Photo.net Newsletter: January 25, 2011

Hi %%First Name%%,

Happy New Year! How are those New Year’s resolutions going? If they’re photography-related, we certainly hope you’re keeping up your plans. Share your New Year’s Resolutions (photography-related) here so we can help keep you on point.

The January newsletter brings you the winner of the Corey Rich Outdoor Adventure Contest (see below)! We’re also embarking on a new series with Harold Davis on “Finding an Audience for Your Photos”. Other features include: a Color Management 101 write-up, a review of Photoshop Elements 9, a number of camera reviews/previews, and a Gizmos and Gadgets review.

On the site improvements side of things, have you tried out the new internal messaging system yet? No more trying to contact a user who hasn’t bothered to update their email address!

Don’t miss the deals and discounts from Adorama (scroll down). Also, share your thoughts about editorial, community, photography, and anything in between on the Facebook Page, Photo.net Blog, 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, Managing Editor, and Josh Root, Chief Admin, Director of Community, Mop & Bucket Man

Editorial Highlights

Finding an Audience for Your Photos: Intro

Taking advantage of trends and opportunities with digital photography requires a change of attitude—as well as mastery of an entirely new digital tool set that has more to do with social media and marketing than with photography. The purpose of this new series of columns is to help you with both of these aspects using digital era tools to find an audience for your photography. Join Harold Davis on this digital journey—he’ll be your guide through the sometimes perplexing digital maze while helping you find your unique photographic voice.

Read Finding an Audience for Your Photos: Intro.

Color Management 101

Color Management is a very important topic for designers and photographers. Multiple aspects are necessary to consider for reproducing your digital photographs in true colors—ICC profiles, monitor calibration tools, color consistency and accuracy. This primer should help answer some of the most basic questions about color management, questions that Patrick Lavoie reads quite often in the pnet Digital Darkroom forum. We want to make sure you’re well informed on this topic, and never again need to wonder why your colors are not like what you see on the monitor, or why your prints look muddy and dark.

Read Color Management 101.

Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 Review

Adobe Photoshop Elements, a powerful but affordable image-editing program for photography enthusiasts, is now in its 9th iteration—for both Windows and Mac. This means that, finally, Mac users have access to the same features as Windows users, most notably the Organizer module, which handles Elements cataloging and search functions. Theano Nikitas takes a look at the new features in this latest version of Elements, and includes a tutorial on using the spot healing brush.

Read the Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 Review.

Canon EOS 60D Review

The Canon EOS 60D is Canon’s latest addition to their DSLR line and sits between the Digital Rebel T2i and EOS 7D in terms of both price and features. The 60D presumably is intended to eventually supersede the EOS 50D—though the 50D is still listed as a current model on Canon’s web page. The EOS 60D’s features are a mix of those from the old EOS 50D, the EOS T2i and the EOS 7D—with a few entirely new features seen for the first time on the EOS 60D.

Read the Canon 60D Review.

Sigma SD15 Review

The Sigma SD15 is the successor to the Sigma SD14. First announced at Photokina in 2008, it was finally released early in 2010. All of Sigma’s DSLRs, are characterized by their use of a Foveon sensor. Unlike the sensors in most DSLRs, which use separate pixels to detect red, green and blue light, in a Foveon type sensor each pixel position generates a red, green and blue signal. More features that set the Sigma SD15 apart from other DSLRs are the sealed mirror box, which minimizes dust, and the camera is ideal for IR and UV imaging.

Read the Sigma SD15 Review.

Olympus E-PL2 Preview

Olympus announced the 12.1MP Olympus PEN E-PL2 camera, the micro four thirds replacement of the E-PL1, a couple weeks ago at CES in Vegas. No change in the pixel count, however there are a number of cosmetic changes, upgrades on features, and a new 14-42mm kit lens for improved video and stills shooting. For experienced photographers wanting a smaller package, the 4th PEN camera iteration has RAW capture and a built-in flash that can be used in both E-TTL and manual ratios (these ratios can be used to optically trigger slaved studio lights).

Read the Olympus E-PL2 Preview.

Gizmos & Gadgets: Lightscoop

The Lightscoop is a plastic gadget that attaches to your camera’s hotshoe. Its main feature is a mirror that sits suspended over your lens and redirects the light from your camera’s flash. The flash fires, the light hits the mirror, is redirected upwards and then bounces off the ceiling and is again redirected down onto your subject. The whole goal is that you can use the Lightscoop to achieve the softly lit look of bounced flash, without the expense of buying a dedicated hot shoe flash.

Read Gizmos & Gadgets: Lightscoop.

Corey Rich’s Outdoor Adventure Photography Contest

And the winner of Corey Rich’s Outdoor Adventure Photo Contest is …Michal Cerveny! Michal will receive a Lowepro bag of his choice. Congrats!

The judges: Corey Rich and Peter Dennen. Here are their comments on the winning selection:

The mountain-bike image is the winner. It’s fantastic light and a beautiful composition. I really like the feel of the dust and the biker positioned perfectly in the lower third of the photo, also the sunflare/starburst coming through the tree. Very beautiful color palette and great moment/great composition.

They also picked 2 honorable mentions:

• Sasha Coben
• Allison Maree Austin

View more notes from Corey and Peter later today in the Sports Photography Forum on selecting the winner and honorable mentions. Thanks to everyone who participated!

See the original submission thread here.

Community News

Photo.net Internal Messaging System

Photo.net has an internal messaging system to allow users to contact each other. No more relying on email that may or may not be up to date in order to contact another user. Users will also receive occasional administration messages from photo.net regarding site changes or other news. Click below for more info.

Photo.net Messaging System

YOU can support Photo.net!

Server space, programmer time, hours and hours of customer service all cost money. Photo.net is a business and we have to keep our head above water. How can you contribute to make sure that Photo.net keeps growing and improving? Here are four easy ways.

How to help support Photo.net

Top 10 Deals and Discounts from Adorama this Week

Note: these specials have a limited availability and tend to fly off the shelf quickly.

1. Flashpoint F-2328 Carbon Fiber Tripod
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4. Nikon D300S DSLR with 24-70mm f/2.8G lens
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5. Red Wing Cocoon 130 Light Tent
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6. Canon EOS 7D DSLR
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7. Media Street eMotion 12 inch Multimedia Digital Picture Frame
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8. Adobe CS5 Master Collection for Mac—Education Student Edition
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9. Profoto Acute2 1200ws ProValue Pack with Power Pack, 2 Flash Heads and more
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10. Westcott Strobelite Gear Set with Monolights, Umbrellas, Barn Door Set and 4 Color Gels
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Find great deals on thousands of other products at the Photo.net Adorama Store.

What’s Happening In Our Forums

• Lighting Equipment and Techniques (16 Responses) flash settings

So I have a Nikon SB25 which I’m using with my canon. I’m taking my first steps into learning how to use the flash and had some questions about the settings.

1. the ‘Zoom’ (focal length) parameter controls how focused or wide the light from the flash will be, correct?
2. the ‘M’ is the intensity of the light from 1/1 (full power) to 1/64 (least, which uses less battery), correct?
3. how does the ‘ISO’ setting on the flash relate to the rest?
4. how does the ‘Aperture’ setting on the flash relate to the rest? it has something to do with distance right? but shouldn’t ‘M’ (intensity) be controlling that?
5. the ‘Rear/Normal’ switch concerns the curtain, when should I use ‘Rear’?
6. and is there a setting for flash sync speed?

Thank you very much!

Do you have advice on using flashes? Join the conversation.

• Business (8 Responses) Do I offer clients original photos along with adjusted versions?
• Canon EOS (54 Responses) Gear suggestions for a trip to India
• Wedding and social event photography (18 Responses) How are you with on-the-spot negotiating?
• Leica and Rangefinders (39 Responses) New Leica Owner - 50mm lens

Go To Photo.net Forums. »

Monthly Project: Red, Pink, & White

First off, since the January newsletter was delayed, this will be both January and February’s project. Secondly, the sample image is from Photo.net member Brad Macgregor.

The grand holiday of Valentine’s Day is Feb. 14th. Instead of just going with another “love” type theme, I thought we would look at color this month. Overused though they may be, red, pink and white are the colors of love this month. So create an image that uses those colors and share it with the community.

See all of the Monthly Projects (and submission instructions) on the Monthly Project Index page. Be sure to check out the images from last month’s “Holiday Cards” theme. Here are a few that caught my eye:

Editors’ Picks

And this month’s editors’ picks is… Winter 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…

Also, take a look at some of the most popular Editors’ Picks from previous months:

• Autumn Photography
• Landscape Photography
• Editorial Photography