Rangefinder Magazine
April 2005

Click Here for printable version of this article.

Problems and Solutions

Please accompany your questions with a self-addressed stamped envelope if you wish an immediate reply. Alternatively, you can email me at: bhurter@rfpublishing.com.

From: Barry C Altmark Photography
BarryClick@aol.com
First, thanks for your informative column in Rangefinder. I would like to convert my Canon D30 over to a dedicated infrared camera. I read on some forums about people like Monte Zucker doing this through IRdigital.net last year. I’ve sent emails repeatedly to them with no answer, and no one else seems to be able to contact them either. Do you know of anyone converting the D30 to infrared and how to contact them? Thanks for your time and assistance.

Patrick Rice has written a new book on the topic of digital infrared called Digital Infrared Photography: Professional Techniques and Images. He is widely regarded as an expert on the topic and would be more than happy to share his expertise with you. I’m sure he knows of a source for converting D30s to infrared. His email address is prfisheye@aol.com/.

From: Rich Warren, Warren Photography
warrenphotography@msn.com
I know this subject has probably been more than adequately covered in Rangefinder, but would you be able to tell me if there are many professionals who sell their negatives to brides in Southern California? In the past two weeks, I have had three brides ask me if that is part of my policy. I am personally not a fan of the idea because I feel I am the artist behind the work and I don’t want someone else “fiddling” with it. Thanks for your reply!

Well, that’s a pretty sane attitude. You don’t know who will be printing your negatives: Customers often opt for the cheapest source of prints, like a drug store, for example. Some professional photographers do have this policy, but I personally wouldn’t sell my negatives unless I had scanned the film or had CDs made of the images at the time of processing. That way, you still have a digital file, and your best work remains in your hands for publicity, print competition, promotion or advertising.

From: lighthousecch@ameritech.net
I cannot locate a previous issue that contained an article about a wedding photographer that included: mini prints with his layouts that he does from digital photography. There were various things in that issue I am interested in, and my copy has been lost or discarded. If this issue is still available I would like to obtain it again.

I’ll bet you are talking about “The Making of a World Class Wedding Album” by Charles Maring, which appeared in the February 2004 issue. (You can visit our archives online.) In that article, Maring details his proofing procedure, which entails small but good-quality digital proofs printed proof-sheet style and bound in a spiral-bound album, which becomes the client’s proof book. It is very inexpensive to produce, indestructible, and the prints are so small he’s not worried about customers scanning the proofs.

From: Cathy B
cmbphoto@sbcglobal.net
I just finished reading the article about Cliff Mautner in the February 2005 Rangefinder. It must be fate: I wasn’t even going to read the article, but I absolutely loved his featured photos and just started reading. The idea of having the bride and groom meet (“your way”) before the ceremony is brilliant. I remember my own wedding 22 years ago. I thought my husband was mad at me at the altar. He was so nervous he couldn’t even look at me, and all I could think about throughout the ceremony was that he was mad at me. Ha! How easily the tension can be avoided, and then to capture it on film—that is brilliant.

Cliff’s article has truly inspired me! I have been a photographer for 25 years. I was shooting “full time” at various positions until about seven years ago. I’ve been shooting on and off and have been working in an office doing clerical work for some time now, wasting my God-given talents. I’ve been seriously thinking about going into wedding photography again, and now after reading his article, I am going to take the plunge!

This is the kind of letter that inspires all of us! Cliff is a remarkable photographer, and you will no doubt soon be able to hear Cliff speak around the country. Check his web site: www.cmphotography.com/.