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iView Multimedia has been acquired by Microsoft Corporation.

iView’s founder, Yan Calotychos, has written a letter to customers about the deal. There is also an Acquisition FAQ answering the main questions customers are asking. Keep an eye on the iView Blog for updates.

Perhaps iView Media will become the Windows-equivalent of Apple’s iPhoto, giving ordinary users a great way to manage their digital photos right out of the box.

Microsoft is committed to continuing to evolve the iView products on both the Mac and the Windows platforms. Hopefully this will mean a wider market for iView MediaPro in the future, with the increased exposure and resources Microsoft can bring to the table.

Customers can continue to use and buy iView products knowing that they will be fully supported as Microsoft evolves the iView product line in the future, for both Windows and Macintosh platforms.

Update: - Peter Krogh, author of The DAM Book, Digital Asset Management for Photographers (O’Reilly 2005) and iView MediaPro alpha tester, has written a pretty good analysis of what the Microsoft acquisition means for iView MediaPro users.

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: iView, iView MediaPro, MediaPro, Microsoft, Microsoft Corporation, photography software, DAM, digital asset management, image management, photo software, digital photography

Filed under: Asset Management, Business, Software, Workflow
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Along with the D2Xs, Nikon has released a ‘pro’ version of their Nikon Capture Camera Control software, Nikon Camera Control Pro. Unfortunately, the press release is fairly scant on detail. This program is available for both Windows and Macintosh platforms.

The second new software product is Nikon Image Authentication Software, which enables verification of the authenticity of images captured with a Nikon D2Xs digital SLR. This ability is very useful for law enforcement and other government agencies, the media, insurance companies and has a variety of other business applications. Unfortunately, this program only runs on the Windows platform.

Further details and the press releases are available at DP Review.

Filed under: Business, Nikon, Software
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I’ve just created a new page listing useful eBooks I’ve found on various photographic topics: Photography eBooks.

Technorati Tags: photography, ebooks, photography ebooks

Filed under: Books, Business, Software, Technique
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Edwin from CameraHobby.com has just posted an interesting article detailing his workflow for when he shoots weddings. (That site doesn’t allow the ability to link to individual entries, so if you’re reading this sometime in the future you’ll need to search his archives for the May 16, 2006 entry).

The workflow he describes is quite suitable for both professional and amateur photographers, and could be applied to any type of event or project shooting, not just weddings. It’s a fairly long article so I’ll summarise the key steps here, adding a little of my own clarifications. I think it’s useful to look at an overview of his process before diving into Edwin’s post for the details.

• Shoot the event (350 original images)
• Backup the original files ASAP (external hard disks, DVDs)
• Edit out misfires and duplicates (250 images remain)
• Convert RAW -> 16 bit TIFF
  • Use plugins and/or actions to process all images
    • Noise reduction
    • Auto brightness/contrast
    • Input sharpening
    • Color correction (shouldn’t be necessary if you shot things properly to begin with)
  • Review auto-processed images and manually re-process tricky images (10-20%)
• Review TIFFs and edit images as necessary (minimal - the images are just proofs at this stage)
  • Fixing blemishes
  • Healing and cloning
  • Cropping and resizing
  • Correcting perspective
  • No creative edits yet
• Final edit and ordering
  • Reorder and/or delete images as necessary to “tell the story”
  • Try to keep in groups of 4, either 4 landscape, 4 portrait, or 2×2 for nicer album display
  • Use a numeric component in the filename to set order (e.g. Wedding001, Wedding002, etc)
• Batch convert for DVD slide-shows, proof printing, client’s copy
  • 16 bit TIFF -> 8 bit JPG
  • Full resolution
  • Highest quality
  • Tagged with sRGB color space
• Batch convert for web use
  • 16 bit TIFF -> 8 bit JPG
  • Lower resolution ( less than 800 pixels wide/high)
  • High or highest quality
  • Tagged with sRGB color space
• Review both sets of JPGs to remove sub-par images and rename/reorder again
• Print proofs
  • Self
    • Print from TIFF proofs
    • Use Adobe 1998 RGB color space
    • Use Epson 4800, custom profiles, Epson Premium Luster
  • Lab
    • Print from high-res JPG proofs
    • Use sRGB color space
• Burn proof CD/DVD (200 images)
  • Use something like FlipAlbum Pro to make browsing of images easier
  • Include full-size JPG proofs in a subdirectory
  • Use LightScribe burner for personal touch or print labels directly onto disks
• Create and burn slideshow DVD (160 images)
  • Use something like ProShow Gold (Windows) or iMovie/iDVD (Mac)
  • Keep to about 6 minutes
  • Set to music
  • Playable in normal DVD player
• Deliver proof disk, slideshow DVD, proof prints (if required)
• Wait for enlargement/portfolio orders
• Handle enlargement/portfolio orders
  • May need to do RAW conversion again with greater eye for detail
  • Do touchups more critically
  • Do creative edits (toning, vignetting, B&W conversion, composites, edge treatments, diffuse glow, etc)
  • Output sharpening
  • Print (Epson 4800 or lab)
  • Mount and frame or prepare album

For the wedding he uses as an example, Edwin shot 300 photos and delivered a 200-photo proof CD, a 160-photo slideshow DVD, a 150-image portfolio album (including two 8×10s), and one 11×14″ enlargement. He spent a full weekend on editing and printing, and required 32 GB of drive space to store the whole project.

A big thanks to Edwin for allowing us to look over his shoulder and peek inside his workflow.

Technorati Tags: wedding photography, photography, digital photography, event photography, digital workflow, DAM, digital asset management, photography business

Filed under: Asset Management, Business, RAW Files, Workflow
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From a US National Press Photographers Association press release:

The National Park Service, a branch of the U.S. Department of the Interior, has published new rules authorizing the NPS to begin collecting location fees for video, film, and commercial still photography projects. The new regulations appeared in the Federal Register (Vol. 71, Number 71) published April 13, 2006, and will take effect on May 15, 2006.

…

The new location fees start at $150 per day and – with monitors and other charges – could exceed $500 per day.

The NPS press release is mainly aimed at filmmakers and only mentions still photography in passing (although it does say that the new rules will apply to still photography), so it is unclear how the new fees will be applied or administered.

The public does have the opportunity to comment on these new rules, so if you’re at all concerned make sure you have your say.

Technorati Tags: photography, professional photography, National Parks, National Parks Service, NPS

Filed under: Business
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Back in January I posted a link to a survey the OpenRAW organization was running. They were trying to get some solid data on how photographers are using their cameras’ RAW file formats, what developments they’d like to see in this area, and how they feel about issues like closed/proprietary file formats.

The OpenRAW 2006 RAW Survey results are now online. It’s a very comprehensive write-up containing a lot of detailed information about how all types of photographers, from Sunday snappers to professionals, use RAW file formats. The survey had over 19,000 respondents.

If you’d like to discuss the survey results with others, OpenRAW has set up a dedicated forum.

Technorati Tags: RAW files, photography, digital photography, cameras, digital cameras, survey, RAW, file formats

Filed under: Asset Management, Business, RAW Files, Software, Workflow
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Konica Minolta has announced that it is withdrawing from the camera and photo business. They will be transferring photographic assets to Sony, who are planning to continue supporting Maxxum/Dynax lenses on new cameras.

You can read both Konica Minolta’s and Sony’s press releases at DPReview.

Filed under: Business, Konica Minolta, Sony
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Nikon has announced that they’re now going to “focus management resources on digital cameras in place of film cameras”.

While there will surely be film buffs lamenting this decision, I think it makes good business sense for Nikon. That press release states that 95% of Nikon UK’s business comes from the digital area.

As a result of the new strategy Nikon will discontinue production of all lenses for large format cameras and enlarging lenses with sales of these products ceasing as soon as they run out of stock. This also applies to most of our film camera bodies, interchangeable manual focus lenses and related accessories. Although Nikon anticipates that the products will still be in retail distribution up to Summer 2006.

In recognition of Nikon’s commitment to professional photographers we will continue to manufacturer and sell the F6, our flagship film model, as well as a number of manual interchangeable lenses. Sales of the manual FM10 will also continue outside Europe.

The manual lenses Nikon will still continue manufacturing include:

• Nikkor 20mm f/2.8
• Nikkor 24mm f/2.8
• Nikkor 28mm f/2.8
• Nikkor 35mm f/1.4
• Nikkor 50mm f/1.2
• Nikkor 50mm f/1.4
• Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8
• Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8
• PC Micro-Nikkor 85mm f/2.8D

What are your thoughts? Is this a good move on Nikon’s part? Which discontinued Nikon products will you miss the most?

Filed under: Business, Nikon
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Bettina and Uwe Steinmueller of Digital Outback Photo have written an article about the making of their coffee table book, California Earthframes. The article is titled The Making Of California Earthframes.

This is an interesting article to read about the considerations that go into producing a great book, from layout, to photo selection, to text, and finally printing. It sounds like the Steinmuellers were quite hands-on in the creation and publishing of their book.

If you’d like to buy California Earthframes, check the link above for more information. There is a link to a German store for those living in Europe, and presumably you’ll be able to buy copies of the book in the US once the first shipment arrives from the printer. An ebook version is also available for USD$9.95.

If you’d like to read another account of self-publishing a photography book, have a look at Producing Your Own Photography Book, which describes Michael Reichmann’s publishing of his photos from a tour of Bangladesh.

And here’s another - BC, Canada, photographer Mike Yip recently published a book about birds from Vancouver Island, and wrote up an account of his self-publishing experience (kindly hosted by Edwin over at CameraHobby.com). You can see some of Mike’s photos at his site Vancouver Island Birds.

Filed under: Books, Business, Photographers
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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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