########################################

Key words in this issue: PhotoShop | Telegraph History | Digital Cameras | Portfolios | Animal Photos | Invasion of Privacy | Government Funds | B&W Printing | Stock Photo |

NEWSWORDS: Auction | Nimoy | Photo Pioneer | Family Business | Kodak Innovation | Photo PC | Photo Software | Megapixels |

########################################

## PhotoAIM weekly newsletter for 10/12/02 ## 385b

########################################

PhotoAIM, the weekly newsletter from PhotoSource

ISSN 1530-0511

If you no longer wish to receive PhotoAIM, see the instructions at the end of this newsletter.

########################################

PHOTOSHOP FOR STOCK PHOTOGRAPHERS – PART 1

````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

by David Arnold

Advance Notes: The stock photo world is going digital more rapidly than anyone expected. Photosource International’s latest survey of editorial photobuyers found that most of them want photographers to submit digital previews, and many are happy to accept the final product in digital form. The jury is still out on whether digital SLRs have truly come of age. Some pros use them, others point out that no digital camera can yet equal film for image quality, so they stay with film, and use a scanner to digitize their photos. But whatever route you take along the digital highway, you can’t drive directly from camera or scanner to photobuyer. Along the way you have to detour for a digital tune-up, using Photoshop or other image editing program. In this three-part series I’ll introduce some of the programs available, what they can do for you, and additional tools that can make your digital life easier and your digital images better.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In years past photographers manipulated images by dodging, burning, tilting the easel to correct perspective, retouching prints and negatives, and so forth. Ansel Adams was a master of such techniques; today he’d be a master of Photoshop. You needn’t master imaging software, but if you’re going to stay in business you can’t ignore it, either. As fulltime stock photographer and PhotoStockNotes subscriber Kent Foster put it to me, "Image editing software is as important to your overall digital process as film is to your camera—period!"

But which image editing software? All can adjust exposure, modify contrast and color, remove dust, scratches, or a wayward blemish or twig, correct perspective, and enhance sharpness. But they differ in how they implement these capabilities, in other features, and in ease of use.

Photoshop (www.adobe.com, $609; Windows and Mac) is the best-known image editing program and, with an estimated four million users, the most popular. The majority of pros who work digitally, "Photoshop" their images—yes, it’s become a verb—before displaying them on the Web or submitting them to clients. Photoshop has more power and flexibility than any of its competitors, but also a higher price tag and steeper learning curve.

########################################

This week's featured photographer on PhotoSourceFolio: Jim Umhoefer:

########################################

FLASHBACK

```````````````````

1861 - October 24 – The first transcontinental telegraph line began operation on this date, when U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Johnson Field, in California, sent a message to President Abraham Lincoln, in Washington, D.C. It cost the general public $6 to send 10 words from San Francisco to New York, and 75 cents for each additional word. The telegraph line was so successful that it quickly put the Pony Express out of business.

SIDE BAR

``````````````

Buying Digital

When it comes to buying a digital camera, how do you determine what kind to choose? Ask yourself a simple question: "Why and how will I be using this camera?" If it's for family snapshots, you'll get an easy answer. If it's to supply professional digital images to a buyer, you'll get a different answer.

If your purpose is professional, you need to ask another question. "Will I be using this camera to supply images for commercial use such as for an advertising agency or commercial entity, or will the camera be used to supply quarter-page images for textbook publishers?" Your answer could make the difference between thousands of dollars in purchase price.

How do you find your answers? Ask. Find out from the clients on your personal Market List what kind of digital images they utilize (size, format, dpi, and so on). Select a camera that will deliver those needs. By tailoring your digital equipment to your clients' needs, you can assure their continued friendship, cooperation, and interest in your photos (i.e. sales).

SCANNERS BEGONE ?

Many photographers seem to think that once they purchase a professional-grade digital camera, they'll have no use for their scanner for film images.

A recent survey conducted by Trend Watch Graphic Arts shows a different story. The survey asked the question: "How Has Your Use of Color Scanners Changed as a Result of Owning a Digital Camera?" 54% of the respondents said scanner use stayed the same. 10% increased use, and 35% said they decreased the use of scanners.

More than half of the respondents stated that they're using their scanners at least as much now as before they purchased a digital camera.

########################################

OCTOBER 15<sup>th</sup> is the DEADLINE.

########################################

THE PIXEL PALACE

````````````````````````````

by Joe Farace

Fresh Portfolios

Portfolio, anyone? When’s the last time you updated your portfolio? I know that many photographers have replaced their traditional portfolios with on-line and digital portfolios, so I’ll ask the question again. It doesn’t make any difference how you present your work to a client; it’s the content that matters. So how old are your images? If they’re more than 18 months old, it’s time to reevaluate.

This was brought home to me recently when I went to a gathering of local glamour photographers who had previously only communicated via an on-line forum. Many of us brought our "books," and when I got a look at how most of the shooters had kept on top of their portfolios and gradually updated them, I quickly realized that I had not. One of the problems was that I had gotten stuck in the 8x10 syndrome and the images had no space around them to "breathe." Even the book itself seemed puny.

While the solution was essentially an analog one—prints inside a book—the solution would have been too expensive if I had to rely on an outside photo lab to make the prints. I decided to go with a larger "book," one with 11x17-inch pages. This would allow me to make larger 11x14 photographs and allow space around the images. The book was a simple black vinyl portfolio purchased from a local art supply store for less than twelve bucks.

For the prints, I selected Epson’s Photo Quality Inkjet paper, available from www.inkjetart.com for $32.50 for a one hundred-sheet pack. Photo Quality Inkjet paper has a soft, semi-gloss surface, is medium weight, and inexpensive enough ($3.25 per page) to be able to update the portfolio after each new shoot. Portfolio prints are made using a six-color Epson Stylus Photo 1280, that’s old by today’s standards but still cranks our photo-lab quality prints in seconds for pennies instead of waiting days and paying dollars. (I expect to get a new seven-color Stylus Photo 2200 for testing and will report on it in an upcoming column.)

BUSINESS NOTEPAD

`````````````````````````````

DEER, WOODCHUCKS, RABBITS, SQUIRRELS. With the garden harvest season upon us, these are the animals that come in and steal a gardener's tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and other crops. If you're not a gardener, team together with a neighbor who is. If you have the right equipment, you'll capture some exciting night photography of these creatures as they practice their stealth while all of us sleep. Your neighbor will be happy to cooperate because he/she will discover which animal is stealing which produce, plus receive your gift of a scrapbook photo. You'll get some excellent stock photos for your files if one of your specialties focuses on woodland creatures – or gardens and gardeners.

-RE

THE LINE between INVASION OF PRIVACY and the "right to know" is always a concern of editorial photographers. In addition, each state looks at "privacy" differently.

ADS WE’VE READ

``````````````````````````

CUSTOM B&W PRINTING & PROCESSING RC & Fiber up to 20x24 – processing up to 8x10 reasonable prices – exhibit prints – toning – proofing - copy work – Silver Images, 405 Buisness Park Lane, Allentown, PA 18103 Phone: (610) 433-4889.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

``````````````````````````````

"Another belief of mine: that everyone else my age is an adult,

whereas I am merely in disguise."

–Margaret Atwood, Cat's Eye, 1988

FREE THIS WEEK

````````````````````````

FREE CANDLE. Many fragrances to choose from. Offer valid for US residents only.

THIS WEEK'S WEB FEATURE

`````````````````````````````````````````

Position yourself so that photo researchers come to you for your stock photography. It's easy. Join the PhotoSourceBank. Photobuyers use this directory of specific photos and photographers to find the pictures they need.

Watch for developments in the field of stock photography in PhotoAIM's

PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE NEWS

``````````````````````````````````````````

You'll be the first to know…

Note: If the URL is long, it may extend to two lines. In that case - clicking on it won't work. Instead, "copy and paste" the URL.

Great works will be on auction block - Walker Evans, Keith Carter and Alfred Stieglitz are some of the photographers who will be represented in the 24<sup>th</sup> annual benefit auction for the Center for Photography at Woodstock.

Nimoy's photo depiction on book cover of nude not pleasing to this group.

Miller remembered as photography pioneer - Miller, 90, founder of Miller's Professional Imaging, the world's largest professional photographic lab and an award-winning photographer, died Friday, October 4th.

Picturing The Community - A photography business that started almost by accident 50 years ago is still going strong and still run by the same family.

We knew there was something better! Kodak Launches New Film Processing System - - Eastman Kodak Co. on Monday unveiled a system for developing rolls of film that promises better quality photographs, another effort to slow the decline in picture-taking by consumers.

Week in review: Tech tricks - Have you shared photo files from a digital camera without a PC? Some of the more interesting new technologies unveiled this week are about doing without. The idea is to allow people to execute commands with a simple flick of the wrist, rather than navigate through complicated point-and-click toolbars and drop-down menus.

Congratulations! Museum honors Adobe, chip gurus - Silicon Valley's Computer History Museum announced Monday that it will honor the founders of Adobe Systems and two other technology pioneers.

Photo software focuses on masses - Dan Slavin is confident he has the answer for bringing digital photography to a mainstream audience: photo software for people who don't like to use photo software.

E-Books are Ready for a Sequel - In a recent TWGA publishing survey, "e-book production" is up ever so slightly as a sales opportunity among book publishers.

New digital cameras are on the horizon that are 11 and 13 megapixels. That reaches 35mm film quality and more! They are pricey, but in a few years they should be affordable for all photographers.

########################################

Feel free to forward this issue of PhotoAIM to your photographer friends.

########################################

New products for stock photographers can be found by typing in ' GoodStuff' in the Search section of PhotoStockNotes.

########################################

As a subscriber, you can search back issues of PhotoAIM. On your Web browser go to:

and type in your keyword. (Your password is listed on the final entry of your current newsletter)

To cancel your subscription, send email to:

with "PhotoAIM UNSUBSCRIBE" as the subject line.

########################################

PhotoAIM weekly newsletter is a product of PhotoSource International, Rohn Engh, Director, who is solely responsible for its contents. Stock Photo.

To sign up for our newsletter:

For information about PhotoSource International:

########################################

PhotoAIM Archives: http://www.photoaim.com/list/

User name: photosource

Password: free

########################################

385b

Next Week: A Word is Worth a Thousand Pictures