TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Since you style yourself as a “pro”, I’d like to see a link to your website and your work. The images you’ve posted in this thread so far don’t strike me as the type of work I’m accustomed to seeing from professional photographers. You’re a pro, but have “no interest in resolution or test charts” - not the kind of pro I’m used to working with who has an in depth knowledge of their equipment. What you have produced on UHH is a plethora or snaky, unhelpful posts adorned with smart assed remarks, illiterate neologisms and silly animations. You’d be the last person on the forum I’d take technical advice from.

Personally, whether, it’s photography, computers, woodworking, auto racing, stereo or any of the other things that interest me, I’ve always found that listening to professionals who have studied their art and make a living from it are much more useful than listening to the consensus of a group of amateurs, a goodly portion of whom rely on misunderstandings, hearsay, wrong assumptions, and a lack of a deep understanding on how the things they comment on actually work, all arrived at without real, measurable data. I’ve been lucky enough to mentored by pros in all the fields I mentioned, and I haven’t found any data or diffraction deniers yet on the photographic side.

User ID

For sure. No realistic demands to meet. Real clients are not pixel peeping what they buy.

User ID

Theres a Hawgster type assumption right there, my "pro" website. I have NO such thing. I go to work ... well recently I dont go there anymore ... and do whatever is "on my plate". Theres no "media star" aspect. Now that Ive retired, photography still feeds and houses me. Without it Id prolly be living on the street or dead.

I dont save stuff I shoot for work. Belongs to whoever ordered it and they can keep it.

This is a job in a trade, like a carpenter. I can walk into a strangers darkroom and outdo that guy you all admire, cuz thaz the days work. I go to a giant demonstration, gather great "PJ" images, and the next day do boring political grip and grin stuff. Sometimes spend all day shooting tiny little items on 8x10. On UHH the 8x10 aspect and the macro aspect would be huge topics but I assure you its just a tedious routine day.

Hip Coyote

I use the C settings on my dial for specific situations that I may be encountering during a particular photography event...such as on Safari, I learned very early in the trip that most of the critters were rather sedentary, so I used my usual Aperture mode. But I also had to be prepared for a sudden preditor-prey chase, so I set up a custom setting for that with a pre-set shutter speed, aperture and auto iso, rather than switching around trying to get to that setting.

I was in settings where the scene went from very stark light to very dark (a old city medina) and it was driving me wonky trying to keep adjusting settings...so I recorded two C settings to basically had both extremes covered. This turned out to be quite helpful (see attached pics) when I came across a low light situation that was very fleeting.

On the rare times I do some sort of astro photography, I set up settings for that. At family events, I sometimes use flash in a M mode so I set up a setting for that (especially turning of the WYSIWYG feature of my mirror-less to make it simulate the view of a DSLR). I also know there will be a group picture, so I get that all set up, keep the setting in a C setting and then go on to take the spontaneous pics as usual and then can just switch to C right away when I finally wrangle the herd of cats and not waste time.

What I have also done is made business card sized cheat cards for a few photography events, such as using Oly's Live Capture mode (I am not all that deft with it) or air show settings (for remembering the settings to get propeller swirl in the shots.) I also have one for off camera flash just to help me remember the settings on my Godox stuff.

What I may do, after reading some of the comments here, is have a somewhat standard set of pre-sets so when I just go out on a regular day, I have a few options to quickly turn to.

My thoughts at the moment.

Hip Coyote

Do you have a web site so we can see some of your work? I’m alway interested in seeing other people’s work.

Horseart Loc: Alabama

Oh dear, then I'm in trouble! but what's new?

srt101fan

He's shown lots of photos in his posts.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

To be completely honest l, I never heard of photographers worrying about diffraction until I discovered a “Photography Discussion Forum” like this place. I saw people talking about the ‘Sunny 16 Rule’ {which kind of implies that photographing at F/16 is OK}, but not about diffraction. I guess that means either that I was reading the wrong things, or else editors and writers believe that there are more important issues.

Hip Coyote

I am aware. I was thinking of a web site to see a body of work.

User ID

Nope. No website. Dont need it. Some of my work is on others peoples sites. I chose the example below cuz artist depicted eternally raves about what a genius I am, but when I post it in the UHH Critique section Hawgsters rip it apart. That cultural contrast is insanely amusing to us. Not denying that Hawgsters were quite correct within their little bubble. There are noise artifacts, odd mixed lighting, lens flare, "improper" composition, etc etc. Sooooo many mortal sins. Check it out:

(Download)

Cant say why this particular "PJ" shot turned up in a carton of stuff when I was relocating.

(Download)

Recently caught my eye. No purpose :-)

(Download)

Love bald white skies, despize PL skies.

(Download)

User ID

Dug deep and found a few more work day pix. Using my iphone as a casual copy camera for coveniently posting to UHH. Works pretty well.

Below are college catalog pix, all illustrating the faculty members fields of instruction. Too bad I dont have a complete set :-(

Backgrounds for the first two pix were simple obvious no-brainers. For the writer, I take full credit for the brilliantly inspired solution.

Radiologist

(Download)

Chemist

(Download)

Writer

(Download)

srt101fan

I like #3! (No idea why....)

User ID

Its more casual. The other two are sorta stiff. Credit the subject himself on that. I am not a dedicated portrait worker and lack the person to person magic of the great revered masters.

The first two just knew they "had to pose for their catalog picture" as some job obligation. OTOH the writer knew me, and so he viewed his pic as a colaborative artisinal effort.

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The writers portrait was recycled into the faculty pix batch from an earlier session.

Originally, he needed a portrait for an "arts" publication. He showed me an issue so we could match their house photo style, which followed the fad of that time for very wide angle "environmental portrature". But there was no *specific* request from the publisher about matching their in-house photo style.

I pointed out to him how that style was the overused "cliche of the day" and how his pic would stand out if it were the exact opposite. We chose the loooong lens angle before we had any further clue what the shot would be.

srt101fan

Sorry, I was actually referring to #3 of the first set. But I also like #3 (the portrait) of the second set. Thanks for the supporting narrative.

User ID

Oh, OK. Glad you say you dont know why you like it, cuz I felt exactly the same way when I encountered the scene. It just caught my eye, but I couldnt say why, so acoarst I bagged it.

Its sooP. So I didnt have a C-mode set up for it. Hadda just wing it, just pushed the button.