Over the last couple of years, HDR (high dynamic range) photography has become more prevalent. Some photographers take it to the extreme and create pieces that are less photograph and more computer-generated artwork, while others use the technique in moderation and attempt to more accurately portray the colors, lights, and shadows as seen by the human eye.

The current process for creating and HDR image usually involves capturing multiple photos of the same scene while in the field, with each photo having a different exposure. The photographer then uses software to merge these photos and create a composite image which has a wider dynamic range of tones from light to dark than is possible from a single capture with today’s cameras.

A few compact (point and shoot) cameras have started to feature “in camera HDR”, where the device performs the merge in-camera so that only one file, and HDR composite, is the result. While this might be great in a point-and-shoot, I disagree with some predictions that pro photographers will start to use it on their DSLR. For the same reasons that pros don’t shoot in “P” mode, pros will want to control the details of the process so that the photographer can create the best possible image and potentially apply their own style to the photo.

In-camera HDR will be much like in-camera JPG: although there might be some ideal conditions where it’s useful, most pros will choose to shoot RAW and process their own HDR so that they can control the process completely… folks are paying for that professional touch.

What do you think? What’s the likelihood of you using in-camera HDR?

Pro Photographers Won’t Use In-Camera HDR is a post from Social Photo Talk. Subscribe to the free Social Photo Talk e-newsletter

I swear that when I tweeted this morning:

I had no knowledge that only a couple hours later, Flickr would unveil a newer interface. Flickr has been enhanced with several updates to photo pages.

Similar Look; Several Enhancements

The overall look remains similar, but here’s what you’ll find with the new Flickr photo interface (along with a few editorial comments):

• The default photo size has been increased to 640 pixels wide (up from 500 previously). Bigger is better, but in these days where it seems that everyone’s default resolution is at least 1280 pixels wide, I’m a bit disappointed that only half of that is being used for a photograph.
• A new lightbox view, accessed by clicking on a photo, opens a black-background lightbox for image viewing. I don’t see this as being used by many folks, but it’s nice to see a black-background option being available. Even better would’ve been the ability for users to choose their background color for the page.
• Photo titles now display underneath images (near the description) instead of at the top of the page. The image comes first, the supporting words second.
• Photos with geolocation data display a small map on the right. The camera information is displayed in this same area. Both of these items are more prominant than the previous small-font display that was down near the bottom of the sidebar.
• Navigation buttons to move to previous/next images are now fairly prominent. A new “filmstrip” look replaces the older single-photo options to move forward or back within the photostream or image set.
• Several of the options that were previously in various above-photo menus have been consolidated into an “Actions” menu. This results in a cleaner interface, but it’s going to mean an extra click if you frequently used some of those options.
• Previously viewable only to photo owners, Favorites are now public and displayed along with the comments.
• Licensing information is now displayed more prominently, including on the “All Sizes” view of a photo.

First-Glance Conclusions

Overall these are evolutionary, not revolutionary changes. I think it’s definitely a step in the right direction. When I got word of the new interface I’ll admit I was kind of hoping for some bigger changes but I suspect Flickr users might have revolted at anything too radical.

For power users who might be enhancing Flickr with Greasemonkey scripts, my suspicion is that most of these scripts will need to be updated to accomodate the user interface changes. Incidentally, I use about ten scripts that enhance Flickr, and none of today’s announced changes addresses the shortcomings that I overcome with scripts.

I’m not really sure where Flickr is headed. Perhaps these changes are the first step or are needed to support some bigger innovations that have yet to be announced.

Get Started with the New Interface

The new interface is technically in a beta period right now, but signed-in Flickr users can opt-in to the new design. Use this link to opt-in to the new Flickr photo interface.

Read more about the changes in the announcement blog post, the Flickr FAQs, or a Flickr Group that’s been set up for discussion.

Flickr Unveils New Photo Page Interface. I Swear I Didn’t Know, Really. is a post from Social Photo Talk. Subscribe to the free Social Photo Talk e-newsletter

For portraits, headshots, and other forms of “people” photography, one of the keys to great images is to get the subject relaxed.  Folks generally don’t look great when they are uptight and nervous, so whenever I’m working with a client I try to get the individual to relax a bit as I gray to develop a casual rapport for the photography session.

Social media can be a great way to start developing that rapport in advance of the photo session. I’m connected with and do a lot of work for folks in the software and tech communities on my area, and most if not all of these folks have embraced Twitter and Facebook. By following and conversing with clients and potential clients in these online venues, I learn a bit about their lives and build up material about which we can converse. When it’s time for headshots or another photoshoot, we’ve already had the small talk and have a basis for conversation that can put my subject at ease so I can take photos that capture a relaxed, natural subject.

Do you build rapport with social media? Do you think it’s been a contributing factor to better photos?

Photo by eperales, used under Creative Commons licensing

Better Portraits Because of Social Media is a post from Social Photo Talk. Subscribe to the free Social Photo Talk e-newsletter

WordPress 3.0 is the newest release of my favorite blogging software. The new release includes an all-new easy-to-use menu system, more options for theme customization, a lighter admin interface with more contextual help, and more. You can download it directly or upgrade your existing install.

I’m sure I’ll write more in depth about specific elements of the new features, but in the meantime you can take a quick video tour of WordPress 3.0 (hit the icon in the lower right to embiggen the video):

Are you diving into WordPress 3? Are you going to wait a bit before upgrading your sites?

WordPress 3.0 is Released: New Menus, Theme Options, Better Help is a post from Social Photo Talk. Subscribe to the free Social Photo Talk e-newsletter

Are you using an email list as part of your photography marketing? I wasn’t… until yesterday.

Although I’ve sent out a weekly email newsletter here from Social Photo Talk (to the several hundred of you that subscribe…thank you), I haven’t used one to market my photography services and products directly to clients. Yesterday I launched a rather aggressive newsletter project.

People often dread their email inbox in the morning. I’m doing what I hope is my small little bit towards improving that outlook (pun intended). I’m offering a daily (actually just weekdays) email with a photo and a few thoughts. I’m not planning to use it as a hard sell; my main goal is to simply keep my name and work in front of people. Between my existing image library and the new photos that I’m creating, one photo per day should be sustainable. The biggest challenge I foresee is taking a few minutes each day to jot down a few thoughts and assemble the newsletter.

I’m using MailChimp as my email service provider and so far it’s working great.

As I get more subscribers I’m curious to see how the whole thing works out. If you’d like to follow along with the experience, you can subscribe to my newsletter; I’ll probably also blog about it again here if I have something meaningful to share.

Do you send an email newsletter to your clients? Is it worthwhile? Are you willing to share what’s worked (or hasn’t)?

Photo by Mzelle Biscotte, used under Creative Commons licensing

Starting an Email Newsletter as a Photographer is a post from Social Photo Talk. Subscribe to the free Social Photo Talk e-newsletter

As mentioned in yesterday’s article, Photoshelter just released some new changes to their service. Better websites for free, better SEO, and easier customization are the themes of these updates.

More Photographer-Centric Branding for Free and Basic Accounts

Previously, Photoshelter’s free and Basic account types had Photoshelter-themed image galleries. With the latest updates, photographers on these limited plans will now have their brand featured prominently on a new default website template.

Better SEO and Google Optimization

Photoshelter will now submit Google sitemaps (including the new image sitemap features) for all accounts. Previously, users had to manually configure Google’s webmaster tools for Photoshelter. What’s a sitemap? It’s a file that helps Google (and other search engines) better index a website by describing the site’s layout and how often various parts of the site are usually updated.

Easier Site Customization

It looks like Photoshelter has added some additional customization features that will make it easier for photographers to edit HTML directly and have further control over their site templates. There are two new customizable page templates.

Shorter, Cleaner URLs

For photographers not using their own domain name, their Photoshelter site will now feature a cleaner subdomain URL structure. Instead of a URL like photoshelter.com/c/username, photographers will now have a website at username.photoshelter.com.

What Do You Think?

Are you a Photoshelter user? What do you think about the updates? If anyone is interested in signing up with Photoshelter, that referral link will save you up to $30 on a new account.

Photoshelter Updates: Better Customization, Better Sitemaps, Better URLs is a post from Social Photo Talk. Subscribe to the free Social Photo Talk e-newsletter

Last night Flickr announced direct sharing integration with Facebook. Sounds great, but as part of Yahoo’s attempt to stay relevant in the social space, it’s integrated with something called either Yahoo Updates or Yahoo Pulse (I can’t figure out if they’re the same thing or not) that adds one more layer of complexity to the privacy picture.

The premise seems straightforward: each time you upload a photo to Flickr, that photo is shared on your Facebook wall. Once you have things configured, that’s what happens.

How to Setup Flickr to Facebook Connectivity

First, if you’re already using the old Flickr to Facebook integration (which was, to put it nicely, flaky at best), you’ll want to disable that so you don’t end up double-posting. To disable the old system, on Facebook, go to your Profile. Click on Wall, then at the top find the Options link, then Settings, and if you see Flickr, click the little “X” to remove it.

Next go to the Sharing & Extending options of your Flickr account. Near the top you should see the blue button to connect with Facebook. When you click it, you’ll establish the Facebook connection, but you’ll also end up diving into a world of likely having to enable Yahoo Updates. What is Yahoo Updates? If you’re like me, you’d never heard of it previously. From what I can tell, Yahoo Updates is a social sharing system that spans Yahoo services. You’ll need to configure your Yahoo Updates to allow Flickr to share with Facebook (it’s a simple checkbox) and then, in theory, the connection will be established. At least, I think you’re configuring Yahoo Updates. That’s what it’s called in some places, but the page also brands itself as Yahoo Pulse. Pulse, Updates, who knows. It’s cute that Yahoo is trying to establish some sort of sharing platform, but really, are there many people where Yahoo is the center of their sharing world? I don’t know of any such people…

After enabling everything (and scanning Flickr’s Facebook FAQ to make sure I hadn’t missed something), I uploaded a photo to Flickr. About 10 minutes later, there it was on Facebook:

They’ve pulled the image title, description, and some tags with a link to view more of my photostream.

Go forth and re-integrate Flickr and Facebook.

It Works, But WTF?

Is this a good thing? Did Yahoo just spend a bunch of effort to fix something that wasn’t broken? Is Yahoo Pulse relevant? What if they’d done something truly interesting like allowed for cross-site photo comments instead of two silos? Flickr is great for getting comments from photographers, but what about comments from the wider population on Facebook?

New Flickr + Facebook Integration Marred by Irrelevant Yahoo Clutter is a post from Social Photo Talk. Subscribe to the free Social Photo Talk e-newsletter

Photographers want easy ways to show off their work in online galleries. Clients want user-friendly systems to check out photos from their event or portrait session. Everyone wants prints from professional labs delivered in a timely manner. There are variety of ways to go about reaching these goals, but one increasingly-common scenario is for a photographer (either a pro or a serious hobbyist) to use an online gallery and image delivery system such as SmugMug or Photoshelter.

Both sites offer the ability for photographers to create customized galleries that can mirror a photographer’s look/feel/branding of their existing website. Both sites partner with processing labs for print and product orders. Both sites offer some form of electronic image delivery.

And, to the benefit of all, both sites are currently going through growth periods.

SmugMug has recently added several new features for their Pro accounts, including shipping coupons, thank-you prints and stickers, and improved analytics. Photoshelter is teasing members with some news about significant upgrades coming later this week. I’ll review those changes once they happen; I’m glad to see each company is currently innovating in this space.

Do you use a hosted gallery system? What do you like? What do you wish could be improved?

Innovative Times for SmugMug, Photoshelter is a post from Social Photo Talk. Subscribe to the free Social Photo Talk e-newsletter

While hanging out on the intertubes I caught wind (via Rob Galbraith) that Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 is shipping.

To purchase the upgrade ($99 US) or full version ($299 US), head over to the Adobe Store, choose your country, then navigate to the product.

If you’re doing the electronic download, using Google Chrome seems to bypass Adobe’s sometimes-irritating download manager!

Lightroom 3 is Shipping is a post from Social Photo Talk. Subscribe to the free Social Photo Talk e-newsletter

When you first heard about Twitter, you probably wondered why the heck anyone would care about the answer to “What are you doing right now?” If you’ve used Twitter and developed some relationships, you probably realized that the connections go way beyond folks sharing what they’re having for lunch.

I want to hear your Twitter story in a couple sentences, of what you thought it would be like when you joined and then what you’ve found Twitter to actually be once you’ve used it for a while. I’ll select a couple commenters at random; one will win a Luma Loop camera strap (size medium – $60 value) and the other will get one year of Flickr Pro ($25 value). Winners will be announced next Monday (June 7th), so leave a comment soon!

Please share… what’s been your Twitter experience when compared with your expectations?

Photo by kl-Ga, used under Creative Commons licensing

Twitter: Your Expectations vs. Reality (Comment to win!) is a post from Social Photo Talk. Subscribe to the free Social Photo Talk e-newsletter