As Luckie writes in “Easy solutions to web production’s most common problems”:

“In my role as multimedia producer for California Watch and in other newsrooms where I’ve worked, I am frequently approached by reporters to help them with web-related issues. Often it’s how to post content on the web, how to edit something. . .”

Luckie goes on to very briefly answer a number of critical questions, pointing to a lot of cool online resources.

Sure, you might be a Photoshop wiz, but maybe you’re on the road and just need a simple, online solution to resizing an image. That’s when it would be good to know about the “free online tool Resizr“?

Other, non-photo-specific answers by Luckie will likely prove even more valuable and, just as important, keep your mind open to the increasing options in (easy) web production.

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!

Regular 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?

• “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, portrait photography and travel photography.

Clearly, Hollingsworth, an established player in the stock industry, is ramping up new services to help other photographers make more money from their images. Hollingsworth offers a good sales pitch, and so I wrote him (as he requests) to sign up for notification of when his new site launches. I’m looking forward to it.

Hollingswoth is a Twitter maniac (nearly 1,000 tweets to nearly 12,000 followers), and he provides excellent photography links and re-tweets as well as observations about the the industry in relation to New Media. Check him out (PhotoJack) and consider becoming a fan.

In a April 16, 2008, post by Chris Ferrone on “About the Image” I found this observation from Hollingsworth:

“ironically, never before in the industry of photography has there been a more insatiable appetite for pictures.  so there is still plenty of money to be made.  and opportunities to exploit.  but the spoils will go to the new heroes, not necessarily the old guard.  those who have ears to hear and eyes to see.  those who can adapt, reinvent, change, and challenge the conventional wisdom of how images are brought to the world.”

I appreciate Hollingsworth’s attitude about licensing images: challenges are greater than every but so are the opportunities — for those who can reinvent themselves in the evolving landscape.

If you are interested in marketing your images through stock, Hollingsworth might be able to lend some support. Consider investigating Jack Hollingsworth’s World. To receive notification of his new site’s launch, write him at jack@jackhollingsworth.com.

Coming Soon… from jackhollingsworth on Vimeo.

“Do Social Media Websites Preserve Photo Metadata?”

Hearing 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 my post, “The Big, Scary Metadata Crisis (And How To Address It).” I referenced an in-depth article that I wrote on the topic for AfterCapture: “Basic Metadata: Don’t Process Without It.”

The post and the article (written with great support from Riecks) are still valuable, but Photometadata.org is simply much more robust in terms of content — a resource I could not recommend at the time of writing.

“It’s time we all got meta-smart,” reads text on Photometadata.org, which sponsored by the Stock Artists Alliance (SAA) as part of their  SAA Photo Metadata Project, which is supported by the Library of Congress.

I agree that we all need to get meta-smart — and keep getting smart about metadata. I imagine that you are already doing your best to add basic metadata to all your files. (That would be: your name, your contact information and the copyright status of your image.) But even if you are, as Riecks’s investigation into social media issues proves, metadata is a moving target. To help keep moving with this critical target, be sure to check out Photometadata.org.

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.

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 Google Talk/Gmail Chat, AIM, MSN or Yahoo Messenger (an iPhone app is coming soon), where you’ve added Aardvark as a buddy. You can also send a question by e-mail to aardvark@vark.com or on Twitter. At the moment, you have to have a Facebook account before you can get started; that’s how Aardvark gets its initial idea of your social network.

I stumbled upon this tantalizing insight in Pogue’s “Got a Burning Question? Ask the Net” post, featured on the Person Tech section of The New York Times.

If you have image making questions (you do) and you have a good online social network (you might), you really should check out Pogue’s post, and then try out Vark.com. Really.

The reason I encourage you to check Vark.com before I’ve tested it out myself is three-fold: #1: I just found out about it, and I just had to pass this info fast, #2: The usefulness of Vark.com, it seems, depends on the richness of one’s online social network, and #3: I’d like you to report back on your experience — for all of us.

My online social network is okay, but I’ve got very little happening with FaceBook — where, as Pogue says, Vark.com starts to go to work for. So your Vark.com experience might be much better than mine.

On the other hand, maybe Vark.com really only pays off in spades for someone like Pogue, who has, um, 3,367 FaceBook amigos. So, the Vark.com photographic experience is rich with potential but the quality of that experience will totally depend who’s using it and how– like all good things in life, no?

In any case, I’ll be checking out Vark.com, and you should do so also — especially if you your FaceBook friends are many, and many of those are photographers.

(If not, like me, you might want to use Vark.com as motivation to expand your FaceBook social net. I bet Pogue will say yes to all of us!)

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 really appreciate the full scope of what the site has to offer.

You might scoff at the notion that dpBestflow.org can live up to the claim on the homepage it can be “your resource for nearly anything you want to know about digital photography.” But pay careful attention to the “for nearly anything” qualifier — which really is quite broad — and trust that dpBestflow.org is in no way trying to supplant the masses of valuable information already on the Web.

DpBestflow.org is meant to provide an authoritative base of critical, often misunderstood, information. This includes everything from a rock-solid, broadly-accepted glossary of digital imaging terminology to videos featuring the ins and outs of best practices in digital workflow.

All of this information can (and is designed to) be used by all professional photographers in the ways that work best for them.

As Anderson explained to me, what makes dpBestflow.org unique is that it was built with the desire to provide a base level of critical, consistent information that cuts across all photographic specialties and unique photographer approaches. Anderson noted that most educational resources focus on one style of approaching photography with a limited number of programs.

For example, Anderson said there are loads of resources for wedding photographers working in Lightroom. But what about the wedding photographers who are not working in Lightroom, or the photojournalists who want to start? Through dpBestflow.org, Anderson and his team have focused on addressing the underlying concerns facing all photographers.

Given this, the dpBestflow.org content is more heady stuff than quick answers or basic how-tos, which certainly are important. dpBestflow.org is the kind of “teach you to fish” educational resource, and it does so with an exceptional level of authority.

To my way of thinking, dpBestflow.org seems like a gift to the entire industry. And, actually, that is exactly what it is supposed to be, and exactly why the Library of Congress has funded it.

I strongly suggest you take dpBestflow.org for a thoughtful test ride. I think you’ll discover a truly unique and truly spectacular resource that you will find immensely valuable for your specific needs. Your needs might “merely” require an occasional and authoritative reference guide, or you might be looking to rework your workflow strategies from the ground up. DpBestflow.org can help with both — and everything in the middle.

DpBestflow.org is broken into two major sections. “Best Practices” is fundamentally a resource on the “whats” of digital imaging technology, while “Workflow” focuses on providing strategies on how to put that information into practice.

To understand exactly what a keyword is, including topics such as “hierarchical keywords” and “controlled vocabulary,” head to the “Keywording” section, which is in the “Metadata” section of “Best Practices.” In the “Workflow” section, these keywording concepts will come up in the “Optimized Image Workflow,” which is one of the ideal workflows featured, all illuminated with lucid text, excellent illustrations and fantastic videos.

To get the best sense of the value of dpBestflow.org, I suggest you focus your assessment of the site by trying to find answers to one or two specific, real-life questions you have right now.

Once you’ve put dpBestflow.org to the test using real questions, let me know what you think. I’m in touch Anderson and some of the other forces behind dpBestflow.org, and they are definitely seeking constructive feedback as to continue to refine this amazing resource.

On behalf of the entire photo industry, I thank the entire dpBestflow.org team!!

Gail Mooney offers some thoughtful and encouraging answers the most recent article for “Insight,” the online newsletter of Adbase. In her article, “How to Expand Your Business with Video,” Mooney touches on her own history in photo/video,  offers up some important (and common) pitfalls to avoid and touches on the importance of collaboration. Most important, however, is her clear focus on the importance of vision

“Defining yourself by your tool just doesn’t work,” Mooney writes. “The problem is that if we define ourselves by our tools, then we are diminishing the value of our creativity in the process. We aren’t placing the value on what is unique in all of us: our vision.”

And how.

To get a better sense of how Mooney applies her photographic vision to her video making, check out her “Journey’s of a Hybrid” blog, started to explore these very ideas. The “hybrid” relates to how Mooney sees herself first and foremost as storyteller, with the tool — still camera, video, audio, Whatever — just being a means to an end.

The last part is the nifty part. To recover hidden edge pixels, you simply drop a DNG file on the icon for the free “DNG Recover Edges” application, and zap. . . you now have more pixels that you work with in that DNG.

You can get said free “DNG Recover Edges” at the said Luminous Landscape article (or simply by clicking here).

You can thank Photoshop legend Thomas Knoll for thinking up, writing and offering for free this neat little app.

Notice that I said “drop a DNG file” and not “drop any raw file.” That’s because it’s only possible to recover edge pixels DNGs, which is yet another reason why this file format rocks so hard.

No, this is not Richard Anderson. But it is one of his images.

Photographer, digital standards expert and photography community activist Richard Anderson is incredibly mild mannered — definitely easy to miss in the massive crowds of PhotoPlus Expo, but definitely worth tracking down to see face-to-face. That’s what I did last Thursday, borrowing a cell phone from Judy Herrmann (Thanks, Judy. My cheap, three-year-old Argentine cell phone is no iPhone), and meeting up with Anderson to shoot the breeze in person, which we hadn’t done in two years.

I talk to Anderson fairly often, as he is always incredibly generous with his time and knowledge, and he provides me information to improve my reporting, and also acts as a sounding board on the issues most important to cover.

As the driving force behind dpBestflow.org, the co-author of Digital Photography Best Practices and Workflow Handbook and the princial author of UPDIG, Anderson knows a heck of lot about all things related to the broad, critical topic of digital best practices — from in-camera exposure to final file hand-off.

The thing is, such a statement makes Anderson sound like an über geek. OK, I guess in some sense Anderson is an über geek. But, he is a lot more interested in making images than in discussing technical fine points, and only does the latter to help him do the former. And the former he does with creative passion, having achieved great success as a working photographer.

For the October/November 2009 issue of AfterCapture I wrote “Richard Anderson: Bringing Passion to Best Practices.” I wanted to share the human and creative sides behind the nerdier sides of Anderson. I also wanted to share the passion behind the man who you wouldn’t notice at PhotoPlus if you didn’t know him, but who is doing so very much for the photography community as a whole. In my article I highlight that while Anderson has always been obsessed with adding efficiency to his obsession with image making, he’s not interested in the nerdy stuff for the sake of nerdy stuff.

I think photographers will find Anderson’s personal and professional journey to success of great interest. I also think it is important to get to know some of the people having such a deep impact on the evolving landscape of photographic practices. Anderson doesn’t promote his own “brand” very aggressively, but what his is doing is helping many of us every day, directly with what he wrote for UPDIG, indirectly with the positive ripple effects that come from that document.

In May, Anderson was awarded the 2009 International Photographic Council (IPC) Photographer Leadership Award for his volunteer work on UPIG as well as for securing funds from the Library of Congress for the dpBestflow.org project. This is great and appropriate, and relates to why I referred to Anderson as a “photography community activist.” That’s a strange label, but by it I mean: Anderson is driven to help us all, trying to create greater understanding and clearer exchanges of knowledge. This is what he did with that UPDIG, and this is what he is taking to a new level with dbBestflow.org.

Dpbestfow.org is schedule to go live in about a week and when it does (I’ll let you know), I think you’ll appreciate what Anderson is doing for us all, even as he remains primarily committed to his family, his own photography and, of course, his cycling. (The man is a serious rider, and I didn’t mention that in the article.

To learn more about the man behind the digital guidance, check out “Richard Anderson: Bringing Passion to Best Practices.”