Hi %%First Name%%,

It's been a busy month around Photo.net. We've got two great new (and long-awaited) site features, out first successful "monthly project", a new Editors' Pick article and we are working on a new subscriber benefit that should be really neat for a lot of our users (shhhh! It's still a big secret. Look for the release next month). Also, in a bit of serious business, I pass on a little warning about scammers in the Photo.net Classifieds.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please send them to me directly at contact@photo.net. Enjoy the newsletter!

Sincerely,

Josh Root

Photo.net Director of Community

In This Month's Issue:

• Photo of the Week
• Classifieds SCAM Warning
• New Site Features: TRP & Gallery search navigation, "More from this user" integration
• Featured Member Photographer: Todd Laffler: Child Photographer
• Interesting Forum Threads: Nikon, Wedding, & Casual Conversations
• Project of the Month: Slow Shutter
• Editor's Picks: Children's Portrait Photos

Current Photo Of The Week

for the week of 04.14.08

By Jingna Zhang

Classifieds Scammer Warning

Over the years, tens of thousands of items have been bought and sold through the Photo.net Classifieds with no problems for buyer or seller. However, from time to time we do get scammers targeting our members through the classified ads on the site.

The scams come in one of two methods. The first is that a Photo.net user will post an item for sale and the scammer will send them an email offering to buy the item. The other, less common, method is that the scammer will place a "Want to Buy" (WTB) ad and wait for other users to contact them. In either case, the scams usually have some combination of the following in common:

-Very few questions asked about the item

-Bad English used in the email

-A need for a very quick shipment. Reasons may include that they are leaving for a trip of some sort.

-A request to have a courier or private shipper pick up the item to be shipped.

-An offer to pay via Bank Check. Usually with more than the asking price. The difference is to be given to their "shipper" who will pick up the package.

-A requirement to ship to a foreign country.

Just remember, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is too good to be true. Always insist on official money orders or paypal transactions, hold all checks until you are SURE the money has been deposited in your bank (this can take up to 2 weeks or more in the USA), and be especially suspicious of foreign bank checks. Anytime you receive an email of this nature, you should forward it onto the complaint address in the email or to contact@photo.net. This helps us get rid of bogus accounts before they have a chance to cause anyone real problems.

Improved Top Rated Photos & Gallery search Navigation

Check out the Photo.net Top Rated Photos and Gallery Search areas. Now with 100% easier navigation!

You will notice the "[first page] [previous page]" and "[next page] [last page]" buttons along with page number buttons to skip ahead a few pages at a time. This should allow users to easily browse deeply into the massive stack of photos that we've got here at photo.net.

"More photos by [Your Name]" thumbnails on gallery image pages

If you go to any single image page in your gallery, you will now see a "more
photos by <your name>" box on the right side next to the comments. There will be three thumbnail images picked randomly from your portfolio. There will also be a text link to your full portfolio.

The purpose of this is to encourage viewers to dig deeper into photo.net portfolios. A user might have come to your image page via a google search, or an image you placed in the critique forum, or by a link sent to them by a friend. What we want to do is to help give them a reason to view more of your images. The photographers on Photo.net have some great images and we want to help them get viewed. [More]

Featured Member Photographer: Todd Laffler

Children are some of the most difficult human photographic subjects that a photographer will encounter. For one thing, while they may have fascinating personalities just like any adult, they never ever seem to stop moving and do not take direction well. In addition, there is always the "too close to your subject" trap that many photographers fall into when making images of children they are close to. When you love a child, you are more likely to be looking at images of that child with your heart's eye and not your photographic eye. Making images that show a child's personality and still are well-rounded images in a photographic sense is a large challenge, one that this month's featured member excels at mastering.

"What interests me about child photography is that you never truly know what kinds of images you are going to come home with. That's exciting to me. Every child is so different and unique that they always manage to keep me guessing as to what they might do next. The real challenge is to be ready for when something happens because you can safely bet that it will be fleeting. For the lack of a better description, I feel adults are somewhat hard wired already. They are predictable. They also have a pretty definite idea about their self image. They are hyper sensitive to their visual "flaws", and seem to obsess about them. I always hear things like, "can you photoshop my wrinkles out, photograph me from above because I have a double chin, this is my good side, can you make me look thin" etc. Most children haven't learned this yet." -Todd Laffler

Read More »

Samples from the member's portfolio:

View Todd's Entire Portfolio »

What's Happening In Our Forums

• Nikon (30+ Responses) Which two lenses for travel?
• Wedding & Social Event (19+ Responses) What equipment to take to family wedding?
• Casual Conversations (10+ Responses) Generalist vs Specialist?

Go To Photo.net Forums »

Project Of The Month: Slow Shutter

For many people, photography is all about freezing a moment of time. 1/30, 1/500, or even 1/8000 of a second. But what about the power of capturing 1/4, 1/2, or even 5 whole seconds of time?

Slow shutter speeds give photographers a world of creative opportunities. Huge depth of field with small apertures for landscape photography, smooth flowing water in a image of a stream, or light streaks left by dragging the shutter when handholding, all are interesting techniques made possible by slow shutter speeds. This month, try going out with the plan to shoot a series of slow shutter speed images. Then visit the "Monthly Photo Project " page and submit your best image. You can also find a link to that page from the "community" dropdown menu at the top of any Photo.net page.

Also, be sure to take a look at last month's "Global Moment" project page and see what photo.net users were doing on April 5, 15:00UTC.

Editors' Picks

Children's Portraits

Samples: