The Digital Photography Show #70: Rick Sammon Turns Your Snapshots into Great Art and All About xTrain
The Digital Photography Show #70: Rick Sammon Turns Your Snapshots into Great Art and All About xTrain (43Mb, 62 mins)
October 6, 2007: Welcome to the seventieth episode of The Digital Photography Show!
Today we talk to Rick Sammon, one of the best photographers and instructors out there. Rick has many books out, and his newest venture is as one of the instructors available on xTrain.
The fine people at xTrain describe their service as follows:
xTrain is the world’s easiest-to-use online training program for graphic design, web design, digital arts, digital photography, and online marketing. The xTrain mission is to provide the best, fastest, and most affordable training for everyone from digital professionals to students, hobbyists, and companies. Online training videos are taught by industry-best instructors and authors. Using a variety of teaching models, the xTrain videos are designed to captivate and educate everyone.
We also talk to the lovely and talented Queen of All Contests Laurel Housden about the new The Digital Photography Show Flickr group she’s started. It’s at http://www.flickr.com/groups/thedps/.
She also raves about the 24 by 30 print she received from Mpix – you can see the unboxing and ultimate results here: http://thephotoenthusiast.com/archives/39.
Laurel is also running out latest contest. The prize is the terrific Wacom Bamboo Fun, Medium (there is no large, so you’re getting the biggest there is!), a $199 US value.
Here’s the scoop on the contest:
Theme: A subject demonstrating the act of creativity.
Technique: Photographic technique is up to you, however you need you add that extra personal touch by “signing” your work. You can use a mouse, a trackball, or your Wacom tablet. You can use your first name, last name, or nom de plume. If you’re not using a Wacom, think how much easier it would be to write with one!
1. Email jpg images to dpscontest@gmail.com.
2. The image must be in jpg format, and no more than 800 pixels on its widest side.
3. You may only enter three photographs.
If you send in more than three photographs, the first three received shall be the only ones considered.
4. Please include the original exif info within the image
5. Please rename the image file with the photographers first and last name (so we know it’s yours).
6. If you are inclined to title your image (titles are optional),
please append the title after the photographers name of the image file name.
Example file name: MichaelStein_ElbowStuckInEar.jpg
7. Only one image per entrant can be eligible as a finalist.
8. Please provide us permission to post the image on our Phanfare site.
9. Photos will be accepted through Monday, 22 October, 2007.
10. Enjoy Being Creative!
You can see the contest entries at www.dps.phanfare.com.
We’d love to hear what you thought of the show either here on the blog or at TheDigitalPhotographyShow@gmail.com.
Thanks to our advertiser DXO (www.dxo.com) for the 20% discount they are only offering to listeners of this show. Try the program for free, and when you’re ready to buy, use the code DPSSHOW.
And don’t forget the fifty buck discount on Alien Skin’s Snap Art (http://www.alienskin.com/snapart/index.html). Just call and tell them you heard about it on The Digital Photography Show.
We also appreciate the sponsorship of Wacom (www.wacom.com) and Lensbabies (www.lensbabies.com), two great products for when you want to get creative with your photography.
We encoded the show at a higher bit rate this week - it will give us better audio quality, although the file is larger, too. Will you let us know if it sounds any better?
Thanks for joining us and we want lots of contest entries, so go to work!
Scott
October 8th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
Loved the show, as usual! I always learn SO much. Thanks!
I didn’t notice a huge improvement in sound, although a small one. I thought the sound was OK before, though. I am obviously not an audiophile.
October 9th, 2007 at 6:06 am
Just finished downloading the show - my feed was a little slow in picking this up. Just wanted to report that I did get some scripting (php) errors when I came to the site today. I am sure it’ll be as good as always.
October 10th, 2007 at 12:14 am
Quick unrelated question for Michael S.
I just bought photoshop and lightroom and enrolled in the NYIP class Photoshop for Photographers. I have a 1st generation intel chip macbook (not pro). My question is, do I need to upgrade to a macbook pro to run lightroom and photoshop properly? The 17″ Pro has a steep price tag, but if that is what I need I will do it. However, if I don’t NEED it…I’d rather hang onto the cash.
Thanks for your help!
October 10th, 2007 at 12:46 am
I actually use a Macbook 13″ (summer of 2006 black version) and I run both CS3 and Lightroom on it - and it works fine. But just to let you know…I have 2 gigs of RAM in it as well. If you plan on doing a lot of Photoshop ediiting and like to run alot of programs…get the Mackbook Pro - but - wait until AFTER Lepoard is released.
Hope this helps,
Laurel
October 10th, 2007 at 1:46 am
Thank you Laurel, Queen of all contests…who shall be known by me as Laurel Queen of all Answers!
October 10th, 2007 at 1:58 am
Thanks, Holly. Did anyone else notice a difference in the sound?
Shrewspeaks, just to complicate things, I’ve been hearing that Apple may be refreshing the hardware on the their notebooks at around the time they release Leopard. On CNET, they were saying that the new notebooks may be coming out a bit AFTER Leopard is released — but before Xmas - so, that’s one more reason to wait a bit.
October 10th, 2007 at 4:01 am
Thanks for the added info Scott…I am running over to CNET now.
By the way love, Love, LOVE the show! Where else can you have the likes of Kelby and Sammon in the comfort of your own iPod? Not to mention all the great tips you and Michael provide!
PS- loving my Canon 40D as well.
October 10th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
I recently purchased the Canon 40D. As I took the camera out of the box I noticed a slight shadow in the small LCD on top of the camera (on the left side). It wasn’t very noticable until I went outside in direct sunlight. When I put on polarized sunglasses the shadow became a black spot, almost looked like it was burned into the LCD. I took the camera back to the store and they exchanged it with no problems. I looked at the new camera through polarized sunglasses and it has the exact same spot (only not visible without the polarized glasses). Do you have a similar spot on your 40D? Try looking at it with polarized sunglasses. Do you think that there is a problem with the camera?
Thanks.
Buck
October 10th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
Thanks Laurel for testifying. I don’t have the non pro version so I wouldn’t know how well LR runs on it. I do run it on an older PPC iMac and it runs okay, but not great. I totally agree to get as much RAM as you can afford. Next time I’m going up to 4GB if I can.
–Michael
October 10th, 2007 at 11:58 pm
Adam - I’ve been sellling out for years- the problem is no one’s buying! (That’s a joke).
Actually, the reference in the show was also a joke. A joke, I tell you! We had a jam-packed show and I was just trying to move things along. If I had to watch every word I said, and if I thought our listeners would always assume the worst of us, it would be a very tedious show to do - and to listen to. So, please, cut us some slack.
If it helps, look at this way; We gave forty minutes on the show to xTrain, which is not an advertiser. They didn’t give “us” anything - although they did give two free memberships and a 15% discount to our listeners, which we LOVE and truly appreciate. We’re always talking about stuff we like, recommend and covet that we don’t get any renumeration for.
What we DO try to do is to get stuff for you guys - every week we strive not only to give you our brilliant insights (joking again!) and great guests, but also giveaways and discounts.
While sponsorships make the show possible, we do the show because we love to and because we think - we hope! - our audience finds it interesting and entertaining. I think most of the audience knows that, but if not - there it is!
October 11th, 2007 at 10:12 am
Hi Scott and Michael,
First I want to say I downloaded ALL shows and am listening from the first one, I’m still in February ( :-P ) IT IS A GREAT SHOW, you guys made it in a way that I feel like we are just chatting as friends about a subject of common interest. I also laugh a lot when Michael does his comments like his was completely lost, and his dry humor! Congrats for what I heard so far!
Now I have a question I don’t know if anyone ever asked or answered. I have a D-80 and I wander when I take a picture and I want to check on the camera screen how much zoom will it be to get 100% of the resolution if I want to check how sharp the photo is!
I hope I hear from you either on the show or by email.
Again, you are doing a TERRIFIC show, keep it the way you’re doing cause it’s just great.
Eladio Gomes (I want to hear Scott’s pronunciation of my name!!) :-D
October 12th, 2007 at 12:14 am
Scott
I am very pleased that you responded; cleared the matter up; and you made your points well…
I think that everyone appreciates the time effort you both put into the excellent shows and I for one feel that you deserve to make some money out of the show or at least not loose money as a result. It is clear the effort and dedication to the listeners that you both have.
Ultimately all you or any of us have at the end of the day is our reputation. Whilst it may be clear that is a joke, there is a small voice at the back of my head saying “Many a true word spoken is jest?”, and ultimately it feels like a (all be it small) breach of trust between the show and the listeners.
Ultimately a minor point, but one I think is worth pointing out. None of us are perfect but if we are willing to learn that is all anyone can ask
October 12th, 2007 at 11:09 pm
Hi guys!
I’ve been listening for a few months now and am just now catching up on the older shows; all great by the way! I’ve learned a lot so far & will be making several purchases from your sponsors and others that have been on the show.
Hear that people? If you’re in the photography business, SPONSOR THIS SHOW! :)
And now, please allow me to drift off topic a bit.
I have a few suggestions/requests/comments.
I love all of the contests that you have & it’s great that your guest are willing to give away their products on your show, but the one thing that I have not been able to find in the older show notes is what the answer was to some of the questions and who won. It would be nice to see the winner and correst answer in the show notes.
How about a showdown between Paint Shop Pro & Photoshop? I’ve been a fan of PSP since ver. 3, but all I ever hear/read about is Photoshop. If price is any indicator, PS must be something fantastic, but is it really worth the hundreds of dollars more for an average person like me? It would be nice if you could interview someone who knows both programs and could shed some light on the differences between the two.
How about a “digital darkroom” episode? What is a good digital darkroom setup? If you were going to build a new PC or Mac for photo editing, what would it be & what software would you use?
Keep up the great work guys. I look forward to every show.
If your going to the Digital Days workshop in Orlando Oct. 27, 28, I’ll see you there.
October 13th, 2007 at 4:17 am
Eladio - We just taped a show and I was going to try and say your name, but I forgot.
We’ll have to save that challenge for another time.
You ask a good question - I don’t know the answer. I guess it would be camera specific, as they all zoom in at different intervals. Anyone know?
Adam, thanks for your response to my response. Yes, “many a true word is spoken in jest,” but it’s also true that “it’s always darkest before the dawn.”
Which is not directly relevant, but a cheery thought nonetheless.
Listen, we’ve only ever had five sponsors but we’ve talked about, lusted after, recommended and given away hundreds of products. I think those numbers speak for themselves.
And we ALWAYS make it very clear who our sponsors are - no payola here!
We’re not going to break our trust with you. Cross my heart.
October 15th, 2007 at 12:49 am
I am writing to say that show #71 provided me with so much great information. Your photo law guest is fantastic I hope she will return soon. Michael it was so great to hear from you. I would love to hear more from you. Don’t let Scott bully you just because you two are friends and he can get away with it. It is a two man show and for some reason Scott seams to force his style and push you along or cut you off. It ruins the natural dialogue between two people which is more preferable on the air. Michael tell us more about your photo shoots and gear. Your approach to photography and your workflow and what you have learned since this show started. Has your style changed? I would also love to see some of Scott and Michael’s photos. What do you think DPS fans.
October 16th, 2007 at 11:13 am
Hello Scot and Michael,
I’m a loyal listener of your show for around a year I think. Thank you very much for your work of sharing your hobbie with all of us. I enjoy your interviews with photographers like Rick Salmon.
In relation to the sound, I’m subscribed to your podcast through iTunes and I download the show to my iPod. I did not notice a great difference, but I observed the show did not download completely. I had to listen it in my desktop. It stopped during Rick’s interview.
October 17th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
Great show guys…. Michael you have a gear habit :-) I would tell you to kick it but well I like knowing I’m not the only one!! I like you point about only buying things once if you by a good product. This is what most folks over look if you have to buy it twice was it really cheaper :-)
As always great to hear Rick on the show I really enjoy listen to him.
Bryen
October 18th, 2007 at 12:36 am
I always love it when I get an opportunity to hear Rick anywhere…he’s a wonderful guest! I’d love to see you guys have him back about xtrain, or any other venue he’s involved in!