badboy

I bit the bullet and finally got a monitor calibration tool. (Spyder 3 Elite)

Not much difference between before/after calibration. Shoot me now.

srika

sorry had to laugh. I think monitor calibration is a joke and a scam. I've never calibrated any of my monitors. oh wait, I have, I did it with the best calibration tool known to man - the human eye. hehe

srika

wtf you don't have to agree with me....
I do think it has a lot to do with personal experience. I don't want to come off elitist or anything (I really don't) but I pretty much never pay to get in to anything. I'm always on some kind of list or have some connection or even better, I get paid to shoot there. I think that's ultimately the big problem I had with the flyer. I should have just kept quiet but my trigger-fingers fired off that rant.

srika

where is it at? (indoor/outdoor) what equipment are you gonna at your disposal?

srika

I take this back. I don't think its a joke and a scam. Basically its the equivalent of doing the calibration on "AUTO" versus doing it "MANUAL" (using your eye). The calibration tool tells you what numbers and settings to put in, so you don't have to rely on your own judgment and just hope it's OK.

stogie1020

Good call.
All indoor. First half is in a Build-A-Bear at the mall, second half is in a restaurant in the mall. Going to check out lighting, ceiling color, etc. today. Planning on getting their early and getting a good WB set.

Taking Canon 40D, 17-55, 10-22, 70-200 f4, 430EX (off shoe cord, stofen, bounce card) and multiple sets of batteries for camera and flash.

jupitersolo

It's not a scam, it's needed for proper printing.

wndrlst

Do you have a flash and/or really fast glass?

wndrlst

Sorry..should have kept reading! The 17-55 will be a good friend for this. Don't hesitate to jack up the ISO - it's far better than having to increase the exposure in post, especially with today's NR software. I know you won't be doing any processing, but he can do some if needed.

Play with bouncing the flash in different locations if you don't already have some experience with it. Even if the ceiling isn't white, I find it preferable to direct flash. You can always shoot RAW and batch just the white balance before delivering jpgs if needed.

I shot my brother's graduation ceremony in the oddest-colored hall last weekend. The ceilings were way far away and multi-colored. I still bounced with a card to throw some light forward. I played with direct flash for simplicity's sake, but hated it and went back to bouncing.

wndrlst

Here's the ceiling...still bounced!

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/moxiephotos/5740966274/" title="20110514_Ish Weekend_121b.jpg by MoxiePhotos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3033/5740966274_b07fecc0d9_z.jpg" width="640" height="426" alt="20110514_Ish Weekend_121b.jpg"></a>

stogie1020

Good tips!

Yeah, ISO 800 will probably be my friend.

Disappointed my friend has this block against me doing any PP, would love to do this in RAW and even be able to crop, etc... Maybe I can talk to him....

wndrlst

Maybe he's just trying to save you the hassle?

JLatimer

I have red/green color blindness. Manual for me just doesnt cut it - I cant trust my eyes. But I hear you - not everyone needs it.

sho_nuff1997

iTrader: (2)

Good info in here. I was going to ask similar questions.

I got asked to come and shoot some pics at a club tonight. No pay...it's for a friend of a friend's website. I'm using a D90 with SB-600 and the lenses I have are 50mm 1.8, 18-200 f3.5-5.6, and sigma 10-22 f3.5. I made a better bounce card with some matte photo paper, so hopefully that will help with the flash. I've been to the place a while back, and IIRC, the ceilings are dark and ~ 10-12ft. I wish I had time to go check it out first.

He wants some posed and some not posed shots of the peeps, and shots of the djs and crowd. I've never shot like this before so I'm excited and slightly nervous.

srika

good tips. I want to add, your camera does have the optimal WB setting inside it, out of the box. You just have to find it. One of the presets will most likely work. But you can't go by Incandescent or Flourescent or whatever the names are, because this depends more on environmental variables - so do it via trial and error. Try each WB mode until it looks how you want it to. Some settings the pics will look orangey, and on the other end they will look blue. You want somewhere in the middle.

Also, here are a few good threads for flash photography:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=171657
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=177622

good luck!

to recap, whenever I go to a new place to shoot, I have to set my camera for that new place. trial and error because you don't know how your equipment is going to respond to the environment.

stogie1020

Greta links Srika, thanks!

I plan to get there a little early to be able to get the WB just right.

Maybe I can just shoot RAW so I feel like I could adjust if needed...

stogie1020

I wish. It's more of a control thing.

wndrlst

Being a control freak when someone is doing you a favor is lame-o.

Mizouse

stogie1020

Had a good chat with him. We both misunderstood a little. RAW it is, he just wants all shots ASAP to be able to share with family (even the OOF and thumb shots!) and the editable ones I can work on and provide later.

Whew! NOW it will be a lot of fun!

Honestly, I don't know HOW you guys/gals who do portrait and people shots a lot do it. I hate that level of expectation from people! I am much easier to please and disappoint (more like the latter) than someone else!

srika

1) I retracted my statement. (do you read?)
2) I am elitist sometimes.

Mizouse

srika

Mizouse

wtf why did it pull that quote again... wtf ohh well...

srika

glad you got it sorted out. but its also pretty lame youre doing him a favor and he says he needs them on the spot. anyways.

i hope you do have fun though, its not easy, but hang in there. once you get your camera dialed in correct, you can start firing away. the trick is to get it dialed in as quick as possible and know when small adjustments are needed for certain areas and special lighting conditions at the place. feel free to move people around if you see some distracting lights and you have a feeling the shot won't come out. good luck again. and, of course report back to us how it went, would love to hear your experience.

stogie1020

^Thanks Srika!

I am getting there 30 minutes early, and truthfully, this friend is so UNconcerned with good photography it makes it easier. He would NEVER notice the difference between a shallow DOF and a deep DOF nor would he appreciate the difference. He wants documentation and snapshots. That's it.

I will report back on how it went, for sure!

Charging all the camera and flash batteries I have right now....

Sarlacc

Its a little more involved than that...well, a lot more actually.

Sarlacc

really....then just shoot it with a P&S and give him the card at the end of the day...simple

wndrlst

Glad to hear it - have fun!


As for expectations..I'm having to work on relaxing a LOT. I need everyone to love EVERYTHING. The truth is, some shoots are just better than others, whether due to chemistry with the subject(s), environmental conditions, having an off kind of day, etc. 1/2 of what you shoot is below your average, so they say. It's also funny what people love sometimes that I don't expect. I tend to get caught up in the technical. I almost dumped a shot from a recent shoot where I cut off one the kids' hands (okay, truthfully she threw it out of the frame at the last second :P) and it drives me nuts every time I look at it. The woman has it as her FB profile pic and love, love, loves it.

leftride

iTrader: (1)

+1, I started calibrating my monitor once I started doing more prints (books, gallery wraps, etc.)

stogie1020

initially he wanted me to use his!
Good perspective D, and I know what you mean. Other people tend to like shots I would consider "flawed" or mediocre and then not like the ones I would think are the real keepers... Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

srika

yeah a DSLR sounds like overkill stogie! heh.

wndrlst I think we are very similar shooters... I could relate with everything you said.

stogie1020

OK, done.

DVD is burning now. 200+ shots.

I used the 17-55 the whole time with flash and a bounce card. ISO 800 at the Build A Bear place and ISO 1600 in the restaurant.

Shot it in RAW, which was good because both the Bear place and the restaurant had serious color casts that I am glad I could correct in LR en mass.

I survived, but don't think I would ever want to do any serious event photography. Just not my cup of tea.

I have crazy amount of respect for anyone who can do it well, though.

wndrlst

Now if only I had your portfolio. Those fog shots the last couple of days are wicked.

Yay! Glad it was a success!

sho_nuff1997

iTrader: (2)

These are great points. I sometimes get overly nitpicky with little things in my photos and have a hard time looking past that.

So, my first time shooting in a bar/club went relatively well. A lot trial and error took place. Every time I thought I found the correct settings, the conditions would change. The lighting and the fog were constantly changing. Made for lots of learning. I had some success shooting at ISO 640 and some at 3200. I mostly shot with my 18-105 lens, took a few shots with the 10-22. The homemade bounce card made a huge difference over using the SB-600 with its stock diffuser. It was quite tiring as well. I never would have thought taking 300+ pictures in a few hours would wear you out that much. Will definitely do this again (with better shoes of course).

I shot in RAW + jpg and just gave my friend all the jpg files and he can decide which ones he likes or not. Here are a few of the shots that I liked:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sho_nuff1997/5746861145/http://www.flickr.com/photos/sho_nuff1997/5746861145/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/sho_nuff1997/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sho_nuff1997/5746818693/http://www.flickr.com/photos/sho_nuff1997/5746818693/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/sho_nuff1997/, on Flickr


http://www.flickr.com/photos/sho_nuff1997/5747346908/http://www.flickr.com/photos/sho_nuff1997/5747346908/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/sho_nuff1997/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sho_nuff1997/5747324808/http://www.flickr.com/photos/sho_nuff1997/5747324808/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/sho_nuff1997/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sho_nuff1997/5746753735/http://www.flickr.com/photos/sho_nuff1997/5746753735/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/sho_nuff1997/, on Flickr

leftride

iTrader: (1)

the two dj shots are great, especially the last one, love the motion.

sho_nuff1997

iTrader: (2)

Thanks! The one with the motion was one of the first shots I took of the night. I tried to get a similar effect throughout the night with the other DJs, but couldn't seem to make it happen.

#1 STUNNA

<iframe width="853" height="510" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/awq90APEVgw?hd=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

07tl-s6spd

iTrader: (1)

oh man thats great.....i enjoyed that

stogie1020

This seems vaguely familiar....