I'm glad you're getting out to shoot! And you've got the assistants to do some of the work, as it should be. Enhance those delegation skills.

HOGS! Get out and shoot while you can and keep shooting through adversity. It's a great way to relax and get real satisfaction that you can share with others.

Since engines are running 24x7--hopefully--on a cruise ship, remember that significant vibrations will transmit to the camera. The only way I know to mitigate this "camera shake"
Is shutter speed in the 1/1000 or faster.

This is the same for all motorized transport. Shhe fast and frame well.

And take everything, and insure the heck out if everything, including the Tuxedo.

Sometimes, as with the other visual arts, we should focus on the image and how it "works" for the viewer and forget the medium. Charcoal, pastel, tempera, oil, Black and White, Kodachrome, Velvia, Agfa or fuji Portrait, Ilford, selenium of sepia toning or rice paper, matte or glossy paper or a simply matted and black framed print. Every one of these choices are legitimate artistic decisions made, hopefully consciously, to communicate the artist's vision.

That's all we can do if we view this medium, now digital, as an art. If we view ourselves as photographic capture technicians, defined by the label on the box, then yeah, you may have a point.

But, in my opinion, harping on PP Manipulation echoes the a same hollow tone as boasting about the N-word or the C-word. Except for SS because he's funny!

I took a workshop once where it was suggested, by a participant, that to make a landscape look more "Impressionistic and painterly" you should flick your finger on the lens ring--just so. It worked for him. And when the slides were reviewed the next day, the Workshop Pro carefully avoided criticizing that guy's camera shake. But he also ignored the images, too. Because flick on the ring or not, the composition was prosaic and the exposure was off.

It's not technically perfect photographs, I'm after, but strong and attractive images. If I get that out of the camera, super! If not or I want something else, it's PP time. Same as with film. They didn't call Ansel Adams the "Artful Dodger" because he was a baseball fan.

And, the reason he "invented" the Zone system, which relied on using a spot meter, BTW, was so he had a perfectly exposed negative to begin with. And I'm sure his out of the camera images would blow any and all of us out of our shorts, he real art was done in the dark. And that's on the authority of several of my teachers who apprenticed with the man.

That's my opinion, but I could be wrong! *Except for SS being funny most of the time.

Remember that old movie film was transparency film with a maximum ISO (today's word for ASA) of 64--MAX!! So shooting indoors was a hot affair. And the lights were very distracting, too. There were nothing like the 1000 was LED lights for video today.

And by hot, I mean a fire hazard if they were put down next to flammable material.

Sure, NAY (almost) flash with a PC connection will fit an Optical, and I believe an external radio slave. The thing that's different and why they're cheap is that you lose TTL--having the camera aggregate the entire exposure and modulate the lights. With the manual lights, you the photographer needs to do it through manual adjustment, light modification (soft boxes, shoot through Umbrellas and distance from the subject.

A caution: These older flashes and even older camera brand Speedlights have higher feedback voltages that can fry an auto SLR or DSLR. So, don't put them in your hot shoe, or connect them via PC cord to your camera. You must trigger them indirectly through the built in flash for optical or a compatible hot shoe or PC radio trigger.

These put a smile on my face. I actually used a "Pocket" and a few others as a kid.

They used that pesky coated celluloid stuff that came in yellow boxes.

I used some Vivitar flashes to do my home portrait work. A little known secret is there is a variable control for a 283 that replaces the Thyristor unit. It makes it a Vivitar 285. And, I believe you can still buy a new 285 with the variable power setting.

With the ability to control the output down to 1/32 of full power you can make a very professional portrait using one as a Main and one as a hair light. Other small flashes (remember the small dimensions) can kick a little fill and another can light the background to eliminate the head shadow.

All told in the used departments, repair shops and Craig's lists etc. you can get a small flash kit for less than $200. And they're a renewable resource. And for a small studio with just one shoot going on, optical slaves work well. I use my pop up to fire them all. And if I don't want the light from the on camera flash to show, I black out all but one corner and that's enough to fire the slaves.

With a DSLR, you can do test shots and get instant lighting feedback. For the non variable lights, remember the inverse square rule and move them closer or further from the subject or background

Have some fun and keep posting the photogenic ladies.

I can't vouch for the lens in question, but I do have a Tamron 90mm Macro that I've used on my film and now DSLR. it is a 2.8 max aperture and it is nothing short of fantastic. I had rented the 100 MM Canon Macro, a great lens, to use at a workshop, but went on another workshop with a Tamron pro. I used his sample and was blown away by the performance and saved about $200 to boot--back in the last Century.

Zip Locks! And they convert onto great rain hoods, too! Can't have enough. The cards should be kept in their little boxes and batteries protected from shorting out and setting your kit on fire.

Be sure to chack out Galen Rowell's book, "Bay Area Wild." Galen grew up and lived in Berkeley until he moved to the Estern Sierra.

Be sure to visit the Claremont Resort at sunset time for a cocktail or dinner. The grounds are fantastic, and it sports something San Francisco cannot: A spectacular view of San Francisco. There isn't a better long range unobstructed view of the skyline and a straight shot out the Golden gate.

Bring an empty card and full battery(ies). And enjoy a great dinner there too. Ask about the story of how the woman measured the distance from the UC campus to be greater than 1 mile, and therefore exempt of the Alcohol Prohibition within the mile perimeter, earned her young self free drinks for life.

C

One person's post processing is another's medication and another's surgery. I've benefited from all of the above.

The POST PROCESSED PhotoCraig

The lad was indeed a lucky one to have both his grandfather and his father to go sailing with at that time. The male populations in France, Belgium and the Netherlands over WWI and WWII were decimated.

You captured a wonderful image of a wonderful moment. And the Rolei's were great cameras.

It was quite remarkable to be able to capture three generations of Parisian males in 1947--doing anything!

These shots prove that Black and White is forever.

I love this photo. Her expression and her eyes are compelling.

What I learned is that had I seen this image in my viewfinder/screen, I would have manipulated my positioning to NOT have a shadow across her eyes. Yet, this image works, because of the emphasis.

Thanks for sharing and thank her for sharing those eyes with us, too.

Craig

Fundamentally, your facial bone structure is an important anchor point in holding your camera steady which translates into sharper images while hand holding. Using the screen requires that you suspend the camera in space using two hands, naturally, on triple hinges and susceptible to camera shake exaggerated by pressing the shutter releas button.

However, if the camera is on a tripod, using the screen is a good alternative.