Online & Digital Print Sales

Jason4 Comments

So many people have talked about the business of selling your photographs, and the various options and pitfalls in doing so.  There are so many discussion points varying from whether to sell online or on consignment, print your own or use an online printer, and much more.  The ideas of printing, fulfillment, delivery, and such are all vexing subjects for sure, and it’s a sea of information out there to wade through.

Rather than spend time wading through that sea, I thought everyone might be interested in one option – that of the digital download.  Various outfits like Mpix, Smugmug, Shutterfly, and others offer a range of services for printing and fulfillment where digital prints are selected online, then printed and mailed to the purchaser, or even just downloaded to the buyer directly for them to print on their own.  This last option of letting the client download their own pictures is something that more people are turning to, and even here there are many options.

One that I’ve been testing the waters with is a WordPress plugin called WP eStore.  It’s got some pretty handy features, and if you are okay with touching just a pinch of the coding, it can actually work pretty well.  I can see how this could easily translate to sales of digital downloads of pictures, as well as e-books (which is the type I am going to start selling).  It’s got a pretty intuitive interface, but does have a little bit of code to it within the plugin itself.  With both free and paid versions there are also various levels of support, and the guy that developed this is very helpful with any questions I’ve had.

The left sidebar of WordPress has an entire widget dedicated to the configuration and I’ve shared a screen shot of the interface here:

I’d go into more details with screen captures but since the eStore is active and there is certain information that you have to include (like source file paths and such), that would be a little too transparent for here.  But as you can see from the widget, there are many options available to you for digital downloads including adding discounts, organizing into categories, and even maintaining customer lists if you want to send promotional emails.  All in all, it’s a very cool little plugin, and as I get more work done on various e-Books  this utility will no doubt come in handy for both the blog and for the reader.

Speaking of the reader experience, that end is pretty easy too – all you have to do is click the shopping cart button to add an item to your cart, and you can check out with Paypal.  Once checked out, the buyer gets a dedicated private link to download the item in question.  No fuss, no muss – instant download, which I think is a super nice feature.  The same would hold true for anyone interested in offering photo downloads too.  You can see the eStore plugin in action right here on my Store link from the navigation menu at the top of the page.  For more detailed information, or to download either the free or paid version for your own use, check out Amin’s work on his site here: .

Anyway, there’s my thoughts on the option of digital sales for photography products and services – the eStore plugin for WordPress.  Easy enough to install, great support, and pretty much hands-free once everything is set up and configured.

As always, mileage may vary, and different options are out there for different needs.  If anyone knows of other products, services, or options for online print sales, feel free to share them here as it’s always fun to learn about new things from one another!  Happy shooting, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow to wrap up the week!

P.S.  Don’t forget, only one week left in the January Circles-themed Flickr Giveaway.  get your photos in soon for a chance to win a copy of Photomatix Pro from the folks over at HDR Soft!

Photoshop Teaser…

JasonLeave a comment

The Denver Area Lightroom Users Group (DALPUG) had their bi-monthly meeting tonight, and it was a lot of fun.  Brian Reyman (the leader) gave some great insights on digital asset management and some really cool Lightroom and Photoshop tips and tricks.  He reminded me that it’s been a while since I’ve played in Photoshop, or done tutorials here on the blog for that matter.

So, in the interests of putting some sort of creative graphic design effect together, I started playing around in Photoshop when I got home with a few different tools, effects, and all that fun stuff.  When all was said and done, the effect of all of this playing produced something that I thought would be worthy of a Photoshop tutorial.  However, I did run out of time to put all the screen shots and steps together for a blog post, so here is a teaser of what you might be seeing later this week!

The End Result

Rocky Mountain Fireworks

The ones that got me there…

Mountains

Fireworks

Starfield

The final result is a little surreal, but using the various effects were fun.  It also took some rather plain photos and turned them into…well, something not so plain!  🙂 When’s the last time you played in Photoshop?  Can you identify the effects used here?  Share your own pictures in the comments (remember, we have image upload now!), as well as any thoughts and or feedback.

Special thanks and shout outs to Brian for hosting the DALPUG meetings and for encouraging our creativity- he puts a lot of time and effort into these and it shows!

Only a couple blog notes for today, first that the Monthly Giveaway only has a limited amount of time left for submissions, so make sure you submit your Circles themed photos to the Flickr thread before the deadline!  Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow for more creative encouragement!

Hardware Review: Expodisc

Jason3 Comments

It’s been a while since I’ve done a hardware review, and I realized that when the folks at Expo Imaging had sent me the Rayflash to review, I had also received an Expodisc.  I know I recorded the video for it, but for some reason it never got published, as the two were meant to be posted back to back.

In any case, here is the long-awaited review of the Epodisc from the folks at Expo Imaging:

Expo Disc

First – what is the Expodisc?  It’s simply a disc that defracts light as it passes through your lens in order to determine the proper white balance setting for your images.  Why is this a good thing?  It’s a good thing because light doesn’t always fall into the specific categories designed by your vendor.  It’s not always daylight, tungsten, florescent, etc.  These vendor pre-sets can get you close, but if you want spot on white balance settings in camera, this is definitely the way to go!  Here’s the short video I had put together a while back on how it works:

Do I like the Expo Disc?  Absolutely – and if I were in an environment where lighting conditions change often, or it was tricky to determine (say those lights in gyms with the green phosphorous), these utilities are a godsend.  Landscape environments can also be tricky when you are dealing with things like snow, shade and sunny areas at the same time, and portraiture can be tricky too – say you have a bride’s wedding dress, the whites of the eyes, and the teeth for sample areas – which do you set?  Use the ExpoDisc and it will be spot on every time!

Thanks again to the folks at Expo Imaging for lending me the review units of the Ray Flash and the Expo Disc. It was a pleasure, and for those interested in learning more about their products, please visit their website here.

Happy shooting everyone – be sure you get your shots in, because there’s limited time left in the Circles contest for a lucky participant. Here’s the Flickr thread – keep on posting and keep on shooting!  We’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

[display_podcast]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Challenge yourself!

Jason6 Comments

The field of photography is a very challenging venue and finding your “voice” in a crowded field can often make the task seem daunting.  If you want to challenge yourself in different ways, try something else.  Painting, singing, and yes, playing a musical instrument can not only give you a new vision for your photography,  but it can get your creative juices going in ways that you may not realize.  While you may never become a Picasso, Luciano Pavarotti, or a Mozart, even picking up something you used to do as a kid (or when you were younger for those among us who are under the 30-something cutoff!), and giving it a whirl can give you new-found pleasures.

For instance, when I was much younger, I took piano lessons for seven years.  Endless scales, arpeggios, and the whole nine yards filled my practice sessions for days, weeks, months, and well….years!  When I moved onto college, other interests bended me away from the piano, probably because after seven years I realized I was never going to be a Mozart.  Nevertheless, I enjoyed the practice and occasionally I return to tickle the ivories from time to time.  The photography vision has been clouded this week, and I found some solace in the keyboards late Friday night.  So, I plugged in the M-Audio keyvoard to my Mac and pounded away for a while as my fingers tried to remember their proper positions.  I remembered again that I am no Mozart, but I do have some creative ideas again, all because of a little ditty I put together.  Does this ring a bell for any of you?

Have a great weekend everyone!  Happy shooting, and we’ll see you back here Monday with the results of my creative challenge! 🙂

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The value of a sunset (or sunrise)…

Jason5 Comments

We all see them every day – the sun rises and the sun sets.  Most of the time, it’s nothing too spectacular, perhaps some pretty colors are cast with various hues of orange and blue, or red and purple hazes…it’s all well and good.  We may even see some spectacular ones…a crimson or scarlett red, or fire-y orange ones.  They may also have an added impact if they are reflected in a lake, the ocean, or dramatized by their surroundings – palm trees, mountains, boats, or whatever happens to be there.

The spectacular ones are typically the ones we see in print, on calendars, and in magazines.  Yet every day, we find our eyes gazing toward that first and last light…knowing that we could see something magical.  Does this make the ones with more vibrant colors more magical?  The ones with fewer colors less magical?  Perhaps, but consider this – we are always looking for it.  Consider this project: take a picture of the sunrise and/or sunset every day for a week, month, or even a few months.  Take it from the same spot every day.  Find yourself some nice vantage point with some nice accents to the main subject (that being the sunset).  Then, after your specified time period is up, peruse the results and see how many “great” sunsets (or sunrises) you saw.

It could be a fun project not only to help you gauge when the sky will be well suited to sunrises and sunsets, but also to exercise some discipline in taking the same shot from the same vantage point, if only to understand when conditions are ideal.  This could be termed “scouting” in a sense, because you’ve found a nice place, set things up, planned, and then you just wait for the right light.  So many photographers talk about the light, and we hear terms bandied about like “seeing the light”, or “painting with light”.  I’ve heard a few mention the idea of “waiting for the right light”, and it mostly has come from landscape photographers.  This is what they do…they take the same scene over and over and over.

With practice, they can anticipate when the conditions will be favorable.  Their sense are more attuned to things like clouds, weather, and distractions.  Rather than relying on luck and serendipity, they plan, research, and study the scene for long periods of time before they find “the right light”.  Sure, you can manufacture it, and we’ve all seen the wonder shots in the galleries of others – but if you think about the time and energy that goes into capturing that perfect sunrise or sunset, imagine all the “almost” shots, and the time and energy that went into them, I would suspect that many landscape photographers would say there is value in every sunrise or sunset.  Because, even if they didn’t get the light just right in their location, someone – somewhere – when the sun set, nailed it perfectly!

Have you captured your perfect sunrise or sunset yet?  Was it planned or by accident?  Sound off in the comments and let me know if you think there is still value in sunrises and sunsets.  If you’ve got a shot you would like to share, feel free to post that via the upload link too (also in the comments).  Happy shooting, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow.

Oh yeah, did anyone in Colorado see the sunset today? 🙂  Nothing spectacular to write home about, but it was kind of cool colors, and worthy of showing here to indicate that just because it’s not a portfolio shot, sunset shots (in my mind) have value!  What do you think?

Colorado Sunset

P.S.  Don’t forget, the January Flickr Giveaway is in progress…submit your photos for a chance to win a free copy of Photomatix Pro from the folks at HDR Soft.

New Formats for the New Year

Jason5 Comments

With the advent of a new year, the podcast is hopefully going to take on a new format – with things being more conversational.  Erik Bernskiold comes back to the show and we’re talking about all the latest news in photography, as well as a main talking point of how to publicize and share your images online – looking at the pros and cons of the various options that are out there.  Lots of news including announcements from the recent CES show, as well as contest information, and listener questions and answers so it’s a pretty heavily packed show.  Almost an hour and a half, so it could last you through a few commutes!  Here’s the show notes, and enjoy!

CES News

Canon Camera Announcements

  • A3100
  • A3000
  • A495
  • A490

We also had been noticing a lot of the newer SLR cameras have been announcing firmware updates, so if you have a relatively new SLR, check your vendor website for details.

Sharing Your Photos

  • Flickr
  • Forums
  • DeviantArt
  • Photography Corner

Hosting Services

  • WordPress
  • Smugmug
  • Squarespace
  • Livebooks
  • Self-hosting
  • Paying a Design Professional

Picks of the Week

Listener Questions

Print Resolution versus Screen Resolution (Jason)

SEO for Websites and Flash (Erik)

Listen to the Podcast

Catch up with me and Erik on our respective websites – you know my info, but if you want to learn more about Erik and his work, here’s his web presence links:

A long show for sure – but tons of content.  Thanks to Erik for taking the time to sit down and talk again – we’re going to try to make this a regular occurrence, as well as get some others involved in the conversation! Thanks also go out to the folks at Audible for their sponsorship of the blog!  Happy shooting, and share your feedback, here, on Erik’s site, on iTunes or even with the folks at PLM (thanks to them for their sponsorship as well!)  Happy shooting and we’ll see you here again tomorrow!

What's the best ___?

Jason5 Comments

What’s the best camera to buy?  What’s the best Photoshop plugin for photography? What’s the best CS4 tutorial? What’s the best lens for the Vivitar 110? What’s the best iPod for the dollar? What’s the best car? What’s the best truck? What’s the best soda? What’s the best flavor of ice cream?

I think you get the picture…so many questions on “What’s the best____” and almost without fail, the answer begins with an “It depends…”

We all want to get the best value for our money, and it pays to do research before you buy.  No one likes to over spend, or buy something they end up not liking, or even worse, deal with the dreaded customer service lines or phone calls.    Without meaning to sound all grandfatherly (I am only 40 years young…), I distinctly remember a time when we could think for ourselves, and when we formed our own opinions.

This is not to say that seeking the opinions of professionals and/or experts is not useful, because it is.  If Scott Kelby says some photography product or Photoshop plugin is just totally cool – I am going to take a look at that product.  He knows his stuff when it comes to these subjects, and yes, I would consider him an expert.  Am I going to ask him what he thinks the best way to tape drywall is in my basement?  Of course not!  So, seeking expert advice is always a good thing.  But there is a danger in seeking the advice of “experts”.

The danger is that it is so easy to claim oneself as an expert anymore.  Anyone with $10 and an hour can purchase a domain/hosting and set up a website claiming they are an expert in duct tape applications.  People will flock to this site, asking questions about how to apply it in all sorts of circumstances.    What’s the best way to affix bubble wrap to a window?  What’s the best way to tape a package for shipping?  What’s the best way to adhere flashing to an airplane kitchen galley?

Anyone can purport to be an expert, but you need to exercise some common sense in deciphering who is qualified to render an opinion.  Additionally, it may help to exercise a little judgement of your own.  No one likes to make a decision and be wrong.  Being wrong is no fun.  I am wrong on many things, and while I may try not to be wrong – that is something that will never completely happen.  But you know what?  When I make a decision and I am wrong – I usually end up learning more from that than if I take the advice of others and the decision is wrong.  Why?  Because the blame is shifted from me – “That’s not my fault,” I say, “Joe Schmoe told me to do that…he is wrong.”

The thing of it is, whether Scott Kelby or Joe Schmoe tells you something about anything – you need to make up your own mind from time to time.  It’s important because if you don’t make your own decisions, whether it be about dry-walling, duct tape, or photography – your learning curve will never amount to much.  Learn from experience!

Happy shooting, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow with the Best Blog! 🙂

P.S.  Don’t forget, the best contest is going on right now on Flickr – Circle themed photos are being accepted through Jan 29th and the winner gets a free copy of Photomatix from the folks at HDR Soft.

All about Brighton, Baby!

Jason1 Comment

Last Friday afternoon the local photography meet-up group for the metro Denver area got together and paid a visit to historic downtown Brighton (about 30 minutes northeast of Denver. It was a fun get-together, and with a smaller than average turnout of 6 of us, we really got a chance to not only converse and interact with one another, we also had some great opportunities for photographs. The highlight of the day was when we happened to be walking by the Brighton Armory. As it turns out, this building was recently renovated as part of a new cultural center for the area. The Operations Manager saw us walking by and invited us inside, as well as a tour of both the upstairs and downstairs areas.

Not only did we get a little piece of history about the place, we got some great shots of the building itself.  With several hundred to parse through over the weekend, I’ve trimmed it to the slide show below showing some shots from both around Brighton and the Armory itself.  The other thing that was exciting about this is that after expressing an interest in volunteering our photographic services for any events, they seemed interested in taking us up on the offer.  We shall see what may come of these serendipitous meetings.  It just goes to show you that it’s always a good thing to support the arts, and always good to think about networking – even when you are just having fun on a photo walk!

Here’s a couple links for those interested in learning more about the area and the Armory:

http://brightonarmory.org/

http://heartofbrighton.org/ArmoryVideo.htm

Enjoy the slide show and we’ll see you back here tomorrow – happy shooting!

Don’t forget too, the January Flickr contest thread is open, and the Circle theme should be producing some interesting images.  Speak your creative vision and enter today!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Keeping Your Resolutions!

Jason2 Comments

As with every new year, there is always talk about setting New Years Resolutions – and setting goals is always easy to do, but what about keeping those resolutions?  Sometimes it’s a challenging thing to do, because we either set goals that are vague or not very specific.  For example, “lose weight” is a common goal, as is “exercise more”.  From a photography perspective, we often will hear (or say) ones like “shoot more”, “get organized”, and other such platitudes. While the ideal is always good, the intangible goals are always the most difficult to reach simply because they are…well, intangible!

Do yourself a favor and not only set some concrete goals, but share them with colleagues, peers, and friends. If you write a blog, announce them! Make your readers hold you to your goals. Not only will you be more likely to achieve your goals, but your readers will also become more vested in your blog! It’s very empowering, and I would encourage everyone who writes a blog or has a web presence to do something like that.

Uh oh, I just  realized something – I kind of set myself up there didn’t I?  Okay, yeah, it was kind of intentional, but it came from the heart! 🙂  My biggest resolution for this year – finish projects!  I can’t tell you how many projects I have started to get distracted by other projects, ideas, or things, only to never make it back to the original project.

For example, I had set a project once of getting all my resume and personal information in an easy to access text file for copying and pasting into database driven websites like USAJobs.  So, it was off to getting various records for inclusion, including my military service.  That led me to the filing cabinet (insert Psycho music here)!  Before I knew it, I had spent 3 hours organizing the filing cabinet into tabbed folders of all things non-job related.  Gas receipts, electric bills, and all sorts of other things kept popping up at me saying “file me file me file me”!  It got so bad I even found myself at the local Staples getting tabbed divider label things for each category instead of getting the original project done!

In keeping with the idea of finishing projects, I would like to share the completion of project #1: The Sunrise Shoot at Rocky Mountain National Park! I mentioned it in December before the holidays and I had every intention of completing this sooner, but first the layoff, then Christmas, then New Years, and many other distractions pulled me away. No more! The trip is completed, the shots processed, and the videos montaged! I give you, ladies and gentlemen, the RMNP trip:

[display_podcast]

So, project #4982163 has been completed…I have all the rest to do!  What are your resolutions and projects for 2010?  Do they include getting a circle shot ready for the January Giveaway?  (Announced here yesterday…)  Here’s the link for the contest thread on Flickr in case you missed it!

Share your own thoughts and ideas, resolutions and projects in the comments and we’ll help keep you on track!  In the meantime, keep on shooting, have a great weekend, and we’ll see you back here on Monday!  Happy Shooting!

PlayPlay

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

December Winner!

Jason4 Comments

The trumpets sound!  The chorus rings, and the internet shall stop and take notice!

Why you ask?  We have a winner for the December Giveaway!  I am happy to announce that the winner of the December Giveaway Bonanza is none other than:

Frank Sammut!

Frank’s shot of a childs hand, offering up a gift perfectly symbolized the concept of giving, and his blurred bokeh of the holiday theme in the background was just beautiful!  He’s got some great work on his Flickr page too, so stop by and check it out and tell him congrats!

December Giveaway Winner - Frank Sammut

Congratulations to Frank for winning the giveaway package!  Frank, if you could drop me an email:  jason <AT> canonblogger <DOT> com, I’ll get you all the information and relay you to the donors for the giveaway.  Thank you to everyone for participating, and especially to the sponsors, including:

  • David DuChemin (for a free copy of both Within the Frame, and VisionMongers)
  • MPIX (for a free 16×20 gallery wrap print of Frank’s choice)
  • RedRiver Papers (for the specialty paper bundle)
  • HDRsoft (for the license to a copy of Photomatix Pro)

It’s also time to anounce the theme for the January giveaway.  We’re going to move away from the seasonally tied themes, so people don’t feel restricted there as different areas are in different seasons.  Instead, we’ll be going with something that is going to inspire some dynamite entries for sure:  Circles

That’s right, we’re going with a shape!  It should be interesting to see what comes in.  As always the standard guidelines apply:

  1. Make sure your image is between 600-800px on the longest side.
  2. Try to keep things within the current month.  Archives are okay, but preference will be given to current photos
  3. Images should be family/work safe
  4. Should be posted to the Flickr thread for the current month contest
  5. Deadline for entries is Friday, Jan. 29th (again, 3 weeks)
  6. The folks at HDR Soft have been very generous and have offered up another copy of their Photomatix Pro bundle for the January winner – so if you are into the HDR craze, or are interested, there’s another chance to win your very own licensed copy!

The January Flickr thread is up, live and ready for entries, so get out and shoot!  Happy New Year and Happy Shooting!

P.S.  Can anyone tell me anything different about the site?  (For you feed readers, come on over and check things out – something is different! 🙂 )