Photo.net Newsletter: July 21, 2011

Hi %%First Name%%,

July brings plenty of reasons to celebrate. The 4th of July, Canada Day, Bastille Day, National Lasagna Day, my wife’s birthday, the list goes on and on. Around my house, we’re celebrating the fact that nice weather finally arrived in the Pacific northwest and the kids are no longer driving us crazy indoors (well, that and the aforementioned birthday. Happy Birthday, Stacey).

This month’s newsletter has previews of the new Nikon 40/2.8 DX Micro lens and the newest Olympus PEN Micro Four-Thirds cameras (E-P3, E-PL3, and E-PM1). There is also a Gizmos & Gadgets review of the Tenba Photo/Laptop Messenger bag and a reminder on how to submit your images for ratings on Photo.net. The July monthly photo project is all about morning light and this month’s Editors Picks topic is “Fireworks”.

As always, 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,

Josh Root, Chief Admin, Director of Community, Mop & Bucket Man

Community News

How to Submit Images for Ratings…

There are still a few users who didn’t see the changes to the ratings submission process that were made last fall. It is important for everyone to understand that you must specifically submit your image for ratings if you want them. If you submit an image for critique, you will just get a critique. If you want numerical ratings as well, you need to follow the instructions in the link below.

How to submit your Photo.net images for ratings.

Easier to find equipment reviews…

Sharp-eyed users will have noted that there is now a “reviews” tab at the top of the site that takes you to an index page with thumbnails. This is an attempt to better organize all of the equipment review editorial content that is on the site. You can sort by date, category, or manufacturer.

Click here for the Photo.net reviews index.

Editorial Highlights

Featured Sponsor Content: HOW TO START A PHOTO BUSINESS

Starting a Photography Business is a free pdf guide by Photo.net sponsor PhotoShelter. It is one of ten downloadable e-books PhotoShelter has published on key photography business topics.

Want to start your own photo business? Already in business but need a hand? Starting a Photography Business is a free, 19-page guide by PhotoShelter that is filled with expert business insights from industry veterans and practical photographer case studies.

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The guide also demonstrates how guidance becomes reality, through interviews with the last six College Photographer of the Year winners. Talking with them about what went right and wrong as they turned pro.

Download ‘Starting a Photography Business’ now…

See all 10 PhotoShelter e-books…

Preview of the new Olympus PEN E-P3 cameras and lenses

Olympus has announced the PEN E-P3 as the latest generation of the digital PEN line. Not only that, but they are announcing the newest version of the compact PEN in the E-PL3 and a completely new body style in the ultra-compact PEN Mini E-PM1. Finally, two new lenses were announced as well. A fast 12/2 (24mm in 35mm equiv) “street shooter” lens with a very interesting hyper focal focus option and a 45/1.8 (90mm in 35mm equiv) “family portrait” lens.

Read the Olympus E-P3, E-PL3, & E-PM1 (plus 12/2 & 45/1.8 lenses) Preview.

Nikon 40mm f/2.8 DX AF-S Micro Lens Preview

The new 40mm/f2.8 DX AF-S micro lens is the DX equivalent of the popular 60mm/f2.8 AF-S micro, which is a flat-field lens that can capture a flat subject and keep the image sharp from edge to edge with little distortion; it is especially suitable for copy work. With the 1.5x “crop factor,” the new 40mm DX lens provides the same angle of view on DX-format DSLRs as the 60mm macro on FX-format SLRs. Both of these lenses are flat field macros and can achieve the 1:1 reproduction ratio native, i.e. without the aid of any extension tube or other attachments.

Read the Nikon 40mm f/2.8 DX AF-S Micro Lens Preview.

Tenba Messenger Mini Photo/Laptop Bag review

Particularly for those of us who enjoy street photography or simply always want to have a camera at hand, one of the more frustrating versions of “the quest for the perfect bag” is to find an everyday bag. I’m talking about the kind of bag that can carry a small camera kit along with a laptop, cell phone, and whatever other widgets you need with you. Something that isn’t overly showy or bulky, but isn’t completely unprotected either. The Messenger Mini Photo-Laptop Bag is one of Tenba’s solutions to this oh-so-common problem…

Read the Gizmos & Gadgets: Tenba Messenger Mini Photo/Laptop Review.

Top 10 Most Popular Deals from Our Partners this Week

1. Sigma 30mm F1.4 EX DC HSM Wide Angle Lens (compare prices)

2. Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II Telephoto Zoom Lens (compare prices)

3. Canon EF 50mm f / 1.2L USM Normal Lens (compare prices)

4. Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm f/4.0 Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens (compare prices)

5. Nikon D7000 16.2 Megapixel DSLR Camera Body (compare prices)

6. Canon EOS 5D Mark II 21.1 Megapixel DSLR Camera Body (compare prices)

7. Canon Speedlite 580EX II Flashlight (compare prices)

8. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 (compare prices)

9. Lowepro SlingShot 200 AW Camera Backpack (compare prices)

10. Otterbox APL2-iPAD1-20-C4OTR Defender Series Case for iPad (compare prices)

Find great deals on thousands of other products at the Photo.net Partner-powered Store.

What’s Happening In Our Forums

• Philosophy of Photography (18 Responses) Photo data mining "photography"?
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• Canon EOS (25 Responses) Canon 400D fully decked out or Nikon D90 kit
• Leica and Rangefinders (34 Responses) why focals aroun 40mm never became popular?
• Off Topic (27 Responses) Should men have handbags?

Go To Photo.net Forums. »

Monthly Project: Breakfast and Morning Light

Wake up sleepyhead! Morning light can be some of the most beautiful light of the day and breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Put the two together and you’ve got July’s monthly project. Find some morning light to brighten up your subject, or just create a “breakfast” themed photo and show us how the day begins in your house.

See all of the Monthly Projects (and submission instructions) on the Monthly Project Index page. Here are a few from last month’s “Love & Marriage” project that caught my eye:

Editors’ Picks

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

Here are some recent Editors’ Picks topics:

• Father’s Day Photography
• Baby Photography
• Mother’s Day Photography