Messages

1

Lighting / Re: Would this be original lastolite hilites?

« on: May 13, 2013, 05:12:04 AM »

Very nice. Mine is still en route. I noticed that they are no longer available form amazon itself now. So either their stock is gone or they wanted to get rid of what was left in their warehouse.

2

Lighting / Re: 270 ex ii or 430 exii for vacation

« on: May 10, 2013, 04:08:12 AM »

I would go for the 430 because it does HSS. If you take the 270, the shutter speed won't go below 1/200 which will be too slow to stop action. (but yes, I get your point as I also dearly love the 270 for its pocketability, just remember turn it off when stopping action and when there is a lot of light as otherwise you end up with very bright pictures  )

3

Lighting / Re: Would this be original lastolite hilites?

« on: May 10, 2013, 04:03:02 AM »

Mine is now in status "We've started preparing your parcel for delivery and it should leave our facility in the next few hours to a few days. "

So I'll keep you updated as well.

4

Lighting / Re: Would this be original lastolite hilites?

« on: May 08, 2013, 05:39:56 AM »

I ordered one to see what they are going to send. it's like a really expensive kinder surprise egg now : )

5

Software & Accessories / Re: Alternatives to Adobe Software

« on: May 07, 2013, 10:09:43 AM »

Photoshop elements, lightroom and paintshop pro seem to be the most common alternatives although elements and paintshop are more graphic editing whilst lightroom is more photographers tools.
GIMP (tried it, but never really liked it)

For Apple: Aperture or Photostudio (and after working with windows 8 for a while, I must confess that that platform becomes more tempting by the day)

6

Lighting / Re: Would this be original lastolite hilites?

« on: May 06, 2013, 10:00:34 AM »

It's become #1 bestseller in Photo Studio Backrounds now. 

7

Lighting / Would this be original lastolite hilites?

« on: May 05, 2013, 06:05:16 PM »

Hi guys, I've been trying to do high key pictures with the help of normal living room curtains as a kind of cheap option, but I noticed that amazon itself has the lastolite 5x7 hilite background for 90 UK pounds (equivalent to 140 dollars), which is less than 1/3 of the normal 300 pound (450 dollar) price as far as I am aware.
Would there be any chance that these are not the original lastolite products or could this just be a really really weird price setting?

Link
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000UAV4TQ/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Regards,
Kristof

8

Lenses / Re: Need advice taking pictures of jewellery

« on: May 03, 2013, 12:45:43 PM »

One of the things I used to do when taking pictures like this was focus stacking. use a tripod and shift the focus bit by bit That seemed to result in prettier images than decreasing the aperture all the way down did.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focus_stacking

9

Canon General / Re: How do you buy equipment?

« on: April 17, 2013, 06:29:15 AM »

I hear ya and I do the same thing pay off my credit card every month and haven't paid interest on either card. Guess I should as for a raise haha. What do you mean pay yourself at variable interest rates?

It means that on months when there is a lot of money left, i repay more, on months when there is less left, I repay less. In the end, I repay a little more than I took, so my savings account ends up with a net profit. (it's kinda linked to what my wife looks good in and how much the latest drresses cost as well

10

Canon General / Re: How do you buy equipment?

« on: April 16, 2013, 09:19:59 AM »

Lend myself the money from my savings account and repay myself at variable intrest rates. 

11

Canon General / Re: Why do you do Photography?

« on: April 16, 2013, 09:08:39 AM »

For memories. I only have a few pictures and wirtten cards of my grandparents and little memories, their graves have been removed  and I so often wish I had more pictures of how their lives were and wished I could hear their voices one more time. So when my wife and I had children, I started taking pictures  of the thousands of little things that attracted my attention and video fragments of their family and grandparents so that when they grow up, they can look back on them.
I also shoot lots of other stuff, but that's the prime reason. When we're no longer around, at least some of the pictures will be. They will probably not be that good or special, but it's like memories which you can still touch or see moving.

12

Portrait / Re: First paid photo shoot - DATE: 23 March 2013

« on: April 03, 2013, 06:57:39 AM »

They are better than my first attempt of doing something like this anyway, so congratulations on your work.
In hindsight for the following images
1) removing the flowers in the top right as they draw attention would give it more balance.
2) having sunlight reflected (something like a foldable reflector) onto them to brighten the couple up compared to the background.
4) the green is a bit overpowering. maybe desaturate the colors a little more to give it a more subdued look?
6) same as others remarked, the branch is too attention-grabbing
7) someone snuck up on you and is visible in the frame, so maybe some recropping.

Having said all that, I'd have been perfectly happy with a picture like number one and three and the sepia ones. so I'd say very nice work.

13

Speedlites, Printers, Accessories / Re: straps

« on: April 03, 2013, 06:40:07 AM »

+1 for Black Rapid. You can additionally secure it bu having a short strap between the fixed eyelets on the camera (where the normal strap attaches) and loop it through the black rapid. That way, even if it unscrews itself, it still can't fall off the strap.

14

EOS Bodies / Re: What is missing from the 7DII specs

« on: March 29, 2013, 09:41:01 AM »

At 10FPS, 2 Card slots would come in handy.

I am happy with my 7D so I won't really be disappointed if they don't significantly upgrade the 7DII.

I was thinking the same, looking at these specs, there really seems no reason to upgrade from a 7D to a 7 DII.

What I'd like:
- 2 card slots (one to store my pictures, one to switch to when my mum ask me to show what's on it
- in-camera HDR

15

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon EOS-b Images Leak & a New Kit Lens

« on: March 22, 2013, 07:25:58 AM »

I have to say that very small DSLR are very ugly, this being the ugliest of all. I'm sure that it has the build quality of a Bic pen. If it had the smooth design of a NEX for example it would totally hit the spot and I think it would sell like crazy..

The point is exactly that there is an optical viewfinder in there, so you can't design it flat like the sony. Besides which, if you are used to the Canon EOS series, the design seems perfectly intuitive. I fyou want a NEX, just get a NEX, it's a different target audience.