Hey all, the 10D rocks.

[Deuce 1]

I really worked it out this past Sunday. Between this very easy to operate, very effective camera and the shutterfly site, there is some, if not profit, then cost recovery.

I'm thinking boogies are going to be pretty effectively handled between the two. We were talking about printing instant gratification 8 X 10's, but I really think I'm happier with Shutterfly doing all the work.

Anyhow, here's the galleries, the shots from this past Sunday really pleased me. A 512mb card holds 218 giant file photos. It's easy to take that many. I'm working on my discipline, but this things just so much fun.

http://www.shutterfly.com/pro/JPKelly/Skydive

[quade 3]

Yeah, it's a pretty freeking cool thing ain't it?

Here's a couple of thoughts to make your life maybe a bit easier.

Suggestion the First.

Since ya got the digital camera and a huge freekin' card to go with it -- shoot more and edit like crazy. Your galleries have a lot of shots in them, but I'm thinkin' you don't need to show everything that's in there.

Suggestion the Second.

Ya gotta append the names of the files so that at sometime in the future, you'll have some idea how to find them.

As I'm certain you're aware, the camera has two modes for numbering the photos; a continous serial counter and one that resets. In either case, you'll wind up with a file name something like IMG_1234.JPG, which is about as usefull as . . . well, it's not really that usefull at all in the long run. I haven't yet clicked my 10,000th photo on my D60, so I'm not exactly certain what's going to happen when I do, but I assume it's going to reset to ZERO, which is kind of a bummer. So that I can avoid any future confusion, I append the file name with a date code and my initials.

Depending on what computer you're using, there may already be a small programlette that will help you do this automatically. On the MAC OSX, it's an AppleScript. Let me know if you need more details.

My files all end up with a name like 030504-pq-1234.JPG. 03 is the year, 05 is the month, 04 is the day, pq is pretty freekin' obvious and the 1234 is the serial number of the shot from the camera. By having the file names this way, everything automatically sorts itself out in the folders. (Hey, this ain't the first library system I've built!)

Further, and this is the super-genius part of the system, a couple of months from now, somebody is going to ask you a question like, "Uh, remember that photo you took on that day, you know, the one of me landing during the Cinco de Mayo boogie?" Well, if your images still had file name like IMG_1234.JPG, then you'd have to sort through a gajillion of them, having the date in the file name cuts that process way, way down.

Suggestion the Third.

Ok, you've shot a really bitchin' photo, uploaded it to your gallery and now somebody wants to buy it. Cool.

Unfortunately, today, Shutterfly is going to "correct" your photo via a process called VividPics UNLESS you specifically turn that off in each one of your albums BEFORE you've put them in your gallery.

Ya really want to do this.

VividPics is for amatures that don't know squat about exposure. You're not one of those people and your photos don't need any extra correction.

Do they?

Suggestion the Fourth.

Make two galleries. One for tandem sales and one for your more artistic endevors. Price accordingly.

Suggestion the Fifth.

Join the Yahoo Shutterfly Group.

It's going to freek out the guy that runs it that there are now TWO skydiving photographers on it.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[groundrushpull 0]

I was wondering what lens to buy for the canon 10d for jumping? and also general ground use?I am close to ordering one and want to make sure I order all the extras i will need...lens/lenses/memory/xtra battery?/bite or tongue switch? etc.

Thanks in advance

John

John Maggio

[Deuce 1]

Yeah, I noted in the talkback forum that my discipline is lacking. I can delete even more, but, heck, I'm just drunk on the power of this whole digital SLR thing! It's like a rifle with a 2000 round drum magazine! "Fire discipline, Maggot!"

Yes. Good idea about separate galleries for tandems! Thanks.

I'll delete both the galleries and reload them from albums with vividpics off. Thanks for this info, I wasn't aware.

I have never seen so many of my stills before. This is a totally shazam way to bring the bar up on stills work. Instant feedback.

It's kinda like tunnel time for photo fliers.

I'm diggin it

[Deuce 1]

John, I'm a goofball, and Quade is a guy that gets paid to do this kinda stuff at his freaking day job, so he's got discipline and I don't.

I went through two batteries Sunday. I mean I'm showing pictures to everybody, zooming in, showing them on TV, taking flash pictures. So if you shoot 300 shots, and goof around with each of them, get three batteries. (Man, I just know Q is rolling his eyes!)

I took those pictures with the Canon 20mm (32mm on the 10D), and the ground shots with a Canon 28-200. The 512 card holds 218 pictures. I use a conceptus tongue switch. I am usually laughing in freefall, so a blow switch wouldn't work for me. You can smile around a tongue switch to get your tandem passengers to smile. I don't know about bite switches.

Oh, get the fastest memory card. Q-dog helped me out with this, too. Not all flash memory is the same. I have Sandisk Ultra Compact Flash. It's way faster than regular Sandisk compactflash. Fast matters a lot when you're cranking out launches and landing shots.

[lewmonst 0]

Good suggestions!

So Duece, what do you get and what does Shutterfly get? in terms of % or $per print? do they send you a check? have you ordered any of your own prints yet to see what the delivery and quality is like?

just curious,

good shots. Now... if only i could find myself a 10D for nothin...

peace

http://www.exitshot.com

[quade 3]

Shutterfly charges fixed costs based on print size AND they also take a percentage of your entire order.

All in all, I still think it's a damn good deal since I don't have to fool around with the order process. Just upload the photos and get a check.

The photos are printed on a very nice printer and look very good. I'll admit I haven't done a side-by-side test yet, but I probably should just to see how things are different.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[Deuce 1]

Yeah, Lew, I just follow that Quade guy around. It's working pretty good so far.

Hey, Lew, the bottom is probably going to drop out on the D60's and 30's. Check Ebay. This is it. Digital is here. If it's gotten to where I can use it, well, you know, it's, uh, usable.

I mean, if I developed all those pictures I shot on Sunday it would've been over a hundred bucks to see what I was doing. I get about 78 jumps days a year, so to see that much of my still work is worth almost 8 grand a year. This is a huge advantage in training for stills work, or a crutch. But just taking what I learned from last week to this week is huge progress.

I figure Tall Guy is gonna want that exit shot from the King in 30 X 60 and that will cover a couple of my fun jumps Sunday.

I'm just curious where the break is between charging a premium and making it up on low-cost volume. I want people to have good skydiving pictures of themselves, but I want to recover the cost of this stuff too.

[jdhill 0]

Quote

if I developed all those pictures I shot on Sunday it would've been over a hundred bucks to see what I was doing.

I shot (or others shot with my camera) over 800 photos at an event in March.. Had I been shooting film it would have cost over $400 for film and processing.


Josh

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

[Deuce 1]

Josh, as a tandem video flier, I just give the rolls of exposed film to the concession and they give them to the customer to be developed. So I have actually seen very little of my stills work, except for the students and jumpers who want shots for christmas cards or special events.

What I'm finding out is that video is really forgiving because it's dynamic. A high-resolution still REALLY tells you what you were up to at that particular 500th of a second.

We hardly ever get video of ourselves, cause that's the service we provide to others so they can progress. This instant feedback is to stills shooting what tunnel time is relative work, I think.

So the camera is expensive like tunnel time is expensive. Where do you want to be? I'd like to get to the point where I could work with guys like you, so this is well worth it.

[jdhill 0]

I agree that the instant feedback is very helpful in improving freefall photography, particularly for those that shoot tandems where I think your situation is the norm, give the roll of film to the customer and rarely see any of the pictures...

The camera will quickly pay for itself, both in terms of improving your work and film/processing.

Josh

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

[quade 3]

AppleScript stuff to read.

http://www.apple.com/applescript/script_menu/

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[Deuce 1]

Dammit Q! I just got a new PC and Premier! I can't switch to a Mac!

I'll NEVER get a birdman suit if I do that!

[Cajones 0]

Find a computer nerd around the DZ. They can write file renaming scripts pretty easily. I've heard it said... "Once you go Mac, you never go back!"

I am one of those types that goes both ways - although I've come to prefer the PC more and more, lately.

- Cajones

The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

[quade 3]

This information was actually at the request of someone else.

I'm sure if you ask the Windows guys nicely, they'll find a solution to scripting in that (evil) environment.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[Deuce 1]

Quade, you usually do the Dr. Evil laugh whenever you say the word "evil". You know;

UUUUwhaBWAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

EEEEEEvilllllllll!

[newshooter12 0]

Duece & Quade - A couple questions?
Duece - I know you said you played around a lot, using a lot of battery power, but how long do you suppose a battery would last with "average use" once the shine has worn off to look at each pic 10 times? How much do the rechargable ones cost?
Quade - More of a comment about the side by side comparison of Shutterfly. I saw a segment on TECH TV about Hassle-free digital pics where they reviewed Shutterfly and Ofoto
Check it out for yourselves if you'd like.
Q - As for the file system, good ideas I'll have to try it that way myself. Right now I just use the standard Nikon numbering, but import the photos to a folder that is named for the date I shot/downloaded the pix... ie. 2003_05_06

thanks for the good info and reviews. Now I want a 10D.
matt

[jdhill 0]

The battery that comes with the camera is rechargable, and it comes with a charger... In my experience, if you don't look at the pictures a bunch of times, or use the camera to download, a fully charged battery should last a full weekend, if not two (making 15-20 jumps/wkend), at least w/ the D60... I don't think they changed anything in that regard on the 10D.

Josh

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

[quade 3]

The thing that Shutterfly has that (to my knowledge) nobody else has is a great business solution. That is to say, I can upload the photos to Shutterfly and THEY take care of taking orders, printing and shipping -- then they send ME a check for the difference between what it costs to do business and what I want to charge my clients -- ya know, profit.

Ofoto would be fine if I was doing it all for my own viewing pleasure, but I want to run it as a business.

I also place the photos in separate file folders using the date format yymmdd, but just leaving the file names alone the way they come out of the camera starts to get messy when you then upload them to other services like Shutterfly or somewhere else where they're not in that nice folder.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[newshooter12 0]

Not to make you rehash what I think you've said before, but how many pix, or MB, do they allow you to have with the service you've got?

[quade 3]

Not exactly certain what the limit is, but on average my D60 photos come out to about 4 meg each. I have a ton uploaded to Shutterfly and have never really had any issues.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[Deuce 1]

Matt, yes you do want one. It's so cool you'll want it even more after you've had it a while.

Yeah, one battery with the review screen turned off would last me all day if I treated it like a film camera and waited to fool around with the pictures back at my house.

I have a cool McGuyver pocket in my camera suit (Craig Girard christened it that when I was flying the formation loads at Eloy) where I keep an extra battery for my video, and my digital camera. I also keep another mini DV cassette in there too. It's probably like my 120, If I just shoot the video pull the cassette, and don't review it, like when I do tandems all day , the battery lasts all day. When I'm shooting fun or competition stuff, I look at it, firewire it, slo-mo, and on that day I'll go through three batteries.

Like I said, these disciplined guys need one fully charged battery in the video, and one in the stills. Guys like me hollering "Oh, DUDE! You gotta SEE this!" tear through batteries like crap through a goose.

[newshooter12 0]

Yeah, I do know I want one. I'm more of a Nikon fan, but then again all this talk has me thinking I need to get a MAC next instead of this PC.
But I have to discipline myself to get through AFF and get my A and a rig and a bunch of jumps first before I shell out the $$. By that time how sweet will the newest version be??
matt

[murrays 0]

A Windows program that you might find useful for renumbering/renaming files is ACDSee by ACD Systems. I used the Mac version before iPhoto came along and found it to be a good program.

--
Murray

"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

[ltdiver 3]

Quote

The photos are printed on a very nice printer and look very good. I'll admit I haven't done a side-by-side test yet, but I probably should just to see how things are different.

Not from your digital camera, but from when you uploaded scanned negatives to Shutterfly 2 years ago....

I have the two prints you did of my cameraflying....one from when -you- printed it yourself at work.....and one that you let Shutterfly do for me (as presents for my family's Christmas). The ones that -you- printed came out alot sharper and with much more true color than the ones that Shutterfly did.

If you'd like, i can bring the two to Perris and show you the difference in person.

ltdiver

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon