any other photographers out there?

[quickdrawmcgraw]

Is this even the place to be calling or is there another section for photography that I haven't found?

I've just bought 2 new lenses and am dying to drone on about f-stops etc.

studied photography years ago now have old nikons with dust on them
use alittle canon digital atm very good should do more with photoshop

mistypeaks some phone cameras are very good these days its enthusiasm that counts in the end slr is well worth it if you are serious though

ingles that sounds interesting, studio stuff?
i nearly cried when i saw bloke and his 5x4 camera a few months ago

would love a darkroom
thats the bit i miss the most i think

I am serious about getting serious iyswim.
I think photographing the children is in some ways easy because I know what they're about to do and can capture it. Plus who can take a bad picture of cute kids!!! I got a cracking (but disgusting) one once of dd1 mid sneeze!!! 'tis spectacularly gross, but you can virtually feel the spray on your face.
I think what did it for me was seeing out venture pictures. I know I could have got the same shots, it's just the equipment behind the scenes to present them at a high quality. (Although the good thing about venture is they let you 'stage' it yourself)

I shoot both in the studio and on location. I use a hassleblad H2 with a phase one P30 back or a Canon 1DS MK 2.
Anyone got technical questions? I might be able to help.

Oh Pants!
Don't give me away on the other thread please x

asmudger - the thing I struggle with is what to do when the light is rubbish. You know, those flat light, cloudy days. When the sun is shining, I am fine and think I make good use of shadows and bright colours, but on grey days not so much. Also, I am not great with my flash gun, should I be using it for help on poor light?

Wilbur it's me trying to namechange unsuccessfully.
TBH the best light is when it's flat. It's flattering and even.
I never shoot in bright sunlight. I always diffuse it with a scrim(it's like net or tracing paper)
What you need to think about is the direction of light. If you are outside try not to keep the sun behind you (ie straight into the face of your subject). Keep it to a side or so you are shooting towards the sun. If the sun is behind your subject either expose for the shadow area (usually their face) then the sky and highlights get blown out or use fill in flash if you have this mode on your camera. If it's hazy it's not so much of an issue. If you are shooting digital what you need to remember is to try an get an image with as much information (pixl wise) as possible. So detail in the highlights and shadows. Then use a manipulation programme (photoshop, iphoto etc) to boost your contrast. saturation.
Does that make sense?

We have a nikon D200, with Sigma lens.
Dh is great at taking photos- they are technically perfect, bit I get all the good shots
I just manage to capture dd at the right moment. I let him sort out the technical aspects or run them through gimp.

ingles2- they're great tips. I'm still very much feeling my round with the photography but better at the photoshop stuff. I'll try and do a course later this year to make the most of the equipment i've got.

love this thread - i once joined an amateur photography site - and it was just a big war with Nikon V Canon!

I have a D40 as said above - all my friends just laugh everytime we go anywhere as it always comes with me - they don't even bother to avoid the camera anymore! Then they love it when I mail them all.....

Have taken some corkers in my time (ds is 2.7yrs) and as someone said above I'm not necessarily the best technical person I just seem to land great shots at the perfect time.

I have seen a guide called D40 for dummies but can't bring myself to buying it! I would just like someone to tell me how to make the best out of my settings on there - i tend to use close up, landscape, moving and automatic. I know I'm not making the best use of the camera.

Would love to do a photography course but not got the guts to go for it.....

blimey sorry for droning on!!

aargh - my photography course is v beginnery and unintimidating. tis only 1 afternoon a week at a local college and is a small group and v friendly. look into it! first couple of lessons (its about 10 weeks long) were veeeerry basic and i was a bit bored, but is much more interesting now and i think you sound about the same as me interest/ability wise

Anyone still around? I'd love to join in any droning conversations about f-stops or unsharp masks...

Hi devon blue... I'm always happy to talk f stops

Great. I'm currently setting up a children' photography business (yes, me and the rest of the world, I know...) I've always got questions - maybe I could email you Ingles?

The first ones off the top of my head are, I've been asked to do some pictures for a school website, and also for a clothes designer's website. As I'm starting up I don't intend to charge much, but I'd be interested to know what the going rate for that kind of thing is?

Also, do you know any great printing companies for expensive looking business cards?

If there's anything else I can help anyone else with I'll be happy to. To all the people who want to learn more about their cameras I'd just say get stuck in - go through the manual and try out different settings, see what happens. Look at the effects of different ISOs, shutter speeds, etc. I used to work in a technical job and I think a lot of women are unnecessarily nervous of technical things. It's easy when you try it though.

I really want to take up photography again. I did it years ago- used to develop my own films and stuff in the days of dark rooms.

I only have a little camera at the moment. But I'm thinking of getting a digital SLR for xmas/birthday (same day so I can combine ) and then trying to get into it again.
Like everything it's time.

Devon are you in Devon? (I am...)

I do children's photography Devonblue. I started off cheap and now I'm upping my prices. I got my initial price by making the shoot cost just a bit more than the cost of a weekly shop.
i.e. cheap enough to not have to dither about arranging a shoot and expensive enough for people to their pictures were worth something iykwim.

I've been playing around with my new macro and trying to find some big insects to photograph. Then my dog obligingly stunned a bee and I was able to take a photo which I've put on my profile. pity I didn't get his head in focus but he flew off.

I'm a photographer, event photgraphy is my bread and butter, very boring but does mean that on the technical side of things I can do it without looking these days as it is second nature! Happy to chat about lenses too - am coveting the 17-40mm Canon L lens, don't need it for work but would love it to play with landscapes for fun .

And I can't even spell the word - that would be photography !

Thanks qdm. Pricing is very hard, and I always want to undercharge. Keep getting sternly told off by friends and fellow photographers for it.
I think I have finally sorted some prices for a standard photoshoot and prints, etc, but then I get enquiries for other types of work and I don't really have a realistic hourly rate set yet.

Love the bee pic. Amazing detail. I have a 105mm macro lens which I love using for straight portraits - I haven't used all its potential as a macro yet.

Yurt, I'm not in Devon - it's just the name (I think) of those little blue butterflies.

I'll try to put some pics on my profile later.

I'm really enjoyiing this thread - hope we can keep it going...

That bee picture is fabulous QDM!

DS already asleep so going to read my manual cover to cover this evening!

Love the bee

dd is a bit of an amateur photgrapher - tis all a bit over my head. She likes taking photos of 'stuff' as opposed to portraits. She blogs them here

She needs a new camera but i don't know where to start - any recommendations for a mid price compact digital?

Wow- the bee is great!

My shots all tend to be of dd

Saggar- your daughters photos are lovely- such vivid colours, and great compositions- I never see the world like that, and I do sometimes spend hours on Flickr admiring just how others view the world!

Hi,.. sorry starting writing a long post this afternoon and then we had a blardy power cut!
Fees.. tbh I leave this to my agent. BUT do some market research, see what everyone else is charging and where you fit in. Do not undersell yourself. I have struggled my entire career with being so pleased that clients 'want me" (god sooo needy ) I would have worked for nothing. That does NOT pay the mortgage!!!
It also means clients think of you as bottom of the pile and not very desirable iykwim.
decide on a day rate which has to cover your time, and expenses (wear and tear on cameras etc, insurance) you also need to charge for post production, which is the cost of time to convert your raw file to tif/jpeg, colour correction, retouching. I charge a fee per final chosen shot but you can work out how many shots they will want and build in this figure to your dayrate. Try not to give away copyright ever! you might also want to charge depending on usage. lowest is one time print, then internet, then worldwide 1 yr, 3 yrs, then buyout (they then own the pics)
Cards... we use a company in London called Central cards, they do all of the editorial/ advertising pro's. they don't seem to have a website (bizarre!) but the no is 02074393443. There are loads of other postcard companies though. Expect to pay £100-200 for a print run of 1000.
HTH's x

I was a press photographer for 15 years but gave it up to start my own children's portrait business. Called Nippersnappers funnily enough

Just getting together my web pages for weddings will I hope will go live quite soon