Train Depot Self-Portrait

[Ragingblues]

Very cool shot!


~ Ken

[alex]

Sean, great shot!


I know you've recommended I look into getting the Toki 11-16mm as my wide-angle instead of the Canon 10-22, and this shot is a huge endorsement. Looks impressive. I'd love to see more shots with this lens!

[Sean Setters]

To be honest, when I started testing this lens yesterday I was horrified by what I saw. I would load the pictures into DPP, they'd render, and then nothing was sharp. I did test shot after test shot, loaded them into DPP, viewed at 100%, and still fuzzy images. It wasn't until I left one of the images on my screen for a while as I went to get a glass of soda that I found out what was going on.


There was so much detail in the images that my computer was rendering it in 2 passes, and the second pass was taking much longer than the first. Most of the images I do have substantial bokeh in them, and those images are usually rendered very quickly. These images weren't completely rendered for about a minute after I pulled them up for viewing. After I realized that, I started seeing much better results.


So far I've been reasonably impressed. Still have some testing to do, though.

[wickerprints]

I had a similar experience using DPP for the first time, though not to the extent that you mention. I'm using a 2.4GHz MacBook Pro, loading images taken with a 5DmkII and 85/1.8. I'd been told this was a very sharp lens, so when I zoomed in to 100%, for a few seconds I too was horrified...I distinctly remember thinking, WTF? And then the image suddenly "fixed" itself and I was...blown away. [:O]


So I don't know if you're using a Mac or not, but if you are, it's a good idea to run Activity Monitor in your dock. It shows your CPU load graphs in real-time as the dock icon. If you're on Windows, I think there's a way to do something similar as well, but I don't know the details off the top of my head. So I noticed that my machine would start working hard for about 4-5 seconds whenever I zoomed into the image @ 100%.


Would *love* to have a faster computer, with a real monitor. But quad-core Macs are just a bit too expensive for me....[co][}][N][]

[Sean Setters]

I had a similar experience using DPP for the first time, though not to the extent that you mention. I'm using a 2.4GHz MacBook Pro, loading images taken with a 5DmkII and 85/1.8. I'd been told this was a very sharp lens, so when I zoomed in to 100%, for a few seconds I too was horrified...I distinctly remember thinking, WTF? And then the image suddenly "fixed" itself and I was...blown away. [img]/emoticons/emotion-3.gif[/img]


So I don't know if you're using a Mac or not, but if you are, it's a good idea to run Activity Monitor in your dock. It shows your CPU load graphs in real-time as the dock icon. If you're on Windows, I think there's a way to do something similar as well, but I don't know the details off the top of my head. So I noticed that my machine would start working hard for about 4-5 seconds whenever I zoomed into the image @ 100%.


Would *love* to have a faster computer, with a real monitor. But quad-core Macs are just a bit too expensive for me....[img]/emoticons/emotion-36.gif[/img][img]/emoticons/emotion-48.gif[/img][img]/emoticons/emotion-45.gif[/img][img]/emoticons/emotion-6.gif[/img]
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The icons made me laugh...


Well, I'm not sure that I'm blown away as of yet. I've never had an UWA lens before, so I'm not sure what to expect. But we'll see...

[Colin]

way sweet.





You Smoove!

[Jarhead5811]

Awesome! you're my hero [&lt;)]

[Sean Setters]

Awesome! you're my hero
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hehe...thanks Jarhead


You know, I've been a bit down lately. There's a woman who's daughter is entering her senior year. I told her months ago she needed to get me to do her daughter's senior portraits. However, there's a studio (about 70 miles away) that's contracted to do the headshots for the high school's yearbook. While they were down there, they did some casual shots outside. The thing is, I know how this photographer works. He positions people under the shade of a tree (for flat, but predictable lighting) and shoots. He has no concept of dynamic outdoor lighting. Well, the mother is satisfied with those shots were taken. However, if she buys prints from him, she'll end up spending well over $300. In fact, the girl's grandmother wants an 11x14, and it alone will cost $250. That's at least $550!!


Here's the thing that gets under my skin--I offered to senior portraits of her daughter for FREE. If the family likes the pictures, I'll burn them all full-resolution on a DVD and they could have the pictures for $125 (and can get them printed anywhere at retail printing cost). The lady can't lose anything by taking the deal--if she doesn't like them, she doesn't owe me a penny. Apparently, that offer isn't even good enough for her to take the time to check out my flickr photostream.


I'm offering a better product for a fraction of the cost, but she's not even interested enough to look at my work. She told her daughter about the deal that I was offering, but because her daughter isn't the one actually paying for the pictures in the first place, she wasn't really interested in doing another shoot.


I honestly don't understand people. Why is it that if I don't charge someone an arm and a leg, they don't take me seriously?

[Jarhead5811]

I'm thinking you should have a portfollio handy to show some of the older generation. They probably assume you're too eager and therefore no good. It's almost like you need to charge more for them to take you seriously.


I will say I've never seen a local photographer or studio that could touch your work I've seen.

[Sean Setters]

I do appreciate the compliment. Right now I'm trying to work on ways to market myself. I have about (25) 8.5x11 posters printed up ready for posting, but I haven't found too many good locations that are willing to let me put them up. I give out my card when I can, but I get very little business. What I need is that one senior who shoots early, loves the shots, and gives my name out to every friend she has. It just hasn't happened yet.


I'm trying to position myself to give clients something they can't get from a normal studio--that is, I'm geared to make well-lit outdoor portraits in places that in many cases mean something to the subject.


Check out the latest shoot I did last weekend. Maternity set. They turned out relatively good.