Love #1

Yes! We used fountain pens in the 5th & 6th grades. I think mine was Parker. I don't think I every ruined a shirt. My brother was eight years older and he ruined many a white shirt. My dad didn't earn a lot of money; he told him he had to use a pocket protector if he trashed one more shirt. Gasp! Only nerds used those! A "baggie" (Another recent technological Marvel) avoided the accidents.

7th grade and up: Bic. But I got a really nice Cross from a newspaper customer for Christmas one year. My dad said that pen cost $22...a near fortune for a 14 year-old in the 1960's. Thanks for the memories.

Lucky you.

After two hospital stays in two years (with physical restrictions upon release) my wife's list was long. Scrape, prime & replace trim around windows; paint accent wood wall around entry and above windows, serious landscape clean up, replace trim that has deteriorated, new exterior lights.

The biggest job was an invisible fence I installed for our rescue for l dog. I enclosed a little under two acres (Invisible Fence wanted $5000). Still have to train the dog.

Wow. Just...wow.

You are delusional. You know nothing of Jackson. And I don't live in Jackson, but Jackson county. And finally, really showing your ignorance, Jackson wad NOT the birthplace of theRepublican party. That disgrace goes to Ripon, WI. GOOGLE IT.

I was civil. Not sure why you are attacking me when I simply tried to help you out. And the admin can do whatever he/she wants to. I won't be crushed if removed.

The very first line reads:

"For sale is a beautiful Sigma 50MM 1.4 Lens for a Canon mount."

Keep your snarky political comments to yourself. If you want to whine about politics, go to the Attic.

Yes, PhotoSerge! Please remember if you are not going to kiss tRump's ass and overlook the fact he's a lying Russian asset, PLEASE don't post it here. That is only for those privileged members who unwaveringly believe his bullshit and would support him even if he told them that he is the Chosen One.

Loved em all

Love them all

I was going to comment, but after re-reading, no comment necessary. The free bete that know or, know it. The remainder can't see it or deny it. Thanks. 😀

"With speedlights and the absence of modeling lamps, you can not SEE your lighting. All that gear can be overwhelming to your subject."

Pish-posh. That was true in film days. Today, set your lights one by one. Take a test exposure and see what each light does. This can be done with a stand-in before the actual session.

Mr. Shapiro's images are nice, but the lighting doesn't do much to soften the skin. As one of my very first mature customers said to me nearly 50 years ago, "Steve, I am not asking you to do me justice, I'm pleading for mercy!" She was very pleased with the results.

The poster who suggested a ring light made a good suggestion but used too far away it can end up being not as flattering.

OR:
Take a trip to a home store. Purchase a light socket and an LED daylight bulb. rubber band the light to the flash head. Now you have a modeling light.

#1: Seniors are intimidated by all the equipment? BALDERDASH! During a 35+ year pro career, no senior ever said to me (clutching her pearls), "Oh dearie me, I am just so intimidated by all of this equipment!" Geesh!

#2: Use a softbox, much softer than an umbrella. An umbrella main light gives much harsher highlights. A fill bounced from the ceiling or shot THROUGH a white translucent umbrella is a very acceptable fill light, set it one-stop under your main light.

#3: Use a diffusion filter on the lens. Don't go overboard. My favorite was a Nikon #1 (the #2 was mush). Don't have one? Don't sweat it. A layer of black tulle over the lens will do. Don't know what tulle is? Think "bridal veil" but in black, not white.

#4: the gold reflector was a good suggestion. IF she doesn't have eyeglasses, try a "belly pan" reflector as well. Don't have that? Don't sweat it. Use a large mirror on an adjustable table.

#5: Hair light is good...but watch yourself. Far too many people overlight it. If she has light hair, keep it at the same power as the main light or 1/2 stop under.

#5: Outdoors? Yes. Maybe. No. You have more control in the studio, and outdoors is far easier to f*** up if you don't know what you're doing, and don't watch your backgrounds, your overhead lighting (raccoon eyes), etc.

#6 Keep the background subdued, don't overlight it and don't paste her on the bg. At least 3 feet away, 5 is better.

#7: Simple retouch: duplicate the layer. On the second layer, run gaussian blur at about 10-20%, then erase the top layer at about 60% opacity (you'll have to play around on a test image to get the percentage you like. This way, you soften the skin without losing texture.

You got this.

There's a Concord, MI. Just five minutes West of me. Pop. 1046. 96.46% Caucasian, 3.86% African American. Remainder is Asian. Two flashing signals, one traffic signal. One bar, one gas station, one hardware store, library, speed shop, school, funeral home.

Why would a third party give a flying fork? I think it was PC magazine that ran the story that Adobe was warning users that they no longer had a license to use the program when a new version was released.