Let's talk about Photography :::
 

Hey gang, I'm finishing up some image-editing for Twistys today and just thought it would be fun to answer your questions about Photography (if you have any). We have a lot of talented shooters here on GFY so I'm sure that between us all....we can answer any questions that you may have. I can't really speak about any specific techniques that I use for my work with Twistys (contract stipulations), but I'm happy to discuss Photography in general with you :winkwink:

Here's a few pics from some recent shoots with Twistys & BlueFantasies!

Sandee Westgate
http://www.glamourshoots.com/pics/discussion/001.jpg

Penthouse Pet Jennifer Emerson
http://www.glamourshoots.com/pics/discussion/002.jpg

Kimberly
http://www.glamourshoots.com/pics/discussion/003.jpg

Kayla Paige
http://www.glamourshoots.com/pics/discussion/004.jpg

Penthouse Pet Jennifer Emerson
http://www.glamourshoots.com/pics/discussion/005.jpg

Sandee Westgate
http://www.glamourshoots.com/pics/discussion/006.jpg

Here's one that will shock many people.

When you get those hot pussy closeup pics. How close is your camera to the girl?

I thought you not allowed to talk about photography for fear you will give out the secret recipe? lol

Great work :)

I love my Nikon 105 Micro lens for portrait shooting BUT when using it on my D2x it becomes a 160.. What lens do you like for portrait on a digital with the 1.5 mag?

That's guarded heavier than the Colonel's original herbs and spices recipe or the ingredients to WD-40...

Actually...not as close as most would think. The 70-200mm lens that I use will allow me to get no closer then 5 feet (approx) to the subject so those shots are done from about that distance :thumbsup

I love my Canon 70-200mm lens and use it for more then half of my work. The longer the lens...the better for portrait work (in my opinion) :thumbsup

:1orglaugh

For amateurs on a VERY limited budget, what do you suggest is the best, least expensive way to be sure your shots are properly lit?

I find that my pics often come out too dark, or washed out, and I have a hard time finding a happy medium without PS magic. My colors aren't always as true as I'd like, too.

And, wow, thanks for the opportunity to pick your brain!

With Photoshop CS2, you can't get wrong with your images :)
Nice photography, anyway. In regards with the first pic (Sandee Wetgate), is that a wall on the right side (the light-gray one)? You should've get rid of it. But all in all, it's great :thumbsup

If your camera has a histogram, learn to use it. You can find a lot of info about how to read histograms all over the internet. I use a handheld meter for all my shoots to ensure correct exposure, but always back those readings up with my "in-camera" histogram.

http://www.cleanimages.com/articles/.../Histogram.jpg

How close would you get if you used a 12-24 lens?

Yes - that's a grey wall on the right side. I used it as a prop for most of the shoot...had her leaning up against it etc. I shot approx. 100 pics in that set and I shot some that didn't have the wall in it - your only seeing one pic from that set. The wall doesn't bother me but thanks for your input :thumbsup

I would get as close as I could without getting in the way of the light and causing a shadow and as long as the lens could still focus. You could probably get a couple of inches away with that lens but you'll probably block your light and the model might have some concerns with you being that close to her cookie :winkwink:

Gorgeous girls. Gorgeous photography. Lucky to be Dean Capture. :winkwink:

My cam isn't near the professional kind you pro shooters use, but it does have a histogram and it was turned off by default. I had to play with my settings and locate the histogram but now I have done so and am googling information on how to read it. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction! :)

It's a little complicated to understand and to master but once you get the hang of how to use it, your pics will be much better exposed. Well exposed pics will also ensure better color :thumbsup

No questions here but thats some beautiful work.

Yup, thats a great lens. I sold mine a couple months ago, because I just couldn't get enough use out of it. I always found myself switching to my 50mm 1.4 and now My 30 mm 1.4 sigma(to try and get closer to 50mm on my d2x) or the 12-24mm. I work in a lot of close areas and clubs so the 70-200 (105-300 on the d2x) zoomed me in to close for a lot of my stuff. I'm looking for a good all purpose lens and thinking about getting the 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor It's a slower lens, but with the VR I should acutally be able to use it in much lower light. Have you tried it? and if so, what where your thoughts on it?

How many light sources do you usually use?

Is that Dana Plato from Diff'rent Strokes in the viewfinder?

nice question shap!

i'll add one more. what lens are you using with those pussy close up pics! :thumbsup

I'm a Canon guy - haven't tried that lens. Wanton is a Nikon guy - he may be able to give you his thoughts on the best lens for your situations.

I primarily use the Canon 70-200mm F2.8 lens but sometimes use the Canon 24-70mm F2.8. Those shots can be done with either of those lenses :thumbsup

Great post Deancapture! BUMP!

Thanks brotha' :thumbsup

Sometimes I'll use one light and sometimes I'll use six. One thing that I appreciate about working wtih Twistys is that they encourage my experimentation and my growth. I get terribly bored shooting the same lighting setup all the time so I'm constantly changing things up to keep it interesting and challenging for me. I think this sometimes drives my photo-assistants KrAzY because they never know what we'll be doing next :1orglaugh

Oh, now I know... I just didn't see (at first) the purpose of the wall on that pose, but still it looks nice. :)

oh nice! but probably i can't afford those lenses. lol
im thinking of getting 50mm 1.8 to replace my 350d kit lens. what can you say about that? what i really wanted are crisp and sharp photos what cheap lens do you think fits my need? :) :thumbsup

Well, I don't have any experience with cheap lenses so I'm afraid I won't be of much help to you. I'm sure someone will chime in with their thoughts though.

Dean many thanxx! It is way better not to stand in a one place and alleays keep moving as you do!:thumbsup

If you're a Canon shooter I recommend the EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens. It retails for about $400USD and was my workshorse for a while until I built up my L-series collection.

To be safe, make sure whatever lens you shoot you try to shoot it as close to the middle aperture of the lens as possible. For example, the lens above has a range of f/3-5 to f/22 (wide) and f/5.6 to f/32 (zoom). So you would want to shoot as close to f/11 as possible to ensure sharpness.

You can shoot it at f/3.5 or f/2.8 or f/32 or whatever, and your sharpness will be fine depending on your output. Digital sensors do not read light the same way film does, so shooting wide open or closed down affects sharpness in a way that is too complex to describe here.

Consistent skin tones
 

Who dose your retouching? I love your skin tones and how consistent you keep them from one shoot to another. To achieve your consistent results is it done in post or shooting technique?

no worries. :) im just a noob though and im doing this for fun thats why i don't need a very expensive lens as of the moment! :thumbsup maybe soon. just need to learn more with my camera then upgrade :thumbsup

Good consistant skin tones is a challenge for any people shooter and it's something that we constantly strive for. One thing that I learned many years ago when I was shooting Commercial Photography (brochures & catalog work) is that consistant and repeatable results is key to success. And the only way to get consistant and repeatable results is to have the right tools for the job and to develope good shooting technique. For me - this means....doing proper custom white balances thruout the day and....constantly checking and refining my lighting and exposures thruout each set of pics.

This process of shooting although slow and tedious....enables me to spend less time in post processing because my images are always lit well and properly exposed. While other shooters who are less concerned with "spot-on" color, exposures and compositions can sometimes shoot 10 to 15 sets per day, I am able to do only 5....because of how much time it takes to shoot each set of pics. Basically...you get back what you put into it :thumbsup

In regards to retouching...I do that myself. Any of the pics that I've posted here on GFY were retouched by myself. Images that appear on Twistsy/BlueFantasies were retouched by our graphic guys up in Toronto.

Could you just shoot all my stuff so I dont need to ask questions

most all the L series canon lenses are good. IMO canon has better color in their pro bodies, if you have a ton of high quality nikon glass don't discard them, because i think the market place will force nikon to someday make a FF body that will compete with canon.

in the meantime you can use a lens adapter to mount nikon lens on canon EOS body, you will lose some features but it works good for studio work where you are carefully setting up shots.

the key to the "look" of deancapture style is the careful use of depth of field, blurring out extraneous image information and accentuating the more interesting parts of the image, careful lighting control, excellent post production, attention to detail and ruthless editing.

these are artistic choices, and the hardware to create the image is less important than the artistic style.

that is the mark of a great shooter---artistic style. artistic style can be developed, but cannot be "learned" IMO.

you either have it, or you don't.

Nice photos and good thread, Dean. :thumbsup

Have you used any of the Canon IS (Image Stabilization) lenses?

I shoot handheld with constant on video lights, and I've heard that using such a lens could help improve my results. It is frustrating when the images look okay in the LCD display, but when you dump them onto a hard drive and open them in Photoshop, you notice some blur.

If you have used the IS lens, do you have any shots showing with IS on and with IS off?

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what camera are you using for those pics on the top?

yes, if you are shooting hubcaps. this is the way most "content" shooters shoot. you do get sharpness, the catch light in the eye, the pimple on the elbow, and the discarded condom packaging on the pier one night stand.

if you are shooting a solo human model with imperfections you (usually) want to be close to wide open, using a longer focal length, and getting back away from the model with a long zoom (for "deancapture style"). if you are shooting a girl's face you usually DO NOT want short focal length high F number.

this requires a very good fast lens, usually of longer focal length to emulate this "deancapture style". and usually only fixed f/stop (maximum f/stays the same regardless of zoom) is good enough (usually f2/8 on high quality zooms.)

there is a place for shooting at f/11 but not for the type of shots in this thread. let your dentist use that when he needs to photograph your mouth for oral cancer or you want to photograph the tree in your backyard.

there is also a place for using wide angle, etc for artistic effect but that is a different subject.

people need to understand the physics of lens optics if they want to try this "deancapture style". it requires good fast glass (expensive), fairly long focal length, and careful lighting.

GREAT shots Dean :thumbsup :thumbsup

:1orglaugh
I think it's much better to shoot your own content, and becaome as good as Dean.
R.E.S.P.E.C.T.
to DEAN CAPTURE

My 70-200mm F2.8 is an "IS" lens....and I dearly love it. I shoot everything handheld as well and very seldom will I ever see any motion blurr with that lens. The longer the lens, the more steady you have to hold the lens so I would suggest practicing holding the lens as steady as possible when using video lights for your still work. Also, you might consider raising your ASA/ISO to 400 or 800 and see if that helps. This may introduce a little grain into your pics but you can reduce the effects of the grain with a program like Noise Ninja.

I love my "IS" lens and in your situation....it would be the perfect tool for what your doing :thumbsup

I currently use the Canon 1D Mark II but with some photo-knowledge you could shoot those pics with any pro-am digital SLR camera (IMO).

The best photography is done with a bottle of Jack Daniel's in the left hand while operating the camara with the right.
I reccomend a cheap Sony Cybershot for real photography these days and if you are into authentic break out the poloroid for close ups.

Falling over balcony railing's to get the perfect shot is well worth the result.

Tommorow .. I shoot some Pinup models on the beach .. any suggestions as to the settings for my digital SLR to get that over saturated color .. with a tiny bit of yellow ( I ll be using my flash head with a gold reflexor to give that Old look) .. but would really like my color saturation to be higher ... Without Photochopin it

a better question would be, what lens ...


A good piece of glass makes all the difference in the world

:thumbsup
Mark II is the fucking tool :)
I cant imagine working without it now.

I'm sold! Tell B and H you want a commission. :winkwink:

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