Re: OT: cameras for iris close-ups

Patricia,

While I won't try to recommend any particular camera for your purposes
(there are plenty out there which will do the job), I will offer some advice
on film developing and film selection.  First, experiment with films.  I
would suggest Fugi, as, in my experience as a Photo Editor, this has been
the truest to color of all brands.  Fuji does make many types of film
however, not all of which reproduce as well as others.  Poll the group, try
those films and choose one.  I would suggest only one, until you become more
familiar with photography, your new camera and different lighting
situations.  The key to good, predictable (keyword predictable) photography
is consistency.  In other words, do not change your variables if you can
help it.  The variables will usually cause more wasted film and guesswork,
and if you only get one chance to capture a certain bloom under certain
conditions, you don't want to get your pictures back only to find out they
didn't come out as you expected.  My suggestions:
    1- find a photo store in your area which develops their photos in-house.
Ask them what film they would suggest for your particular situation.  Shoot
some photos and let them develop those for you.  If they are everything you
want, great.  If not, take your film to several other photo shops and see
what those photos turn out like.  Ask questions about how consistent their
developing is:  if they send their film out to a mass-developer, ask if your
film will always go to the same one, find out their policies on free
developing for photos which do not look as you expected, if they develop
in-house, how many people do their developing, etc.  Once you are satisfied
with the place doing your developing, stay there unless they give you a real
good reason to leave.
    2- If you don't already have a good knowledge base of photography, ask
for advice from whoever you buy your camera from.  Your pictures will be
(with any luck) very much the same set-up, if they are for identification
purposes.  Lighting is very important for color trueness.  I would suggest
keeping a log of conditions for each photo shoot until you master the
lighting that works for you.
    3- Once you are under way, develop a good filing system.  If your photo
store doesn't have them, ask them to order you some negative storage pages,
very cheap.  They fit in a three-ring binder and hold about ten rows of
seven negatives each.  They come with (you may have to request this) ID
spaces on the page which work with permamnent markers.  And you can write
right over the plastic surface itself, if needed.

Some suggestions/warnings:  if you are very particular about color
reproduction, be very particular about the developing place you use.  If
that store produces photos you like, note the paper they use for photos, ask
who did the developing, etc.  Be frank with them.  Tell them how important
your photos are and they should take extra care with them.  And prpbably
extra time as well.  Don't expect that with a drugstore though.  I have seen
plenty of tests using one set of negatives developed by many different shops
with just as many different looking photos.  Use just one good photo shop
and ask for critiques on your work.  There's no substitute for good advice.
If you plan on doing a whole bunch of photography and experimentation, ask
your photo house for a discount on buying in bulk.  That means at least 20
rolls in a box.  The photohouse should be paying no more $2.00 per roll and
should sell  to you for not much more, given that you have agreed to give
them all your photo developing business.  And make sure that if you buy in
bulk, buy only domestically produced film.  The imported stuff from any
company, including Fuji, is definately cheaper (25% or more), but can be
very risky.

Good luck.

Bill Wardwell
Zone 6
Wakefield RI
18 degrees this morning, the coldest yet

I
-----Original Message-----
From: pbrooks@whidbey.net <pbrooks@whidbey.net>
To: iris-talk@yahoogroups.com <iris-talk@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Monday, November 12, 2001 7:38 PM
Subject: [iris-talk] OT: cameras for iris close-ups


>Last year I bought an expensive (to me) camera to take portraits of
>my lovelies, especially to have them in good detail to plan next
>season's crosses over the winter.
>
>I showed no sense and didn't develop the pics till I'd taken most of
>them.  And was devastated to find that those zoomed close-ups were
>neither the full bloom clearly shown in the camera's lens frame nor
>in focus.  (Any little disposable cheapy has auto focus!)
>
>So I'm going to cut my losses and buy another camera on layaway from
>a more knowledgeable dealer.  Does anyone have a camera they've found
>excellent for this purpose?  I can't afford a digital, nor a scanner,
>but I want perfect color to work toward the pinks I want, as well as
>my other hybridizing goals.
>
>Patricia Brooks
>Whidbey Island, WA
>
>
>
>
>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>

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