Where do you purchase your photography equipment?
They are usually competitively priced and I have had excellent customer service from all 3. Usually I order from whichever company has availability.
What cameras do you use?
Canon 5D MKII – my current camera: I love this camera! It is incredible at capturing low light, high ISO shots with almost no noise.
Canon 40D – my backup camera
Canon G11 is my Point and Shoot camera. As P&S cameras go, this is a great one.
Why did you go with Canon?
When I first started shooting digital, I went to a local camera store and held the Canon and Nikon cameras. Canon just felt right. I bought a Rebel and then upgraded to a 20D when it came out. And have stayed with Canon ever since.
What lenses do you use most?
I have upgraded through time. I did not start with L series lenses. My current favorites in my lens lineup:
- Canon 35L 1.4
- Canon 50L 1.2
- Canon 85L 1.2
- Canon 135L 2.0
- Tamron 28-300
- I also have the Canon 16-35L 2.8, Canon 24-105L 4.0 and the Canon 100 2.8 Macro. These are great too - but I love my L Primes.
What lenses do you recommend if I am on a limited budget?
Since I shoot Canon, I can only recommend lenses for Canon. My favorites prior to purchasing "L glass" were the Canon 50 1.8, 50 1.4, and 85 1.8 prime lenses. I also really liked the Tamron 28-75 2.8 zoom lens. .
What do you think of the Tamron 18-270 lens that you used for the Fall/Winter 2009 Tamron ads featuring your photography?
You can read full details on my blog about this shoot and impressions. It is an amazing travel lens and is so versatile. The vibration reduction works really well and let me hand hold at extremely low shutter speeds. As long as there is enough light around, this is a fantastic lens. I own its full frame counterpart, the Tamron 28-300 and love it for when I am on the go.
What external camera flashes and studio lights do you use?
I am not in love with flash photography. I much prefer natural light. When I need to use flash, I do own the 580ex and 580ex II and a few flash modifiers. For a studio setting I have 3 Alien Bees lights, a Lastolite hi-lite backdrop, a Westcott softbox, and a few umbrellas.
What type of reflectors do you use?
I have a big round 5 in 1 reflector that I never use. It just sits here. And I own 2 Sunbounce Reflectors that are amazing. I rarely use reflectors since they are not easy to tote around but when I do I am happy with these. I also use these in studio.
What is your most used MCP action set?
Actually I use a big batchable action custom made from many of my sets. I change it occasionally as my style or needs shift. The main actions I use inside it are from the Complete Workflow, Quickie Collection, and Bag of Tricks. When I need retouching, I turn to the Eye Doctor and Magic Skin.
When it comes to blogging, as you may have noticed, I use the Magic Blog It Boards frequently to show before and afters and to display groups of pictures. These save me tons of time.
What camera bags do you use?
What do you use for white balance?
I have a number of white balance tools, but I usually default back to my Lastolite Ezybalance in studio. When I am outside, I often just adjust white balance in Lightroom. I also occasionally use a lens cap with built in white balance.
What type of computers do you use?
Mac Pro desktop, Macbook Pro Laptop, and a PC Dell Precision laptop
Do you prefer Mac or PC?
I got off to a bad start when I purchased my Mac in mid 2009. They sent me a "lemon" instead of an Apple. The hard drive crashed and the computer died in one week. After much stress and frustration, I got back to work on another new Mac Pro. At this point I see no overall advantage of Mac or PC. Dollar for dollar a PC is a better value and more software is compatible. The two things I do like about Macs are the Time Machine backup system and the low risk factor for viruses. As far as Photoshop, my Mac Pro has 10GB of ram and a top of the line processor. My PC laptop specs are nowhere close. The verdict - Photoshop runs very similarly on both - speed-wise. It actually crashes slightly more on the Mac.
How do you back up your pictures?
Time Machine that backs up to an external hard drive and a mirrored RAID drive. I back my most important business data to Mobile Me, should something happen to all hard drives at the same time.
What type of cell phone do you have?
iPhone – LOVE IT! Fun and functional. So many great photography apps, plus I have the internet at my fingertips.
Do you use a mouse or Wacom when editing?
A mouse. I have tried Wacom tablets. I just cannot get the hang of them. I always end up selling them. I think I am just a mouse girl.
Do you calibrate your monitor?
Yes – this is essential. I currently have the NEC2690 monitor with calibration for my Mac. This monitor is incredible. For my laptops I use Spyder 2 Express. It was inexpensive and works great.
What professional printer do you recommend?
I use Color Inc. for my printing. I love their quality, but even more-so, I love their customer service. I highly recommend calling them, as they can walk you through the set-up, upload and ordering process. They can also answer questions you have on bleeds, printing, how to prepare your prints, calibrating with their printers and more. Make sure to tell them Jodi at MCP Actions sent you.
What plug-ins and software do you use besides your own actions?
Adobe Photoshop (currently using CS4) and Adobe’s Lightroom 2
Noiseware by Imagenomic – this reduces noise in my images and gives them a beautiful smooth look.
Autoloader – this script speeds up my workflow by allowing me to zip through my photo editing using my personal batch action. It opens one photo at a time into Photoshop and runs my big batchable action, allows me to tweak the photo, then it saves and it opens the next.
Do you know everything about Photoshop? Where do you go if you get stuck in Photoshop?
I love Photoshop. Learning Photoshop is an ongoing process for me. While it would be incredible to say I know everything about Photoshop, I even have stumped industry leaders with certain questions. I am very strong in Photoshop as it relates to retouching and enhancing photos. I do not utilize certain features in Photoshop as they relate to architecture, science and graphic design.
When I am looking to learn new information or if I am trying to figure out a specific way to achieve a result, the main resource I use is NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals). They have a wonderful help desk for members, as well as video tutorials.
I also post questions to Twitter, Facebook and photography forums. Just because you teach does not mean you cannot learn...
What forums do you belong to and which are your favorites?
I belong to dozens of photography forums but due to time, I rarely get to visit all of them on a regular basis. The main forum I participate in is Click In Moms. I also try and visit Phaunt Forum, Beyond Just Images and I Love Photography on a weekly basis.
Who do you use for your monthly newsletters?
I use Constant Contact when sending my monthly newsletters.
What are your favorite Photoshop and photography books?
I have a lot I could recommend. One great place to start is Amazon, as it often has reviews of the books by readers.
I would have to say that Understanding Exposure is the book I recommend most for photographers just starting out. As for Photoshop, it depends on your learning style. Scott Kelby writes great overviews of Photoshop while Dan Margulis, Katrin Eismann, and Lee Varis write amazing, slightly more advanced Photoshop books.
