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Kurt, just borrow my SF58 for an hour indoors and out, and you will get the hang of it.
Digital allows you to learn from feedback fast.

I am not understanding David's swivel bounce advice exactly. David, are you turning your camera in portrait mode for the shot? I prefer to always have the flash above the subject, which means for a vertical…[Read more]

Kurt Kamka;94 wrote: … on camera and off. I need to take a deep dive and understand a bit more about the SF58, basic settings and any other secrets you wish to share.

My confession: I've never really taken the time to understand flash … I've compensated by finding faster lenses and better higher ISO cameras. I've used flash a few times…

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Well, as I said my only problem has been with the 120mm and that happened only twice. I was focusing close to infinity and the S2 just kept hunting.

I think the best advice is to use Al's method. Using the AF button on the back to get close then tweak seems like a pretty quick and reliable method.

Anyway I am not knocking the AF of the…[Read more]

Mark

I am not sure the horizon is tilted although at first glance it looks that way.
I think that the fog (always there somewhere in Northern California) is creating the illusion of tilt. If you look carefully at the extreme edges it appears to me that both extreme points are at the same level. JMHO

Woody

Hey Al… David didn't say what kind of ticket. I think Greyhound goes from Ft. Lauderdale… only takes 3 days, 14 hours and 55 mins.

I can barely get the SB 900 Nikon flash to give me the look I like, i.e. gentle fill that does not make it obvious that flash was used. I think the problem for me is that the flash is smarter than I am… it wants (and knows how) to give me a properly exposed capture. What I've wound up doing on the Nikon system is to punch in a negative EV in…[Read more]

Thanks David. It was with the 180mm lens.

Beautiful shot, Kurt. Which lens?

David

I'm gsld you asked this question. I too don't Know much about flash photography, especially on the S2. I generally don't like the look of most photos taken with a flash. However, I am sure folks that know what they are doing can make more natural looking photos while using a flash.

The systems are pretty similar at this point in time. Not enough edge in one versus the other to promote switching either way.
However, if you don't have your own IT person to aid you, or you are not fully qualified to be your own IT person, the support system at Apple stores for individual Mac users is pretty compelling. If you are your own IT…[Read more]

Mark Gowin;91 wrote: Josh and David, thank you for showing me what is possible. I am embarrassed to admit it but truth be told I have purchased three previous Photoshop versions (CS2, CS3, and CS4) with every intention of learning how to use it each time I purchased it. It's funny that it took me three well intentioned tries before I figured out…

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Josh and David, thank you for showing me what is possible. I am embarrassed to admit it but truth be told I have purchased three previous Photoshop versions (CS2, CS3, and CS4) with every intention of learning how to use it each time I purchased it. It's funny that it took me three well intentioned tries before I figured out not to buy CS5.

I…[Read more]

Mark,

I was on the same wavelength as Josh apparently. I also used Lighten for my blending mode, but added some curves adjustments with clipping paths. This applies the curves layer to only the layer immediately below it. So, I boosted the brightness of the firefly images a bit and brought down the background image to make it look more like…[Read more]

Mark:

Overlay each image over your original file and set the blending mode to “Lighten” in Photoshop. I did this with a few of the files just to show how it would work but you could certainly do it with as many of the firefly images as you like.

Good luck!

The firefly photos show some noise in the form of small white dots here and there.

Let's try this one.

I can't upload the main scene at this time due to file size. I will try again later. Sorry for the delay.

More firefly images

One more to go – the dusk time view of the scene.

Me too! You had me going there for a moment.