Show Notes for Digital Photography Life #8: Digital Photography Secrets with Rick Sammon

Digital photography secrets are yours to learn with today's guest, Rick Sammon, who comes on to tell us all about his new book called, um, Digital Photography Secrets.

• What lighting secret that artists have used since the Renaissance can you start using today, no matter what kind of equipment you have? 
• What is the sharpest f-stop on the lens of your  DSLR (it's not what you'd think)?
• What can we learn from psychologists about how to take more appealing portraits?

These secrets - and more - are revealed by the always-interesting and inspiring Rick Sammon.

The answer to this week's giveaway can be found on this page at Amazon.com. Send your answers to us at dplcontests@gmail.com, and we will pick THREE lucky listeners to receive a copy of Digital Photography Secrets. But wait - there's more! If you want to go ahead and buy Digital Photography Secrets today, you don't have to wait. If you're lucky enough to win our contest, Rick will give you another of his great books as a prize. That's just the way Rick rolls.

Before Rick joins us, Michael and I answer listener Mark's question about whether or not Nikon has a line of lenses comparable to Canon's L series, and we express our excitement about the latest version of iPhoto. 

SmugMug is our favorite site for sharing and - should you chose to accept this assignment - selling your photos. SmugMug has two fantastic offers just for our listeners:

• 50% off your SmugMug service at any level (enter code "Flickr" at checkout). This is a fantastic discount and you should take advantage of it in time to share your holiday photos!
• A free camera strap to any listener of Digital Photography Life: This one is just crazy. A high-quality camera strap that replaces the neck-slicing piece of canvas that your camera's manufacturer condescended to include with your DSLR. Get your freebie here. 

Have you checked out the entries for our photo contest, The Joy of Photography? You can see them, as well as shots from me and Michael, on our SmugMug site. You can find all the rules for how to enter the contest on the notes for Episode Six here. 

The Grand Prize Winner of our Joy of Photography contest will receive a terrific camera bag from ThinkTankPhoto: You get to pick which one fits your needs. Either:

• An Urban Disguise 40, which will hold more gear than you ever imagined, such as a wide angle lens with a hood attached, a 24-70 2.8 with the hood, a 70 -200 2.8 with the hood reversed, AND two pro-size SLR’s in the expandable front pockets (without the lenses attached). The beauty of the Urban Disguise line is that you won't look like you're carrying equipment, making yourself a lot less interesting to unsavory urbanites like me, OR
• An Airport International V2.0: Designed for International carry-on, this roller provides advanced security features and peace of mind. Front security cable & combination lock allows you to lock a laptop to the front of your roller. Th is very effective when you are traveling with a laptop case stored in the front stretch pocket The included security lock allows you to lock it to immovable objects, and is very effective when you have to leave your gear for a period of time in a media room, wedding hall, hotel room, or other open area. It holds two pro-size DSLR's, as well as a bunch of other lenses and accessories. If all your equipment won't fit in this bag, you're doing a lot better than me and Michael.

Thanks and always for listening, and an extra huge thanks for all the kind reviews on iTunes. We really appreciate it. 
 

Comments

[Paul M.]

Another GREAT show guys - Congrats!

Any chance anyone knows a link to the pants and vest Rick Sammon was talking about?

[Tony]

cool shows, awsome your regular again.

Just one thing thats a little frustrating is the different volume of the podcast and teh really loud intro to smugmug, sorry if it is meant to be that way.

Tony

[Scott Sherman]

Thanks for the feedback, Paul and Tony.

Rick Sammon liked the Ex Officio line - they don't market their gear as for photographers, but don't be put off. The company is known for lightweight, travel-friendly and climate-controlled apparel. Check out the vests under "outerwear" http://www.exofficio.com/default.aspx.

Paul, Michael's working on keeping us on level. I'll pass this along.

[Paul M.]

THANKS for the info Scott - I'll check it out!

[Michael GW Stein]

I've been working on the audio issue. GarageBand has a feature called "Normalize" which is supposed to make the low audio higher and make it even overall. I just turned it off and exported the show without the Normalization and suddenly it is louder. Hmmm. Very strange.

It still needs to be normalized, however. I am running it through Audacity and see how that compares to all the other versions I have. I am not sure if I can replace the current version, but at the very least we should have this addressed for future shows.

Thanks a lot for bringing this to our attention.

--Michael

[Stewart]

Hi guy's,

Have just downloaded to episode 8 and will listen to it at the earliest opportunity. One question though ... Was the draw for a copy of Photoshop CS4 ever made from the content back in episode 3?

cheers
Stewart

[Juan V]

A good resource when considering lenses for Canon, Nikon, Pentax or Sony cameras is Photozone (photozone.de). The reviews are very complete and unbiased. They may be a little too technical, but at the end I find the answer about how good a lens is or not. It has helped me a lot to decide if the lens I'm considering to buy is worth buying. I like this information better than consumer reviews about how sharp or good in general a lens is. For me, consumer reviews only tell me about mechanical problems or big problems of the lens, but not much about distorsion, vignetting, etc.

[Tom B.]

Scott & Michael,

While there's no easy way to determine the equivalent of an L lens on Nikon glass by the lens name, you can tell pro series Nikon glass by looking at it. Pro glass on Nikon has a thin gold band around the lens hood end of the lens. (Third party glass for Nikon usually follows the same convention).

Thanks for all your work on putting out this great podcast!

Peace,
Tom

[Pam]

Really enjoy your show and the contests are great. I have tried smugmug for the 2 week trial and I think with the discount I am going to sign up for 1 year. Thanks Pam

[Ray Rippel]

Could somone post the name of the book that Mr. Sammons recommended during the podcast that dealt with how the eye is drawn to certain shapes, etc? I know I could re-listen to the podcast, but I'm hoping someone knows it. Thanks for the great shows!

[Jared fein]

Thought you guys fell off the face of the earth. Thank goodness for Google. I have missed you wit and excellent discussions during my daily commute and wish you many more years of great podcasting!

[Sharon]

Haven't had time to catch up on the latest podcasts but wanted to say thanks to you and Smugmug for the cool camera strap. Arrived today. Very impressed that it was shipped all the way to NZ for Free. Thanks again :)

[stefan]

Hi Scott, hi Michael,

i'm glad that you're back on track with podcasting, i missed you very much. It took me a while to figure out that you found a new "home" for your podcasting project.
I informed the readers of my blog in the following little article about the changes and where they can find you now:

http://fotos.neuweger.com/2009/01/10/psc-digital-photography-life/

Keep up the good work!

Cheerz!
Stefan

[Stewart]

My SmugMug strap arrived here in Newcastle, Australia today.

Thanks very much SmugMug! ...

[jstephen]

Just a quick note...
Got my Smug Mug Photo strap and I was very very impressed for a Free Product"

Great to hear you guys on the podcast scene again.

Go Sony!

[Alex]

You guys have got to stop getting your guests to recommend stuff before I go broke. BTW, I'm liking my Exoffico vest.

[jackie]

I am so glad you guys are back! No I did not know you were back!
I have a new iphone and somehow I downloaded several digital photography podcast and got you! hahahaha

I am so excited!!
Yes I subscribed...
Yes, I submitted a question back 2008 about the dye sub printer! I wanted Mitsubishi Cp3800. I got it and it paid for itself... The machine was $1900 and I made $2540 in two events!
Thanks Michael and Scott!

oh, my site is still under construction!

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