Three new YouTube videos have been added:
Here is one on shutter drag for you to check out:
Thanks!
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Now is the best time to join the inLIGHTin Workshop.
The forum is free to join. A paid membership account gets you complete access to the entire inLIGHTin Workshop to give you access to so much more.
6 Month Memberships are now only $6.50 USD and only $10.00 USD for a full year membership.
So go ahead and join The inLIGHTin Workshop’s Forum NOW:
http://www.inlightinworkshop.com/forum
Thanks!
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I have set up a youTube channel to offer tips and tricks and some simple photography lessons.
http://www.youtube.com/michaelalanphoto
Please subscribe, add comments and whatever else. There will be much more content in the upcoming weeks. I plan on doing a mass upload around mid-November.
Thanks!
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I have been to my share of workshops and seminars and realize the time and money that is required to attend.
Everything from the ticket prices to the possible travel, airfare and hotel accommodations definitely adds up. Not to mention all the schedule conflicts that may occur and the time you will have to spend away from your family and your job. I am not too sure how many photographers will want to take a trip to sunny Buffalo (obvious joke here) and make a vacation out of it.
So, given all this I have decided to offer online photography classes to our long distance inLIGHTin’ed members. All paying inLIGHTin Members will obviously get hooked up and receive discounts towards the classes.
Classes can be taken at the comfort of your own home and on YOUR free time! There will be weekly lessons, examples, videos and what class would be complete without some fun homework? All assignments will be graded and critiqued by yours truly and you will even receive a free web consultation to ask any questions and get individual attention.
I will post some more news about when the online classes will start so keep checking back.
In the meantime, join the forum to get the latest information and updates: HERE
I have always been a Nikon CLS fan. That was one of the biggest things that I missed when switching to Canon for those couple years. Lately, the Nikon CLS (Creative Lighting System) has gotten even more robust and now allows you to control your off camera flashes directly through your camera! No need to run over to all your slave speedlights and set them right there.
As a D700 user, I have found a nice little trick that will give you one click access to this menu for ease of use and so you can get to the CLS menu.
First off, I set my D700’s pop-up flash to Commander Mode. I also disable the flash so it will only relay messages to my flashes and won’t affect my exposure any.
Attn. Here is the important part! From there, you need to access the custom “My Menu” camera setting and Add the Commander Mode as a new item and make sure it is at the TOP OF THE LIST! You’ll see why later when I talk about custom setting f5.
D700 Custom Settings used:
e3: Flash Control for Built-in Flash = Commander Mode*
*To disable the flash, dive one step deeper into commander mode (via a right click of the ) to access the wireless commander control panel and set the Built-in Flash to nothing (–) so it won’t fire the flash.
f5: Assign FUNC button = “Access top item in My Menu” This will make the FUNC button (the button near the camera lens that you can feel with your pinky finger of your right hand). Easy access yet out of the way.
So all you have to do is click on the FUNC button with your one finger and you’ll have immediate access to the in-camera flash control menu!
Pretty sweet huh?
Now let me start off by saying that I used to shoot Nikon back in the day. I show with Nikon from 2001 to 2006 and had myself a D100 and a D200 DSLR bodies. I simply made the switch to Canon as a business decision. I was intrigued by their CMOS sensors and full frame technology and that they kept releasing new stuff for the professional. Meanwhile, Nikon stuff was always back ordered and hard to find and they kept releasing stuff for the beginner photographer.
I can say that when Nikon does something, they do it right! After all that time, they finally released a full frame body, the D3. What an amazing camera that made Canon do a double take. I have to admit, it made me wish I still shot Nikon. To top things, off, they wait about 6 months and then release the mini D3, the D700 for $2000 less! WOW!!!
Now where do I fit in all of this? My Canon equipment has been a bit flaky all the time and the images I got were what I thought were ideal for being digital. My 20 and 30D bodies had some issues. I had some Err messages and one of my 30D’s would mess up when I filled up the buffer. It would require the batteries to be taken out to get rid of the BuF message. My 5D was decent and I only had issues with having 9 focus points all in the center (the outer 8 being pointless and had a horrible time acquiring focus). I also would have battery issues saying that it was drained when it was in fact full and stuff like that. I figured a Mark III would be the “say all-be all” camera but that has proved to cause me more grief than I can say. The current state of the camera is that it currently “thinks” it acquired focus when in fact the focus is a good 6-12 inches back from where it should be. It thus has to go in for repair. I also had intermittent IS issues with my lenses and so on…
The final straw was that my CPS membership meant nothing to them and they couldn’t loan me a new body until this one got fixed or anything. All I got was 7-10 business days for the repair.
Well, being a professional, I have to have equipment that I can rely on and trust. I don’t want to fear that every time I press the shutter it could be my last.
I picked up a Nikon D700 last week because I never had issues with Nikon equipment before. They are hard to come by yes, but they have proven to be very reliable systems from my use and abuse when I owned them.
I shot a wedding on Saturday with inLIGHTin member Scott and this camera just blew me away. No more machine gun shooting to hope for a shot that was in focus, no low light focusing issues, no fear of using ISO 3200 or 6400. IT WAS GREAT!
The only issues I had was the fact that the camera “feel” was still new to me so I would be looking for the shutter in the wrong spot and little stupid things like that which will go away after more use.
The camera had no issues whatsoever and the files out of the camera were literally better than what I got out of a Mark III. And that is taking into consideration the 4 hour lens micro adjustment spiel and post processing / sharpening I would have to do to the Mark III file…
Needless to say, I am a very happy camper and these lenses are so sharp they could cut you…
I will post some pics when I get a second.
Thanks and let me know if you have any questions.
GO|Bee Bags are just as functional as they are stylish.
Photographers Sara France and Lauren Hillary have created the ultimate accessory for photographers. Now you can look as good as your images.
Also, look for an interview from Sara sometime in the near future.
Thanks!
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Check out what you’ve been missing over at The inLIGHTin Forum and check out a real easy (and affordable) way to essentially make a Westcott Spiderlite TD5 studio light. The Spiderlites go for over $400 (that’s without bulbs) while the DIY version comes fully furnished for under $150!
Join The inLIGHTin Forum today and get access to all these tips and more.
Enjoy!
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Join our Facebook community HERE: The inLIGHTin Workshop Facebook Page
If you haven’t signed up for Facebook then you don’t know what you and your business are missing out on. Join the inLIGHTin Workshop Forum today and see why Facebook is where it’s at! The Forum
Add me as a buddy while you’re at it!
Check it out, tell your friends, join the group and post your little hearts out.
CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT!
I plan on making this Flickr group the perfect compliment to the inLIGHTin Workshops and forum. I will have some contests running on the site and please post any particular photo questions that you may have on the Flickr group.
I look forward to seeing your work on there!
Mike