Sony A7x lounge

I love the Sigma 24-105 - it is beyond awesome in my opinion. I bought it specifically to use on my 5DSR because of the IS and the fact that it is very center sharp at all FL and easily out resolves the Canon 24-105 - especially at the longer portrait focal lengths - obviously the two downsides are lack of weather sealing and the weight. I have a wedding next weekend and I am going to go with 1 main camera, my new 1DX II with the Sigma - because the venue won't require a 70-200. That said, I will use the A7Rii with the Canon 24-70 F2.8 II during the ceremony because I like to shoot in silent mode and IBIS gives me a stabilized Canon. I have to update my sig because I just traded in the 135L to buy my new 1Dx II. I'm at a bit of a cross roads lens wise because with the 5DSR I really want IS lenses and the 135L is impossible on that camera at normal SS - on the A7R II it is awesome. I was looking at the new Tamron 1.8 VC, but something is just not right with the VC - it is creating blurs at 'normal' shutter speeds on the 5DSR.

navydoc wrote in post #18006051
My brisket was done in less time than I expected, probably due to it's size I imagine. After it reached the 203° mark, I took it off the grill and placed it, still wrapped, in my igloo cooler to allow it to rest and let the juices flow back into the muscle fibers (temp dropped a couple of degrees by the time I took this photo).

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/GHj2​yQ Cooler resting by Gene, on Flickr

After about 30 minutes in the cooler (to keep it warm in this case), I unwrapped the brisket and sliced against the grain. Then, the all important taste test.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/H8tY​S8 First cuts by Gene, on Flickr

The texture is firmer than I had hoped for but it was nice and tender...and the flavor is great. It's very possible that my internal temp probe was giving me false readings because it probably could have cooked longer. Lessons learned!

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/GHj2​w5 Plated by Gene, on Flickr

Here's a breakdown of my first brisket smokeout...

5:30 - place the brisket on the grill - grill temp varied between 200° & 250°

9:30 - wrap in aluminum foil (2 layers) - stalled at 154°

12:30 - remove from grill - achieved 203° - place in cooler to rest, kept foil on

1:00 - remove from wrap - carve against the grain

1:15 - Give'er the 'ol taste test - conclusion: not too shabby for my first attempt.


Total time: 7.75 hours

almost 8 hours! wow, but looks good.
I wouldn't have a patience for that.

wallstreetoneil wrote in post #18006696
FYI

Purchased the Sigma Adapter MC-11 yesterday
- downloaded and installed a software upgrade that just came out for the MC-11
- it is much improved
- Sigma 24-105 now can AF-C
- tried it quickly with the Canon 24-70 F2.8 II, 17-40 F4, 35L II, 85L II - all work well
- 70-200 F2.8 works just as well as the Metabones (which is basically 95% until you are really at 200mm and then you can have some hunting - but most of the time it is good)
- Eye AF works with the Sigma 24-105


I hadn't heard about this upgrade but saw it posted on FM - easy download - just plug in adapter and quickly updates itself

I returned my MC-11 few days ago, it was beyond crappy in original state... so what does this software update fix/add?

I just got it 2 days ago to try it with the Sigma 24-105 - seems to work as well as the Metabones on the Canon lenses. The Sigma doesn't seem as snappy as the Canon 24-70 but everything does work. Going to try it out next few days - but continuous AF-C works on the Sigma. May go into the store and try a few Sigma lenses

wallstreetoneil wrote in post #18006750
I just got it 2 days ago to try it with the Sigma 24-105 - seems to work as well as the Metabones on the Canon lenses. The Sigma doesn't seem as snappy as the Canon 24-70 but everything does work. Going to try it out next few days - but continuous AF-C works on the Sigma. May go into the store and try a few Sigma lenses

Here is the update info:

It was bad with 35 Art and beyond crappy with 150-600 Sport.... Sigma still has a note on their website that 150-600 will be updated in June-August to make it "more compatible" with MC-11.

nekrosoft13 wrote in post #18006756
Here is the update info:

It was bad with 35 Art and beyond crappy with 150-600 Sport.... Sigma still has a note on their website that 150-600 will be updated in June-August to make it "more compatible" with MC-11.

I think it is unreasonable to expect any long lens to work - the camera battery doesn't have the juice to drive those lenses. From a pure Canon compatible perspective - it seems fine. Also seems like a good signal that there is an update such that there is likely to be more coming if they think it will sell them more lenses.

So is anyone else antsy for medicine to get back from Iceland and see his pics!

wallstreetoneil wrote in post #18006795
I think it is unreasonable to expect any long lens to work - the camera battery doesn't have the juice to drive those lenses. From a pure Canon compatible perspective - it seems fine. Also seems like a good signal that there is an update such that there is likely to be more coming if they think it will sell them more lenses.

150-600 works fine with metabones, but MC-11 was horrible.... so it can be done to some extent...

mystik610 wrote in post #18006651
I don't think you need to buy ads. It's a relationship business and word of mouth referrals are worth more than ads....so tap into your natural market and the people you've shot for in the past....particularly the models you've shot! One of the things I did last year when I got back into this is made an appeal to facebook about this being a relationship business and asked people to share my page and spread the word about me IF they were genuinely fans of my work. That's harder to do than it sounds, takes some humility and some 'balls' (as you put it) to put yourself out there, but I was surprised by the amount of support I got and it spring boarded me to being booked every weekend up until now when things roll off for the summer.

Also keep posting your own photos online as every thing you post is a marketing piece. Instagram compresses photos to hell but is great for marketing. My wife hash tagged one of my photos of our on her instagram and it made it on disney's instagram account when they reposted it. I've been a believer since.

I used to asked my friends to share my work. None of them fu***ing care. There's one or two sometimes. That's why i wanted to try the fb ads. I guess i just have to hashtags all my postings.

vinmunoz wrote in post #18006853
I used to asked my friends to share my work. None of them fu***ing care. There's one or two sometimes. That's why i wanted to try the fb ads. I guess i just have to hashtags all my postings.

So I was with 2 Olympus Visionaries and http://frankleeruggles​.photoshelter.com/inde​x this last weekend. They are not portrait guys but in asking them about the business it is all about self promotion via instagram twitter facebook etc. They all told me when you post a pic dont post more than one or two but put a story to the face and it will be recognized and shared much more. I think this all blends over to what you do. And I havent replied earlier but I think your work is great and looking back over time you have really grown as a photog. It wont be an easy transition but I think for you well worth it in the end. Just promote promote promote. You have the talent!

Definitely, promote yourself, especially cuz Vin is very talented. Just need to remember that at times there might be a fine line when it comes to promotion. It's society now though, 1-2 pictures is what it seems that people have the patience to go through. Case in point, you put up one really nice photo on social media and I'm sure it'll get a lot of comments/likes. Put up a dozen or more and it's more likely to be ignored.

I know myself personally if I see a friend put up a nice snapshot while they're on vacation or a family portrait I'll take the time to comment or hit like. When someone else puts up 148 pictures of their trip to Orlando, it gets a pass from me.

One thing that might help is to expand your exposure on multiple avenues of social media if you're going that way. Some people are Facebook only, some are solely Instagram. Others are all social media. It might be more work but don't limit yourself to one way of promoting, do them all.

Facebook has been ok for photography promotion, might reach a larger crowd with Instagram, and with IG, you can post and share to Facebook, promote both the same time.

I know a kid that promotes with both that way. He'll get a like or two on FB and hundreds on IG. Folks on IG seem to engage much more. His solicitations seem to work better there, but it's the younger crowd for sure.

vinmunoz wrote in post #18006853
I used to asked my friends to share my work. None of them fu***ing care. There's one or two sometimes. That's why i wanted to try the fb ads. I guess i just have to hashtags all my postings.

That sucks man. Filipino community? If it is then yeah.... filipino crab mentality.

hash tags on instagram go a long way. I resisted it for a while but very recently jumped on it...especially since they got rid of the stupid square aspect ratio. Since IG is a photo oriented network, you tend to get more love over there.

Used the 85 GM a bit for my son's first communion.

First shot was for one of his classmates since her mom really liked what I did a couple weeks ago. The lens renders very similarly to the 50L that I used a couple of weeks back.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/GeCq​ar

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/H1Ec​nN

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/GeCn​Vg

Some shots of my lunch since we were talking about BBQ y'day

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/H722​gN

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/H1EE​UG