how well autofocus would work with a zoom lens.They said there would "be a shift" at both ends but mostly at wide-angle.Anyone knows what they mean by a shift??

[diskojoe]

Originally Posted by toyota74

My old D70 is sitting in my sisters house in London and Ihave finally made up my mind to go ahead and get the infra red conversion.I enquired by email about how well autofocus would work with a zoom lens.They said there would "be a shift" at both ends but mostly at wide-angle.Anyone knows what they mean by a shift??

I would hit flickr for this one. This was the largest infrared group I could find. I would post a question on there.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/infrared/

[ChiTownCity]

Does anyone have any experience in model photography? I have 2 offers; one to take pics at a fashion show and the other to do pics of models outside in urban environments!

Here's the LINK for what the person is looking for.

I just ordered an SB-800 Speedlight. Is there anything else I should get? And can anyone offer me any tips?

Lol, I'm extremely judgmental on my work when it comes to people actually paying for it and I have zero experience as you all already know. But I couldn't say no to how much they're offering...

[diskojoe]

If this is what they want then you could do this pretty easy. Its just photos with natural light in late afternoon with the aperture set probably to f2.8.

Couple pieces of advice when working with models.....

1) Start from the head down.

Figure out what side of the face is the good side and if they have a face that you could shoot facing directly forward. Also examine right and left profile. Then once you make these decisions work on poses that will feature that side and what kind of directional lighting you will need to get the right kind of shadows.

2) Clothes are KEY!!!!!

A bad outfit equals a bad shoot. Make sure they have good clothes to wear and dont show up in just a ratty t-shirt and jeans unless that is the idea to begin with. But clothing is not something you should find out about last minute. You need to do this before you even go out on location.

3) Focus!

Get it right the first time. If possible use a tripod to ensure steady in focus shots. Or at least be very critical about holding the camera as steady as possible. When people are out of focus even slightly the whole shot can be garbage.

4) Location

Have a general idea of where you want to go and things you may want to use as background. Try an area that may have a few options like a nice park close to where you may also find graffiti. Then you can try out a couple setting and see which one the shoot takes to best.

5) post processing

Be consistent. You want the set to have a cohesive feel and look like it belongs together in the end. The tones are an easy way to bring different locations together.


And most importantly - NO DEAD ARMS!!!!!!!

Nothing ruins a nice modeled pose then a lifeless dead arm hanging there with nothing to do. Keep it bent somehow.

This is the only fashion shoot I have ever done. But my model knew what she was doing for the most part. So you may be able to use some of the shots for ideas on posing at least.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/diskojoe/sets/72157626730393534/

[bulliver]

Originally Posted by ChiTownCity

Does anyone have any experience in model photography? I have 2 offers; one to take pics at a fashion show and the other to do pics of models outside in urban environments!

Here's the LINK for what the person is looking for.

I just ordered an SB-800 Speedlight. Is there anything else I should get? And can anyone offer me any tips?

Lol, I'm extremely judgmental on my work when it comes to people actually paying for it and I have zero experience as you all already know. But I couldn't say no to how much they're offering...

I've shot a fashion show. Used a 50mm prime and SB-600 on-camera for the whole thing. Not much you can do in that situation but run and gun, and hope for the best. Here's a few frames I got:

365::124 - The Portrait of a Lady by bulliver, on Flickr

Unfurl by bulliver, on Flickr

A lesson I learned: It's a fashion show....showcase the fashion rather than the model. I didn't take nearly enough full-length shots.

As for the outside shots...If you have never done off-camera strobist stuff I would recommend not taking a paid gig until you do. If you insist anyway, you will need at minimum, a light (your 800 will be fine) a light stand, and a brolly (good) or softbox (better). You also need some way to trigger the speedlight. Not sure what camera you have, but CLS is probably easiest to get started with if you cannot afford radio triggers like pocketwizards.

You need to know how to operate your camera and light in full-manual mode. You need to know how aperture affects flash exposure, and how shutter speed affects ambient exposure. Again, if you do not know these things I recommend passing on the paid gig until you do.

If still you insist on doing it, at least read David Hobby's Strobist 101 and 102 thoroughly, and take lots of practice shots using your wife/GF/friends or whoever.

http://strobist.blogspot.ca/2006/02/welcome-to-strobist.html

[Ramsayfarian]

Awesome shots and great advice Bulliver. I'd clone out that X though. Super easy to do in either LR or PS.