Photo.net Newsletter: October 2, 2009

Hi %%First Name%%,

Two years of the Photo.net newsletter? Crazy how time flies. I would have thought we’d be in rocket ships taking photos of the moon by now, but here I am watching the rain pour down outside my window and thinking that it’s probably time to turn the furnace back on.

And…it’s time for another Photo.net user survey. Please help us make photo.net a better place by telling us what’s on your mind. More info further down or you can just click right here to go directly to the survey.

We’re in an abstract frame of mind around Photo.net this month. Gordon Bowbrick is October’s featured member and he does a great job of talking about abstract photography. We’ve got a review of the nifty Lensbaby line of products, perfect for making abstract images. How about getting abstract and specific at the same time about Pentax with the president, Ned Bunnell? And finally, I figured that “abstract” might be a nice theme for this month’s monthly-project.

Finally, does anyone have a good get-rich-quick scheme? I just found out that my lovable puppy needs $2500 worth of knee surgery. He’s lucky he’s such a great dog. Then again, I guess I’m lucky he’s such a great dog. Raise a glass this weekend to everyone who loves their pets more than any sensible person should. And just for the heck of it, how about posting a pet photo here in this thread.

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

Photo.net Director of Community

2009 Photo.net User Survey

Calling all Photo.net Users!

We’re conducting our annual survey on Photo.net. The information we gain from this survey helps us better serve the greater Photo.net community. It lets us know what parts of the site need the most work, what the demographic of our audience is, and helps us attract sponsors who are better related to our photographic mission.

This is your chance to give us a piece of your mind and help us to better know exactly who is using the site.

Click right here to go directly to the survey.

Hey you, read some stuff!

Lensbaby Muse, Composer, & Optic Swap System Review

Sometimes we all need to break away from what we see as “serious” photography and have a little fun. The Lensbaby line of lenses offers the ability for photographers to have a little fun and still create some original and unique images. Read Josh Root’s review and see what he thinks of the Lensbaby lenses.

Read the Lensbaby Muse, Composer, & Optic Swap System Review.

Interview with Ned Bunnell, President of Pentax

As both the President of Pentax, as well as a photographer, Ned Bunnell has an interesting position in the photography market. We take some time to go over his past history and what lead to his current career, as well as reveal what blogs he frequents, and which Pentaxian photographers he finds inspiring.

My entire career has been focused on imaging, product planning, and marketing. I really am enjoying what I’m doing right now. We [Pentax] may not be the biggest company in terms of market share, but one thing a lot of people say, is that we’ve got the best photographer as the president in the industry. Ego aside, the point I’m making is, as a photographer, Japan understands that when we talk, I’m really the voice of the customer.

Read the Photo.net Interview with Ned Bunnell.

Featured Member Photographer: Gordon Bowbrick

Gordon Bowbrick hails from the friendly maple-leaf north and has spent more time than most working on not only creating abstract images, but working on the process and practice of doing so. Unlike so many “art” images these days, his images are created in camera. He uses Photoshop to re-create many of the tools he had in a traditional darkroom. But none of his images are compositions or mashups of different shots. Every image is, essentially, the image it was when he pressed the shutter. Knowing him, I doubt that Gordon does this out of a sense of “My way is better than yours” but more for the challenge and enjoyment of creating something behind the camera rather than behind the computer.

“Working on abstracts can involve thinking in broader strokes as regards some of the fundamentals. Letting go of some of those preconceptions about what constitutes a successful image is something I personally find liberating and I suppose this could be true for other photographers. To me photography is about far more than “this is what I saw”. I am more concerned with trying to present to others “the way in which I saw” what I saw.” -Gordon Bowbrick

Read More »

Samples from Gordon’s portfolio:

View Gordon’s entire portfolio »

Special Deals from Adorama

The Bowens Small Travelpak BW7693 makes working on long location shoots easy thanks to its unique new hot-swap battery feature. Now if a battery starts to fade on a lengthy assignment photographers can simply unclip the control panel unit from the depleted battery and clip on a fully-charged battery—no more waiting to charge up the whole unit. The Travelpak system has two sizes of battery—allowing photographers to choose the power and size to suit their own specific needs. Able to support up to two Bowens Gemini monolights, the Travelpak can provide power up to a massive 3000Ws, recycle to full power at speeds up to 2 seconds and offers up to 750 shots on a single charge.

• Simple & lightweight
• Easy battery swapping
• Standard & Extended options
• Power two Gemini monolights
• Fast/Slow recycling options
• Easy to read battery indicator

Buy now from Adorama: Bowens BW7693 Small Lightweight Travel Pack Starter Kit, with Battery, Charger & Cable [sale price $509.95, regular price: $579.95].

Other deals from Adorama:

• Crumpler 1 Million Dollar Home Photo Bag [sale price: $19.95, regular price: $31.50]
• Holga Colorflash, 120 Medium Format Camera Starter Kit [sale price: $49.95, regular price: $69.95]

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

What’s Happening In Our Forums

• Leica and Rangefinders (111 Responses) M9 - my 2 cents
• Medium Format (70 Responses) Please help me choose a 6x6 camera
• Olympus and Four-Thirds (53 Responses) Initial experience of Pany 20/1.7
• Nikon (73 Responses) your favorite manual focus lenses!

Go to Photo.net Forums »

Abstract Images

Time to get blurry!

This month, let’s all stop chasing that “tack sharp” photo or striving for the perfect pose for a portrait. Why not try working with color and form instead? Abstract can mean many things, out of focus, blurry, blocks of color, shadows of light and dark, the door is open to just about anything.

Not sure how to get started with abstract photography? Why not read Gordon Bowbrick’s featured member article? There are some great examples there and a lot of good advice on the subject of abstract photography.

See all of the Monthly Projects (and submission instructions) on the Monthly Project Index page. Also, be sure to take a look at last month’s Outdoor Flash project page and see all the wonderful images that were uploaded. Here are a few that caught my eye:

Editors’ Picks

We have a new Editors’ Picks for your enjoyment: Rangefinder Photography.

Samples:

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

• Fashion Photography
• Creative Light Photography
• Textural Photography