Requests!!

[Paddy]

I don't understand the whole Photoshop Vs Lightroom debacle, to me your losing out if you don't agree with Photoshop + Lightroom ...

 

[Top Geek]

I'd like to see a complete beginner's tutorial on flash photography. As in: I know, precisely, dick about speedlights. What do I need for my camera? Do I need more than one? How many? Are there speedlights for every situation or do I need to figure out what kind of photography I do and get one suited to a specific situation? What is flash syncing? And so on and so forth...

 

[SileNceR]

Lightroom is a lot faster than Photoshop with camera RAW to open images (unless you for some reason want to apply exactly the same effects to every image) - I use lightroom because all the basic PP (curves, RAW settings, sharpening etc) are very easy to get at and restricted to make it harder to mess up your images. If I need to do anything more advanced then I open into photoshop but 99% of the time I don't need to go that extra step.

And i'm not working with antiquated hardware, this is talking lightroom 1 and lightroom 2 vs photoshop CS3 on a Vista Ultimate 64 bit with 4gb of 1066mhz RAM on a Q6600 quad core, still a noticable speed difference and a lot nicer/easier flowing interface using lightroom than photoshop. Biggest plus is that because they're designed to complement one another, lightroom RAW adjustments are compatible with ACR in photoshop so you don't have to re-adjust any settings you've already made before you do your more advanced edits. Lightroom also puts your images in a stack when you right click and choose to edit in photoshop so it even keeps track of that for you.

 

[Martyn]

I assume Lightroom doesn't support actions? I love my Getty Images 1 button wonder action too much to change if Lightroom won't let me use it. Especially considering I usually do a run through ACR (even if they're JPGs) before opening the shots in PS.

 

[XeroState]

^
Lightroom offers "presets" which they offer many and you can create your own that have specific values for all the adjusts you can make. At least 2.0 does.

 

[sifu]

This must be OT, but does anyone know more about this noise ninja 2 program? I tried it with default auto settings and the results were pretty impressive and i want to know more..
http://www.picturecode.com/

 

[Dr_Q]

This must be OT, but does anyone know more about this noise ninja 2 program? I tried it with default auto settings and the results were pretty impressive and i want to know more..
http://www.picturecode.com/

It's a lot better than nothing but I really would recommend Noiseware Professional, it's outstanding in my opinion.

 

[LeVeL]

Someone care to point me in the direction of good intros to flash photography?

 

[Olie]

I used:
http://www.planetneil.com/tangents/flash-photography-techniques/

edit: its aimed mainly at wedding shots, but there is tonnes of info on getting that "theres no flash" look.

 

[ALXBWSCREW]

I'd like to know some tips about photographing snow. Especially when it snows, all my photos are rubbish. Overcast sky might be the problem but you have to get decent shots somehow.

 

[Ramseus]

I use aperture priority, between +1.3 to +2 EV and spot meter the snow. It's odd, but it works to avoid overexposing the snow and actually exposes everything else well too.

Want I should write a little article/thread?

 

[IceBone]

You need snow to be white, the metering on your cam will automatically make it medium grey, which is 2 EV values below white. I usually overexpose +1.7 EV so it's not overexposed and I can play around with the detail.

 

[ALXBWSCREW]

I use aperture priority, between +1.3 to +2 EV and spot meter the snow. It's odd, but it works to avoid overexposing the snow and actually exposes everything else well too.

Want I should write a little article/thread?

Exposure is not my problem, I usually get it right but somehow everything looks dull and boring. The lighting is the main problem as it's mostly overcast skies here in winter .

 

[Ramseus]

Stop bashing overcast.

also, worthless without pics etc.

 

[Top Geek]

Stop bashing overcast.

also, worthless without pics etc.

Why? Overcast is usually boring for nature photography.

 

[eroy2]

How about a car lighting tutorial. I've just been doing research on OneLight (and seen the videos) and would like to see what some of our pros are doing for their shots.

I'm thinking Paddy here with his recent supercharged M3 shoot and I know he's done others. I've got a good book for motorsport stuff and panning etc and get lots of practice with that but not for statics.
Tried shots like this(friend took it of my car) but it didn't seem to come out that well. Used 2 alienbees with rectangular softboxes(friends setup). I imagine we just didn't know how to use them properly.

360Photog (Dan Stern) did a good one years ago but it was pretty PP intensive.

Any takers?

 

[Psirus]

Nope, but I'll second that.

 

[Paddy]

I wish I had Alienbees

I'll keep ye guys in mind the next time I'm shooting, it's hard to explain without behind the scenes images. Thanks for the heads up eroy !

 

[Top Geek]

They don't deliver overseas?

 

[eroy2]

Thanks Paddy, I've gotten a new set of cactus V4 triggers so I can do this kind of shot. As for the alienbees, you've got enough talent that Alienbees wouldn't skyrocket you to the next level.

Thanks.