Show Notes for Digital Photography Life #2: Photoenthusiast Jeff Revell and Two Great Offers from SmugMug

On today's show, we talk about the Nikon D90 and the Canon 50D with uberenthusiast Jeff Revell and we feature a fifty percent discount on SmugMug and a free camera strap to every listener of Digital Photography Life.

But first, Michael and I talk about our photo adventures this week and what's in the news. After an unfortunate circumstance involving some kind of mold/fungus or a strange visitor from another planet, I'm in the market for a new camera bag. I'm leaning towards a bag from ThinkTankPhoto's Urban Disguise Line. I live and work in a major metropolitan area, and ThinkTankPhoto may have it right with these designs that don't look like camera bags.

Despite The Terror That Lurked in My Camera Bag, I did get some nice shots this weekend at the Lincoln Memorial. You can see them on my personal SmugMug page here.

You might also want to take a look at the ShootSac that Michael and I use.

MIchael tells us to check out Carson Kressley's How to Look Good in Pictures series, hosted by Nikon. Who isn't interested in making themselves - or their subjects - look their best?

Interested in saving some money on camera equipment? If you live near one of the 154 Circuit Cities that are going out of business, you can grab some (final sale) goodies at 20%-30% off. Here's a list of the closing stores.

Or, you could just go for a free camera by buying one of these nifty Target giftcards.  Not only do you get a free 1.2 MB camera, but you get forty free prints for just the cost of your $50+ giftcard.

Meanwhile, if you need a reason for a pocketable camera that you'll always have with you, how about the fact that we're probably just a few years away from our first Close Encounter with one of our neighbors from outer space. It's true - click here! When ET lands in your neighborhood, don't you want to be the one with a camera?

Just when you've had enough of our ramblings, it's time for our first guest - the wonderful Jeff Revell of PhotoWalkPro.com. Jeff has had hands on time with two of the cameras we talked about last week - the Canon 50D  and the Nikon D90 . Jeff loved the 50D. He thought the picture quality was great, and he admired the ergonomics (well, not counting the depth of field preview button, but who ever uses that, right?) He liked the D90, but was pretty unimpressed with its HD video (see his example here).

Then, it is our great pleasure to welcome SmugMug on a sponsor. SmugMug did us - and we think you, too - a huge favor by making Digital Photography Life possible by signing on as our inaugural sponsor.

On today's show, SmugMugger Chris MacAskill  comes on to tell you all about what makes SmugMug so great, and the perfect fit for the digital enthusiast like you. Even better, they extend a special, limited-time offer exclusively to our audience: They're taking 50% off the first year of service, at any of their three tiers, to anyone who hears them on Digital Photography Life.

The coupon code is "Flickr." 50% off for typing six characters? It works for us.

And if a 50% discount isn't good enough for you, how about an out-and-out freebie? SmugMug is giving away a free camera strap to any Digital Photography Life listener who asks for one. You can make your request here. It may take awhile before you get your strap, but, at that price, it's worth waiting for. UPDATE: Please enter "DPLife" for the account name.

As always, thanks for listening! Please leave your comments below - we love to hear what you thought of the show.

Comments

[Alan B.]

Funny. Price for the Target camera/card is now listed at $1000. I think I'll hold off for now;)

[David]

I clicked the link to the camera strap. What are we suppose to use for the account name if we don't have a smug mug account?

[Dave]

Someone messed up. I emailed smugmug about the free strap and got an automated reply saying that 'the deals sites' got ahold of this offer and (a) they're sold out and (b) have been so since late October.

I don't know when you recorded your interview, but someone on the podcast really should have been a little more on top of this, since I bet you're going to see a lot of disappointed people who were repeatedly told by you that they could get a free strap.

[chris]

So glad you guys are back! Really enjoyed the TPN podcast before it's demise, but looks like you are back with an even better set-up and podcast! Keep up the great work!

[Scott Sherman]

Hey all,

Thanks for the nice comment, Chris.

Dave and David (are you sure you're not the same guy?), I think this is all straightened out. It was really exceptional of SmugMug to make this incredibly generous offer to our listeners; but it took a awhile for the system to be brought up to date.

Just enter "DPLife" where it asks for "account."

I just did and it worked for me - I got a message that said "Great! We'll try to ship your goodies as soon as possible!"

Will you - and anyone else - let me know if it works for you, too? I know the guys at SmugMug definitely want to get this right. Thanks!

[Stephen]

Too bad this wasn't a few weeks earlier. I just signed up. :( Would this work if I were to renew now for next year?

[Brent]

I just requested the free DSLR Camera strap and it appeared to work fine, I also received the message that they would ship the goodies as soon as possible. Great show this week!

[Rob Hooft]

Scott,

In the show you were saying you are not enthousiastic about camera backpacks. I understand the reasoning, but did you ever check the "Slingshot" products from Lowepro? I am using such a bag myself, and it gives a nice mix of benefits from both a regular bag and a backpack. See e.g.:

http://products.lowepro.com/product/SlingShot-100-AW,2034,4.htm

[Rob Libby]

Another great show. I look forward to you having Jeff Revel back on to talk about Photo walks. This is an area that i would like hear more about how to set it up, how it should be run and so on.
Thank you for getting SmugMug to give out goodies. I look forward to you contest for CS4.
Nice pictures also.
Cheers, Rob

[Ralph Berrett aka FullMetalPhotographer]

Well its about time you guys are back in the podcast sphere.
Glad to have you back.

I bought the Urban Disguise 50 about 3 weeks ago. With my work these days I have to shooting more business type and corporate types. So I am having to where suits. Well, a LowePro Photo Harness is not the best when I am shooting these type of people.
I also have a LowePro stealth backpack but it was to big and unprofessional looking. So I bought the Urban Disguise 50. I am surprised at how much I like it. I can fit my 15 inch MacBook Pro, Sony audio recorder, Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8 Vr, Tokina 28-70mm f/2.8, Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8, Nikon SB800 Flash, Nikon D2x and Nikon D3.
I like the fact it looks like a professional travel bag and not a camera bag. It fits in great in the business environment.

Ps. I still blame Michael for me buying a D3. :) It is an awesome machine. I am glad I did it.

[Scott R.]

OMG! - As my daughter would say. I just got the full pro account on SmugMug for 50% off and that is cheap! Other companies might have little tricks in there when making such a generous discount, but not the Smug! When I was listening to the offer in the podcast I started getting real excited right then. I sure do appreciate you guys getting this to us. I sure really enjoyed the whole show you did! Keep up the great work.

[Stewart from Australia]

Hi Scott & Michael - Another great show. I signed up for the Camera strap and it seemed to work fine.

We have Target here in Australia but I'm pretty sure that they aren't doing the "camera is the gift certificate" promotion. Just as well, this reviewer wasn't too impressed ...

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=svZ2M3j8ewk

Can't wait for the CS4 competition!

Keep up the good work ...

Stewart

[Fakhra (UAE)]

Great episod.
Enjoyed the interviews.
Keep up the great work

[Bryen Ford]

Great show. I was looking to move my web store to another host and after playing with Smugmug I'm hooked. Now I just need the time to pull everything over LOL..

Thanks for the great deal.
Bryen

[stefan]

Enjoyed this episode a lot, i ran across Jeff's site when getting into photowalking. His efforts and those of Thomas Hawks, Sobleizer and Marc Silber gave me so much inspiration. Meanwhile i'm running a project on photowalking in the Munich-area together with a friend - you may check it out under www.photowalkingmunich.de - and guess what it turns out to be rather successful and SO MUCH FUN!
Thanks to you guys again for being a massive resource of inspiration to so many people!

CU
Stefan

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