PhotoNetCast #43 – ISO, Panormas, Fine Art papers, Books On-Demand, Kit lenses, and how long will it take until the birds start coming?

Catch-up episode on listener questions: we cover ISO, panoramas, Fine Art papers, printing books on-demand, kit lenses, Lightroom and bird photography.

In the past weeks we have been getting some questions from our listeners, which are very much appreciated. Unfortunately we did not have the time to dedicate the time to them as they deserve, so #43 is a catch-up on those unanswered questions.

A wide variety of topics came up, from ISO to stitching panoramas, assembling and printing books on-demand, comparing kit lenses to more expensive ones, Lightroom and bird photography.

To help us with the task, we invited Aggie Villanueva and Joan Hunt to join us on the call. Thanks gals, it was a pleasure.

And here are the questions that we’ve tried to answer:

Daniel Roberts: Hi photonetcasters. I know that one of the settings in my camera allows it to select an ISO value, for a certain aperture and shutter speed. Somehow this feels like giving up too much control. Are there any benefits or disadvantages for using this setting?

Isabella Campbell: When I shoot several images from one location intending to stitch them together for a panorama, I get the usual distortion on the sides. What is best, to compensate for the distortion on PS or shoot from different locations trying to get all the frames "front facing"?

William Watson: Hello photonetcast crew and listeners. I’ve noticed that you don’t approach too much the subject of printing on the show. It would be good to dedicate one show to the topic as I’m sure many listeners would like to know more about it. The question i have for you is, for fine art prints, what paper do you use/recommend? Is there a main brand you use? What about whitening substances, do they affect the outcome of the print?

Barton Ebanez: Hi guys. I want to print a coffee table style book with some of my work. Is there any service you recommend for this? I don’t want any mass production or anything like that, just a copy or two. Still on the topic, is there any process to help me select what images to include? I have way to many that I’d like to see included. Thanks and keep up the great work.

Rob Rega: I’m thinking about purchasing lightroom and have a few questions: 1) Can I selectively change exposure of one area of the photo (i.e., assume I have a backlit shot with the main subject underexposed)?; 2) does it include traditional photo editing functions like selecting objects, cloning, removal, etc.?; and 3) does the educational version support raw files from a Canon 40D?

Mateo Walburn: I just upgraded from a small camera to a dslr and one of the advices the salesman gave me was to invest in some good lenses since the kit one is usually bad. Is this true? And if     so, if you had only one lens that you could buy which one would that be?

Joseph Miller: Hello. I’m interested in wildlife photography, in particular bird photography. I’ve been reading online that one of the best ways to photograph smaller birds is to assemble a bird feeder and photograph the birds while their approaching or standing nearby. Any of you have any experience doing this? I mean, how long will it take until the birds start coming? I know this is a weird question, but any insight is appreciated.

Dell and Stock Photography
Printing on aluminum: Aluminarte

Selected from the Web

Aggie: Digital Video Production Handbook
Joan: 10 Deadly post-processing sins
Antonio: Writing your photography marketing plan
Brian: A History of Photography, part 1