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[OM] Re: [photo] berkshire hill fog

Subject: [OM] Re: [photo] berkshire hill fog
From: Chuck Norcutt <chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2006 17:16:56 -0500
Hi, Mike.
I checked your gallery and liked it.  You've got a couple really great 
shots of the kids.  Presumably the parents are happy.

But Dr. Flash can't help but offer some advice on the formals for the 
wedding shots.  It may be that where you were at simply didn't afford 
the luxury of more room.  But I believe you'd get better results with 
your subjects further from the backdrop.  At least 4 feet and maybe a 
bit more if you've got the space.  I'd also suggest a more neutral 
backdrop (like a gray or soft brown) when you have to take lot of shots 
with people who are going to be in clothing with an unknown but 
guaranteed mix of colors.

Now to exposure and lighting.  I don't know what you're using for lights 
but I see the camera is set to program mode and that the exposures vary 
quite a bit from shot to shot.  The program mode may be partially 
responsible for that but I have a sneaky suspicion that you're using 
battery powered flash and you may be outrunning the recycle time; ie, 
the flash wasn't fully charged when you fired the shutter.  If that's 
not the case then the program mode on the 350D doesn't work as well as I 
would have guessed.

Whether it does or not I would recommend that you abandon the program 
mode and (at least for the formals where things are slower and more 
under control) use manual mode only.  Ideally you'd have a flash meter 
but a real cheap substitute can be had in the form or a white card or a 
collapsible reflector or even a piece of A4 size paper.  Have someone 
hold it at chest level in the position where your subjects will be 
relative to the background and make a few test shots.  Adjust the 
exposure with the aperture until you get a good histogram and you don't 
get any over exposure "flashies" on the white card in the picture.  If 
you have to go smaller than f/8 or larger than f/5.6 then adjust the ISO 
or move the flash units or adjust their power level.  That's to keep 
within a reaonable range for depth of field without sharply imaging the 
backdrop.  With a 350D maybe even f/4 is OK due to the small sensor.  A 
little experimentation with a willing subject should answer all your 
questions.  Once you get the exposure set there will be no further need 
to worry about it for that setup and all your shots will be perfectly 
exposed... assuming you don't outrun the recycle time on the flashes. 
Just keep in mind also that the spec sheet for recycle time is likely a 
big lie.  Give it at least 50% more time than it says.

Chuck Norcutt

Mike Lees wrote:
> Well, I suppose I have experience selling prints via a web site.
> 
> I sell prints from my Gallery site (http://photo.whizzkid.co.uk)
> 
> I'm not in it for the money, I really just charge my costs. I take
> photos at kids parties and school events that my kids go to and put them
> in my gallery for parents to look at and maybe order prints.
> 
> Gallery is Open Source, so there is no charge for using it - if you know
> what you are doing you can install it on any web host that offers PHP
> and MySQL. You can download it from http://gallery.menalto.com. My
> Gallery runs from a cheap Linux PC on the end of my broadband connection
> at home. There are some hosts that provide pre-configured Gallery
> hosting - see Certified Hosts Lists on the Gallery web site:
> http://gallery.menalto.com/wiki/Web_Hosting_Referral_Page
> 
> The look of Gallery is very configurable and even different albums on
> the same site can be given different themes.
> 
> Gallery can handle a few different payment methods. I have used PayPal,
> NoChex and Cheque. It can also handle charging for downloading high res
> version of images, although I haven't used this feature.
> 
> There are more features than I care to mention but some of the main ones
> include automatically watermarking uploaded images, permissions system
> to allow different users to edit certain albums, pricing for different
> print sizes and paper type and uploading files direct from Windows XP.
> 
> I can provide Gallery hosting (and customisation), but probably not a
> cheaply as some of the Certified hosts mentioned above - and yes I would
> host it somewhere better than a cheap PC at the end of my broadband
> connection!
> 
> Feel free to contact me off-list if you want any further info.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Mike.
> 
> Wayne Harridge wrote:
> 
>>>Richard Lovison <rlovison@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>
>>>I would have to acquire a domain name which I will do once I have the 
>>>ability for prints to be purchased at the site.
>>>
>>>    
>>
>>Does anyone on the list have any experience selling work this way ?
>>
>>...Wayne
>>
>>Wayne Harridge
>>
>>http://lrh.structuregraphs.com
>>
>>  
> 
> 
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