Scott's Photo Blog

I'm Coming to NYC in August - Wanna Meet?

Hey all - I'm coming to NYC to do a reading/signing for my first novel, First You Fall. It's a great time to do an event there, as everyone wants to be in New York in August!

I'd love to meet as many listeners of The Digital Photography Show as possible at the reading. If we get enough people, maybe we could do a quick meet-up and some contests and giveaways after the reading (I can't meet listeners without giving something away, right?)

Here's where and when I'll be appearing. Let me know if you can make it - either in a comment below or send me an email. You can get more details - and even a Google map - on the book's blog.

Scott at Barnes and Noble
Date: Thursday, August 21, 2008
Place: Barnes & Noble Booksellers, 2289 Broadway, NY NY

Time: 7PM

Show Notes for The Digital Photography Show #94

Here's a recap of what Michael and I talk about on this week's episode of The Digital Photography Show: 

• Nikon's newest DSLR - the full-frame D700. This one looks really sweet.
• The Yahoo/Getty Deal - and my first contest right here on Scott's Photo Blog. Check it out here.
• A photo service that you may want to think twice about. Just whose photos are they, anyway.
• The sexy but mysteriously-priced AniMoto. Michael and I both thought this service looked pretty slick, but we were frustrated when we couldn't figure out how much it costs. Thanks to listener Richard H for telling us about Animoto.
• Listener Matthew Boyle's 100 Portraits.
  
• A great-sounding little clip on diffuser - the Puffer. Thanks for the tip, Steve!
• Check out how good Laurel's gotten! Michael and I want to know how she gets such great lighting.
• You often get to hear me do interviews - if you want to find out how I do on the other side of the mike, check out this interview with me about my new book, First You Fall.

Show Notes for The Digital Photography Show #93 - Face to Face with Rick Sammon

If you listened to this week’s episode, you heard that we lost the first half of our show, in which Michael and I covered a variety of photo-news, when the audio went wonky on the iMac That Ate My Life. 

Arrghh! And I thought Macs were supposed to be perfect!

But, luckily, we still had our interview with the terrific Rick Sammon. If you haven't heard it yet, you can download or listen to it here.

Rick has to be one of the nicest guys in the world. He’s also a fantastic photographer and teacher. He truly has a passion for inspiring others to take great pictures, and he’s devoted the bulk of his professional career to giving you the tools and techniques you’ll need to improve your photography.

His newest book, Face to Face: Rick Sammon's Complete Guide to Photographing People, is all about how to take better portraits.  He covers lighting, lens selection, posing and art direction to help you, as he might say, not just “take a picture, but make a picture.”

I really like how Face to Face stresses the philosophy and psychology of portraiture. Rick explains that some of your best tools aren’t in your camera bag, they’re in your heart and mind.  He encourages you to connect and engage with your subjects. The better your rapport, the better your portraits will emerge.

In this week’s show, Rick promises to give away autographed copies of Face to Face to two lucky listeners of The Digital Photography Show.  To enter, send an email to TheDigitalPhotographyShow@gmail.com with the answer to this question: How many pages is Face to Face? Please put “Face to Face contest” in the subject of your email.

You can’t get the answer from Amazon.com or other online booksellers because they got it wrong. So, go to your local bookstore, leaf through the beautiful pages, and see if you wouldn’t want to add this book to your photography library.

But, just in case your local bookstore doesn’t carry it, I’ll tell you - Face to Face features 281 pages of Sammony goodness. 

Now you know. Don’t say I never did anything for you.

Good luck on the contest!

Oh, and because Rick is such a nice guy, if you buy a copy of Face to Face, and win the contest, he’ll send you a signed copy of whichever of his other books you want (as long as he still has it on hand, that is). Check out this page to see his amazing body of work.

So, don't hold off on your purchase of Face to Face because you might get lucky. We got your back.

Photos on Flickr? Getty May Be Calling - Plus, This Blog's First Contest!

According to an interesting article by Miguel Helft in the NY Times, Getty images, the world’s largest stock photo company, has entered into agreement with Yahoo permitting them to search Flickr’s database for especially high-quality images.

When Getty finds something it likes, it will contact the photographer and ask them if he or she would like to license them the image.

There are a couple of interesting points here. While professional photographers bring a level of craft (and equipment) that even most enthusiastic amateurs don’t match, Getty recognizes that the crowd brings advantages of its own.

For one, Flick attracts photographers from communities including small towns and out-of-the-way locales that professional photographers may never have even heard of, let alone shot.

Additionally, Getty claims, because most Flickr photos were “not shot for commercial purposes” they will bring a sense of “authenticity” that advertisers looking for. Think of all the ads you’ve seen recently that appear to have been taken on the fly or by an amateur, or that are artfully arranged to look as “casual” and “unposed” as possible. Getty is smart to recognize that thousands of photos like that already exist.

Since it doesn’t appear that there will be any way to submit an image to this program (the NYT writes that Getty will “comb Flickr in search of interesting images,”) it seems to me that no matter how great your images are, it’s a million-to-one shot that Flickr will find them.

Still, if you want to increase your chances, you might want to be as creative as possible with your keywords. What words might Flickr be searching for to find the hard-to-get, “authentic” images they’re looking for?

Imagine you are the young editorial assistant at Getty charged with finding salable images in Flickr. What would you search for? “Out of the way?” “Surprise?” “Unexpected?” “Breathtaking?” “Martian?” “Dancing baby?”

Which brings me to this blog’s first contest. Write a comment below with some keywords you think might attract some attention from Flickr. Keep it to under 200 words if you can. Feel free to explain your thinking. If you don’t have ideas of your own, or think someone else’s entry is great, feel free to express that, too. (However, don’t make negative comments about other entries, please. I will delete them and frown at you.) You’ll be helping your fellow photographers have a chance at the Getty brass ring, and you may win these cool prizes:

Two new, unopened copies of terrific DVD collections from The National Association of Photoshop Professionals. 

1) The Best of Adobe Photoshop User: The 9th Year is over 3 hours of NAPP goodness, including:        
•        Tons of Scott Kelby’s “Down and Dirty Tricks"
•        TV, print and web effects and        
•        Classic techniques from contributors Matt Kloskowski, Corey Barker and Dave Cross.

2) The Best of Adobe Photoshop TV Season One brings:
 •        Two more hours of awesome Photoshop video tips
 •        Cutting edge tutorials
 •        Impressive photo effects, color correction revelations, and scintialling shortcuts to make your Photoshop experience more productive and artistic than ever.

And, if you’re interested, I’ll also include a signed and dedicated copy of my novel, First You Fall, to the winner (assuming you’re over 18, that is).

Deadline: I’ll pick what I think is the best, most creative and most helpful answer on August 1, 2008.

Meanwhile, if you’re shooting in the hopes that Getty will acquire you, keep in mind the same rules that apply at iStockphoto (which Getty owns, BTW):

• You must have model releases for all recognizable people in the shot
• Avoid including any trademark symbols (even the Nike “swoosh ” on a pair of sneakers can be a deal-killer) and
• The photos must be of a high resolution and not overly compressed. The screeners at iStockphoto are merciless when it comes to “artifacts,” and we at The Digital Photography Show have had listeners who have sworn that even their highest-quality shots were rejected for having excessive artifacts.

While I doubt that Getty will be acquiring a ton of images from Flickr, this is more bad news for the full-time professional photographer who used to make a living off stock photos. He or she has already taken a beating from iStockphoto and the like. Getty was up-till-now one of the last providers that said “our images deserve their high prices because they come from the most highly-trained pros in the world.” Now, even on Getty, the full-time shooter is competing with the talented amateur. Ouch.

How much is at stake? According to the Times:

Getty charges on average between $500 and $600 for “rights managed” images, which are used by a customer exclusively for a period of time. Photographers get between 30 percent and 40 percent of that. The company charges on average of $250 for non-exclusive use of images and gives photographers a 20 percent cut of that...

The one thing I don’t understand is why Getty would need an “agreement” with Yahoo to do this? Couldn’t they have just trolled Flickr and hit up photographers on their own? Flickr is an open system, photographers who want to can establish an email link on their accounts, and this is, as far as I know, still a Democracy. So, was the “agreement” with Yahoo really needed, and is Yahoo actually getting paid for this? Or was the “agreement” merely a press-release worthy publicity stunt to get out the word and to, possibly, attract more talented and diverse photographers to use Flickr? What do you think?

What the New iPhone Apps Store Brings for Photographers

I woke up this morning and was very excited to see that the new iPhone Apps store was up and running in my iTunes. It’s Christmas in July!

I understand there are over 500 applications available for iPhone 2.0s (as well as older iPhones once they are upgraded). The applications are helpfully broken down into categories, one of which is “Photography.”

There are currently nineteen apps in the Photography category - here is what the top part of the first page looks like.

I was really happy to see that some of The Digital Photography Show’s favorites now have native iPhone applications. Both are for online photo sharing sites.

SmugMug’s entry got the honor of being the first app to be highlighted in the App Store’s “What’s Hot” listing. Their free SmugShot allows you to upload your iPhone’s shots directly to your SmugMug galleries, and, as a bonus, automatically geotags them using the phone’s built-in GPS. Visitors to your gallery can click on your shot and be taken to a Google Map of where you were. Sweeeet! (Unless you have stalkers, in which case you might want to turn that feature off. Sorry, Britney!)

SmugMug’s galleries look gorgeous in their custom-built iPhone interface, too.

Also checking in with an app is Phanfare, with their free app. Their product also allows you to wirelessly upload your shots, although there doesn’t seem to be any geotagging capability. There is, however, functionality for posting your pic on Facebook.

Phanfare’s description in iTunes says their app lets you “display on your living room TV through XBox 360 and PS3.” That sentence seems to be missing a word, and I don’t know how that function would work. Bluetooth? It’s not described on Phanfare’s web page about the app. They do, however, have a neat little video that features our old friend Andrew Erlichson showing the automatic uploading to that cloud that everyone seems so fond of these days.

I’m looking forward to experimenting with these and the other iPhone apps for photographers.

Many of them allow you to upload to and explore Flickr more easily (Moblie Flickr, Exposure, MoPhoTo). Flickr has many devotees and I’m sure these will see a lot of downloads.

Other apps give you some annotation gimmicks (like drawing lines and word balloons) on your shots (Mr. Shuffle, TalkBubbles, Squiggles, iGraffiti). Cute, but not exactly necessary.

I only found one app that does what I was most expecting to see - picture editing on the iPhone. It’s called Jade, and it consists of nothing more than a single slider that adjusts “the intensity of the filter” to improve your shot. What that filter is and does, they don’t say, although one reviewer claimed it just increases contrast.

My favorite of the apps is called NearPics. It “lets you see some photographs taken near where you are right now.” This is great for people who can’t be bothered to, uh, look around. No, it probably would be fun, and, since it costs nothing, it’s one I look forward to playing with. I bet it could probably inspire you when shooting onsite to see what other photographers have done in your place.

The bummer about the iPhone apps is that, while some are free, the fee-based ones have no free trials. The Photography apps either cost zippy or run between $3-$10, with one, which allows you to dial your contacts by tapping on their picture, costing $15.

Can a Camera Really Be Worth $4,000+?

If you're the owner of a high end DSLR, or if you'd like to be, who is wondering if their $4,000+ investment could possibly be worth it, the wonderful Lori Grunin over at CNET says "yes:"

If want a camera that can take a beating without sacrificing photo quality or need serious shooting speed, these are the models you should consider. They require a hefty investment--you've got to pair them with great lenses that start at $1,000--but in exchange they'll give you state-of-the-art imaging technology and the breadth of creative control you need to produce professional results.

That write-up is the introductory text to Lori's round-up of the top three DSLRs out there today - the Canon EOS 1D Mark III (approx $4,000 street price), its somewhat more robust sibling the EOS 1Ds Mark III (a staggering $8,000)  and the the Nikon D3 (just under $5,000).  (BTW, thank you Nikon for that blessedly simple naming scheme!).

Having shot extensively with the Mark III, I can tell you that I've never had a better experience with a camera. It felt uncannily responsive, its speed was breathtaking, and its focus was almost always dead on.

But, if you're in the market for one of these beauties, you may want to hold off just a little bit longer.  The upcoming Nikon D700 and Canon's inevitable replacement for the aging 5D, will probably bring you many of the big boy's features, plus a few tricks of their own, for $1,000 - $2,000 less.

A Novel Way to Make Money with Your Camera

CNET has an interesting article up about Darryl Cannon, a photographer who's found a novel way to make money with his DSLR.

Cannon, who shoots with a...wait for it...Canon 40D, waits by a picturesque road on the border region between Tennessee and North Carolina, and takes pictures of the many motorcyclists who travel its winding curves. He stands in front of his car, on which he's displayed his website www.kilboy.com.  Curious riders he's snapped visit the site, and find they can buy high resolution images, as well as prints and other gift items.

According to CNET, Cannon earns his living in this manner, as do some other shooters.

This is very clever. I've long thought that there's a lot of potential in this area. I've thought about trying to do the same thing with my son's school events and local sporting events, but I've never had the time or drive to actually make it happen.

I know of some others who have done this kind of thing, though, although no one who's done it as a full-time gig. But a good camera, combined with a place where you can post and sell your photos, is a money-making combination.

It does sound like a lot of work, though. According to Cannon, if there's a motorcycle race, he's take up to 17,000 shots in one session. Imagine processing all those pictures - no one has a workflow smooth enough to make that easy.

Which may be why Cannon says he works "about 100 hours a week." Yikes! Although, if you love what you're doing, and I hope Cannon does, 100 hours can fly by like, uh, 80.

Cannon sounds pretty accomplished. His photos have been published in a slew of enthusiast magazines. I'd contact him to be on The Digital Photography Show, but I'm a little afraid of someone whose site is called "Killboy." (Naw, I sent him an email asking if he'd like to come on.)

According to the CNET article, Cannon sells $6 CDs of his images. But that's gotta be a drag, especially if Cannon is handling the production and fulfillment of the orders. I'd also bet he loses sales to people who either don't want to pay shipping charges or who don't want to wait for CDs to be mailed to them. I say: I wonder if he's considered letting his customers download the JPEGs themselves. Smugmug (and I'd bet other services, although I don't know of them)  makes it possible for you to sell your images as digital files, which users can pay for and immediately retrieve. I'd bet Cannon could still get $6 for his shots, without any need to print and ship a physical CD. Maybe he could even work fewer hours.

The New Nikon D700: Let the upgrading and the buyer's remorse begin!

The camera that Michael Stein has been waiting for has arrived. Let the angels sing.

If you recently bought a Canon 5D, though, you might be bitter. Same for those of you who recently picked up a Nikon D3 or a D300 - the love child of those last two cameras is about to hit the streets.

What do you get when you add a D3's sensor to a D300's body? In Nikon's world adding up the D300 and D3 doesn't give you the  D303. Combining those two shooters gives you the full frame D700, and this one is the direct competitor to Canon's 5D that Michael and I were speculating about on the show just last week, when we said that we couldn't believe that no other company sold a prosumer/pro level full-frame DSLR at the $3,000 price of the 5D's when it was first released. 

Can we see the future? Apparently so. And it looks like this:

Nikon has taken the coveted and legendarily-low noise producing full frame sensor of the D3 and married it to a slightly larger, but still curvaceous and lighter body of the D300. The result? A Canon 5D-like price tag of $2,999. That's fits nicely between the $1,700 price tag of the D300 and the $5,000 that a D3 would cost you.

The D700 has some insane specs, and even includes features that are upgraded from the D3, which runs $2,000 more. Since those are always my favorite features - the ones where cheaper cameras surpass their more expensive siblings - lets cover those first:

Here's the list of features in which the D700 trounces the D3 (as a younger brother myself, I always appreciate these):

• A built in pop up flash! This is my favorite. I know some pros eschew pop up flashes, but they do sometimes come in handy, and since this one works as a commander for other wireless flashes, having it built in is fantastic.
• A self-cleaning sensor using "sensor shake:" This feature appears in the stories about the D700 as an advantage over the D3, but does the D3 have no self-cleaning sensor? Even $800 Digital Rebels have this technology. Huh?
• More programmable buttons: This is a "meh" for me, as I never bother to program these things, but more is better, right?
• An autofocus assist light: Beautiful! Ding! You can never have too many focusing options.
• A virtual horizon in live view: The D3 had this only when looking through the eyepiece - it's a line that shows you if you're holding the camera steady. A great feature only available, till now, in that $5,000 camera. Having in live view makes it extra sweet. Sorry D3!
• Other assorted upgrades: Including a new way to view the cropping you get when using DX lenses, a slightly faster standard sync speed, and a viewfinder grid option.

Of course, there are also trade offs of the D700 over the D3. Those follow the break: