First shots with the D300, one light.

gmonkeh · September 5, 2008

Definitely loving the D300, was fortunate enough to trade my D80 with someone from work who was a little intimidated by the D300 (first timer with DSLR) Can you believe straight trade? I gave her my D80 with MB-D80 grip and my 50mm 1.8D. And I got a brand new D300 body.

Shot was taken with single SB800 bounced silver umbrella, with a white reflector in a clamshell setup.

2820659244_33e7648434.jpg?v=0

jrmyrnsm · September 5, 2008

I dont know how you sleep at night after a trade like that...:D Beautiful shots and a beautiful model! You really did a great job and I hope you enjoy your new D300!

gmonkeh · September 5, 2008

jrmyrnsm wrote:

I dont know how you sleep at night after a trade like that...:D Beautiful shots and a beautiful model! You really did a great job and I hope you enjoy your new D300!

I know right. I kind of felt bad, I did ask her multiple times if she was sure and I told her how much both cameras we're worth, we just agreed that I'll meet with her once a week for some lessons, I think I owe her that much.

Model in this thread is my wife, I started learning portraiture with her when we first started dating, we're now going 2 years strong. Although it's getting harder and harder to get her to model for me

heatherfeather · September 5, 2008

gmonkeh wrote:

Although it's getting harder and harder to get her to model for me

Ever try chocolate?

On a serious note, these are beeeautiful. You need to get her to let you do some more. 1st one seems a bit cool, but might be this monitor. #3 seems incomplete, somehow.

davidweaver · September 5, 2008

I thought it was a touch green. I pulled it back a touch and even pulled the blue back a tiny-tiny-touch. Your post on the left and my correction on the right.

W.W. Webster · September 5, 2008

gmonkeh wrote:

Stunning!

ront · September 5, 2008

Nice pictures and INCREDIBLE TRADE!!

Ron

Hindsight · September 5, 2008

You've truly got it rough my friend.

Now as for swapping wives straight up.. ba-Dum. Put that down honey it was a joke I swear!!

evoryware · September 5, 2008

Hindsight wrote:

You've truly got it rough my friend. Now as for swapping wives straight up.. ba-Dum. Put that down honey it was a joke I swear!!

Nice shots. I can't remember the last time my wife posed for me. I think I'm just gonna set up my equipment around the couch so she gets the idea.

ShepsMom · September 5, 2008

Very nice, i can't wait for my D300 to arrive. How has it been working for you? I see you did great on these shots

photomomof5 · September 6, 2008

just a beginner's opinion
I actually liked the blue effect on her face - it almost gave her an angelic look to me, but then I'm just a beginner.

Ed911 · September 6, 2008

D300, SB800, umbrellas
Here's a little tip that may help with warming up skin tones. If you shoot in RAW...post process in CS3...check the white balance. I've used the same setup and found that the D300 on auto WB with the SB800 fired into an umbrella likes to produce photographs that are a little cool, with the white balance set to somewhere in the upper 4K's...just take the slider in CS3 and move it up to around 5400 kelvin, or 5650 kelvin and see if the skin tones don't lose the bluish tent and pick up a nice warm tone.

The SB800 is daylight balanced to 5400 kelvin from the factory. So, to get proper skin tones and colors, you will want to make sure that the resulting flash picture/s are set to the same WB as your flash.

This is only if you want to change it...if not...still very good.

Photosbychuck · September 6, 2008

Great Photos!

Take Care,
Chuck

gmonkeh · September 6, 2008

Thanks for the responses guys/gals! And I'm gonna have to try that tip out Ed, thank you. I never tried using manual white balance before, should really experiment with that.

Ed911 · September 7, 2008

l

I made some small adjustments to the skin and exposure. Notice how the eyes have picked up some depth and pop now that the eyebrows, eyelashes, and eyeliner are darker. The hair is now darker, richer, and highlighted to show the luminance of youth.

I'm not trying tell you right from wrong...just give you a variation that you may not be aware of. That's what we're here for...learning and helping.

Ed911 · September 12, 2008

links are now on..
I have now turned on the links for the pictures in the previous post. I'm not sure why, but I can see my picture posts with external links turned off, but apparently no one else can. Hmmm. Anyone else know about this. I say this because I just posted a couple of pics and was told that they weren't viewable, but I am able to see them. Anyway, links are now on. If you can't see my picture posts, please email me.

Comments.

Richard · September 12, 2008

Ed911 wrote:

I have now turned on the links for the pictures in the previous post. I'm not sure why, but I can see my picture posts with external links turned off, but apparently no one else can. Hmmm. Anyone else know about this. I say this because I just posted a couple of pics and was told that they weren't viewable, but I am able to see them. Anyway, links are now on. If you can't see my picture posts, please email me.

Comments.

That happens because your browser is caching the images when you are making your post. Looks fine on your machine, but the rest of us were in the dark, so to speak. The images are visible now. Thanks.

Ed911 · September 12, 2008

Richard wrote:

That happens because your browser is caching the images when you are making your post. Looks fine on your machine, but the rest of us were in the dark, so to speak. The images are visible now. Thanks.

Thanks. So much to learn...so little time...