The Digital Story Photography Podcast

Flickr was my first serious photo sharing site. I joined in 2006. But even though it hosts billions of images posted by millions of users, it has been written off for dead for years. The problem is, someone forgot to tell the photographers who use it, including its new owner, Smugmug. People endure bad relationships all the time. And some lucky ones escape them to find their soulmates. I think Flickr’s story is far from over. And we’re going to take a closer look at this journey on today’s TDS podcast.

There are days when I go to my photo cave and just start spreading things around - lenses, filters, gels, reflectors, diffusers, and whatever else I have laying around. Then I start looking for interesting combinations. I want to do something different. I want to shake it up. And that’s the topic of today’s TDS photo podcast.

A by-product of today’s amazing post production software is sometimes images that are over-saturated, sharpened, and in general, overdone. You may think that the creators of these images would see their overzealous processing. But realizing it is trickier than you’d think. We’re going to take a closer look at this phenomenon in today’s TDS podcast.

How many times have you thought to yourself at work, “If I was in charge, we would do things much differently.”? Industry veteran Wes Brewer, who spent years working with SanDisk and Lexar, got his chance to do exactly that. And the result of that effort is a new company called ProGrade. We learn about their story in today’s TDS photography podcast.

Whether you’re covering a music festival or a dazzling display of hot air balloons, it’s hard not to be mesmerized by the main attraction. But if you really want to tell the story of the event, you have to get past that as quickly as possible. That process - of going from being in awe to taking awesome photos - is the topic of today’s TDS photography podcast.

I was anticipating a number of topics covered at the Photoshop World Keynote address. But the importance of printing was not one of them. Yet, after the T-Shirt tosses and Beatles parodies, Scott Kelby maneuvered from the importance of backing up to the even greater value of printing. The five points that he used to build his argument is the top story of today’s TDS podcast.

After the fall of Aperture, Lightroom stood tall as the best all around digital asset manager for serious enthusiasts and many pros as well. But a number things have changed since then - some initiated by Adobe, and others by external forces. And suddenly, Lightroom’s future is a bit more cloudy than it was a couple years ago. And that’s the top story in today’s TDS Podcast.

Summer is the season of family vacations, solo adventure, BBQing, baseball games, picnics, and bare feet. But for photographers, there’s another benefit that might not be immediately apparent, but can be wildly useful and enjoyable - and that’s the subject of today’s TDS photography podcast.

Ever since I read about the new Mavic Air, I have wondered if I should replace my beloved Spark. To help me decide, I called up my friend and drone enthusiast Mike Boening to discuss the latest in quadcopters, their accessories, and a few important flying tips. I also recorded it to share with you on this week’s TDS Podcast.

If you’re like me at all, you have your images spread across various sites online. At one time, you may have had a master plan - best shots go here, family stuff there, everyday life somewhere else. And chances are, as good as that plan was, it went out the door long time ago. So maybe it’s time to revisit your portfolio site - a place for only your best shots, the ones that you would show to other photographers and potential clients. Creating such a place these days is easy and very satisfying. And that’s the focus of today’s show.

Many people think of street photography as this stealthy activity that can lead to confrontation if the subject suddenly detects their being the unsuspecting target. But there’s another approach, and it’s one where the photographer openly integrates with the environment instead of hiding within it. I call this technique Street Photography 2.0, and it’s the subject of today’s TDS podcast.

In my previous life as a cubical worker, we used to have this term for high-flying good ideas that were eventually pulled back to earth to meet their inevitable demise. We called this phenomenon, “corporate gravity.” And believe it or not, it has an artistic sibling for photographers that I call that “postcard gravity.” And the battle against it is the subject of today’s show.

A bad watermark is like pimple on the nose of a beautiful person. You want to enjoy the beauty, but all you can see is the pimple. But not all watermarks are bad. And in fact, they can be both tasteful and useful. And the quest to figure all of that out is the subject of today’s TDS podcast.

Allen Saunders wrote in 1957, "Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans." John Lennon later used the quote in his song, "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)". And any photographer who has ever hit the road knows exactly how this feels. In this week's podcast I share how even the best laid plans can go awry when life intervenes. I hope you enjoy the show.

Exploring an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is definitely a place where I want to travel light. It’s warm. It’s humid. And flip-flops and board shorts are the apparel of the day. Feels like a good challenge for the Micro Four Thirds Leica D-LUX. And in this show, I’m going to tell you how it fared.