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12 Responses to “Stuck in San Diego - Need YOUR questions NOW!”

1. 1 Josh
   Oct 8th, 2007 at 11:00 pm

   At some point in the next two or three months I’m probably going to start hunting for a “magic drainpipe.” Aside from local camera shops I would assume that online shops would be the next place to go. What are some things to watch for to make sure the online camera shop is a good one?

2. 2 Tim
   Oct 8th, 2007 at 11:08 pm

   What would you suggest for someone who loves photography, but can never seem to find the time to get out at just make photographs? Quick excursions? Time constrained assignments? Other motivating ideas?

   -Tim (ts52 on the forums)

3. 3 Ravsitar
   Oct 8th, 2007 at 11:09 pm

   How are you handling all the security checks of your camera equipment? Have you learned anything that makes the checks faster with camera equipment?

4. 4 C. Garison
   Oct 8th, 2007 at 11:21 pm

   Chris,

   What kind of strap do you have on your 5D in the photos I see on flickr and in the video podcast? The neck strap on EOS 40D is not doing it for me with the weight of the camera and I would love to go with the hand strap for my camera as well.

   Thanks,
   C. Garison

5. 5 Derek
   Oct 8th, 2007 at 11:21 pm

   The one major thing I found to be the most important about online photo stores is that they have a physical address. Some camera shops sell online only and the address is a brick wall in New York. The best online stores for me are B&H, Adorama (has a very small store front but still great), Calumet, and Samy’s. I named these stores because I have been in each store. Also the return policy should be plainly stated somewhere on there site. It usually requires an RMA but not a big deal. Last but not least my fav store is B&H Photo in Manhattan. Great prices, great service and friendly people. Happy Shooting

6. 6 Rolf Steinort
   Oct 8th, 2007 at 11:31 pm

   Lass dich am Flughafen bloß nicht unterkriegen!

   Questions:

   —————

   How can you avoid these nasty tilting houses when shooting in a city? Perspective correction in postprocessing is OK, but never looks really convincing.

   —————

   Do you know this new “Liquid Rescale” or “Seam Carving algorithm? It can rescale the proportions of an image without distorting important objects in it. And did you know that the Gimp has a plugin for doing that? If yes, did you know that “Meet the Gimp!” has a brand new tutorial about how to use that thing? (Sorry, couldn’t resist to plug my show - but plugged yours in mine too…. )

   —————

   Halt die Ohren steif, mach ‘ne schöne Show und grüß Matt! Falls Du da ankommst….
   Rolf

7. 7 Dan
   Oct 8th, 2007 at 11:52 pm

   What are some features to look for when buying your first studio lights?

   Can you also explain why ISO 200 is sometimes better than 100? (I know you covered this a long time ago in a podcast).

8. 8 Chris
   Oct 9th, 2007 at 12:29 am

   Can you discuss what modes on the camera (A,S,M,P) you use and in what situations you tend to use them? Ie when you’re out shooting which mode do you use when you’re taking a landscape shot, or a detailed close in shot, or a portrait, etc.

9. 9 Danny
   Oct 9th, 2007 at 2:10 am

   When shooting in full manual mode how do you decided which setting to adjust first? Along the same lines as the above question from Chris but when I am shooting a group portrait do I set the aperture first, shutter speed second, and then ISO dialed in to make the on camera light meter happy? Where do i start?

10. 10 Bobby Nabili
    Oct 9th, 2007 at 3:35 am

    Hey Chris!

    Sorry to hear about your flight. Here’s question for you:

    I was doing some macro photography today using an extension tube connected to my lens. I found that it is relatively difficult for the camera to acquire focus in AF mode. Of courece, in MF mode it’s not easy to focus either given the small size of the viewfinder.

    Is this inherent to macro photography, or is it because I’m using an extension tube?

11. 11 Administrator
    Oct 9th, 2007 at 5:06 am

    @danny: sorry, got this in too late for the show, it’s already recorded.

    quick answer:

    I first select an ISO that’s appropriate for the environment (outside, day: 100-400, inside, day: 400-1600, inside, night: as high as possible)

    I then select the shutter speed that lets me get pics without camera shake (inside) or I select the aperture first to determine depth of field and then the shutter speed (outside)

    The above is just a rough guideline, it really depends on the situation and what I’m looking for in the picture, but ISO almost always comes first.

12. 12 Administrator
    Oct 9th, 2007 at 5:07 am

    @Bobby: Sorry, show’s already recorded.

    Quick answer: this is typical for macro photography in general. depth of field has 3 factors to it: focal length, subject distance and aperture. in your case the short distance to the subject is the culprit. best you can do is to use a tripod and focus very carefully and take lots of shots. try http://www.dofmaster.com for more information.

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