Photo.net Newsletter: December 16, 2009

Hi %%First Name%%,

Oh happy days. The rush, the thrill, the joy of buying. Whether you’re shopping for the Holidays, donating to worthy charities, stocking up on champagne for your annual New Year’s Eve party, or buying end-of-the-year expensive gifts for yourself for tax write-off purposes, December is an exciting month. If you haven’t yet, take a look at the Photo.net Holiday Gift Guide for some ideas on how you can spend your hard-earned money.

I personally can’t wait till January when I can curl up with a great book (how about Harold Davis’ latest book The Photoshop Darkroom [Focal Press], or Practical HDR by David Nightingale [Focal Press]—note: all Focal Press books are currently 20% off for Photo.net members, use code “photonet” at checkout). I also have a bunch of creative photography projects and post-processing experiments on hold, as I’m waiting for a quiet weekend to fully develop those ideas. Until then, let’s carry on in the Holiday and end-of-year madness!

This month’s editorial newsletter highlights this year’s Holiday Gift Guide full of recommendations on photography gifts arranged by price (many suggestions contributed by our members), multimedia photography applications, wedding photography workshop overview, basic photography knowledge, creative photography tips and advice, and equipment reviews. We also feature products from Adorama, community discussions, the POW, and a new Editors’ Picks: Travel Photography.

To continue the conversation, visit our Forums, Photo.net Blog, Facebook Page, and Twitter Feed.

As always, if you have any questions or suggestions, please send them to us directly at contact@photo.net. Enjoy the newsletter!

Sincerely,

Hannah Thiem

Photo.net Managing Editor

Editorial Highlights

This month, we’re showcasing the Photo.net Holiday Gift Guide, a guide to creating Rich Media Narratives by Jay Kinghorn; a new Creativity in the Photoshop Darkroom tutorial by Harold Davis; an entertaining synopsis of a wedding photography workshop by Theano Nikitas, a review of the Nikon D300S by Shun Cheung, a review of the Canon Powershot G11 and the Canon 18-135mm lens.

Photo.net Holiday Gift Guide 2009

This is it. The Holidays are next week, so we hope you already have your orders placed or your shopping completed for those photography enthusiasts on your list. However, if you’re like me and wait till the last minute because you want to find the absolute perfect gifts, maybe you still need to check out the Photo.net Holiday Gift Guide.

We took a slightly different approach with the guide this year and organized our selections in price categories so you don’t go overboard, or underboard, for those on your holiday list. Thanks to everyone who contributed ideas for favorite products to be included in the Gift Guide.

Read this year’s Holiday Gift Guide.

Multimedia Photography Series: Rich Media Narratives

This is the third and final article in a series on the multimedia applications for photography. In the this article, Rich Media Narratives, Jay Kinghorn walks us through process of how to go about creating a rich media narrative—multimedia projects that are predominantly photography-based, but incorporate digital video clips, audio, text and graphics. This really is a valuable tool to be able to tell a story using a variety of artistic mediums and blend them together to add depth and visual appeal to your narrative.

Read about Rich Media Narratives.

Advanced Photoshop Tutorial: Creating HDR Images by Hand (Part I)

Harold Davis’ new column on Creativity in the Photoshop Darkroom, brings to light many of Harold’s techniques for how to post-process your images to the best effect. This month’s tutorial is on Creating HDR Images by Hand. The article lays the foundation for understanding his approach to hand HDR. As a side note, many people think that HDR can apply primarily to subjects like landscapes. Actually, Harold shows us how he uses the technique on all kinds of subjects—like the variegated rose image shown to the left here.

Take a look at Creating HDR Images by Hand and try your hand at this powerful technique. Post your final image below the article after trying out the process. We’d love to see!

Cliff Mautner Wedding Photography Workshop

If you’re a wedding photographer, or interested in becoming one, this article might entice you to study with a certain award-winning photographer. Theano Nikitas wrote an interesting synopsis on her experience attending Cliff Mautner’s Lighting and Skillset Bootcamp. Cliff Mautner shares his techniques and skills in a unique 2.5 day workshop. Read about the many topics and hands-on applications that were covered in the course.

Check out Cliff Mautner Wedding Photography Workshop.

Nikon D300S Review

Nikon’s D300S is a mid-2009 update to the very popular D300, originally introduced two years earlier in 2007. The physical appearance of the camera remains the same; both cameras can use the same quick-release plates, the same BM-8 LCD cover, and the same MB-D10 vertical grip. The features and controls are also largely the same with some significant additions that we’ll cover in the review. Shun Cheung, Nikon Forum Moderator, took the D300S on a cold subzero adventure to Antarctica and contributes photos and video from his trip.

Read the Nikon D300S Review.

Canon Powershot G11 Review

The Powershot G11 is the latest in Canon’s “top of the line” G series cameras. Bucking the trend of ever increasing pixel count, the G11 (10 MP) actually has less pixels than the G10 (14.7MP). Doing so seems to have enabled Canon to lower high ISO noise levels and generally improve high ISO image quality. Though we don’t often review P&S digicams on Photo.net, the G series Powershot cameras have a pretty strong reputation with professional photojournalists, so we thought we’d take a closer look at the G11.

Read the Canon Powershot G11 Review.

Canon EF-S 18-135/3.5-5.6 IS Lens Review

The EF-S 18-135/3.5-5.6 is a wide to telephoto zoom and gives the same angle of view range as a 28-216mm lens would on a full frame 35mm camera. This range covers a lot of applications from landscapes at the 18mm wide end, through portrait shots in the 50-80mm range and on to sports and wildlife when zoomed out to 135mm. Take a look at this lens review by Bob Atkins, in which he does some performance tests examining image quality and image stabilization of the lens.

Read the Canon EF-S 18-135/3.5-5.6 IS Lens Review.

Special Deals from Adorama

Hardcover Photobooks from Adoramapix—for portfolios or to offer to clients.

Your images will be printed and inspected with the same care Adoramapix has been taking with your prints since 1998.

• Pages are Fuji Crystal Archive Album photo paper, a professional quality archival paper with excellent resistance to fading.
• Leporello bindings ensure the books lie flat for double-page spreads and panoramas.
• Drag and drop your images into one of hundreds of templates.
• Or create your book from scratch your way; add custom color backgrounds, frames and text.

Check out Adoramapix’s Hardcover Photobooks, and create your own photobooks for the Holidays.

Other deals from Adorama:

• Tamron 18-270mm f/3.5-f/6.3 DI-II VC [sale price: $529.99 after $70 mail-in rebate, regular price: $599.99]
• Evoluent VerticalMouse 3 Left Hand Handshake Grip Mouse [low price: $59.99 and free shipping]

Find great deals on thousands of other products at the Photo.net Adorama Store.

What’s Happening In Our Forums

• Mirrorless Digital Cameras (19 Responses) Best low budget DSLR for Low light/ high ISO use?

Cat image by John Flores, taken with Pentax K-x with DA 18-55 F3.5-5.6 ALII kit lens @ 35mm, ISO 6400, f/5.6, 1/8s, imported into Lightroom as a RAW and exported without any adjustments.

I can scrape together MAYBE $500 for a DSLR for low light and high ISO (subway/railfan photography). Reading DPreview’s reviews has the Rebel XS performing better than the Nikon D3000, but is it worth the extra cash over the D3000 (going to be using the kit lens for now). Also, how is the Pentax K-x? I do like that fact that it’ll do 720p video in a pinch. Read recommendations by Photo.net members.

• Nikon (160 Responses) What's limiting your photography?
• Portraits and Fashion (46 Responses) Help with studio portraits
• Travel (26 Responses) traveling to egypt

Go To Photo.net Forums. »

Editors’ Picks

Take a look at a new selection of Editors’ Picks: Travel Photography.

Samples:

Also, take a look at what the Editors found visually interesting in the previous months—perhaps one of your images has been selected…

Creative Light Photography

Nature Photography

Beautiful Brides Photography

HDR Photography