BetterPhotoJim

Summit Poster

We are gearing up for another "electric" Summit on September 29th and 30th. I am especially excited to reconnect with so many BetterPhoto members and instructors - who come to the event from all around the world.

Help us spread the word about our upcoming BetterPhoto Summit photography conference in Chicago. Download our beautiful Summit poster and print out as many copies as you like to place wherever you think a photography enthusiast might see it... camera stores, club meetings, your living room... you name it!

I look forward to seeing you in Chicago!

Snap Shot Milestone Announcement

When I think back on BetterPhoto.com®'s humble beginnings, I can hardly believe how far we've come. I'm continually amazed at each accomplishment and milestone as they zoom by.

Today marks the release of the 300th issue of SnapShot, BetterPhoto.com®'s weekly photography newsletter! Over the years it's gone through a wonderful metamorphosis in both format and content, and is still the most popular of our four newsletters with over 62,000 subscribers. Thank you to the BetterPhoto staff and all of our loyal members!

Celebrate with us by perusing the #300 in our SnapShot archives, or if you haven't already, subscribe.

Above all, keep shooting great photos!

Jim

Announcing BetterPhoto.com's 2Plus 5Plus 10Plus Rewards Program!

Hello BetterPhoto Friends!

I am thrilled to announce the first phase of BetterPhoto's new 2Plus 5Plus 10Plus Rewards Program! Here's how it works:

Take 2-4 BetterPhoto courses - receive 20% discount to this year's BetterPhoto Summit (Sept 16-17, near Seattle, WA).
Take 5-9 BetterPhoto courses - receive 50% discount to the Summit.
Take 10+ BetterPhoto courses - receive free admission to the Summit.

If you can make it to the Summit this year, we would love to have you. Space for this exciting event is limited to only 120 participants. For more information or to sign up, here is a direct link:
http://www.betterphoto.com/summit.asp

If you have 2+ courses under your belt, email or call us to get your special Promo Code for the discount on this intensive and exciting event.

To explore our course choices, check out our new and improved course listings at:
http://www.betterphoto.com/online-photography-courses.asp

If you have any other questions regarding this discount to the Summit, just let us know and we would be happy to help.

BetterPhoto Summit Contest - Win a Trip to Seattle

Photogenic Seattle

I am very excited to say that the 2nd Annual BetterPhoto Summit is less than 2 months away! On September 16th & 17th, 2006, we are in for an exciting weekend of learning photography and meeting up with BetterPhoto instructors and fellow members.

If you sign up today, you give yourself a greater chance of winning the Summit Contest!

It's true! You could win fantastic prizes, including a free trip to the Summit, an online course, and more! Each participant can enter only one photo per day leading up to the Summit. With space limited to 120 participants, your chances of winning a prize are great, and even greater if you sign up today.

Here's a link to more information on the Summit:
http://www.betterphoto.com/summit.asp

See you in Seattle!

The Latest Shutterbug Magazine

Hi all,

If you get a chance, check out the September issue of Shutterbug Magazine, page 55. There's a fantastic, well-written, thought-provoking, and all around amazing interview with Bryan F. Peterson. The fact that it was written by yours truly has absolutely nothing to do with my high recommendation :) Seriously, Bryan shares a lot about his mastery of exposure, both with film and digital photography.

Bryan has certainly been a big influence in my life as a photographer. My first introduction was through his extremely successful "Understanding Exposure" and "Learning to See Creatively" books. Then I had the good fortune to work for the company that produces the CD-ROM companions to these books. One weekend, after the CD-ROM market went down the tubes and the company turned instead to stock photography, I got to work with Bryan on a production stock shoot. It was my first and it made a huge impression on me. The event ran like clockwork and Bryan captured a stunning number of great, sellable shots from a packed two-day shoot.

Since then, Bryan and I have become good friends. I greatly enjoyed interviewing him for Shutterbug and hope you enjoy it too.

Two Photos I Came Across

While preparing my next book for publication, I discovered these two images from a Vermont fall colors trip in October 2004. It's always so fun to re-discover images that I forgot I had.

The two photos capture the same exact subject; I just did something to the scene in between shots. What did I do and which version do you find more appealing?

In future blog entries, I hope to tell you more about the process of writing a photography book. It's a fascinating and fun thing to go through (even though it can be challenging at times). The main principle of writing or any creative endeavor is that you have to generate more and just know that much is going to be edited out later. I don't think these two images are going to make the current book but I wanted to at least share them with you here.

Better Price for BetterPhoto Summit

Good news! We were able to find a much less expensive meeting room for the BetterPhoto Summit and are passing the savings on to you.

The Summit is now only $297! We were able to reduce the price AND the summit is being held is a nice, convenient-to-the-airport Hilton.

And we have a lot more goodies and details to post soon.

10 Raccoon Pictures That Teach You How to Photograph Baby Animals

I am so excited about how well these blogs are being received. At first, I did not understand the value. Like most people, I asked "What's a blog?" and "What's the big deal?" But now I see the attraction. People really enjoy reading these personal journals. What's more our staff and instructors really enjoy publishing in this way. Instead of authoring something and then having to run it by me, they get to simply write their thoughts and uploaded their photos.

I am also very excited about a possible facelift coming to BetterPhoto. I will ask for member's suggestions soon, probably in the Q&A forum. For the time being, just know that some extremely exciting enhancements will be coming in the next few months.

I also wanted to let you know of a new article I wrote for the kids: 10 Raccoon Pictures That Teach You How to Photograph Baby Animals can be found in our new BetterPhoto for Kids section.

Rocky the Raccoon © Jim Miotke All rights reserved

Rule of Thirds and Photography

Last night, with "Miss Marple" on in the background, I revised my Top 10 Beginning Photography Tips. These tips were the first thing posted to BetterPhoto, back in March of 1996. Inspired by a friend who did her Masters Thesis in a Web site format, I went out to a bookstore (this was before Amazon.com got so popular) and purchased a book on HTML. I had never seen anything so exciting - you mean, I could do my own writing and publishing, without having to sell an editor on my work.

(Side note: Now, with blogging, self-publishing is even easier. You don't even need to know HTML or Web design. It just keeps getting better and better.)

So back in the early spring of 1996, I thought of the old wise saying, "Write about what you love." As I love and continue to love photography, I decided to start a site dedicated to beginning photographers. Right from Day One, our motto has always been "honest answers for budding photographers". So I started BetterPhoto.com by posting the "Top 10 Beginning Photography Tips". The rest, as they say, is history.

The changes I made to the Top Ten Tips centered mostly around the shifts from film to digital photography. There were a few places where I mentioned things like "getting your pictures back from the lab". What's a lab? Now, film photographers out there: don't be offended. I know film is still a really cool way to take pictures but digital is so popular nowadays that I simply can't say things like "don't worry about wasting film" since most picture-takers don't have to worry about it at all.

I also enhanced the page on rule of thirds and photography. This is such an important and almost secret guideline that I want to share it here too - in my second blog entry. To use the Rule of Thirds, divide the rectangular shape of your scene into nine smaller rectangles, and then place your subject on one of the four cross points. I am including an example to show you what I mean. Check out the rule of thirds and photography page for more.

Enjoy learning photography!