huga

I noticed the sloping ground, I would (as in me personally) just try to rotate it a little to see what it looks like. Sometimes it's an improvement, sometimes it's not. My eye keeps getting drawn to the pesky blue car in the background, so the b&w might help that (or it might not).

Nice moment caught. I wouldn't do much at all - maybe straighten a little, a touch of fill light. I have a bit of a personal 'rule' - I always like to see moments like this in b&w.

You always have such dramatic skies, kja. Gorgeous :)

Thanks all. For those interested, the awards will be live streamed. Watching the judging is so eye opening, I really recommend catching some of it if you can.

I never photograph anyone in white (with the exception of the obvious!). In my 'What to wear' suggestions, I have - 'if you are after shots of your entire family in jeans and matching white t-shirts, I am probably not the photographer for you.' :laugh:

I hadn't really considered this before, but at the MPW on the weekend I noticed a lot of Frenchie people were pierced and tattooed - so I guess that's me :laugh:

Learning is the most important thing. It's so nice to be able to do some personal projects, without pressure - there is nothing that teaches you more, IMO :)

I agree with what Linda has said. Most babies don't like being nude though, unless the room is super hot. Most newborn photographers I know will heat the room to around 29 degrees or so. It's really tough work and is the reason I photograph babies the way I do. Also, if you don't have babies of your own (or even if you do!), it can be quite scary handling them and moving them around. That sort of confidence comes with time. Peoples homes can be hard to work in too, often there is not much light which can be very challenging! There are a few that I would lighten a bit more, maybe convert some to B&W because there are a few colours going on and it then the skin colour doesn't matter so much.

Oh crap. Bugger bugger crap. Do you have a back up? No idea about repairs etc, soryy! Perhaps give them a call and maybe you could hire?

Erm, sheer goddamn stubborness (or perhaps stupidity) to make it to this point. I can use my camera completely manually, I get to be the one that tells it what to do, rather than the other way around. I understand the settings completely and use them to my advantage. I am getting there with OCF. I can work under pressure. My posing of people has improved (thank you Bathroom Project). I have developed my own style (both shooting and processing), but it's still evolving. I have been told that my work is strong and consistent (which I mostly agree with) and I entered awards for the first time this year and picked up a Silver (at QPPAs, APPAs is this weekend - eeek!). The rest of my work was scored as professional quality and above. Considering the judges are my most successful peers, this was really important to me.

:laugh: I won't say I told you so. I'm sure they are fine, looking forward to seeing them.

The light was horrid. I hate shooting at that time of day. I had to keep changing the settings because it was full on sun and shadows. Blergh.

I went to the Cleveland one too, just to meet up with some Frenchies :) I didn't see anything too bad, but we sort of kept to ourselves mostly. Thankfully there was plenty of room before and after the walk to spread out and have your own space. Here are a few pics:

I would avoid the vignette.

I made Sid a new coat a couple of weeks ago :)

The processing is very natural and SOOC looking, not overdone at all. I would try and shoot at another time of day - avoiding black holes for eyes and pain in the butt shadows. (Says she who just spend a few hours shooting at MPW smack in the middle of the day).

Sid having a bath today :)

Definitely do! I thoroughly enjoy looking at other peoples baby sessions. I photographed six week old twins a while back, they were very alert, so no sleepy shots there! Their session is here: http://www.katietakesapicture.com.au/?p=449 I also did a session with a four month old last weekend, which is here: http://www.katietakesapicture.com.au/?p=1245

You might find it doesn't make much of a difference, but it definitely does for me. I knew nothing about native ISO until I mentioned to a photographer friend that I prefer 1600 over 1000 and isn't that weird? She told me to google native ISO and sure enough, I was already leaning towards them. Have a go tonight, see if (in a correctly exposed, not under exposed) image, you can see a difference.

Sorry, I hope I didn't come across as negative. It is very rewarding, but can be quite difficult.

Good. I was going to suggest you shoot in RAW - more room for adjustment. You might also want to look at the native ISO for your camera. I always use 200, 400, 800, 1600 and 3200 and barely ever anything in between, as I usually find it noisier. There is nothing wrong with pushing the ISO if you are correctly exposed (or slightly over).

I must have been using the 600, as mine didn't have those controls Anyway, it was Serena's and she kindly loaned it to me indefinitely, so I don't have one to sell. RA - do you shoot in RAW?

Good luck with that - lol. I photograph babies in a documentary style way, as I have very little patience for posing curly, sleepy newborns. You'll probably find she'll be quite red (which you can tone down in LR or PS - I prefer PS) and she may or may not be spotty. I guess it depends on how you want to go about it. Lots of feeding, keeping warm and tonnes of patience. ETA Six weeks is usually an age where they are unsettled as it is a time for a growth spurt and a leap in development.

I shall be at the Cleveland one :) I don't usually go, but I am catching up with lots of frenchie peeps. ETA There will be around 20 of us, I think. I sight to behold :D

The SB700 would be fine for you, I used one for years and only upgraded very recently. Being Nikon (and therefore, awesome) means you can use the flash off camera without triggers A whole new world opens up with flash :D I use mine all the time. Really, I do. Most people get a shock when they ask me my settings and discovered I used flash, it can be so subtle. The SB700 is slower and less powerful than the SB910, I upgraded because I needed the flash to be able to go off repeatedly and in quick succession for weddings.