Cool. I'm thinking of downloading it. Do you need a gmail acct?

 

^ Yes you do.

 

i use photobucket to host shit i dont care for.

flickr i dont use, i still have an active pbase account that i had my family stuff and stuff i cared for. but i havent uploaded anything in years.

 

Honestly, I don't have a lot of my stuff printed, maybe six images over seven years. I don't know why, but that just the way it is for me.

 

So not just through software.

 

By any chance anyone here name Tom Wethersfield?

 

Never mind, figured it out

 

Sorry, I forgot to answer this. I have surprisingly few of my own images printed in the house, too. I plan to change that now that we're in the new house, though. I have a large canvas over the fireplace and plan to do a mini-gallery in the stairwell.

I used to use Bay Photo for these prints, but got very fed up with them and switched to WHCC. I've been pleased with their service and quality so far. The ROES ordering system they use involves a bit of a learning curve, but now that I'm used to it it's fine.

 

Why did you get fed up with bay? I havent used them in over a year...but Im curious.

I have my own nitpicks about them.

Which is WHCC?

 

White House Custom Colour.

http://www.whcc.com/

i have heard of them just never used them.

 

I ordered 8 metal prints for a show last spring with plenty of lead time to have everything in by deadline had they done their job properly (short notice showing). 2 of them came in unshowable. One had a huge ink blotch in the center and the other was damaged. The second attempt was sent without rounded corners, meaning they not only didn't match the others, but were downright lethal weapons. The third attempt was sent without the effing float mounts attached. They had to overnight the mounts and glue for me to attach. By then I was forced to deliver the 2 foul-ups a day later than the deadline (which also meant an additional 2 hours of driving). Oh, and they mounted one of the others to hang portrait instead of landscape, which I didn't notice until time to hang them. Thankfully it was just abstract enough to get away with it.

To cap it, when I wrote customer service to complain about the series of crap they were dishing out, I got a major brush off. I may not be one of their biggest customers, but I'd been loyally sending steady business their way over the past few years. (Hell, that order alone was nearly $1K) I was even more disappointed by their attitude than I was by their failure to fix the problem the first time. Huge waste of my time and energy.


WHCC = White House Custom Color. I mostly use them for custom DVD cases (love!), proofs + proof boxes, and coffee table books for portrait sessions. I've ordered canvas there and been happy. Haven't tried their metal yet.

 

sad to hear but good to know!

 

The strange thing is that they'd been impeccable up to that point. Had they fixed it the first time (or even the second..maybe) and remotely behaved as though they cared about my business, they'd still have it. That was too big a fuckup to ignore, though. I'm trying to run a business and deadlines matter.

 

I use MPIX pretty much exclusively. I've done a few gallery wraps (canvas) with them as gifts and have been really impressed. Their customer service and packaging is awesome. I highly recommend them.

 

I've only printed a handful of 4x6s and 5x7s of family to put up around my apt... Penn Camera was cheap and got the job done

 

hmm... i think i may pick up a 17-40L, CPL, GND, tripod legs and a new 1D battery instead of switching to full frame.

can't really afford to drop that much coin for a 1DS3/5D2-3. (well more like i wouldnt be wise)

 

what do you guys think of Lee Filters? or Cokin Z-pro filters?

 

You're going for the square filters?

Lee is definitely legit from what I've read/seen from other photographers.

 

yea, i want some GNDs and maybe the big stopper

 

Anyone here ever done architectural photography (interior AND exterior) for real estate listings before? I know srika has... I could use any advice/tips.

I've been asked by a friend of a friend's to shoot this house... He wants to know what I would charge, but I've never done this type of shoot (for the purpose of real estate listing) before. I have a rough idea what the going rate is, but since I don't have any experience (for this type of shoot), I don't see myself asking for that rate.

For one thing, the location is a good 45-60 minutes away... but I'm just thinking ahead, he does renovations/flipping houses so this could lead to a regular thing on the side.

The gear I have in mind for this type of shoot, in terms of lighting and lenses are:


lenses:
Sigma 10-20mm on the APS-C
Carl Zeiss 16-35 f2.8 on the FF

lighting:
1 Alienbees B1600, that can be used with the following mods: 60" Octobox or 86" Paul C. Buff PLM Shoot through umbrella, that can be converted into a "brolly box" with covers.

4 flashguns (2 Sony's: F58AM and F43AM, and 2 Yongnuo 560 II on the way)


I haven't tried mixing the Alienbees B1600 with flashguns before, but to my understanding, the color temp differences aren't noticeable if any.


thanks in advance for any advice/tips



edit: yes, I know that I can go with HDR too, but it'll depend on the available light, I guess.

 

^ Not a pro or anything but if I were to do it, an ultra wide angle lens is a must, which you seem to already have that down.

Some lighting would help, but I'd definitely bring a tripod and try to do long exposure in rooms where there aren't much light. This way you can capture the natural light of the house. If there are dark areas even with natural light, definitely try and fill it.

Most importantly, get inspired by seeing what others have done. Good luck

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&s...AsL2igLHo4GADw

 

thanks man.. yeah, I was planning on using a tripod. I forgot to mention too, my a77 has that "Multi Frame Noise Reduction" feature that will come in handy too, but it only works in JPEG.

 

Hit up mattg..I'm pretty sure he does this.

I did my own house when I sold it and one shoot for a friend who has an interior design business. The ID stuff is actually much different, as I learned, though.

If you're using a standard wide angle instead of a tilt shift, be very careful how you line up the shot to keep your verticals vertical and your horizontals horizontal. You'll want to correct as much lens distortion as possible in post.

 

thanks,
yeah... my a77 has a leveler on both the screen (in live view) AND in the EVF which helps avoiding the walls from "tilting" inwards or outwards. And there's that little bubble leveler thingy on my tripod too

not sure if you can see it, but those 2 green bars are indicating level (left and right) and turn orange if not.

 

good luck ken. no HDR shots, unless they don't look HDRish.

 

I've seen interior HDR done very well. I agree that it looks cheap and weird when it's overdone, though. But then I feel that way about HDR no matter what the application.

 

Yeah, I kinda agree on HDR but then again HDR can be done in different degrees

Here's one in HDR (not mine). Not overly done





But anyway, I wasn't really planning on doing HDR anyway, which is the reason why I brought up using what lighting gear I have

 

apparently, now the megapixel race has died down with Canon and Nikon. Now its a Zoom race with the higher point n shoot cameras.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canon-powershot-sx50-hs

 

^^^Panasonic has a "bridge" camera (megazoom) that goes from 28mm - 600mm with a constant aperture of f2.8 through out. (and that's optical zoom NOT digital)

 

which one?

 

I've only done shots for real estate once. As such I would say mattg is a much more qualified person to consult with.

 

I guess this is the Panasonic eh...

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-DMC-.../dp/B005F25IL4

 

Panasonic FZ200

 

question. so if i am running syncing 2 flashes @ 1/64 power, so thats pretty much shooting at 1/32 right?

 

(as posted on your Facebook)

I want to say yes, but wouldn't it depends on whether or not if both are aiming at the same spot? You can also use that light meter and do a test. Meter it with just one flash @1/64, then meter it with 2 flashes @1/64 and see if there are any changes in the reading

 

posted in both places to get different opinions . but i guess i can get the same opinion.

 

I'm assuming they are NOT setup side by side, but coming from different angle?

 

yea. actually. its not for my purposes. i was going to use the flashes as props for a wedding and wanted to be sure that he knew what he was doing. so that the extra power won't overexpose his shots.

 

Well that's about to change... I was one of the winners of a local blog photo contest and will be displaying a photo at a gallery in DC

They're suggesting mpix.com for printing - has anyone use them before? It has to be acid-free, archival paper... not sure if WHCC does that?

 

Here ya go. Congrats!