You need to do one more step before saving as a PNG. Once you have the background removed you need to turn just the masked image into and OBJECT, then save/export (selected object only ) as a PNG and check the transparency tab in the save/export menu. This is how I do it in Corel PhotoPaint, I'm sure your image editor has the same capabilities. If all else fails you and the customer's use of transparent images for web use, here is another work-around: Have them send you the EXACT color of the page they are needing these images on, hexadecimal color designation are preferable but RGB equivalents will work also. After masking the image, fill the background area with the page color, flatten the image, crop as close to the image as you can and send it as a plain JPG. Only problem with that is if they decide to change page colors, the image still has a border of the old color, or if they need to lighten/darken or contrast the image the WHOLE image changes and the backgrounds no longer match the page background. Learn the PNG routine, that is the best. If the image is not a photo and has only a few colors in it, a GIF works well for transparency, just choose a color for the background that is NOT in the object and upon export click the background color as the one that will be transparent.

Wrap rubber bands around the clips to take away some of the squeeze/pressure if the Helping Hands units work, or use a block of modeling clay and florist wire, or florist wires hot-glued to small magnets. You can bend the ends of the wires to make cradles to hold the legs in any position.

Interesting projector, surely antique and definitely NOT JUNK, a quick Google for old movie projectors brings up a lot of similar styles. Appears yours is complete, the wire film holder is bent forward, should be upright, probably bent to fit it in a box or on a shelf. I wouldn't try to straighten it, that should be left to an antique restorer. The cast iron flywheel (red wheel) is to help keep the speed regulated as you turn the crank arm on the opposite side. Hope someone can add more info, anyway this would be a neat item to LOAN to your local museum or maybe the curator can refer you to where you could obtain details on this particular model.

Thanks, it was a quick setup in a rush but it worked OK, could have spent more time and put a diffuser on the flash or inside the globe to soften the shadows, I learned a new trick from it anyway.

Here's a low resolution copy of a shot that's easy to do for up to about four people at a time. This one is of my wife and I at a costume party last Halloween. I used a clear globe, the type you can find at gift shops for displaying small flower arrangements or trinkets. I took a cardboard box about 20" x 24" by 4" deep, covered it with a felt cloth and cut a hole in the top center for the flash to shoot through and set the clear globe over it. Using wireless triggers to fire the flash created the effects of the globe glowing and lighting the subjects. We got shots of all the party goers with this setup, and everyone really liked the outcome.

I use the YN600EX-RT on my 7DMKII and have not had any problems with the flash, I really like the high speed sync capabilities of this flash. Here's a couple things to check, press the menu button on the back of the camera, then choose the camera icon (by using the dial wheel near the shutter release button) it's the first icon at the top of the menu, highlight the first of six dots right below the camera icon, use the scroll wheel on back of camera and go down the list to Flash Control. Press the set button in the center of the scroll wheel to go into the flash menu. Be sure Flash Firing in enabled (first item in the flash menu). That should be all the settings you need for the external flash to work as for the camera settings. Now on flash itself there are LOTS of settings that might have gotten changed as you were experimenting. With the flash on the camera and turned on, press the two center buttons on the flash that has a line between them that is above the word "clear", when pressed at the same time for about three seconds they will allow you to reset the flash back to standard settings. Also be sure you have the flash completely turned on, the switch has three positions, Off, Lock and On, see that it is not on Lock. Be sure you have fully charged batteries in the flash and that it is booting up, the red pilot light will be on if the flash is ready to fire, press the red light and see if the flash will fire, if it does then you should be ready to go. Set the flash in either ETTL or M, not Multi, then be sure the scene is dark enough for the camera to fire, if you have ISO too high, shutter speed too low and aperture too open it may be metering too much light for flash, if all this doesn't help, then I'm at a loss for a solution that it only works on the A+ (scene intelligent auto setting) and your flash must be malfunctioning. Use another flash to see if the camera is actually communicating through the hotshoe in the other modes M, Av, etc. Sorry for the long winded explanation, hope it doesn't come off as condescending but I don't know what your level of camera use/knowledge is for the 7DmkII, the menus can be confusing at times.

You've got enough camera equipment to do most of the job. I would suggest setting up a themed backdrop where you can control the lighting. Trying to get full body shots at random will be VERY hard to pull off and control the proper exposure. You might consider a second flash or at least some accent lighting for your set up. Get someone to help organize the attendees to be sure everyone gets a photo with the birthday boy/girl. A group shot will be hard to do with that many people in a small room and get exposure on everyone even with the rental lens. If there is a bright streetlight outside the hall, you might get everyone near it for a group shot, by standing on a stepladder you can get high enough to get everyone's face as they look up towards the light. use a monopod and if you can get them to stand still for a one second count you might get some interesting shots that can be salvaged in LR.

As a graphic designer I get that type of response often, finding the words to counteract those stupid comments is hard to do without offending the client, most are innocent in their ignorance but it doesn't make it any easier to take.

NICE FISH! You appear to be an outdoorsman that looks for great scenery and the Smokies offers unlimited things to shoot. I've been through the area several times on a motorcycle and I stay off the main roads because any place that has a good scenic view is usually swamped with other people looking for that special shot. By using a GPS you can pick out roads less traveled that will get you into some beautiful areas, there are many small blacktop roads winding through the mountains and if you are more venturous there are some gravel and even dirt roads to take. If you want to stay on the main roads then a little further over to Ashville, NC you can get on the Blue Ridge Parkway or head south from Ashville to Robbinsville and take the Cherohala Skyway west to Tellico Plains that puts you back on the bottom edge of the Smokies NP. The Cherohala has lots of scenic stops and not as much traffic as some of the other roads through the park. The Dragon's Tail (Hwy. 129 northwest from Robbinsville to the Foothills Pkwy) is a world famous motorcycle road, not recommended for sightseeing but does have some great scenery, just too many crotchrockets racing through, not many places to stop and enjoy the view. Just about any place near some of the mountain lakes are prime for a photographer, scope it out on the map, you'll find more places than you can imagine. Gatlinburg and Sevierville are for tourists, the rest of the mountains are for photogs.

Steven, a quick explanation is if the part of your image you set as the focus point is not in focus but any part that is closer or nearer is in focus then your lens/camera is not working correctly but it proves that they are capable of sharp focus. Some cameras have the capability to be calibrated by the user to make the lens focus to that camera, my 7Dmk2 for instance can be fine tuned for each lens I have. Camera/lens not having that ability must be sent to a repair shop for tuning them together. Both the camera or the lens has a tolerance set by the factory as their acceptable specifications. When a pair does not match up well they can either focus towards the front or rear of the scene. Once set/tuned they should retain their focus ability until wear or damage gets them out of adjustment again. Also, some high end lens have the ability to be tuned by the user through a computer connection.

White balance is very different between them as you can see, the second image is very cold (blue) and is more under exposed than the first. You can remedy that somewhat in an editing/processing program. Would have been better to have shot raw format and you would have had more chance of recovering the correct color balance. Now, as to what the accident was, you most likely had the filter on for the second shot, that helped underexpose and throw off the white balance. Do you use a CPL filter? that is what looks like happened.

Would love to get a shot, but the clouds are moving in today, already a few showers, by Sunday night maybe storms here in Tennessee. Had a few local photographers lined up for a cookout and photo session at the county lake, but not this time around. Hope several of the lucky ones in areas not clouded in will post some great shots.

Good one, "Big Gulp from a lady's sneaker" is not quite the same as "Champaign from a lady's slipper" but I guess that'll do.

Hope you're back shooting something besides surgery photos soon!

Olympus was the first digital SLR for me in 1998, a D-400 at a whopping 1.3 MP, used it in our business for catalog product photos, the next camera was acquired around 2000, the C-2500, wow what an increase at 2.5 MP, then an E-10 at 4 MP around 2003, another E-10 in 2005 and the E-20 in 2006. When it came time for a changeable lens system I dropped Olympus as there were few lens available and the ones that were had prices way out of budget for us. I did have some add-on lens for the E-10 and E-20 but the only sharp one was the wide angle, the tele attachments were very soft. I keep an old Stylus 710 in my pocket when biking, Oly's are great cameras, but had to go with Canon in 2012 for price and available lens selections.