advice on landscape photo needed

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

As part of my job, I am every week in some National Park- Yellowstone, Bryce
and so on. I am thinking to take some photos (yes, to sell them). I have few
questions:What camera wold be best suitable to take picture and give enough
pixels to make about 16/30" print of it, without tweaking it in PS? Also,
what kind of wide format printer would You recomend? And last, how one could
go about selling the pictures?
Thank You for any advice

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

How much are you willing to pay for the camera? The print sizes you
are talking about are pretty big so a camera like the 1Ds Mark II or a
MF camera with a digital back would work best but have high cost.

I got to tell you from your post I think you need to do a lot more
research as to what you are getting yourself into. The idea that you
will be making and selling large prints of National Parks and selling
them but you don't want to be bothered with PS seems odd.

Scott

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Dr. Joel M. Hoffman wrote:
> >As part of my job, I am every week in some National Park-
Yellowstone, Bryce
> >and so on. I am thinking to take some photos (yes, to sell them). I
have few
> >questions:What camera wold be best suitable to take picture and give
enough
> >pixels to make about 16/30" print of it, without tweaking it in PS?
Also,
>
> It's not easy to get a good large print. I would go with a film
> camera, and shoot slides, or, if you're up to it, with a medium
format
> camera.
>
> If you do go digital, consider that a good print needs at least
200dpi
> (300 is nicer, 400 nicer yet, beyond that, it doesn't make as much
> difference). At 200dpi, your 20"x30" print needs 4000x6000 pixels,
or
> 12MPix. Not easy to find.

Easy to find, just not easy to afford.
>
> What you might want to do is try taking two shots for each picture,
> each at 6MPix, and then stitching the two together. Again, it's not
> easy to do right, but once you get the knack, you'll end up with much
> better prints than you otherwise would.

This is a very good idea, make sure to shoot fully manual if you do
this, I do a lot where I stitch 4 images together in 2x2 array.

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

bob wrote:
> Scott W wrote:
> > Dr. Joel M. Hoffman wrote:
> >>What you might want to do is try taking two shots for each picture,
> >>each at 6MPix, and then stitching the two together. Again, it's
not
> >>easy to do right, but once you get the knack, you'll end up with
much
> >>better prints than you otherwise would.
> >
> >
> > This is a very good idea, make sure to shoot fully manual if you do
> > this, I do a lot where I stitch 4 images together in 2x2 array.
>
>
> Which software do you use to stitch the array together? I've done
some
> panoramas, mostly 1x2 to get a wider field of view, and I've been
> curious to try making some arrays. I've even built a panorama head.
I'm
> thinking of getting PTGui.
>
> Bob

I use PTGui, it is not very automatic but it have given me the best
results.

Scott

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

compitus wrote:
>
> As part of my job, I am every week in some National Park- Yellowstone, Bryce
> and so on. I am thinking to take some photos (yes, to sell them). I have few
> questions:What camera wold be best suitable to take picture and give enough
> pixels to make about 16/30" print of it, without tweaking it in PS? Also,
> what kind of wide format printer would You recomend? And last, how one could
> go about selling the pictures?
> Thank You for any advice

if you are not going to do all of this,
you will spend the money to have fun, not make money.
thats ok too, as long as you understand it.

first, learn what you are doing.
good photographs are not just shots out the window
while you are doing something else.
if they are, you will fail.

get to know google.com. learn how to find things there.
find other outdoor photographers sites.
pick ones that show you what they got.
spend some time looking at other peoples outdoor shots.
learn from them.
if you do not plan to take the time to get good shots, you fail

next question is getting the images.
bare mininum of 6mp.
12mp is better.

(22mp would really be nice.)
(my wife would kill me on the spot.)

go look at a few cameras.
fuji s2,s3, nikon d2x, and a few canon choices.
which ones feel right?

you will eventually need a wide range of lenses,
from very wide to telephoto.
probably a 12-24, a 17-35, 80-300.

I would not use teleconverters for 20x30 prints.
I would not use economy lenses for 20x30 prints.

after you try them, you will know what you need,
maybe something even longer.

get good shots. sharp, well exposed and well composed.

know what to do with the images to make sure
that white balance is correct,
that the exposure and contrast are corrected.
if you do not plan to take the time to correct them, you fail.

for output:

exposuremanager will print exactly what you sent them.

check exposuremanager.com.
they will upload your images,
and print them as people order them.
your cost: $80 per year. no printer required.

output can be tee shirts, pro prints, mousepads, etc.
I rate quality and support response as amazing.

any questions, ask.

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

> As part of my job, I am every week in some National Park- Yellowstone,
Bryce
> and so on. I am thinking to take some photos (yes, to sell them). I have
few
> questions:What camera wold be best suitable to take picture and give
enough
> pixels to make about 16/30" print of it,

Whatever camera you have. Take a tripod, learn to use stitching software,
and you can make as large of prints as you want at the full resolution of
the printer.

Even with a 16-megapixel 1Ds Mk II, for a 30" print, will only be at 166
DPI. Now that's not terrible, but with even a $1000 DigiReb XT or D70, in
just about one minute you can take enough prints to stitch together an image
that will make a 400 DPI print 30", 40", 60", or larger. Your only
restriction is that the subjects have to hold still while you're shooting!

> without tweaking it in PS? Also,
> what kind of wide format printer would You recomend?

There are various print houses that have invested in the printers, unless
you are planning on selling a LOT of these, it's probably cheaper to go
through them.

steve

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

compitus wrote:

> As part of my job, I am every week in some National Park- Yellowstone,
> Bryce and so on. I am thinking to take some photos (yes, to sell them). I
> have few questions:What camera wold be best suitable to take picture and
> give enough pixels to make about 16/30" print of it, without tweaking it
> in PS?

Medium format film camera or larger. One of the 6X9 fuji rangefinders would
work good for this. I had their 6X9 GSW and it's awsome.

Using affordable digital isn't going to go that big and look good without
stiching/lots of PS work. If I made prints that size, I wouldn't be
shooting digital.
--

Stacey

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Colin D wrote:

> If you're on contract, or even permanent staff, check this out. Even if
> after hours, if the boss paid for you to be there, he could have a
> claim. I hope you're in the clear, though.

If you ever buy a winning lottery ticket while also buying pencils for the office I
hope your employer gives you a bonus with the money they win.

--
Steve

The above can be construed as personal opinion in the absence of a reasonable
belief that it was intended as a statement of fact.

If you want a reply to reach me, remove the SPAMTRAP from the address.

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

"compitus" <piotr@cwnet.com> wrote in message
news:113r1nf1t8haf3b@corp.supernews.com...
> As part of my job, I am every week in some National Park- Yellowstone,
> Bryce and so on. I am thinking to take some photos (yes, to sell them). I
> have few questions:What camera wold be best suitable to take picture and
> give enough pixels to make about 16/30" print of it, without tweaking it
> in PS? Also, what kind of wide format printer would You recomend? And
> last, how one could go about selling the pictures?
> Thank You for any advice
>

Well, if you don't already have any idea what kind of camera to buy for the
purpose, I wonder if you have the expertise to shoot professional-quality
photos. Just being in the right place with a good camera isn't all there is
to it

That aside, though, one way to get very high resolution images without very
high end equipment is through panorama stitching--this is particularly
suitable for landscapes, since the is not moving and wide prints are
appropriate. To see what I'm talking about, take a look at Max Lyon's
images:

http://www.tawbaware.com/maxlyons/index.html

I have nothing like Max's patience or expertise, but you can do some pretty
nice things with just a few handheld shots. Here, for example, is a
panorama I made with 4 handheld 8MP images on a recent Virgin Island's
sailing trip (the original version is about 20MP). No idea if anybody'd pay
money for something like it, but similar images have made very nice prints
for my walls:

http://www.fototime.com/67DD7ED9E3B006B/orig.jpg

Mark

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Mark Weaver wrote:
>
> To see what I'm talking about, take a look at Max Lyon's
> images:
>
> http://www.tawbaware.com/maxlyons/index.html
>
> I have nothing like Max's patience or expertise, but you can do some pretty
> nice things with just a few handheld shots. Here, for example, is a
> panorama I made with 4 handheld 8MP images on a recent Virgin Island's
> sailing trip (the original version is about 20MP). No idea if anybody'd pay
> money for something like it, but similar images have made very nice prints
> for my walls:
>
> http://www.fototime.com/67DD7ED9E3B006B/orig.jpg

mark:
spectacular!

>
> Mark

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Crownfield <Crownfield@cox.net> wrote:

> re exposuremanager.com.
> ...
> http://vircen.com/tmpem/DSCF0098-a.jpg

Two species, two cages... heh. ;^)

Are there any publicly available www.exposuremanager.com
sites so we can see what people are doing with it?

Jeff

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Colin D wrote:

>>If you ever buy a winning lottery ticket while also buying pencils for the office I
>>hope your employer gives you a bonus with the money they win.

> Are you making a genuine, helpful point, or are you just a natural
> smartass?

I happen to be an extremely gifted natural smartass, but are the two possibilities
mutually exclusive? If I was just a smartass there'd have been no reason to include
so much useful information in the post, would there?

--
Steve

The above can be construed as personal opinion in the absence of a reasonable
belief that it was intended as a statement of fact.

If you want a reply to reach me, remove the SPAMTRAP from the address.

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Hi ! I don,t expect to make any money of it, just curious if I can. Was in
some mall other day and saw few pictures of some landscapes-Death Valley,
Yosemite and Lake Tahoe. There were nice, but nothing spectacular, except
the price. I was just wondering if I can compete with those kind of shots
( I am not giving up my job, just adding some more fun to it).
thank You
"Mark Weaver" <weaver@nospam-corvusdev.com> wrote in message
news:XeednZNRm_SYS6PfRVn-rA@comcast.com...
> Well, if you don't already have any idea what kind of camera to buy for
> the purpose, I wonder if you have the expertise to shoot
> professional-quality photos. Just being in the right place with a good
> camera isn't all there is to it
>
> That aside, though, one way to get very high resolution images without
> very high end equipment is through panorama stitching--this is
> particularly suitable for landscapes, since the is not moving and wide
> prints are appropriate. To see what I'm talking about, take a look at Max
> Lyon's images:
>
> http://www.tawbaware.com/maxlyons/index.html
>
> I have nothing like Max's patience or expertise, but you can do some
> pretty nice things with just a few handheld shots. Here, for example, is
> a panorama I made with 4 handheld 8MP images on a recent Virgin Island's
> sailing trip (the original version is about 20MP). No idea if anybody'd
> pay money for something like it, but similar images have made very nice
> prints for my walls:
>
> http://www.fototime.com/67DD7ED9E3B006B/orig.jpg
>
> Mark
>
>

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On 24 Mar 2005 14:13:25 -0800, uraniumcommittee@yahoo.com wrote:

>Hasselblad.

Wrong, Deardorff or Linhof.


*******************************************************

"Les livres font les époques et les nations,
commes les époques et les nations font les livres."

_Mélanges littéraires_
Jean-Jacques Ampère
(1800-1864)

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

compitus wrote:

> Was in
> some mall other day and saw few pictures of some landscapes-Death Valley,
> Yosemite and Lake Tahoe. There were nice, but nothing spectacular, except
> the price. I was just wondering if I can compete with those kind of shots

I expect that the success of most people who make their living from photography is
due much more to marketing skill than photographic skill. If you take good pictures
and are willing to work hard enough you'll definitely be able to sell some of them.
How hard you work vs how much you make is the unknown variable. If your employer
doesn't mind, perhaps you could display (which is different than pushing it on
people) your work to the people on your tours, which might give you a ready-made
market. I don't expect many people head off to the mall specifically to buy mediocre
artwork, but if they see something they like they may decide to buy it.

--
Steve

The above can be construed as personal opinion in the absence of a reasonable
belief that it was intended as a statement of fact.

If you want a reply to reach me, remove the SPAMTRAP from the address.