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While not written specifically for photographers, Joel Spolsky’s article How To Ship Anything has some good tips for photographers trying to streamline their order fulfillment processes.

I especially liked the info about bar codes and bar code scanners, label printers, and how to print customs forms (aren’t they a pain to fill out manually!?). Technology to the rescue!

Shipping an international order now takes about 35 seconds, down from 3 minutes, and can be done by anyone, whether or not they have SQL and Mail Merge skills. Domestic orders are even faster since they don’t need customs forms. Most of all, it’s all really fun.

Post your tips for streamlined order fulfillment in the comments below. I’d be especially interested to hear tips about low-cost improvements – not all of us are able to throw the amount of money at equipment that Joel has!

Filed under: Business
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Annoture is a metadata bridging solution for Aperture and iView MediaPro. With Annoture, you’re just a click away from sharing metadata between these two popular image management and cataloguing applications. Spend more time working with your decisive moments than worrying about double-entry and incomplete metadata!

Annoture lets you transfer annotations from iView MediaPro catalogs to Aperture projects and albums and back. This two-way transfer of IPTC and metadata information means you are not tied to any one application for your image management and workflow needs. Annoture also features a modular interface that can be extended to support additional applications in the future.

Annoture is shareware. If you find Annoture to be an indispensable tool for keeping your annotations in sync between your iView Media Pro and Aperture Projects and Albums, please consider purchasing a license for US$15. Doing so will remove the alert that appears each time you use the application.

Future plans for improvements include:

• Support for additional applications.
• Interactive annotation screen
• Selective annotating of certain fields
• Ratings
• Ability to mark an image to be skipped by Annoture

Don’t forget, if you don’t already own iView MediaPro 3, we’ve got a special deal lined up with iView Multimedia to save you 15% off the normal purchase price.

Technorati Tags: image management, DAM, digital asset management, iView, iView MediaPro, photo software, Aperture

Filed under: Asset Management,RAW Files,Software,Workflow
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Moose Peterson has just announced version 4.0 of his Digital Pro image management software for Windows.

Improvements include:

• Performance improvements in image rendering, especially TIFF files
• New (customizable) Light Table toolbar makes it easier to use than ever.
• Common commands are now only a click away.
• The File Cabinet now supports “Favorites” so you can customize which drives/folders are displayed and “History” so you can quickly go back to any folder you’ve used before
• A “Folder Viewer” has been added to the updated Projects control so that you can browse removable media or other folders.
• Card loading is now in the background allowing the user to continue on with their own work
• Travel & Return now supports “Auto-Filing” of images so that they are automatically re-named with the correct prefix & image number when returned into an existing folder with a prefix set.
• Updated docking system makes it easier to lay out windows the way you want (note that layouts need to be recreated for DP4)
• Supports up to 4 configurable editors which can be used for either the regular or Raw version of an image
• Updated Keywords & Collections trees have toolbars for common commands making them easier to use and more intuitive.
• New Skin technology lets you change the overall look of DP4. Also, we’ve upgraded the general look of the product. See View Skins for options. You can also “pin” or allow windows to hide off to the side until you mouse over them, for those who like the ultimate control over their window placement.
• Image comparison feature in Slideshow
• Added “Send image in Email” command
• Re-designed “Info” panel for image info on the main screen, including captioning info
• Choice of font color for watermarked text on submissions
• Support for Windows AutoPlay for cards, CDs, and photo vault devices
• Lots of other fixes & updates. New display options for controlling selection color. New “Explore folder” command in Light Table opens up Windows Explorer on the current folder. Added ability to launch external apps from the toolbar as a user-requested convenience.

The price is USD$179 for the Standard Edition, and USD$259 for the Professional Edition. Special upgrade pricing is available for users of older editions or those wanting to upgrade from Standard to Pro. Anyone who purchased DigitalPro3 after 1 October 2005 gets a free upgrade to DigitalPro4 – just contact Moose Peterson’s office for details.

Filed under: Asset Management,Software
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It’s that time of year again where people put up Christmas lights for us photographers to shoot. Here are a few tips for making great images of holiday lights:

• How to Take Great Photos of Holiday Lights from the New York Institute of Photography (NYIP):

There are some photographic subjects where it makes little difference whether you use a digital camera or a film-based model to capture the image. The colors and warm glow of holiday lights is not one of them. If you’re not careful, you can run into trouble with a digital camera. All photographers interested in getting great holiday photos should read this article. Digital camera users should make sure to read the special digital section written by NYI’s digital expert Jim Barthman with care. While today’s auto-everything cameras can do a lot of things following the wisdom of built-in programs, this is one area where you’ll want to exercise some control.

• Christmas photos can get a bit repetitive and boring, especially if you just shoot the obvious subjects in the traditional way. For ideas and inspiration on making better photos, BetterPhoto.com has a pretty good Christmas Photo Gallery.

• For a different take on shooting Christmas lights, Will Simpson has written an article on Drive By Shooting of lights:

Here’s how it is done. Find a safe section of road near a Christmas light display. Have someone else drive so you can concentrate on the images. The most important thing to remember is set the camera so the flash will NOT fire. If it fires the picture will be ruined by the reflection of the closed car window and you and your driver or any other drivers around might be temporarily be blinded by the flash. Not a good thing to have happen while driving.

• Photos of Christmas Lights and Other Holiday Happenings
• Top Ten Tips for Better Holiday Photos

Please use the comments section to post your own tips for shooting holiday lights, and link to any other articles or photo galleries (yours or other photographers).

Filed under: Technique
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Nikon has just released Nikon Capture 4.4.0 for Windows.

If Nikon Capture version 4.4.0 is to be used in combination with Nikon View, please be sure that you are using Nikon View version 6.2.7 for full compatibility of files and most functions.

Improvements:

• Support for D200 RAW images has been added.
• A B&W (black-and-white) option has been added to the Color Mode item in the Advanced RAW tool palette.
• Improvements to the method used to reproduce tones in highlight areas, preventing a loss of detail when Exp Comp is set to a negative value. (Does not apply to RAW images captured with the D1 or COOLPIX-series cameras.)

Images edited using the Exp Comp with a negative value with Nikon Capture 4 version 4.3.2 and earlier are opened in Nikon Capture 4 Ver. 4.4.0 or later, the results of highlights may differ.

Filed under: Nikon,Software
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Olympus has just released E-500 firmware version 1.1. To download, simply open the Olympus Master software, connect the camera via USB to the computer and log onto the internet. Choose the Update Camera function from the Online Service menu in the Olympus Master software and the update will be initiated immediately.

Improvements/updates include:

• Button timer: As well as the current three and five seconds, photographers can now increase the time interval between when a button is pressed and when the camera reverts back to the current mode, to eight seconds. This provides for more time to make necessary adjustment in difficult situations and lets enables better customisation for personal preferences.
• Enhanced one-touch WB functions: In addition to one-touch WB, test picture, my mode and preview – customers can now select a WB OFF mode. By choosing this function, the WB button is disabled in order to avoid any unintentional activation.
• Security step: When erasing both RAW and JPG files of one image, a new security step has been added. The camera will display a warning message to alert users that both images will be deleted. This additional step ensures data will not be lost unintentionally.

Filed under: Firmware Updates,Olympus
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Nikon has just released Nikon Capture 4.4.1 for Mac.

If Nikon Capture version 4.4.0 is to be used in combination with Nikon View, please be sure that you are using Nikon View version 6.2.0 or later for full compatibility of latest functions.

Fixes:

• An issue that caused a Type 3 error to occur and Nikon Capture 4 to unexpectedly quit when attempting to print from Nikon Capture 4.4.0 has been addressed. (Mac OS 9 only)

Filed under: Nikon,Software
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iView Multimedia has released version 3.0.1 of their flagship digital asset management software, iView MediaPro 3. You can download this update here (Mac and Windows).

Major Changes/New Features include:

• Added RAW rendering (DNG, MRW, SRF, ORF) (Mac 10.4.2+)
• Extended thumbnail & preview support, including dynamic thumbnails to 640 pixel
• Sub-folder Watching
• New feature “Make Capture Sets”: Automatically groups burst of images and bracketed exposures based on time intervals between shots. Added in ‘Download from Camera dialog’ for new photos and as an option in the ‘Make’ menu for photos already in your catalog
• Support for XMP sidecar on import (all formats)
• New merge modes during metadata synchronization
• Added support for the ‘State’ field in ‘Place Finder’
• Fixed JPEG rotate UI issue when wrong angle was used to rotate original
• Added support for DNG color space when working with embedded previews (rendering and converting)
• …plus more than 30 other enhancements.

Don’t forget, if you don’t already own iView MediaPro 3, we’ve got a special deal lined up with iView Multimedia to save you 15% off the normal purchase price.

Technorati Tags: image management, DAM, digital asset management, iView, iView MediaPro, photo software

Filed under: Asset Management,Software
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Greg Stott has written a list of Ten Movies Every Photographer Should See for The Luminous Landscape.

For me, the movies that populate my list are not those that contain extraordinary special effects or extended dolly or crane shots. Nor are they films that necessarily contain great acting though the blend of great visuals and admirable acting often do seem to go hand in hand. There have been many great movies over the years, of course, but only a small number I think are able to visually inspire a still photographer. In my opinion, the qualities of such movies include quality of light, first and foremost, but also fetching composition and, sometimes, camera effects. The most inspirational movies for still photographers often possess powerful and memorable scenes that make you wish you were there with a camera to capture some of the magic moments. Indeed, if I watch a movie and am left with an urge to go take pictures, it’s one of the factors that make it a contender for my list of movies worth recommending. By the way, as my list suggests (lots of foreign movies), I’m not bothered by subtitles.

Here is Greg’s list, with links to their Internet Movie Database (IMDB) pages:

• Baraka
• Barry Lyndon
• The Conformist
• Days of Heaven
• Dreams
• The Last Emperor
• Raise The Red Lantern
• The Third Man
• Visions of Light
• Winged Migration

Don’t just use the list above, though – visit the link and read Greg’s commentary about each movie.

What movies would you add to the list? Make your suggestions in the comments below!

Filed under: Technique
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Mac OS X 10.4 ships with Automator, a powerful workflow automation tool that lets you easily automate the operation of any AppleScriptable application. While Automator can control many applications right out of the box, it lacks the ability to automate Photoshop. For Photoshop control, you need The Photoshop Action Pack, which provides everything you need to drive Photoshop CS and CS2 using Automator.

Because Automator can control much more than just Photoshop, you can automate entire photography and graphics production pipelines. Use Automator and the Photoshop Action Pack to batch process the manipulation of your images and then automatically upload the results to a server, or archive them to a CD or DVD.

Ben Long has done a great job with this action pack, and yet he’s making it all available for free! If you try it and like it, please consider flipping a few coins Ben’s way via the PayPal button on the download page.

Filed under: Software,Workflow
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