May 14 2010

Underwater Photography Resources and The World’s Greatest Juggler

Category: Online Resources, Photographers, Viewpoint — Ethan G. Salwen @ 6:55 pm

AfterCapture Blog_100514_Underwater_aI had a great talk today with Eric Cheng, a fantastic underwater photographer, the driving force behind WetPixel.com, and the publisher of “Wetpixel Quarterly” magazine. I am researching an article on how photographers can best embrace the possibilities of video, and the tech-savvy, video-embracing Cheng offered great insights on the topic.

If you are at all interested in underwater photography, definitely check out Cheng’s stunning images.

WetPixel.com is the a fantastic online community of underwater photographers — articles and forums galore — and a must-visit resource if you are dedicated to (or just thinking about) making images underwater. Very, very cool.

AfterCapture Blog_100514_Underwater_1

What’s all this have to do with juggling?

“I would say that the YouTube community is extremely toxic,” Cheng emphasized to me when he was weighing in on whether photographers should host videos on YouTube.com or Vimeo.com. “People are really nasty on YouTube. Someone is always going to come and write something nasty.” Cheng explained that, inevitably, more negative responses follow, and “big wars” get started.

Continue reading “Underwater Photography Resources and The World’s Greatest Juggler”

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Mar 24 2010

Introducing the dpBestflow.org Blog

Category: Online Resources, Technology Insights — Ethan G. Salwen @ 1:49 pm

AfterCapture_Blog_100324_dpBestflow_blog_1In December I told you about the launch of dpBestflow.org, an amazing online learning resource for best practices covering all aspects of digital imaging for professional photographers. This week dpBestflow.org launched a blog, and you’ll very likely want to add it to your RSS feeds.

As project director Richard Anderson explains in the blog’s first post, the dpBestflow.org blog will “answer frequently asked questions we hear at the dpBestflow seminars,” “share interesting articles, websites, forum discussions and events,” and help us “discover what is on the site.”

This last point is particularly important.

The content of dpBestflow.org is extremely well organized. However, the scope of topics is so massive that it is hard to appreciate just how amazing this learning resource is.

The dpBestflow.org blog offers a new “front door” to dpBestflow.org content for busy photographers, directing us to the areas within the site of greatest interest to our specific needs.

Anderson told me that a number of contributors will be writing for the blog, making frequent posts. Sweet!

Welcome to the blogosphere, dpBestflow.org!

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Mar 08 2010

Black Star Rising: An Amazing (Not-Just-PJ) Photo Resource

Category: Online Resources, The Industry — Ethan G. Salwen @ 1:30 pm

AfterCapture_Blog_100308_BlackStarRising_1Sure, you know that “Black Star” equates to photojournalism, but did you know that Black Star hosts a Web Site stuffed full of truly valuable information for working photographers of all manner?

Well, I didn’t, and it’s my job to know. But (not that I should look for excuses!), perhaps my oversight of “Back Star Rising” (the Web site resource in question) came from the fact that photojournalists often seem so “out there” from what the rest of photographers are doing.

In any case, you don’t need this post to find the value in “Black Star Rising.” Just head on over there and take a gander.

If I’m assuming to much about your knowledge of Black Star, let me share a bit of the agency’s history, as explained by the site:

“The list of those who in the early years signed a contract with Black Star reads like a Who’s Who of photojournalism in the following decades: Walter Bosshard, Robert Capa, Ralph Crane, Herbert Gehr, Fritz Goro, Andreas Feininger, Ernst Haas and Philippe Halsmann, to name but a few.”

“According to photo historian Marianne Fulton, Life brought Black Star 30 to 40 per cent of its business. Black Star, in turn, contributed to Life becoming the most popular magazine in America for nearly three decades, with tens of millions of readers.”

You can see why I equated Black Star to photojournalism. And you will certainly see why Black Star Rising rises far beyond the needs of photojournalists alone. Here are a few recent blog posts:

• “Writing Your Photography Marketing Plan: Setting Goals.” By Matthew Kauffmann.

• “Get Trippy with Black-Light Photography.” By Jeff Wignall.

• “Eye on Image-Making: Sales Is Not a Four-Letter Word.” By David Weintraub.

This is good stuff!

AfterCapture_Blog_100308_BlackStarRising_2Regular categories include: Advice for Clients, Art of Photography, Business of Photography, Photography Law, Photojournalism, Stock Photography, Teaching Photography, Video and Multimedia, Video Blog Posts.

This is good stuff!

Did Black Star Get a Rise Out of You?

Presuming your not a photojournalist and also presuming that you ran to check out “Black Star Rising,” let me know what you think. Do you like the site? How does it relate to your specialty?

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Jan 12 2010

Learn Stock Photography Strategies from Jack Hollingsworth

Category: Business & Marketing, Online Resources — Ethan G. Salwen @ 1:33 pm

Today, Jack Hollingsworth posted a Twitter poll asking, “How many of you Photographers have a physical portfolio (besides your website/blogsite)?” It’s a good question, and it motivated me to check out Hollingsworth’s Web site. There I found a work-in-progress featuring just two videos:

• “See The World” is a snappy portfolio piece featuring gobs of Hollingsworth’s images that zip by with quick pans and lively music. You won’t really see “the world,” but you will certainly a great example of how a large body of work (a photographer’s overall style) can be presented quickly.

See The World from jackhollingsworth on Vimeo.

• In “Coming Soon” Hollingsworth speaks directly to us to explain what’s going on with his site. He shares that he is currently building a totally new site that will be part-free and part-subscription based. The four topics he will focus on are stock photography, lifestyle photography, Continue reading “Learn Stock Photography Strategies from Jack Hollingsworth”

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Jan 11 2010

Find Critical Metadata Knowledge at PhotoMetadata.org

Category: Online Resources, Technology Insights, Workflow & DAM — Ethan G. Salwen @ 10:30 am

ACB_100111_1_Photometadata.orgToday I heard from David Riecks, one of the industry’s leading experts on metadata issues. He informed me that he is working to figure out how social media sites are handling photographic metadata. (Stripping out all, some or none.) Clearly this is a critical issue. To learn more, check out Riecks’s “Photometadata.org” blog post of December 3 on the topic:

“Do Social Media Websites Preserve Photo Metadata?”

ACB_100111_3_Photometadata.orgHearing from Riecks motivated me to check out at Photometadata.org, which was not up and running the last time I wrote extensively on metadata topics. I strongly suggest you take a quick look at this important resource site and note how it can help in your specific metadata learning curve.

Photometadata.org is a comprehensive, valuable online learning resource for both quick reference and deeper background learning and in includes how-to tutorials in PDF and video formats. Essential links are listed.

Back in May 2008, in this blog, I reported on some metadata fundamentals in Continue reading “Find Critical Metadata Knowledge at PhotoMetadata.org”

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Dec 29 2009

The Most Essential Web Site for Professional Photographers

Category: Online Resources — Ethan G. Salwen @ 10:32 am

ACOF_091229_Top 1_1Actually, Jeana Lee Tahnk lists five essential Web sites for pro photographers in her post yesterday on “Mashable.” It’s a thoughtful list, covering lots of critical ground. The limit of five sites is a nice touch, forcing her to zero in and get rid of all the clutter that comes from a list of 20 or 100, or even 10.

Ms. Tahnk gives us:

1. LiveBooks. (Web site creation.)

2. ShootQ. (Web-based studio management solution.)

3. Animoto. (Auotomated video creation.)

4. LicenseStream. (Image license creation and tracking.)

5. LabPrints. (Linking pros photographers to pro labs.)

The thing is, while some photographers might rely on all these sites, other pros will have no need a single one. After all, we all have very different needs, even when we share the same exact specialty. This is the conundrum of recommending Web site resources for photographers. It also brings me to the question that is the purpose of this post:

Survey Asks. . .

What is the single, most essential Web site for your professional photography?

Sure, I know. You can’t limit it to one. It’s like picking your favorite movie or book. So just share a site that would definitely, definitely be on your Top Ten list.

Anything goes! The site can be one you highly recommend to others, or one that only relates to your unique needs. I’m definitely curious, and looking forward to exploring great photography sites I’m overlooking.

Be sure to let us all know what your photographic specialty is and exactly why this site is so valuable to you.

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Dec 09 2009

Got a Burning Photo Question? Ask the Net

Category: Online Resources — Ethan G. Salwen @ 7:13 am

ACOF_091209_1_varkcomAccording to tech guru David Pogue — and this is one tech guru I really trust — Vark.com just might offer professional photographers the single best way to answer any niggling image making question, fast and with authority. Topic questions answered include anything related to on location issues, in camera issues, during postproduction issues, with client issues, in your kitchen curiosities, with your car problems. . .

Okay, I know. Kitchen curiosities and car problems are not necessarily related to “image making,” but Vark.com is a service that hooks you up directly with an expert in any field imaginable. That expert then answers your query with an answer just for you — not as with the blanket ask/response services provided by answers.yahoo.com or answerbag.com.

As Pogue explains:

Last week, I stumbled upon a new, better way to harness the Net for answers: Vark.com. You send your question to Aardvark (the full name of the service) using a chat program like Continue reading “Got a Burning Photo Question? Ask the Net”

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Dec 03 2009

dpBestflow.org: An Amazing, New Digital Imaging Resource

Category: Online Resources, Photoshop & Lightroom, Technology Insights, The Industry, Workflow & DAM — Ethan G. Salwen @ 3:43 pm

ACOF_091203_1_bestflowThere is a new digital imaging online reference and educational resource of which all photographers should be aware. Launched on November 11, dpBestflow.org aims to be the single most authorative site for digital imaging best practices and workflow strategies, and even if “the best” is subjective, the immense value of this site can’t be denied.

Free to all — with no log on required — dbBestflow.org was created by photographers for photographers, and was made possible with major financial backing from the Library of Congress.

Developed with the clear vision and leadership of Richard Anderson, photographer and digital standards expert, dpBestflow.org is presented in a clean, intelligent design that is intuitive to navigate. However, it takes some exploration to Continue reading “dpBestflow.org: An Amazing, New Digital Imaging Resource”

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Nov 24 2009

Photoshop Border Drawing, But Not Much Else at “eHow”

Category: Online Resources, Viewpoint — Ethan G. Salwen @ 6:42 pm
Sounds promissing. Not worth the visit.

Sounds promissing. Not worth the visit.

Thanks to Virginia DeBolt I’m a little less retarded than I was yesterday, but unfortunately, “eHow” is not going to help me get much brighter.

Kudos to DeBolt for helping me (once again, damnit!) figure out the incredibly simple Photoshop task that I don’t do often, and that I just can’t get stuck my dense head: how to draw a simple rule around an image. I needed to do so for my post yesterday, and (damnit!) I couldn’t.

I know, I know. I’m dense. But being dense, I got all excited when a Google search lead me to the community-driven website, eHow, that promises answers — in text and video tutorials — to “How To Do Just About Everything.” I was excited because Continue reading “Photoshop Border Drawing, But Not Much Else at “eHow””

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Nov 03 2009

Learning All About The Amazing DNG

Category: AfterCapture & Rangefinder Articles, Online Resources, Technology Insights, Workflow & DAM — Ethan G. Salwen @ 3:20 pm

AC_Blog_091103_1In my last post I featured the nifty “DNG Recover Edges” and made the point that it only works on DNGs. I discovered this nifty, free application while researching my column for the latest October/November 2009 issue of AfterCapture. In “Catching Up with the Amazing DNG” I celebrate how far the DNG has come in five years, since it was publicly announced by Adobe on September 27, 2004.

If you would appreciate a little background information on the DNG or to better understand how this amazing file format continues to pick up steam in its march towards a universal standard, give my piece a read. It’s based in large part by conversations with Adobe’s Tom Hogarty and digital workflow guru Peter Krogh.

Both touched on some pretty heady technical developments about the DNG, which were both hard to understand and even harder to communicate. However, both Hogarty and Krogh insisted that what really matters Continue reading “Learning All About The Amazing DNG”

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