By Rebecca Wilkowski and Dawn Tacker

Americans’ interest in things environmentally friendly is booming: from “green weddings” and BPA-free water bottles to solar electric panels and hybrid cars. The photographic industry, long cited for the overuse of packaging, paper and toxic chemicals, is growing a little greener thanks to the nonprofit Greener Photography initiative. By participating in the organization’s certification program, photographers can exhibit their concern for the environment in their marketing and branding.

A member-supported organization, Greener Photography strives to mitigate the environmental impact of the photographic industry by educating photographers, suppliers and the general public about the benefits of going green. In the United States, there are over 155,000 professional photographers and 14,000 photo-related companies generating revenues over $7 billion annually. In just 10 years, annual online photo imaging revenues have grown from $10 million to $7.8 billion. These statistics translate into the largest ecological footprint in photography’s 200-year history, and the opportunity for Greener Photography to make a real difference.

As typical image file sizes increase, many photographers are finding it harder to move, share or deliver their files digitally. Whether delivering the final edit to a commercial client, submitting a print-resolution image to a magazine, or wanting to send work to your home computer from the studio, there are simple solutions available. We’ll cover just a few of the more popular services here including Dropbox.com, Box.net, YouSendit.com and Me.com. These services allow you to send large files as easily as you send an e-mail and access your files from multiple computers whether you’re on Windows or Mac.

Dropbox.com works nearly seamlessly on Windows because it appears as a folder inside your computer. Anything inside this folder is automatically sent to the Dropbox servers, which allow instant online access on any Windows or Mac computer. Dropbox also has a complimentary iPhone app that allows you to access and edit your folders on the go.

If you’re using Dropbox and sharing a folder with other people, you’ll be instantly notified when a new file is added or modified as well. This is great if you often find yourself sending files to a few people over a chat program like Yahoo Instant Messenger.

While already familiar with Photodex Proshow Gold, after getting to review Proshow Producer for Professional Photographer (review scheduled for April issue), I have to admit I felt a little out of my element. Creating slideshows is easy for me, but integrating still images with video? That’s another thing.

Fortunately, I was also able to get my hands on one of Photodex’s training videos: Photo Video Fusion. The DVD contains 1.5 hours of video tutorials (split into 11 chapters). The average video is about 15 minutes long, so you’ll be able to squeeze your learning sessions in when you have a spare moment.

The training sessions begin by explaining the concept of “fusion”—the blending of video and images to create a complete slideshow production. The DVD does a thorough job of explaining concepts, and I’m pretty sure you’ll find it easy to understand.

If you’re someone who learns best by doing, rather than just hearing or watching things, you will love this workshop DVD. Photodex has included video and image files so that you can follow along with the tutorial and actually do the exercises yourself.

After you learn about fusion, the DVD will help you get a good foundation in editing videos with Photodex. You’ll learn how to work with video, how to trim video files and create video clips, and most important—that videos behave pretty much like individual images (so far as layers, masks, and styles go).

Images ©Peter Atherton

DigiLabs Pro aims to be a completely integrated combination of a new generation of DigiLabs software that uses Athentech’s Perfectly Clear image enhancement technology and allows for a unified workflow from image editing to web gallery creation to album design to product ordering and fulfillment. DigiLabs creators say they’ve incorporated easy-to-use wizards throughout to make the process simple and smooth.

DigiLabs also stresses that they will provide a number of cost-effective product options for photographers targeting more economically conservative clientele. The new Anza flush-mount album with black leather cover is offered as an affordable, yet high quality, album that “can meet the needs of customers at virtually any price point.” While the premium Marina album offers more flexibility with 20 to 80 sides and seven covers, including luxury leathers and an animal-friendly vegan option.

Along with the launch of the new platform, DigiLabs is also launching their new StudioShare iPhone application, which allows clients to view and order from a photographer's studio-branded web gallery. It will be the first professional photo proofing and sales app for the iPhone. All DigiLabs Pro users can use and share the app, which then allows clients to view photos and securely place orders from their iPhone.

Images ©Ben Chrisman; iPhone interface from beta version of StudioShare.

In general, uploading videos to websites is a fairly easy process but there are a few steps you should take to ensure your videos are uploaded properly and offer the best quality possible. Personally, I use Vimeo for sharing my video content and their process for uploading videos is quite easy.

There are many formats you can use to upload your videos, but it is always a good idea to compress your videos before uploading them to the web. Uploading raw, uncompressed files will take a long time and eat up a lot of bandwidth, and the quality will not be that much better than a wel-compressed file. For me, the ideal combination of quality and speed are .MP4 or .MOV files using the h.264 codec. Although Flash streaming is a good compromise of quality and speed, H.264 QuickTime MP4s is a great alternative for great quality.

I have outlined a video upload workflow based on the Mac computer platform, but you can easily apply it to a PC as well. While my own personal workflow is based around Final Cut Pro— and that process is very specific— the following steps will work with most systems.

STEP 1: Secure a free piece of software called MPEG Streamclip from Squared5.com. Once you’ve downloaded it to your computer, open the software and drag-and-drop your finished edit into its main window.

STEP 2: From the top menu of the software, choose Export as MP4 and click.

STEP 3: The next step is to determine which file format and resolution you’d like to use for your video. This depends on whether your video footage is in SD (standard definition), 720p (720 pixels vertical resolution) or 1080p HD (high definition).

My suggestion when using MPEG Streamclip is:
• Go to File, then Export to mp4.
• Select the codec you want the MP4 to be. MP4 is purely a “wrapper” for the video, allowing it to be compressed in all sorts of ways. Personally, I recommend you select H.264.

SEO is Search Engine Optimization. After either working long and hard designing, coding, debugging, and selecting images for your website, or spending a lot of money for someone else to do the design and coding work, you want your website to be easily found and that means making sure it ranks high, preferably on the first page, on a search engine’s list for photographers with your specialty in your town and in your region. An effective SEO strategy can be a powerful and cost effective marketing tool as the investments you have to make are merely ones of intellectual capital and time. SEO is only one component of your marketing strategy, of course, and all marketing is about building awareness. The fundamental point of marketing is to let potential clients know you exist and then to show off what you can do. Even if you are the most talented and sensitive photographer within 100 miles, if potential clients can’t find you, how will they know you even exist?

After researching and examining a lot of available SEO expertise, Professional Photographer turned to two photographers who successfully use SEO marketing to consistently rank high in different specialties. J Sandifer of emilie inc., a location wedding photography studio based in Portland, Maine, who is also the wedding development manager at liveBooks, and Jon Cornforth, a nature photographer and teacher. 

The orbis ring flash from Enlight Photo is a modifier for hot shoe flashes that allows them to emulate the functionality of a studio ring flash. Fitting onto the end of a hot shoe flash, it takes the light and bounces it through a highly reflective inner chamber, outputting diffused, characteristic light through its ring.

The high-impact-plastic unit has been expertly designed for maximum efficiency, using the brightest chrome finished plastic available. By adding translucent material to the bottom of the ring and a series of baffles inside, the light output from the ring is evenly distributed and creates flawless specular highlights. Inside, a series of spring hinges ensure a snug fit on the end of your flash. It isn’t designed to permanently marry the two devices, though. In other words, take care to hold the device in a way that protects both units from an unintended free fall.

So, how does it hold up in use? Pretty good, within its limitations. For one thing, it’s limited by the output of the flash that’s going into it, and it loses about 4 stops of light in the translation. That means there’s no way this light is going to light a whole set, but for portraits and very carefully composed full body shots, it’ll work. The instructions suggest bumping the ISO setting to 400, so depending on the camera and lens, it could be possible to get more out of the flash. With the ring flash, portraits show the characteristic wraparound shadow and the highlights are perfect donut shapes. Despite the limited efficiency, it is possible to overpower daylight if you’re able to shoot your subject from a few inches away.

If you’re looking for an album design solution that integrates with Photoshop, then you need to give Album DS Design Software a shot. Let’s just say there’s a reason that Professional Photographer's Hot One Award judges picked Album DS (version 6.1.1) as the winner for Album Design/Layout. Before trying out Album DS, I hadn’t found a program that would fit my needs. I tried various programs, but resorted to Photoshop since the programs couldn’t render my envisioned design properly. After giving Album DS a shot, I think I finally found a program with enough flexibility for me.

Image ©Betsy Finn

When you first install Album DS, the installer will ask you which of the templates (700+), masks (200), frames (570+), backgrounds (326) and clipart you want to install. You can install a sampling of the resources, or install everything at once. Despite the large resource library, you’re not limited to the included templates. Album DS lets you convert templates you already have, or even make your own on the fly.

Photographer Christopher Gabello was drawn to the Varga look after doing food photography for Philadelphia’s Varga Bar, themed around the distinct Esquire magazine pin-up girl illustrations of painter Alberto Vargas in the 1940s.

“I thought it would be thrilling to recreate the calendar he tried to put out in 1948,” says Gabello. “Vargas left Esquire, but he’d signed over the [the rights to the brand] name Varga to the magazine. They put a cease and desist order on the calendar and pulled it from the newsstands.

Gabello spent hours retouching in Photoshop to recreate the Varga look. “Studying the original paintings, I struggled to mimic his style, but it was the old darkroom technique dodge and burn that helped me achieve the look. Once I established a decent rendering, I was ecstatic to continue the project, one of the most substantial I’ve taken on. This giant undertaking, though, yielded one of the proudest pieces of work I’ve ever completed.”

Caption: To get the soft painted look of an original Varga, Gabello applied techniques of the traditional darkroom in the digital environment of Photoshop. Photo ©Christopher Gabello

By Don Chick, M.Photog.Cr., CPP

[SPECIAL NOTE: Become a Facebook Fan of After Dark Education. If the number of fans reaches 2,500 by Feb. 14, Valentine's Day, After Dark will contribute $1,000 to Operation Smile through PPA Charities!]

After Dark is not just another photography seminar, it’s an educational experience encompassing the art, craft and business of professional photography. As stated on the After Dark Education website “it’s an evolution in photographic education.” Dave Junion, the driving force behind After Dark, has combined his talents with Kevin Jordan and others to bring together several days of high-energy education. All attendees will have one-on-one access to some of the biggest names in the industry in order to get answers to their most pressing questions. The upcoming session is planned for March 28-31 in Miami.

I was fortunate to participate as a mentor at the first After Dark, held last October in Austin, Texas. The event provided hands-on experience and opportunities for attendees. Multiple lighting bays were set up with an extensive array of lighting equipment from Photogenic as well as soft boxes and other light modifiers from Larson Enterprises. Denny Manufacturing provided an assortment of backgrounds and props from which Mentors and students alike could choose to use in each studio lighting setup.

Each bay also had an LCD panel for those watching to view the images captured by the mentor. Students were encouraged to ask questions as well as photograph the setting and models. With multiple studio lighting bays, students could rove the room to find the one bay that best fit their specific lighting needs.

Canon’s new EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens (MSRP $1,049) is quite a lens! Even though it has a fixed focal length, the image stabilization, speed (f/2.8) and life-size close-up capabilities without an adapter, (1:1 maximum magnification) make it a very desirable lens to own. Quoting from Canon’s website, “the lens was developed to expand users' photographing range and allow a wider range of users to easily enjoy macro photography.” I recently had the opportunity to evaluate this new lens from  while photographing a wedding as well as creating macro images at my leisure.

Of all the features and capabilities, the feature that impressed me most is the life-size, 1:1 maximum magnification factor. With the 100mm mounted on a Canon EOS 40D, I borrowed the bride’s bouquet as well as the newlyweds’ rings. Using only afternoon window light and the bouquet, I proceeded to capture images to see just what this lens was capable of doing. The first few images were captured from a more “normal” distance (Figure 1).

My initial idea for the image was to incorporate flowers and rings into a “vignette” image. Images like these are important for recording wedding day details for the bride and groom, as well as to increase the variety of images in their final album. After several images at a lower magnification factor, I began to move closer and closer to the rings until I was at the lens’s minimum focusing distance and maximum magnification factor (Figure 2).

I was very impressed with the lens stabilization feature—none of these images were taken with a tripod-mounted camera. It is worth noting, however, that in order to minimize camera shake, I had my elbows propped on the table and held the camera tightly while releasing the shutter. Because I was using the camera’s TTL metering capability when photographing the subject from such a close distance, I didn’t have to make any exposure compensation.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Packaging is an important part of your studio's brand identity. What you wrap your product in tells your client more about who you are and adds value to your products. Using environmentally-friendly packaging and educating your clients about it will help brand you as an eco-aware photographer.

Eco-friendly packaging options include:

• Reduce your packaging.

~ Re-use the original packaging in which your prints arrived.
—TIP: A hot iron can remove the unsightly labels from a re-used shipping box.
—TIP: Make a stamp that says: reused is better then recycled. Turn your box into a message.
~ When hand-delivering, use protective but minimal wrapping instead of boxes.

• Provide something useful and re-usable.

~ Dual purpose—protective and in line with your branding
~ Branded canvas totes
~ Branded reusable folders, boxes or tins
~ Wrap your product in a gift for the client, such as a scarf, baby blanket, or company t-shirt, something branded and in-line with how you want to be identified.

• When new packaging is necessary use something recycled, recyclable and/or compostable and sustainable produced from domestic sources if possible.

~ Nashville Wraps for branded packaging
~ Biodegradable bags for your prints
~ Recycled packaging from Rice Studio Supplies
~ FSC-certified paper products
~ Handmade paper
~ Look for natural materials such as cotton, hemp, or silk.

Remember that packaging adds value; consider adding your values into the equation. If the planet is important to you and your business, wrap it up in a eco-friendly way. Do you have other ideas for eco-friendly packaging? Please share them in the comments!

By Betsy Finn, Cr.Photog., CPP

In this month’s print edition of Professional Photographer magazine, I discussed my experiences with three web cart systems for photographers: RedCart, Photo Cart, and Lightbox Photo Gallery. While each cart system is different, they do all accomplish the same end goal—that is, to allow you to sell your images and products online.

To help you get an idea of what each cart will (and will not) do, I’ve compiled features into categories: investment, interface, pricing, products, and setup. With that being said, let’s take a closer look at the features these web carts have to offer.

Investment: With a one-time investment upfront for a single domain license, all three carts allow you to benefit from commission-free sales. Depending on which interface you choose, you’ll end up investing anywhere from $329 to $1,099 (see end of article). Photo Cart includes lifetime free upgrades, Lightbox includes free upgrades for one year, and RedCart includes minor upgrades unless you spring for their monthly investment … and then you’ll receive all upgrades.

Interface: All three carts have the capability to display public galleries (or keep them private), e-mail invoices, save client favorites, and even display images in a slideshow. RedCart is the only cart to operate on a Flash-based front end—the other two are HTML-based. Photo Cart and Lightbox both have integrated batch uploading, watermarking, and auto thumbnail generation; the upcoming version of RedCart (soon to be released) relies on a desktop application to accomplish these tasks. Since Lightbox is geared to commercial/stock photography, it has several unique features, including SEO URLs, a multi-photographer manager, and even a keyword search log. Both Photo Cart and Lightbox can display IPTC metadata if that information is present in your image files.

Above: Lightbox Photo Gallery configuration interface and the gallery view for clients. (Click for large view.)

Above: Photo Cart's client gallery. (Click for large view.)

Above: RedCart's client gallery. (Click for large view.)

Professional Photographer’s Senior Editor, Joan Sherwood, interviewed several of the tradeshow vendors in Phoenix at the 2009 show. Here to serve as a sneak peek are just a few of those vendors who'll be back with us again in Nashville, Jan. 10-12.

Wild Sorbet: The Original Shabby Chic Frame Company
Tana LeMay of Wild Sorbet brings a new line of frames for canvases to Imaging USA this year. It's inspired by our January cover photographer, Kimberly Wylie, and called The Gallery Frame. They've also got a new frame with attention-grabbing curved edges—the Parisian.

Triple Scoop Music
Triple Scoop Music is offering their biggest show special ever at our show! Come by booth #239 on DAY 1 (Sunday, Jan. 10) and get a custom music collection for 50% off, plus an additional $120 in FREE music. Triple Scoop Music has well over 5,000 hand-picked songs and more every month by award-winning artists, including Grammy & Emmy winners. In Phoenix we interviewed Jennifer Herbig, one of the company founders—all musicians themselves.

Drop It Modern
Drop It Modern will bring new classic damask designs to Nashville, and you'll get a preview of new modern looks that will be available later in January. Here owner and founder Breane Schapp discusses the origin of the bold, beautiful look of her lush, original designs. In January 2009, her company was only six months old, now it's a big hit with a track record of success.

 We’ll see you there!

When I heard about Nikon’s new VR II lens, my first thought was, “how much better could it really be?” You see, I own the VR version of this lens, which  has what I would consider a great vibration reduction system. After getting a chance to shoot with the VR II system, I get it. As efficient as my VR lens is, the VR II lens blows it out of the water. If you don’t want to talk yourself into buying this lens, I wouldn’t even recommend testing it. OK, I know you aren’t going to take my advice, but at least now you’re forewarned!

Here’s a brief sneak peek to keep you happy until you can get your hands on the full review in the February issue of Professional Photographer. I was able to capture this handheld exposure using the VR II feature:

Camera settings: ISO 100, 1/8 sec at f/22 (135mm focal length). ©Betsy Finn