It's Friday - Ask Me Anything About Photography!
 

Ahhhhh, my favorite subject in the whole world http://www.deancapture.com/dean.gif

If any of you good folks have any questions about Photography, lay'm on me. If I don't know the answer....somebody will. I love talking shop with other shooters so let the fun begin :thumbsup

Here's a few shots done this week of Lexi Stone for Twistys. Shot with Canon 5D, 24-70mm lens with two 1000watt tungsten lamps. One aimed at her face and another aimed at her legs. Barn-doors were used on the lamps to focus the light and get the vignette (darkening at the edges).

http://www.deancapture.com/lexi/lexi1.jpg

http://www.deancapture.com/lexi/lexi2.jpg

are you covert training your protoge in your avatar to replace you ? Wait till the Taliban hear about this :Graucho

Dean, seriously. Where would one start with the questions I could ask you... I would need a lot longer that a single friday.

have you every photographed roast beef curtains? if so how did it feel?

DeanCapture, these are excellent high quality photographs. In the first photo, a beautiful light shadow of her ass and legs is created to the left of her ass and legs.

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh

No, no....I decided to switch my avatar to a monkey the other day after talking to a perspective client who thought that photography was so easy, even a monkey could do it!

I have yes. I get a tingling sensation every time I have to shoot roast beef curtains. You should try it - nothing like it in the world :thumbsup

Very observant sir! Nothing get's past the FatFoo :thumbsup

Good one, I sort of had the feeling that's what you were trying to convey ;)

I have friends who read every article on every camera in an effort to keep up with the latest technology. Unfortunately, I have no interest in any of that. I won't do any research on cameras until I'm ready to buy one....

Hopefully somebody here has some knowledge that they can share with you regarding your question. I'm afraid I won't be of much help on that one.

That made me think of this question :winkwink:

Because photography is so easy and prevalent today with:

The transition from film to digital
PS can fix any technical flaw
Lost cost for prosumer level equipment
Very easy to use
No cost for film or processing
Cameras built into other devices so everyone has one at the ready
Computers become darkrooms, promotional and networking devices

Do you think the photographers (the dedicated kind that learned their craft and had all the equipment in the film days) have had their place diminished and or diluted by those monkeys with cameras.

Diminished? Absolutely!!!

Any monkey can buy a camera, put it on automatic and get a great shot once in a while. But only someone who has studied the art & science of Photography, composition, lighting and post-production can produce great shots consistently... day-in and day-out.

Although there's way more to shooting content then just aiming the camera and pushing a button....some content buyers think any monkey with a camera can shoot content. And for some of the amateur niches... that would be correct. But I think they'll always be a need for Photography from shooters who actually know what they're doing. At least....I hope so :winkwink:

What's your gear look like? I am a bit of a photo gear head myself, hence the question.

http://imgur.com/EwLOZ.jpg

I have a serious question:

We recently had a photographer do a whole 8 hour shoot with our anchors.

All the pictures were grainy and unusable for print, somewhat ok for web.

What did the photographer do wrong, how do I tell her in the proper lingo?

Thanks.

I use custom-made cameras by Canon. They're made to my specifications and nobody else in the world has them. If you're interested in buying one, contact me and I'll hook you up. They're quite expensive though :winkwink:

http://www.deancapture.com/canon.jpg

I'd have to see the pics to know for sure. eMail me a couple of the raw unprocessed pictures and I'll take a look at them and get back to ya' on it. My eMail is in my sig -

So that's the 1dsIV that we've been waiting for so long!

Where do I start?

Beautiful collection by the way. That's way more camera gear then I have. I have a couple of old 5D bodies, a 5D Mark II body and a 7D body with an array of Canon lenses.

I don't have a picture of my cameras but I do have a picture of some of our other gear. More pics on my site....

http://www.deancapture.com/gear.jpg

He's never shown up. I think it's a glitch in the TDRS satellite relay communication system. I'm having that looked in to right now.

Very cool. What kind of studio lights do you prefer? Continuous lighting?

I recently picked up a portable ProFoto 7B kit and I love the quality of the light.

I prefer strobe lighting (flash), but on occasion I'll use some continuous lighting. For Strobe we use Speedotron. For continuous we have an array of tungsten as well as daylight balanced fluorescent lights.

hello there

did you use Panoweaver? got an license for me? can you share some tips ? thanks!

I used to work in a commercial photo lab doing everything from receiving to splicing to processing to printing to final inspection. Who do I see to complain that all these skills are completely worthless these days? :1orglaugh :Oh crap

Your work looks great, I always appreciate beautiful naked women more when they're in a classy upscale setting.

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

I feel you man. I started my life off in photography by working in a lab myself. I just felt that it was important to know what happens with my film after it's been sent to the lab. Although many of those skills are useless today, learning about color and color theory (for printing) was one of those skills that has stayed with me and I still use today when processing my own work.

this is Dean's thread, but off the top of my head, it seems like the ISO was set way to high, making the pictures 'noisy' :2 cents:

I've also seen scenarios where the photographer under exposed the pictures and then tried to save them by bringing up the brightness in PS and that caused a lot of grain. There are other scenarios that cause grain (noise) as well. By evaluating the EXIF info of the raw file, I would be able to possibly offer up a cause. Anything else would just be speculation.

yup, you are totally correct, I was just speculating:winkwink:

Then why is my camera always on Manual no matter how much I try to keep it on the Automatic setting I start with? This is obviously a sarcastic fake question designed to get you to explain it instead of me because I really do want your answer. Is it too early in the day for sarcasm?

I would love to know how they made this kind of effect?
http://www.chromasia.com/images/bsc_workington_b.jpg

hotlink:disgust

Looks like B&W, HDR and dodging & burning.

Beautiful pic :thumbsup

Since you have access to all sorts of hot models, ever tried playing with HDR on a porn shoot? or no time for art of that sort? :)
I'd love to see some adult photos done for example how http://www.davehillphoto.com/ makes them (he uses alot of PS too, not just hdr/photomatix but you get the idea)

did you ever get my email I sent you on the article about the guy who did a fashion shoot with a iphone?

I don't really have an interest in HDR to tell you the truth. I try shooting some arty stuff once in a while but typically the clients bitch because the members would prefer more plain-jane type content. The only way I'm ever gonna get to exercise my creative muscle as much as I'd like....is to launch my own site where I can shoot whatever I want without having to answer to someone. In the meantime, I have to conform to the buyers wishes and that typically means "no artsy-fartsy" stuff :thumbsup

Yes I did Tony .. thanks for sending that over. I was going to reply back to you and just got busy and forgot. I forwarded that to some friends of mine and we got a big kick out of it!

Hope you are doing well buddy!!!!!

What cheap P&S do you carry now a days? You used to have an FZ50 I believe.

Why do you shoot with Canon over Nikon or other brands? Or do you have multiple cameras of different makes?

I have several P&S cameras but rarely take them out. The only camera that I take everywhere I go is my DROID phone ... and it takes great pictures : )

I used to be a Nikon shooter years ago. It was about the time that digital was really coming along. I noticed that I was always fighting with the images in post because of heavy yellow/green skin issues. I did some testing with a Canon digital camera and the skin tones just blew me away. I sold my Nikon gear and became a Canon shooter and have never looked back.

Traitor...

:1orglaugh

I'm sure Nikon finally got their shit together. I just didn't have time to wait around for them to figure it all out. Skin tones are one of the most important things for our kind of photography and I just got tired of fighting with them to make them right. With Canon, I didn't have to fight anymore and could spend time enhancing skin tones instead of spending time correcting them.

Nice answer.

I've used a couple Nikon cameras, I just never appreciated the feel of them, the functions were totally different than the Sony or Canons I've used... the DSLR's I've used have just felt super cheap to me.

I got a question o obi wan of the shutter. Go with the 7d or wait for the 60d?

I have no idea what a 60D is LOL*.

I don't keep up with the latest offerings from camera manufacturers. Technology just moves way to fast for me to keep up. Afraid I won't be of much help on this one. I do have a 7D and I love it. Don't know anything about the 60D.

The 60d will be the replacement for the 50d which was the replacement for my camera the 40d. The rumor has it , it will be the first canon with an articulating display. My thought is to go with the 60d if they dont change the body too radically. So I can still use my batteries and battery holder. It should be announced in august according to canon rumors.

Great thread :)

What's your favourite lens to shoot with?

My favorite lens is probably my 70-200mm Canon lens :thumbsup

Thanks! I can't believe nobody is asking more :)
Do you ever use UV filters to protect your lenses? Or do they just add too much distortion?
If you do - does brand really matter?