HI ALL!!! New Here.....

Greetings to everyone!!!

I am a photographer via a degree (BFA) but mostly by passion and love of the stillness, objectivity and candidness of this art medium. I have worked professionally as a photographer in the advertising world and in portraiture; however, I took several years off and am now in the process of reemerging myself in the business. (That creative itch has hit HARD!!! LOL!!!)

So, I am here to reacquaint myself with the photo world and meet new people....get advice and possibly offer some when I feel I can help in anyway.

Hi Aly,

Welcome to OPF! We won't hold your training against you

Looking forward to yout photography. If you have a gallery to share, we'd love that. What's your camera and lens choices? Did you store your old gear or have you updated?

Asher

As someone new to the obsession...er, I mean photography, I look forward to seeing your work. Portraiture is something I'm trying to learn.

I am embarassed to admit....I am still in the "film" age with my pro equipment. That is one of the reasons I ended up finding this awesome forum!! What better way to find out the best of the best and the worst of the worst as far as equipment goes than to read it from people who are speaking from first hand experience.

Most of my equipment is in storage except my p/s digital (BLEECKKK...very sick of that piece of crap, let me tell you!!!) and my Canon EOS Elan IIe.

The cameras that I am most interested in at the moment, and this could change...are the Canon Mark III and the Nikon D2XS. Still shopping around though....and at this point, still just gathering info!!

I don't have a site either, since I have been working with film for the past several years. BUT that is on my list of things to do once I finally settle on a work horse. SPEAKING of horses....rofl...I intend on making them my main focus for awhile. Somehow I want to cross the "boundaries" of photographing equines in a "studio" setting. Lofty...I know. But it's worth a shot.

Aly,

Where are you located? You need to get some of your film scanned and that would be perfect. Read up posts in the Entry to Digital Photography Forum and you will get the basics. You need at least photoshop elements and I'd suggest Photshop CS2 or CS3 so that you can select different portions of an image to optimize by adding an adjustment layer and masking out what you dont want to alter.

Tim has a perfect tutorials, for example this in his Retouch Forum.

You film photography is important in a forum like this!

For a camera, I'd suggest a new Rebel XT as it is a miracle camera for almost free, or else get a used one in Buy and Sell from someone who has been here or on FredMiranda.com for some time and you would trust.

You can use all your old Canon lenses!

However, you might go Nikon as the D40 and the 300D are also magnificent. Pentax has the K10 D which is lightweight, weather sealed and has excellent small lenses. Sony has brought out the new versions of the Konica Minolta lines which were already underway before their buy out. These cameras and all the 4/3rds system cameras by Olympus, Panasonic, Sony and Leica.

A simple point and shoot, like the new Canon G9 would be great too!

Good luck,

Asher

I use have and use CS2....LOVE IT!

Thank you for the tips on threads to read, I will do just that! I like the FM forum, as well, I have been reading there too!

As far as the Rebel goes, that seems to lack a lot of the technological expectations that I would have for a DSLR. I would love to have one to beat around with...but for what I wish to gain from a DSLR I think going with a pro model would be much more beneficial. I love the idea shooting and transfering images via wireless adapters, and other such advancements that the pro models offer.

Input on the subject is exactly why I am here!! What is everyone's opinion of the wireless transfer and controls?? Is that not all it's cracked up to be?? Or is it a saving grace in some shooting situations?

What are the ups and downs of using an intro DSLR VS a pro model? (loaded question, I know...) Isn't there significant lag time with the intro models? More noise at higher ISOs? Less control over the image once it is captured until it is transferred to the computer?

Sorry if I seem ignorant in the digital world...but it changes so rapidly and I haven't shot with a DSLR since doing ad work several years ago.

Aly,

If I were you, I'd get a Canon G9 and use that for several months. You have 35-250 mm zoom, f2.8, ISO to 1600 and 32000 with smaller file. This is all you need.

Ignore shutter lag, shot ot shot timing wireless release. First things first. Get to processing images in CS2.

The camera you choose is not so important. What you don't want to do is to spend money on a camera system and then want a different one!

That's why I suggested the less expensive ones. Unless you are going to go back to earning a living or professional shoots right away, I'd be careful. Still, with your experience you could just pick either Nikon or Canon and you would be capable of handling almost any job!

Asher

Aly,
As a newcomer here I'm hesitant to opine, but will anyway. I fiddled with digital since it first came to market. Battery life about 10 shots and all. I gave up. Started back in with a D70 and now using D200 primary, D70 secondary, and a two year old Casio point and shoot compact, which I have more fun with than the DSLR's. (had a heck of a time getting over using the stupid LCD to aim....so amateurish, but when you get to be my age, we stop worrying so much about if we appear to others as a beginner or not).

I'd caution you on the noise issue. I might get lambasted by those more qualified than I here (just about everyone), but let me share this with you. I abandoned 35 mm SLR film in the '80's because I like enlargements and even back then, found the grain totally unacceptable...even on an 8x10 from high quality, low ASA film (back then) from a pro lab. Since I couldn't justify a large format film camera (as an amateur), I threw in the towel for 20 years. I could 'afford' large format, couldn't justify it. Two different animals.

IMHO, "noise" is over-rated. It is complained about by people who have never shot a roll of film in their lives. let alone ever set foot in a dark (wet) room. I contend that noise is nothing compared to grain. (ok, sure, buy a low end DSLR and shoot at max ISO and you have problems). I can take a shot at 400 ISO with my D200, enlarge up to 13x19, and the result beats the daylights out of any 200 ASA shot with a film DSLR.....and this is "before" noise reduction in post-processing.

Ok folks, feel free to beat me up on this one.
-Greg

Asher~~ You make many good points and I will take them to heart, seriously! I understand what a HUGE investment the larger monsters, i.e. MarkIII or the D2XS, are....but I tend to become attached to my photography equipment, thus I own and use them FOREVER! HAHAHA...it is true. Something along the lines of a relationship builds per se. Is that just ridiculous of me or does anyone else experience that?? With that in mind I wish to make a purchase that I can live with...well...forever! So, yes, you are right, I should check out mid range cameras to test the waters.

Greg~~ I appreciate your input, as well!! Funny you should bring up noise as compared to grain...I consider myself a classically trained photographer, i.e. darkroom, processing my own negs, 35mm and medium format, fiber based paper vs. RC paper, etc.... And I guess that is what I tend to think of when I read about noise...GRAIN. Funny how that works with us old-schoolers. But it is good to read someone's thoughts on the subject that is familiar with that way of thinking and seeing.

Thank you both immensely!!

I love this forum already!!!

Aly, I forgot to say welcome, likely because I'm a newbie here as well and felt unqualified.

Not to beat this to death, but I get rather bored reading about noise being compared to grain. They are two different animals. (note the "period". It means "period".) I too had my own darkroom but never graduated from BW to colour. I mentioned that grain drove me nuts with my colour enlargements from pro labs, forgot to mention it drove me nuts in my own darkroom as well....and again, eventually drove me from my passion back then.

There is no question your experience and training outdoes mine exponentially, and I am flattered that my humble comments mean something to you.

Thank you,
-Greg

Aly,

You might want to look at the M8 Leica rangefinder camera with just say one lens to start with. It's a beauty and you may just fall in love. Check here in the Leica forum.

Asher

Asher Kelman said:

Aly,

You might want to look at the M8 Leica rangefinder camera with just say one lens to start with. It's a beauty and you may just fall in love. Check here in the Leica forum.

Asher

Click to expand...

Asher~~ I am very interested in shooting with an M8....but I am a little trepidatious due to the Nyquist frequency theory....(lol!!!)

Greg~~ Don't discredit yourself and your knowledge of photography!!! Your opinion is valued and I appreciate other newbies stepping in and joining the fun!!!