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Is there anyway for me to view RAW photos without opening a software (Like Nikon's software, Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom)? If yes, can you tell me how or what to download? Thank you.

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:51:00 +0100

Well, my MacOSX Finder and Preview can show them as well as iView. Make sure all camera drivers are installed on your computer.

I'm doing a unit in university on photography. We are using 35mm SLR's are they easy to use? Do you have any brands that you reccomend or what is a reasonable price?
Thanks heaps

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:56:47 +0100

Maybe you can borrow a camera from a friend, father or grandfather. Sometimes dealers have old second-hand models for a cheap price. The manual cameras are the best to learn and fiddle around with!

how can we create vignettes? i heard there a hundreds of way of achieving it, lets say i have a 50mm/f1.8 lens,how can i get vignettes with it? stacking filters? widest aperture? thank you in advance

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:54:20 +0100

Maybe if you have a narrow lens hood maybe you can get one? Before you start stacking filters, there are the post-pro ways of using the RAW program or your photo editing software and adding the vignette of your desires.

This has been bothering me since this came up on this site: How do you get RAW mode on your camera? I have a Canon Powershot camera that is supposed to have a RAW mode.

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:51:00 +0100

RTFM ;)

Maybe you should check the manual!

Pheelmore says: Another way to get RAW in canon cameras that usually dont support it is http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK

I agree on the importance of a good make-up artist. But I find it rather difficult to locate one. Then there is the (unknown) price tag. Especially as a beginner and for non-commercial projects the budget is small. I'd love to hear your thoughts and tips on this topic.

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 21:32:05 +0100

Oh ha! If you find someone who is interested in trying out new ideas with you for their and your portfolio, you won’t have to have money involved. I do a lot of photo shoots where no actual cash is flowing. We call it test shoots.
There are network websites like model-kartei.de or model mayhem etc. where you can probably find people (make-up/hair, stylists, models — everyone is desperate for good photos!) if you have no personal friends who are interested in starting off with you.

Best of luck, Martin!

I want to learn how to shoot products. I will start by shooting foods,begins with a cup of hot chocolate, and I am only going to use kit lens to shoot it. The question is, how can i begin? what is the appropriate place/time of the day to do so, is there any suggestions in terms of equipment or anything else?

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 21:16:00 +0100

Food is hard! The colors can quickly look bad, but give it a try.
I recommend you start by a window, with daylight.
Use colorful textures (tablecloth, food) and interesting china and silverware, decorate nicely and make sure the light touches everything in an amazing way.

And also, this great (casual) food photographer from California comes to mind… I know him from the good old flickr days: Matt Armendariz
Check out his work, maybe he will inspire you.

What's the best way to shoot photos in the snow? Shoot in RAW and modify white balance afterwards? Overexpose? It seems like pure white snow always looks blue when I shoot it :(

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 20:58:33 +0100

With a WB at around 5200 K and -4 (green/magenta) you should be okay, but shoot in RAW!

I found the following article for you: http://www.digicamhelp.com/how-to/nature/snow/ — you can read about exposure, measuring etc.; but like the first comments say, the thing is: if you have a lot of dark areas, you might want to underexpose: in order to get your snow some texture and not have it blown out.
If you overexpose, it will be white and soft (possibly without texture), and people or other dark subjects will be lighter too.

What are the most important things to look for when buying beginner studio lighting equipment?

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 09:27:00 +0100

I would go practical and buy a mobile set at first. (That’s what I did and everybody I recommend this to likes the idea and its execution.)

There are mobile studio sets like 2 Elinchrom D-Lite (200Ws or 400Ws or mixed) with stands, softboxes, cables. I would do 400Ws, it is worth the extra amount.
I know that also other manufacturers make it, but it seems they have the best value-for-money ratio.
If you want to stock up, but a second set of two or add a lamp.

Then there are umbrellas, which are always good to have and the umbrella pole hole is a standardized size and should fit any. I buy my umbrellas at Calumet Photographic, by the house brand.

Even if you decide to aquire immobile equipment in a couple of years, you can always carry around this set in the future.

Can you give some editing tips on how you make your model's skin look flawless?

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 18:05:53 +0100

Well, first of all, the model should have good skin, I prefer to have met her or him before we do anything where a close-up is coming up. Then, the make-up artist’s work is important.
These two first factors are often forgotten, especially by beginning photographers. (Same for hair!)

After that, I use Photoshop (the Healing Brush, »J« tool) to find and clean undesired marks etc. Sometimes I mark certain areas that I soften.

That’s all! Don’t overdo it.

i'm thinking of trying to take a couple of maternity photos of myself in the bathtub, i don't really want to buy waterproof housing just for two or three photos. any suggestions on how to try this without ruining my dslr?

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:56:21 +0100

Maybe you can rent one?
Is the camera going to be under water?

I don’t know what camera you have, but some plastic bags might be right for this? You need to make sure they are completely clear though. It just came to me that there are companies that make water-proof camera plastic bags. You might have to do some google research here.

Why don’t you go to a pool with a friend/family member, it would look so much nicer than a small bathtub… :)

What are your tips for making a move into a more "professional" stage of photography? As in the best way to get started, find subjects for your photos and promote yourself/your services.

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:53:56 +0100

It is probably completely different for everyone!
I can only say I made my hobby to my profession, it was sliding over slowly. Subjects I photographed were friends and things and became clients, models and products.

Hi Mareen, I'm thinking of buying an entry-level DSLR camera, most probably the Canon 550D. Are there any accessories that in your opinion are must-haves - filters, prime lenses, other add-ons,etc? This will be my first DSLR camera, so any advice would be great!

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:49:26 +0100

Lenses: If you want to stick to one lens for the beginning, the standard kit lens (around 17-85 mm) should be good.
I always recommend getting the 50 mm f/1.8 made by Canon and Nikon for under 100 €/$. It is great for close portraits, for a funky bokeh and great under darker circumstances. Also, shooting with a fixed length will challenge you more to move around.

Filters: A skylight/UV/haze filter matching the diameter of your lens(es) is great against scratched glass. Imagine you bumbing into a table corner or a kid touching the fine glass surface with greasy hands. If a filter like this breaks, you can just replace it. Plus, it keeps dust away from the inside of your lens (sort of).

Card reader: Not a must, but I have found it to be a way more convenient to have a card reader via USB. It keeps you from worrying about camera connection problems, using the battery, fiddling with camera-to-computer settings and you can shoot while your other card is being read.

One more advice: Shoot in RAW format from day one. You will be so happy once you »understand« why.

Hope this helped.
If you are planning to shoot something in particular, I might have more advice.

Which are the best hours for taking landscapes pictures? And. What kind of flash is the best for a beginner? Thanks Mareen.

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 11:10:51 +0100

As far as I have been informed by landscape photographers, sunrise and the first morning light are very interesting to most of them. That also requires a lot of discipline when you gotta get up early, of course!

***

The flash: I don’t know what camera you have, but SpeedLite 430EX or 430EX II for Canon, SB-400 for Nikon — and you can always put a littleflash bounce softbox (etc.) on it to get a softer flash.

If you have an infrared sender or a sender built-in in your camera (you might need to do some research depending on your hardware), you will be able to set the flash another place, too.
And: You can use the built-in camera flash as a master to the other one, which can then function as a slave.

I have a Canon Rebel XT (aka 350D). I nearly always shoot in RAW mode and use Adobe Lightroom 2 for my photo management & tweaking (with Photoshop CS2 on the side if needed)

I like shooting on the higher ISOs of the camera (800 and 1600) because it gives a nice crisp picture but at those ISOs (especially 1600) the photos are noisy. Can you recommend something to knock out that noise? Preferably a plugin to PS or LR would be great, but if it's a standalone app, that's cool too.

Thanks!

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 10:58:00 +0100

First of all, you shouldn’t do this! (Well, unless you really want to.)

RAW is great and always recommended. Have you ever used Camera RAW, a standard Photoshop Plugin that appears when you open a RAW file iN PS?
It supports every camera RAW on the market (if it is up to date) and they have a setting for Noise reduction, the little pyramid symbol. Tweak there.

before

after

***

Also, Photoshop has a built-in filter, noise reduction, that lets you reduce noise, even on every color channel in the advanced mode.

Try to play around in those, but be aware that the look might get kind of waxy, as the first digital cameras had it.

How can I minimize blurring? I try really hard to not shake my hand but sometimes my pictures still turn out blurry. :( I own a Canon Powershot SD1000.

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:21:00 +0100

You can do the following things:

Try holding your camera closer to your body, get a steady stand with your feet. Breathe in or out right before you take the picture. Check if your camera has a high iso/asa mode (if it isn’t so bright out) or a portrait mode and set it to that.
You can also try leaning on a wall or placing the camera on something.

Hope this helps!

Hi my digital photo collection is building up on my hard drive but I don't feel like I have good file structuring, or photo management software for photo playback. Do you have any suggestions about organising photos so they are easily accessible with and without the use of software? Thanks.

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:40:38 +0100

I recommend iView (I heard it is now called Expression Media) as a program to handle the files, rename and catalog them. It does not create large libraries, only metadata catalogs that don’t mess with the originals.

Please read this post for additional info on file renaming etc.

Stages of an amateur photographer’s life (click through to view...

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 08:47:51 +0100

Stages of an amateur photographer’s life (click through to view bigger)

(via rachelmercer, ckck)

Why can't I follow you?

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:00:54 +0100

Maybe it didn’t load right, or you were not logged on?
Go here and type in »snpsht«.

I'm looking to buying a new professional camera....any suggestions?

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:50:00 +0100

Check snapsort.com!

Read about it on snpsht here. We are not affiliated, but I am not in the position of giving advice like that. I have my Canon 1DsM3 and am happy with it.

Your portraits are really great! While probably 90% of a good picture are directly related to personal skills, these other 10% might be attributable to gear. Any suggestion for an affordable lens for a Nikon DSLR (for portrait shooting). Also - should one have a flash (besides the builtin) for outdoor sunlight situations? Bonus points for a a summary of important bullet points to improve the other 90%, too :-)

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:33:00 +0100

Thanks!

I can recommend a non-pricy lens that is available for both, Nikon and Canon: 50mm f 1/1.8 for around or under $100. On the smaller sensor, this makes about 85mm.

You can always buy more flashes that work like your built-in. Canon’s are called Speedlite, don’t know about Nikon. They have different price-ranges of course. Important: You can make them »slaves« and place them in space whereever you like, they will all go off at the same time.
I used some of those in this series.

The other 90%: A vision, practice, »the eye«, hard work, the right contacts and always being reliable (e.g. about getting your photos back to the people you take pictures of), honest self-promotion!