Brian

First question: What is your budget?

I like Zack Arias' tutorials. I find him easy to follow. Unfortunately, it seems he is overhauling his website, so his OneLight 2.0 Tutorial is not currently available. That said, here is an excerpt from that creativeLIVE class. First off, your camera's built in meter IS COMPLETELY WORTHLESS when it comes to off-camera flash. That's the first thing that usually trips people up. The second thing is you are dealing with a different exposure triangle, so you have to think differently. The main rule when it comes to flash is: Aperture controls what Flash Power you use Shutter Speed Controls Ambient Light. ISO can help with the Ambient Light too, though it's really the two main things that you need to get straight in your head. Most of the time, you set your shutter speed to the sync speed of the camera, usually 1/200th or 1/250th, but I have seen 1/160th used a lot. The third thing is something called the "Inverse Square Law." What that means is your light source loses 75% of the intensity or "Umph" when you double the distance between your subject and flash. "Huh?" Say you put your flash 2 feet away from your subject, and then move it 4 feet away...your flash will be 75% less bright than it was at two feet even though the power settings on the flash haven't changed. Now move it to 8 feet away, that's another 75% drop off in intensity. Then 16, then 32, etc. Most folks work in the 4-6 feet range when dealing with a speedlight and modifier that you are using. The trick is having the right flash at the right distance using the right modifier for the look that you want to accomplish with enough power to do what you want to do. Most folks start out with a Speed Light, such as the Kung-Pow! flashes or a Nikon / Canon Speed Light. Then they move the light 8 feet away and put a fancy modifier and their results look bad. The reason is sometimes you can get away with a Garden Hose (Speed Light,) other times you need a bigger light, which is like having a Fire Hose, in order to fill up that fancy modifier, which eats a little bit of light, and enough "Umph" to light your subject. The closer the flash is, the softer the light and less contrast in the shadows that you will have. Of course the further away you have the flash, the harder the light and there will be more contrast in the shadows. That's why people think flash is so "Icky." The reason is most of the time they are dealing with a stupid pop-up flash 8-10 feet away from their subject and take a photo. Of course it's gonna look bad. (Small light source + that's far away = icky photos.) So what are you doing specifically, how are you triggering the flash? What are your power settings? What are you trying to photograph? Do you have a large reflector to use? Can you give us some examples on the problems you are having? It's really quiet here in Ask Brian, so I want you to pick my brain.

No DIY tips. Either a fan / vent is clogged or a heat sink is faulty. So a trip to the Genius Bar might be in your future Also, what are you editing when it overheats? What camera body do you shoot with? How much RAM do you have installed? How much free space on your HD do you have?

I would just run the Smart Cleanup and let it do its thing. You can always go into each module and uncheck things you don't want deleted, but I've only done this on a few items and I can't remember after 7 years of using this program on what i unchecked. In fact, these items were on the Version 2 of the program, not the current version 3. CleanMyMac has gotten really good over the years. So again, click Smart Cleanup, tell it to scan, then it will pop-up with its findings and if you see something that you don't want it deleting, uncheck it before hitting the "Clean" button, though in my humble opinion, you should be fine with the defaults.

If you don't use iPhoto or its evil spawn...Photos, you are fine. The Photo Junk Module only really scans the catalog files of iPhoto or Photos. Not to be confused with your Pictures Folder associated with your profile. So as long as you haven't used iPhoto or Photos to organize stuff, you should be fine. If you have created your own folders and stored the RAW files there, you are also fine. From the CleanMyMac FAQ:

Quick Tip: The rubber gasket that pops off the bottom of the D810, so the contacts on the grip connect to the body, place the gasket in the little holder / slot on the batter grip. This way it won't get lost.

One more thing, Hobbyist or Pro... Nothing sucks more than being out in the middle of nowhere, 2 miles from your vehicle and have a dead battery on your hands. LOL!!

Battery Grips still need batteries. One in the camera and one in the tray that goes in the battery grip. I'd keep it.

Buy It!!! Enjoy your purchase.

It certainly couldn't hurt; that said, it isn't THAT necessary. If you played a lot of video games and edited video, had dual or triple displays, then yes...I'd get the 8GB card. As far as Photoshop is concerned, they are using the Video Memory as a performance boost, so in reality, it's not a bad idea. You'll see this performance boost when using things like the Liquify Tool, or even producing large panorama photos. The biggest issue is how Adobe's software plays with the video drivers of the card. Often we get the dreaded "Black Boxes" and end-up turning off the part of PS that uses video memory for performance. So if the video drivers don't play well with Adobe, and we turn off that portion of PS that accesses video memory, then it doesn't matter if you have a fancy 8GB card or not. If the 15% off helps off-set the normal cost of the 8GB Video Upgrade option, then personally...I'd still get it. Especially if you are thinking about dual displays in the future. If it was me and my money, I'd probably get the 8GB card now and be done with it. I'm also going to get dual displays for my next Windows computer. PS: For those reading this thread are wondering what to buy as of now for video card memory: 2GB at a Minimum 4GB is Recommended 8GB is Overkill but is more future-proof PSS: For those who are freaking out at only having 1GB of video memory, you are probably fine. If things are working for you currently, you are fine at 1GB and carry on with your business. My recommendation is for new computers being sold right now and is geared towards a 5-7 year lifespan, as the majority of my recommendations are based on this time period. That's why I don't really recommend the cheaper options.

iPhoto, and its Demon-Spawn Child, "Photos" is EVIL. It gets in your way. I'm glad you are straightened out. I completely forgot about Photos / iPhoto.

Get the new external first, it doesn't matter if it's "Mac Formatted" or not. It can be a "Windows" drive. It doesn't matter and you should save about $30. We can set this new drive up as a Mac Drive. How large is that WD Passport Drive?

So how do you normally open the photos? Do you copy them to a folder on the HD and then open them? Or do you use some sort of special software for the transfer? Huh? I'm assuming things work as they should when opening the files directly on the SD card?

Whatever you do, DO NOT USE ANY WESTERN DIGITAL SOFTWARE to do this process. Use the built-in software called Disk Manager.

It depends on how large your C Drive is. Sometimes, manufacturers will install a really tiny SSD drive, like a 128GB version, which is really only enough room for Windows and it's updates. If that's the case, the software goes on the D: Drive. Other times you will have a 1TB C: Drive, and there is enough free space to install PS on the C: Drive. So to answer your question, "It depends..."

I'd get another EHD, copy over any existing files on the EHD that is giving you trouble, then blow away the partition on the EHD that's giving you problems. After that is accomplished, I would repartition and reformat the EHD. Then move your files back. I can assist you if needed and it would be a great help if you let me know what version of the MacOS that you have.

Dell's prices are all over the place. When you save up enough money, swing by this thread and let's have a look. I'm almost 100% sure that the prices will be different than what they are now. $1200 is a healthy budget for a computer, with $1000 being a good budget as well. With Adobe's products today, having more RAM and a beefy / upgraded video card is just as important, if not more important, than the CPU chip. Right now as I type this, the computer that is $1126 is a better buy than the one that's third from the left. Save your pennies and get back to me when you are ready to buy.

If you are editing photos and your 2 year old monitor is IPS-based, there is no need to replace a perfectly good and working monitor. Yes, prices change all the time, in fact Amazon does it all the time!!! With them, prices are based on your zip code...live in a "Rich" area, and you will pay more. Same thing with Travel websites. Visit multiple times going back and forth, and I will almost guarantee you that the prices will go up.

The "Spyder Elite" series has a better time with dual displays, as the Elite Software is meant for it. The calibrator itself is the same between a "Pro" and an "Elite," it's just the software has more features. It used to be that you could upgrade a Pro to an Elite by purchasing the $99 or so upgrade. Since the Spyder4 Series has been discontinued, I'm not sure if it's still an option. She may have to call Datacolor and see if the upgrade is still available. I did find this: http://support.datacolor.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/1473/101/spyder4elite-459-windows and this: http://support.datacolor.com/index.php?/Tickets/Submit

Update: It seems that if you are in the market for dual displays, this one might work better: Dell UltraSharp 24 InfinityEdge Display Combine them with the Dell MDS14a Dual Monitor Stand and you could have a sweet setup.

That Dell XPS 8910 for $1149.99 that you linked to will work fine. I wasn't aware of the U2717D, I was going by my old recommendation of the U2412m and the U2417H seems to be the latest version of that display. For dual displays, that U2717D seems to be a better bet. I like the "Infinity Edge" feature. Thanks for bringing it to my attention as the main problem with recommending stuff, is having that item be current; often when I link to things, there are 5 other replacements...stuff just doesn't last like it used to and it seems to replaced every 6 weeks. I'm really still on the fence. I could go with a single 27" display, but I like the idea of two 24" displays. I may just stick with getting a new iMac. Who knows? Either way I will be getting a new computer in 2018. I plan on building a Windows Domain Server and getting a few small desktops with Windows Pro, just to play and fiddle with stuff, like Group Policies. That's the driving reason for multiple displays, to have multiple remote desktop windows open.

I just picked up a used D3s in good shape. Amazing camera, I can no go places that I couldn't before....AAAANNNDDD currently seem to be producing the world's most awful photographs. LOL!! Take time to get to know your camera. Play with it and fiddle. Especially in learning how to hold it. That 36.1mp sensor takes getting used to. Not only for the massive Raw files, but at that resolution, you will blow a lot of shots in terms of camera shake / lack of sharpness until you get used to it. If you have a tripod, be sure to use it. Have fun with your new toy.

Let's have some fun. Pretend it's me that would be buying a new tower, and I am seriously in the market. I would start with the $979.99 Dell XPS model and click customize: Upgrade Windows 10 Home to Windows 10 Pro (add $49) Upgrade the Hard Drive from 1TB to 2TB (add $49) Add one year Premium Support (add $87.22) Purchase TWO Dell 2417H DIsplays (More on this later) Skip Microsoft Office 2016 Home and Business from Dell. Purchase this from Microsoft directly, it's on sale for $119.99 Purchase this Monitor Stand to make the two Dell Displays into a "Command Center." I wouldn't worry about McAfee that it comes with. For my system, that would be the 1st thing I'd uninstall and then install Webroot Internet Security Plus. Hell, the free one from Microsoft is actually pretty good, Microsoft Security Essentials. Combine that with the paid version of Malwarebytes, and you are covered for the most part. I don't like Norton/Symantec or McAfee. They are the 1st two to get circumvented and are typically resource hogs. For the final price, I'd say we are probably around $1700 or so. I'm too lazy to add this up tonight. My next Windows system setup will be a "Command Center" style. I haven't decided if I'm going to stick with Mac or not.

I edited my post. The $979.99 model should be what you are after.

If you want something to last more than 5 years, I'd try to increase the budget slightly or be prepared to do some upgrades down the line, like around the three year mark. Your Dell U2412M monitor should be fine, though you might have to get a DisplayPort cable / adapter, which isn't that much. Here are the current models of the Dell XPS tower. If money is tight, I would get the $832.99 model. The $979.99 model will get you more than 5 years, probably around 7. As far as the difference between Windows Home and Pro, I personally like getting the Pro version, and for a $49 difference, it doesn't break the bank. I also will do more than the average person who would do crazy things like setup his own server and promote it to a Domain Controller, among other things. It used to be that Windows 7 Home Premium maxed out at 16GB of RAM, even though you would install 24GB or 32GB, whatever, in your computer. Windows 7 Home Premium maxed out at 16GB. Period. You needed Windows 7 Pro to go higher. These days Windows 10 Home Edition goes up to 128GB, so its not that big of a deal anymore.