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July
15 , 2005
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Newsletter
#13
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Welcome to the July issue of the Digital Photos 101 Newsletter.
I hope you're having a great summer. It's going by fast, isn't it? Hope you've had a chance to take an exciting trip somewhere, or have something fun planned. My husband had back surgery a few weeks ago (he's recovering nicely), plus we moved to a new house a few months ago, so our "summer trips" have been to the hospital and Home Depot (the latter multiple times!). Oh well, next summer will be different.
A Hot Photo Sharing Site
Book Tutorials on Digital Photography
Getting Great Group Photos
Digital Photo Service News, Sales
A Hot Photo Sharing Site
A number of people have asked me for recommendations on a good photo sharing site, where they could post their photos and send links to their friends without their friends having to sign up for a special account just to view the photos, and without getting slammed with ads and emails. I have been telling them about Smugmug. This site, only about two years old, has really taken off. I can't recommend Smugmug enough, and it's PC Magazine's Editor's Choice for online photo sharing as well.
Smugmug is easy to use and offers lots of options for you, as well as for the people you are sharing your photos with. There is a variety of elegant templates for displaying your pictures, plus photo-editing capabilities. You'll also find a selection of presentation styles including thumbnail, thumbnails plus images, slide shows, and journals where you can include text. If you are technically inclined, Smugmug even supports html, CSS and Javascript so you can customize your album pages.
Sharing photos is easy. You can get a custom URL (such as yourname.smugmug.com) that you can e-mail to family and friends. All they need to do is click on the URL and they are sent to your photo albums. You or your friends can download high resolution images and print photos at home or order prints for delivery. What's great about Smugmug is there are absolutely no ads or pop-ups. In fact, when you share your photos, your visitors don't have to register their information and get spammed at a later date.
There is a low yearly fee, about $29 for the most popular plan. For all
the features you get, it is well worth it. There are other plans with
additional features for "power users." There is also a FREE
TRIAL available. If you want more info, go to Smugmug.com.
Books About Digital Photography and Photo Editing
People have also been asking for suggestions on good books with tutorials
on digital photography, everything from how to take better photos to how
to print and share them. I found a great book that encompasses just about
everything you can thing of: Rick
Sammon's Complete Guide to Digital Photography: 107 Lessons on Taking,
Making, Editing, Storing, Printing, and Sharing Better Digital Images
(Paperback) 
Here are some other great books you may also find interesting:
PC
Magazine Guide to Printing Great Digital Photos
How
to Do Anything With Digital Photography
Sharing
Digital Photos: The Future of Memories
There are also books about how to use specific photo editing software,
such as Photoshop Elements. For a complete list of book recommendations,
check out my full
list.
Getting Great Group Photos
Summertime is popular for family reunions, which means you'll want to capture these special occasions with your camera. Here are a few tips to help you corral the gang and get some really great group photos.Scout your location in advance.
Find the best spot and make sure there is enough room for everyone. If
you are shooting indoors and need to move furniture around, do it before
hand. If there are large reflective surfaces like glass tables, remove
them to avoid glare. For a large group, staggering people down a staircase
can work well to fit everyone in your viewfinder.
Technical Stuff
Use your fill flash to fill in shadows on faces (for indoor as well
as outdoor shots) and if shooting indoors, set your white balance for
the appropriate type of indoor lighting. Let in as much sunlight as you
can for improved exposure during the day. Use the redeye function on your
camera if you have low light indoors.
Composition
Put tall people in the back, shorter people and children in the front.
Get your group as close together as possible to make sure you have everyone
in the frame.
Timing is Everything
Grab people shortly after arrival when they are looking their best and
before they've all gone off in different directions and you feel like
you're herding cats. Another good time is right before a meal, when people
are hungry and beginning to gather. It should only take about five minutes
to get three or four good shots.
Make it Fun
Get people pumped. Enlist the kids to help gather people. They like to
feel involved. Offer to take a photo with other people's cameras. You
can gather cameras in advance and take a shot with each camera. Be sure
to tell people you'll share your group photos with them by e-mail. If
you have a computer handy, you can even upload and e-mail the photos on
the spot.
Digital Photo Services News, Sales and Discounts
My motto is never pay full price for something you know is going to be on sale. There are still lots of summer sales on photo services, software, cameras and equipment. Here is a roundup of current deals (as of 7/15):
Software
Prices seem to go up and down on photo software. Here are the latest sales/discounts:
ACDSEE 7
- Buy it for $49.95 or take a free 30-day trial. This is this excellent
photo editing/management software to find, view, organize, edit, print,
and share your photos. What's nice is you get good editing as well as
organizing capabilities without having to buy two separate programs.
Photoshop
Elements 3
Corel
Paint Shop Pro 9
Microsoft
Digital Image Suite 10
Roxio
PhotoSuite 7 Platinum
Special offer, $29.95 versus regular price of $49.99, is still available.
This is easy-to-use photo editing software to Instantly correct common
photo problems. Create fun projects like calendars or holiday cards with
simple point-and-click process.
Cameras & Accessories
GOOD GUYS: save up to 10% on digital cameras web purchases and
get free shipping on everything. Go to
goodguys.com
- Digital Cameras
WOLF CAMERA: Free shipping and no sales tax
NIKON
COOLPIX 3200 Sale + Free $25 Gift Card
NIKON
COOLPIX 4800 Sale + Free $25 Gift Card
Digital Photo Printing Services
KODAK EASYSHARE GALLERY: Kodak
EasyShare Gallery.
is featuring a 20% discount on Photo Books through July 27. Use Coupon
Code: SUMMERSTORY
SNAPFISH: They're still offering
CHEAP 12 cents/print (10 cents with a bulk order). The quality is very
good, too. That's hard to beat, even with a shipping charge. New customers
also get 20 free prints. For details go to Snapfish.
SHUTTERFLY:
Save 15% on all size prints through July 20.
Save 20% during the Summer Book Sale now through July 20. Gather all your
summer pictures from weddings, parties, and vacations and create Photo
Books and Snapbook ™ mini-albums to give and to keep. Hurry, it's
only for a short time. Go to Shutterfly.
FYI, Shutterfly just introduced new (free) photo management features on its website to enable you to search for photos, earmark your favorites and change the size of images as viewed on your screen.
PHOTOWORKS: Here are several special offers:
You'll have to HURRY for this one:
4x6 Digital Prints are only 15 Cents! No Limit on Prints. Offer Ends:
Sunday 07-17-05.
Use Coupon Code: C374-38-5163-41
Save 50% on all sizes of photo enlargements through 07-31-05. Use Coupon
Code: C373-38-5142-31.
Go to PhotoWorks.com
Deals for new customers only:
Get 10 cent prints on your first order.
Get
free shipping with $25 order.
COUPON CODE C350-38-5182-11 Expires 07-31-05,
Free
Compact Photo Book - $9.95 Value
Choose your book color, page colors, layout, and add your own photo descriptions.
That's it for now. Have a great summer and remember to take your digital camera with you!
Valerie Goettsch
www.digitalphotos101.com
How to get the best from your digital camera
To access prior newsletters: Click on this link.