DigitalPro Shooter Volume 1, Issue 8, April 11th, 2002
Welcome to DPS 1-8. We're really pleased to be able to announce our new DigitalPro Shooter Forums on nikondigital.org--user to user forums for folks who take digital photography seriously--with a cast of world class moderators. I've also just spent the last week putting a Canon D60 through it's paces so there is plenty to talk about there!
Tired of plowing through hundreds of un-interesting posts looking for that one nugget of information? We've got the answer. After plenty of prodding from our users and our own frustration at not finding what we wanted--a focus on serious photography--in existing online discussion forums--Moose and I have created the DigitalPro Shooter Forums on nikondigital.org.
We aren't planning to replace the endless threads on specs that are already out there, but we will provide a really great set of forums with industry leading expert moderators that will help those who are serious about their photography share and learn from others.
Also, because we will be actively working with the moderators and the forums we will be able to tie site content to topics of interest in the forums. So if subjects are of interest to the forum readers we can post related articles and answers on the site. That will make your use of the forums that much more effective, since users won't have to post the same questions over again--and forum discussions can relate directly to the site material.
We've also got state of the art forum software so you can subscribe to threads of interest, use private messages to reply when you don't want to clutter the forum, etc. Okay, but what about the content you ask? That's what we're most excited about! Here are our initial forums and moderators:
The first group of Forums is called Behind the Lens. It is devoted to the art of capturing images.
We're incredibly lucky to have Moose Peterson moderating our wildlife photography forum. Not only is he one of the world's top wildlife photographers and teachers, but he was one of the first to go all digital and knows just about every tool in the book--whether it involves knowing how to make use of animal biology or photographic technology--probably because he wrote many of them. But he's looking forward to learning from our subscribers, so please share what works for you!
We're tickled Blue that Mark Buckner will be moderating the Sports forum. Mark has been the team photographer for the St. Louis Blues since 1984, and has also shot football, baseball and soccer all over the world for Upper Deck and other clients. Mark isn't just an expert on photo techniques, he also has plenty to offer in dealing with pro athletes, teams and venues. He does his own CMYK separations and device profiling for the Blues magazine, and has been published in Sports Illustrated, ESPN Magazine, The Sporting News, NY Times Magazine, People Magazine, MacLeans (Canada) and the Hockey News among other publications.
In the UK, they call them all Social Photography, and Carol Steele has a successful career doing all three. She's been honored as a Photographer of the Year by the UK Master Photographers' Association, but her expertise doesn't end behind the camera. She is an accomplished expert in the use of Photoshop in portrait and commercial photography and a Sysop for the Adobe forums.
Moose and I will be moderating this one temporarily, but we have plenty of working photojournalists among our subscribers so we expect some lively discussion here.
Obviously photography doesn't stop at the moment of capture. Our next group of Forums is At the Computer, and is devoted to getting your work done after the image is captured.
We have a confession. Talking about hardware for too long drives Moose and me batty--unless it's just us gloating over some new toy. But the good news for our subscribers is we have a great moderator for the Hardware forum who has a proven track record of patiently explaining the ins and outs of the sometimes tricky world of getting your computer and peripherals to do what you want.
Calvin Jones has been in the business of using computers as tools for nearly 30 years, going back to the original teletype terminals. He's an avid photographer as well, with a 20-year history using Nikon gear--digital since 1999. He is a frequent contributor to the D1 mailing list as one of the most knowledgeable users when it comes to dealing with the ins and outs of Windows and the PC.
No topic is more mis-understood when it comes to working with images than color management. We've found one of the few working photographers who is also a color management guru. Jack Bingham has been working with digital and high fidelity color for longer than most of us knew what digital was. He offers workshops on color and has written a custom profiling system for digital cameras. He's used just about every color system and tool there is and has an informed opinion on most of them.
By popular demand we are now able to offer a user to user forum for DigitalPro users. Along with the DigitalPro forum we'll have a forum on software tools in general. I'll be moderating these forums.
We all know photography doesn't end with the images. Our Nuts and Bolts section is devoted to topics related to being a photographer.
Every photographer is always interested in buying or selling something! Now we have a forum just for that. And Laurie Excell knows more than most about buying and selling camera gear. As a long-time employee of Pro Photo Supply with experience managing several other photo stores--as well as being a working stock photographer specializing in nature images--Laurie has a great perspective on buying and selling gear. She also happens to be a wizard at using eBay and the wheeling and dealing that goes on to make your budget go as far as possible.
We all have plenty to learn about photography as a business--and in particular the issues of converting your existing photo business to digital. Share what you've found works and doesn't work in this user to user forum on making digital work for you as a pro!
Okay, how do you start. It's easy and FREE, just like the rest of our site. Head on over to the DigitalPro Shooter Forums and register. Note: Even if you've already registered for DigitalPro Shooter, you'll need to pick a new username & password for the Forums. We request that you use your name as it makes the whole forum system more friendly if people can reply to you using your name instead of some weird slogan:-) To use your first and last names, just put an "_" between them in your username, like Carol has done.
I've had a great time with my review Canon D60. My hands on review & images are online at nikondigital.org.
If you want to make your workflow fly when you're using DigitalPro, be sure to go through and check your Performance settings under Tools->Options. There are plenty of different ways to optimize DigitalPro so it fits your needs and the capabilities of your computer system!
We're pleased to offer PhotoRescue build 603 with excellent support for the recovery and previewing of Nikon Raw (.NEF) files. It's great that the folks at DataRescue have listened and delivered. I've used the product already with great success. As always we offer the latest version and the user guide right on nikondigital.org for your convenience.
Updated on Nikondigital.org: We've updated Moose's really thorough online article covering White Balance on the D1 family of cameras on nikondigital.org.