Not once did I say that lens was bad. BTW I LOVE your background blur - mix of noise and bokeh. It looks very documentarish and high quality.

Dirt cheap Nikon 50mm F1.8 lens, with iso 400 and 1600 film for grain. I underexpose my shots by 2/3 of a stop to get some more grain out of the roll as well. Thanks for the compliment though, much appreciated, still need to work on my lighting though, specially with my new flash!

I've achieved a similar (although not as good) look in digital where I underexpose 1/2 stop and purposely raise my iso to around 1600 with the 5d II. I will experiment and maybe i'll make it my flagship photography look. Thanks for the inspiration!

I am sad...
I am starting to hate my new camera...
Can't get the RAW images in any way.. they only seem to appear in the menu, but nowhere on any picture I take.
Plus, my camera sucks bad in low light conditions... and when I need low light, I don't mean pitch dark....
But everything is so expensive I can't upgrade

I'm sorry. Is it still under warranty? Maybe Canon can do something about it. Repair may be inexpensive.

This post was edited by onepagememory on Feb 7 2011 03:49pm

I bought it used cause I couldn't afford new...
I sold my old car and used the money to buy it...
I wish I could make some money of photography and upgrade, but I feel my gear is not good enough to even do something pro..
Like a circle... need money to upgrade, but need to upgrade to make money...
I only seem to get good pictures when I'm lucky....

If you can make a demand for your photos, then it doesn't matter if you don't think your gear is 'not good enough.' As long as people are willing to pay for it...
Your photos are some of the few I'd actually purchase prints of.

But not everyone likes photos of plants / landscapes. The easiest way to have someone purchase your photos is if the subject is them.

The rebel can produce fairly decent color and excellent B+W photos. Heck, I'd even do some post-processing for you on your own photos to get you started.

Edit:

Has anyone said 'omg i wish you'd take photos of my kids' or w/e to you?
Now' the time to offer em
Why not try something like a no-obligation shoot, where if your client likes the photos he/she can buy them.
You post some, we all contribute to post-processing techniques. And then you show them to your client?

This post was edited by onepagememory on Feb 7 2011 04:21pm

That's the problem with noise, it can never match grain.

My negs were scanned in a shop by someone with zero photography experience, so with a decent scanner, the grain would look much nicer as well. Though that could be a bad thing.

I have offered to some co-workers to do some free photo shoot of their kids, after showing them my pictures...
None of them took the offer...
But I must admit in my line of work, most people think they are better than most, and prefer to do things their way themselves...
Either that or they didn't find my pictures that good

Family? Don't give up! If you don't think your work is good, post some up for criticism. We'll guide you to places where you can learn techniques to improve upon it.

The only portraits I've seen from you are your children's, and that last one was incredible. Excellent light situation. Maybe portrait + texture can become your gimmick?
Post a portrait thread and we'll all help you out.