PossumCorner

Most people doing this as a photoshop technique use a form of draganizing of one kind or another. There is a tutorial on it at http://www.metacafe.com/watch/735941/draga...oshop_tutorial/ it's worth watching right through. So many people use this now it is becoming a bit passe, (like selective colouring, a good gimmick but you get over it unless it is really special: or "out of frame" which were fun but get boring). There are some magic effects with the draganizing though so it's nice to be able to use it when you want. Any kind of warming and background darkening and a bit of desaturation while boosting the eyes is often credited to Dragan who originated this look when I guess it was all a bit more difficult to achieve.

Never! I meant cost differences. My prime macro is the Sigma 150 2.8. Love it.

Me not a Canon user, but notice it lists that 100 2.8 macro people here say is excellent, is it Kirislin who has it, not sure? Anyway looks like a very fair price if it's not a third-party, likewise the 85.

I don't have opinions, just confusions. I suppose it depends somewhat on what you are shooting. The Tokina does look the best choice there - but the used Nikkor, also too good a buy to pass up. I was surprised you didn't have the Sigma 10-20 on the short list, then the reason was covered. I don't have a wide, only a Nikon 18-55 (?kit maybe) a touch soft anyway when at 18. Now you've made me think again: my short-list was only the Sigma, and I hadn't considered needing 2.8 because landscapes would be mostly wanting more depth of field, not less. But if I took up interior shots for the estate agent who offered the chance, 2.8 would be useful in low light rooms. Then another interiors shooter said 24mm is about as wide as you want, or the distortion can become obvious. And I prefer prime to zoom: so more confusion. Or indecision. I guess selection should be made depending on the main use you have in mind, there'll always be some compromise. You're brave doing street stuff these days, it is getting difficulter, at least the Soi Dogs don't question your intentions. Last week I was at a talk by a local photo-journalist: said it's all turned into a minefield but we just have to keep trying to stand up for our rights and not stop shooting.

Different qualities or maker-names, so prices vary. As kja said the K-mart ones are fine, about $20, similar at Rabbit or Kodak shops. Ted's and Camera House might be $30-50, but they can also answer questions or give a bit of advice. (Teds vary, some going backwards, Ringwood are okay). Make sure it will take both SD and CF cards: so if you change cameras, have one on trial or whatever that takes the "other" size, your card reader has a slot for it. Don't let them sell you a high capacity storage unit, like an Epson 2000 or 4000 at over $1000. They are very handy but way over-kill for general use. Great if you do weddings and need to back-up card contents for safety, or a long day shooting at sports and need to back-up everything to free your cards for re-formatting, that sort of thing. Very nice to have, but just not a priority at the price (yet). I so agree with you on camera instruction books, some leave out too much (mine only suggest re-charging the battery before connecting to computer: they leave out the bit that it's better not to). Most of the hard-cover books give more detail and make it clear and understandable - a good book on any model camera pays for itself pretty quickly. Good outcome, kja nailed it.

Pretty disappointing news. If it is still under warranty, go there. If it is not, go to Shutterbox in Toorak Road, he will give a quote before doing anything. For anyone interested, plugging a camera into a computer generally ends in tears, why take the risk, that's what card-readers are for: they are cheap enough, they work, they save stuffing the electronics in your camera for no reason.

Lighten up, the whole thread is fun responses to a joke. I think everyone gets it.

oops

I thought it was funny til I got to Hasselblad. Not funny Ken. We Hasselblad people are sensitive.

My newest is the D90, I'm happy with it, would have preferred a D3 or D300 but couldn't afford. Nice camera, its main benefit over the D80 is low noise at higher ISO. If you'd like to use it for some test shots let's know.

That's the only way to do it, really. Ummm no - then it's posed, it's portraiture, (available light). But not street, not candid, not photo-journalism. And how difficult (impossible) it'd be to get permission from the Anzac Day marchers as they go by, or a small crowd-scene of people watching the march. And you'd have to forego city-life shots like a group boarding a tram or patting a police horse. With your American, that's a good twist on "Would you like to come up and see my etchings". Now we need to know the nutha story. Rocco I don't have a 50 prime it's on wish-list. I use the 18-70 zoom which is fairly sharp at 50. The 85 is better for face or head-and-shoulders. The 50 is best for full length person or small group.

Snap where did you find the D50? New or used? They are soooo good. Just getting a bit old now, for a DSLR. Ours is still our favourite, it has survived a two story fall, broken caseing, drowning, all that. It now finally has a tiny cluser of dead pixels in the sensor which can still be worked around. I wouldn't hesitate to get another one as a back-up if the price was right, but even well used they are holding their price more than others in that range. The extra features are good on our newer Nikons but the the D50 is special.

I'd agree, I love my 85 prime the most for sharp, it's a 2.8 and I'm sure the 1.4 would be even better. I did a few (very few) portraity shots on Sunday in the rain, and had the prime 150mm on the camera, and it was driving me mad having to back-off so much to get in frame. But I wasn't going to take out the 85 and get it wet as well. But re your friend doing "street", how is he going lately with all the resentment against street photographers at present? There is so much difficulty these days shooting in public, even adults (children have become a no-go subject even at public events, it is not worth the flak). It's another mild reason to use a prime lens, let your feet be the zoom, and even though chunky, they do not have quite the invasive appearance of a zoom.

What, all of the best???? Hundreds+??? Or just a strict selection of the best of the best. I haven't bought any of those flash ones, sound very nice though. I use good quality scrapbooking albums, they have the you-beaut polyproppy acid free crystal-clear pockets, 12x12, and to show off a smaller print, just put it onto a plain sheet of scrapbooking paper to set it off. Or print 'large' thumbnails to include a few on a page. Then you can do a few digital scrap-book pages with montages or a bit of text or bling for people who like that. I blow hot and cold over montages, love them one day, bleergh the next. Good to have some to show though. I still get everything we print for ourselves (not that we do much, just a couple of display books) done at Camera House. For showing card samples (we design invitations etc. often with a photo print as part of it) we still use the scrapbook albums, but in the 8x8 size. They're good for RedBubble style of cards too. I'd like to get some photo-books printed: there were some classy ones showing at the recent Stitches and Craft exhibition at the Showgrounds. I'd like to know if anyone has done this who they have used: Camera House and Rabbit Photo have basic ones; Mac does a slightly nicer book, there must be others around (not Wedding Albums, didn't want to go the $1000 route).

Ripley and me, we knew that. We were just checking whether anyone else was awake. (Thanks, knew it was north of Melbourne, still like to go).

Use the best printer you can find. Digital Works are excellent: no problem in using inter-state finishers if you find one that suits you, they are very quick turnaround. We've always found Camera House good too. I'd suggest you shouldn't hesitate to pay top price if you are doing work for a client, at whatever level. As you get more orders and experiment with different finishers, you'll find one that is both top quality and reasonable price, and once they "get to know you" you get more personalised service with like you say your high end work whether by phone or over the counter. Digital Works do the prints for a lot of top Melbourne wedding photographers, so do Camera House.

I couldn't afford one of them right now. But I would love to make the trip to Canberra just to see the exhibition. A bit over fifteen years ago I went to a camera club meeting in Canberra - Bob Brown came along and gave a talk on the state of forests in Tasmania, accompanied by a stunning set of his colour slides. It will be fantastic if he has kept on a passion for a photography along with his conservation ideals.

Rotten luck, happens easy, and lenses can't take much of a bump, bodies are tougher. Let's know how the warranty people react, they could say it is an insurance issue, not under warranty if it is damage from a drop. If you need to get it repaired, there is an excellent fix it place on Toorak Road in Camberwell that might be cheaper than repair through a dealer (if you have to pay yourself).

Sweet work. I'll have to get my a into gear with mine (along with the scooter). I was given a store-bought light tent and reflectors, the reasonably cheap Hong Kong ones off e-bay. Good intentions but haven't much used them. And I hadn't even thought of stock - more small product and industrial.

Only guessing Iltby, but as your still subject shots are in focus, it's likely your moving ones are as well. And the OOF effect is more likely camera shake if using hand-held. I know I can't rely on hand-held, my hands are not steady enough, so I depend on a monopod or tripod for camera stability. A moving subject does not allow that extra moment preparing to be pin-sharp steady. Some people can do it, I know I can't. Also saw another interesting thing on a Scott Kelby clip today: you know with a VR lens (I don't have many) you turn the VR to OFF when using a tripod. They said you should also always turn the VR to OFF when hand-holding shooting sports or action with shutter speed above 500. Reason given is that using VR does always create a moment of shutter-lag. I sat up and took notice of that, because overcoming shutter-lag is a main reason to use a DSLR above a point-and-shoot. But using VR to avoid camera-shake blur is a bit pointless if instead you always get the 'wrong shot' even if it is the tiniest lag. Interesting stuff - his new clips on camera use, separate from the "Photoshop Guys", are very good.

Sorry didn't see this til I got home. The Vic. Driving Champs went for three days, Dressage Sat, Marathon Sun, Cones Mon. This morning cones started early, finished by lunch time, trophy presentations after lunch. Wandin was a lovely venue, it was supposed to be held at Catani, but in week-one of the bushfires, Catani had to say look we'd best not commit to hosting a big event with this-all happening close by. So they switched to Wandin Park, it's well along Victoria Road off Wbtn. Hwy. which was looking safer earlier on. National Champs are in Bungendore (near Canberra) 11-13 April (could be Easter) that would be good to watch.

I guess I should use this method more myself, but I tend to swim against the tide and use mostly single-shot. Just as with continuous, you win some, you lose a lot. It does help to keep my (ageing) mind focussed on the point of the action I want to capture rather than a spray-shot approach. Does shooting continuous give any more assurance that one shot of a series will be the precise action you want? I can change! (This one today, the Carriage Driving Championships at Wandin, a team coming out of the quarry obstacle).

With the shoot tonight, was this a group visit or alone? Tonight as in evening/daylight, or later. If I was wandering around among the headstones alone at night I'd feel edgey, how silly is that. Let's see a couple of the shots, sounds interesting.

We're just pricing them new ones now - need firewire or our computers run too slow. They are very ouch prices though. It's great you got the drive back, P had suggested the same as G did, run the test, but he was already doing it. Edit to add: did you go out to dinner, or cook something fantastic? We're just celebrating the rain and not having to go walkabout from fires again: with salmon steaks.

And Helen - some lovely prize-winning images for inspiration, (as well as motivating fund-raising efforts through RedBubble and the like).