1. Stick them in your email
2. Print them on products and give them away
3. Put up wallpaper
4. Talk to galleries
5. Have a cup of coffee a.k.a. talk to coffee shops
6. Chat on Flickr
7. Attend art fairs
8. Do the SEO
9. Create a design team
10. Join a wedding team
11. Hold charity exhibitions
12. Submit your band photos to a fan site

Check out the rest of the More Creative Ways To Get Your Photos Seen post over at Photopreneur.com.

1. Corporate Meetings
8. Inventory Items for Insurance Companies
25. Facebook Portraits
26. Money - yes money!
36. Book Signings

Be sure to check out the rest of the 47 Things People Will Pay You to Shoot article.

As some of you may know, I’ve been testing out a Gigapan panorama photo system over the last week, after I received a loaner of their robotic camera mount from Carnegie Mellon’s robotics lab. I brought it in to NPR to demonstrate it to colleagues and go on a photo safari to photograph the architecture at Union Station. Apparently, as far as Union Station’s security operations are concerned, that’s a criminal offense, since we nearly got arrested.

Check out the rest of his post then head on over and digg the story.

“Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.”

Quote complements of the Dalai Lama, so here you go - sharing my knowledge!

Was going through some photos and noticed a few spots in them, all in the same location. So I tried some test shots using this Monitor Test Shot and adjusting the levels in Photoshop with different lenses and had the same result - sensor dust.

Next I did some searches and viewed some contacts streams who had cleaned their sensors before and came to one conclusion. Copper Hill Images. I read through the tutorial and checked out a few other links, and came to the same conclusion that some of my other contacts had come to as well - there is nothing wrong with cleaning your own sensor as long as you are careful - just like anything else. Working with computers for the past 10 years or so, I’m comfortable with electronics so maybe that’s a plus.

On page 1 of the tutorial, I was pleased to read this:

There is a bit of hysteria about how dangerous canned air is but it actually isn’t if you follow these guidelines:

• The only time to use canned air is when a bulb blower cannot dislodge a big particle.
• Don’t shake the can beforehand; there’s nothing to “mix.
• When spraying with it, keep it perfectly upright and move the object you’re blowing NOT the can.
• Always let a little air out before spraying an optic. Propellant has a tendency to build up towards the valve and will come right out if the can has been sitting for a while
• Don’t let the jet-straw get any closer to the sensor than 1″ or 1½” or just inside the lens mount.
• Use very short bursts, no more than a one second shot; “freezing” will only occur when you use a prolonged stream of air.

Using these guidelines, we have never had any problems with canned air. If by some chance the canned air cannot remove the dastardly stuck-on specks, try ignoring them for a day or two, in many cases, they will pop off on their own. If you can determine that the speck is a dust mote and NOT a big particle of debris or grit which canned air should be able to remove, then it should be safe to proceed with a wet cleaning. If it definitely is an unmovable piece of grit or you’re not sure what to do, then, by all means, send it to the manufacturer for cleaning.

Following those directions to the letter, I proceeded with an initial cleaning and you can see the results above after the first cleaning. I had removed three of the offending particles with success! Another quick blast directed at the spot of the last remaining large particle, and another test shot confirmed it was gone as well. The sensor still shows some dust spots but it’s nothing of consequence in my opinion, it was more the large three that I was after…

So, be careful, use a clean environment and follow those tips and you shouldn’t have a problem with cleaning your sensor. The Copper Hill Images tutorial is very detailed, and takes you through a four step process, fortunately I’m satisfied my sensor is clean enough without having to go so far as using sensor wipes and fluid.

Be sure to check out all 60 Photography Links You Can’t Live Without over at CameraPorn!

1. Have a camera bag that enables you to easily and quickly access your camera
2. Be sure to have not just (1) one fully charged battery but (2) two
3. Be sure to clean the front and rear elements of your lens to minimize spots (optionally cleaning your camera sensor)
4. Before heading out make sure you have CF cards in your camera that are empty or have lots of free space
5. Pre-set your camera settings for the type of subject you’re aiming to photograph
6. If you have a camera with image stabilization or vibration reduction set your lens appropriately for the subject
7. Have needed filters on your lens or take filters off your lens as necessary before heading out
8. It may sound obvious but take off your lens cap
9. Head out with a notion of what you’d like to photograph and how, but always keep your eyes open for new subjects and the unexpected
10. Have your camera on and your hand on your camera bag
11. Stay focused
12. Don’t chimp

Be sure to check out the rest of the article 12 Ways To Never Miss A Photo Opportunity over at the DPS blog for fuller explanations of these quick points.

This weeks assignment is “wide open”. This may have a few people asking what exactly shooting wide open is. Basically it refers to the size of the opening in your lens to let light pass through. The smaller the f-stop the larger the opening. For example, if your lens is the standard 18-55mm kit lens it probably has options of f3.5 to f5.6. The f3.5 is a larger opening than the f5.6. So for this assignment we are trying for smaller numbers to have a wider opening.

A great intro for this is in the blog: http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/aperture/

This was my submission, shot with my 50mm lens at f/1.8.

Have had a few people asking about my process so here goes.

Shot this with my 50mm. Stacked +1, +2, and +4 close-up filters and used my Raynox DCR-250 Super Macro Conversion Lens on top of those. Took about 20 shots, 2 or 3 were this detailed, this one was closest to centered. Opened RAW file in Photoshop, adjusted white balance and increased clarity. In Photoshop cropped to about 90% so this is pretty close to how it was framed in camera. Duplicated the background layer, set it to screen mode. Reduced opacity of screen layer to 50%, and masked out everything except the iris and pupil. Added a B&W adjustment layer and reduced opacity to about 70%. Added a vignette based on the main background layer. I then added a curves adjustment layer, and then added a brightness/contrast adjustment layer above all the layers and adjusted the contrast a bit. And voila… so layer order from top to bottom was:

• Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer
• Curves layer
• Background layer set to screen mode with all but iris/pupil masked out
• Black & White adjustment layer
• Vignette layer
• Background layer (original image)