I signed up for the 2 week free trial. This is the best way to get most of your questions answered. No credit card required. You get complete access to all Zenfolio Premium features for 14 days including uploading full size photos (up to 1GB total with the trial). When you upgrade to a regular account, you will keep your site URL, all the uploaded photos, and account settings.

Some of the features that really convinced me to sign up for Zenfolio’s Premium service are:
Easy to use shopping cart designed for photographers
Zenfolio offers the most powerful and flexible Shopping Cart of its kind built from the ground up for photographers. The Cart features such innovations as ordering products from multiple labs, adding services such as mounting and framing, and precision cropping.

Your complete e-commerce solution
You can create Coupons, including percentage and amount based discounts. And you can review and download detailed sales reports compatible with any spreadsheet program.

Turn your passion into a business
You can create your own price lists and earn profit on selling your photos. There is a 12% service fee applied to profit only on orders fulfilled by our partner labs, this fee includes credit card transaction charges and customer service.

Offer for sale your own custom products
You can setup and offer for sale your own custom products. If you do your own printing, or use a local lab, this is the most flexible option. There is a 6% service fee charged on all custom orders and you will need to collect payment directly from your clients.

Customize pages by replacing Zenfolio name and URL
For additional customization, you can replace Zenfolio logo and links with your own name to make it look more personalized. Combine that with your own domain name, and this powerful option makes the site look completely yours.

*full overview of services

You can check out my Zenfolio page here.
And if you sign up, you can use my referral code: 4M5-136-HDE to save some money.

Topics covered:
Introductions to Useful Modes and Settings on Your Digital Camera
Other Basic Camera Techniques
Camera Care and Maintenance
Composition Tips

Of course these Settings, Techniques and Rules for beginner camera owners just scratch the surface of all there is to learn about the art of photography. So, join DPS to get more free daily tips to help you keep improving and learning.

Then, it was printed in the International Herald Tribune, the Global Edition of the New York Times. I’d love to get my hands on a copy…

And because of this, I have been offered a freelance photographer contract for the New York Times.

Thank you, Cindy and Tara Parker Pope!

1) If you shoot macro or landscapes, a clean sensor is a must because dust will start to show even at f/8. As you stop further down to get more DOF, dust bunnies will become extremely obvious in your skies and light backgrounds.

2) What happens if the bulk of your shooting is wide open? Right, dust will not be noticeable, but then what happens if you decide one day to get into macro or landscape shooting? You now have a sensor that’s never been cleaned and I can tell you without a doubt that getting that sensor spic and span will take a lot of ’scrubbing”. Quite a few people have had to swab their sensors about 30 times to get it reasonably clean. It’s a lot easier to keep a regular cleaning regimen just in case you want to expand your photography someday.

3) A huge accumulation of dust (as in the case above) will cause a decrease in contrast, leading to dull images without any “pop”.

4) TIME & COST – Although Canon et al. cannot officially endorse any sensor cleaning tool, Chuck Westfall of Canon USA posted this in an Openphotographyforum in April, 2007: “Your camera’s low-pass filter can be cleaned by Canon Factory Service or an Authorized Service Facility for a nominal fee. But we would encourage you to explore the possibility of learning how to clean the filter safely on your own. If you’re successful, it will save you tons of time and money, and it will give you a lot of peace of mind. There are several effective cleaning methods, and each of them has its own group of supporters. I do not specifically recommend any single method over another, because all of them can be effective when executed properly. Thus, choosing a method becomes largely a matter of personal taste.” NOTE: Chuck then suggested a few websites to explore, one of which was this one.

5) You will read how effective or ineffective the current crop of dust-shakers perform, but there is another factor that works mightily against them – chamber lubricant. All Canon D-SLR’s are notorious for the over-the-top amount of lubricant that gets distributed on the sensor in the normal course of shooting. But it seems that more and more of the newer cams are copying Canon in this regard. We have heard and read many reports of this with the Nikon D3 and others. So even though the shakers can repel a lot of loose dust on the sensor, it’s a constant battle when the lubricant starts building up again and actually glues the dust-bunnies in place.”

[via Copper Hill Images]

AFTER

There is still that “hair,” although in a “better” spot, and a few minor specks. But for my first attempt I’m pretty happy.

I used Copper hill Images Sensor Cleaning tools & method.

Meant to fit the end of your SLR’s zoom lens, this guy has a secret cut-out on the side and a precision mirror assembly inside. In short, you can shoot left, right, up, or down (it swivels 360 degrees), all while appearing to shoot straight ahead.

The result? The picture-perfect candid shots you’ve always dreamed of.

You: 1 Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle: 0″

[via photojojo.com]

Insert shameless self promotion here:


 

“JPG is a community connected by a love of photography. Join us to share your pictures and stories and discover interesting photos by people like you! JPG is your view of the world around us with the best photos and stories published in the printed issues of JPG Magazine.

JPG is a community. JPG exists because of, and for, photographers like you. We connect through the pictures we share and the stories we tell. Come join us!

JPG is a magazine. JPG Magazine is published six times a year by 8020 Publishing. You can find JPG on US newsstands and and in bookstores like Borders and Barnes & Noble. Or, you can order a subscription and get JPG delivered to you anywhere in the world.

JPG is a website. Here anyone can become a JPG member and share their photos and stories online, review the work of others, and help make the magazine by voting for their favorite photos. Everything printed in JPG Magazine is first shared here!”
-JPGmag.com

A well behaved 3 month old, and a beautiful family.

Here are some helpful resources in protecting your online photographs:

• U.S. Copyright Office – Frequently Asked Questions
• How To Copyright A Photo
  “You don’t. It’s already copyrighted. That said, there is an advantage to filing for copyright. If a dispute arises, you can get punitive damages (in addition to compensatory damages) if a form was filed before infringement.”
• How Do I Protect My Photos’ Copyrights?
  “An overview on copyright protection, policy, law, photographer rights and best practices”
• How to Protect Your Digital Photos from Being Copied
  This resource gives you the hows of Blocking Right Click or the Context Menu, Shrink Wrapping Images, Using Flash to Protect Your Images & Watermarking.
  “If you post your images online, it is possible for someone to steal them and use them somewhere else. No matter what you do to protect them. If your image is so valuable that you want to be sure no one ever steals it, then don’t post it online. That is the securest and safest method of protecting your digital images.” That said, watermarking is pretty effective as it is more difficult to remove. But some will go through the effort of cropping or photoshopping it out.
• DMCA Notice of Copyright Infringement – Sample Template

Personally, I don’t worry too much. I figure I’m so little known that most of my photos are protected by virtual anonymity. And most of my photos are available under a Creative Commons license, so I welcome use with attribution.

The nonprofit Creative Commons offers six default licenses as an alternative to full copyright so you can choose the one that best suits your needs.

“How does a Creative Commons license operate?

A Creative Commons license is based on copyright. So they apply to all works that are protected by copyright law. The kinds of works that are protected by copyright law are books, websites, blogs, photographs, films, videos, songs and other audio & visual recordings, for example. Software programs are also protected by copyright but, as explained below, we do not recommend that you apply a Creative Commons license to software code.

Creative Commons licenses give you the ability to dictate how others may exercise your copyright rights—such as the right of others to copy your work, make derivative works or adaptations of your work, to distribute your work and/or make money from your work. They do not give you the ability to restrict anything that is otherwise permitted by exceptions or limitations to copyright—including, importantly, fair use or fair dealing—nor do they give you the ability to control anything that is not protected by copyright law, such as facts and ideas.

Creative Commons licenses attach to the work and authorize everyone who comes in contact with the work to use it consistent with the license. This means that if Bob has a copy of your Creative Commons-licensed work, Bob can give a copy to Carol and Carol will be authorized to use the work consistent with the Creative Commons license. You then have a license agreement separately with both Bob and Carol.

You should be aware that Creative Commons licenses only affect your rights under copyright. You are not licensing your trademark or patent rights, if any, when you apply a CC license to your work.

Creative Commons licenses are expressed in three different formats: the Commons Deed (human-readable code), the Legal Code (lawyer-readable code); and the metadata (machine readable code). You don’t need to sign anything to get a Creative Commons license—just select your license at our ‘Choose License’ page.

One final thing you should understand about Creative Commons licenses is that they are all non-exclusive. This means that you can permit the general public to use your work under a Creative Commons license and then enter into a separate and different non-exclusive license with someone else, for example, in exchange for money.”

When I have come across one of my photos used but improperly credited, I send a polite email and the issue is usually resolved quickly.

I redesigned my photography website; stop by and let me know what you think.