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Yvette Roman, Wedding & Portrait Photographer joins host Scott Sheppard for some insight and perspective on the impact of VPS LLC’s recent patent suit against Pictage on her photography business and what this action means to professional photographers selling their work online. Yvette, a longtime Pictage client, received a notice from Pictage raising their fees effectively immediately. Yvette uses Pictage’s services for online proofing and remote print sales and fulfillment. Yvette explains the benefits of working with Pictage, including the ability to store and access her archives off-site providing her instant access to her high-resolution images.

VPS LLC., in their suit, also went after some individual photography studios. Rather than panic, Yvette did extensive research to find out the details of the patent and shares her findings. She explains that Pictage’s services involve an online conversion and replacement of high-resolution and low-resolution images handled on their server which was the root of VPS’s patent and their suit costing Pictage millions in unpaid royalty fees which they passed onto their clients. The suit has since settled and Pictage’s new fee structure is in place.

Yvette also researched some other lab options including services offered by DigiLabs and RedCart which are not effected by VPS’ patented technologies. She advises other photographers to look into these services carefully, and encourages them to ask whether their business model is affected by VPS royalties or patents.

Yvette also explains some details about her work. She primarily shoots on film and then scans her original work for digital finishing, in a hybrid workflow. She feels her traditional approach has helped her carve out a niche in her local wedding market and shares some anecdotes to consider.

Find out more about Yvette’s work at: http://www.yrphoto.com

The McNamara Report on Inside Digital Photo with Michael J. McNamara
This week’s topic: Sony’s latest HD Mega-Camcorder: Is it a DSLR replacement?

At CES 2009 Sony introduced a new HD camcorder that’s bound to catch the attention of still photographers. On the one hand, the HandyCam HDR-XR520V (@1500 street) does all the things you’d expect from a decent Sony HD camcorder, like capture hours and hours of high quality 1080i HD video to its 240GB hard drive, plus reveal detail in low light with the help of its new sensor and bright 15X optical-stabilized lens. On the other hand, it crosses the line into high res still photography by capturing 6MP still photos (Sony claims 12MP still capture, but that’s after interpolation) to a Memory Stick Pro DUO. Plus, it has a built-in GPS receiver for geotagging location information to both still photos and movies. Learn more about this camcorder and why it might bring more than a smile to serious photographers in this segment of the McNamara Report.

Listen in on the McNamara Report segment or get more photo insights and analysis on a variety of topics from Mike McNamara at: http://www.mcnamarareport.com.

Listen NOW…

Option-Click or Right-Click HERE to download this radio program (mp3)

Will Hauser, Freelance Photographer & Owner of Snapshots, a prosumer photography retail shop joins host Scott Sheppard for a lively discussion about his work and some trends he’s experiencing . Snapshots was founded by his father, and since a young boy Will had access to some of the best camera equipment and became an avid photographer. Growing up learning about photography,Will now shoots most of his work digitally but maintains a full service print lab in his shop.

In addition to running the retail operations, Will’s passion is photography and sports and has been successfully able to build a freelance photo business working closely with clients including NY Giants and Jets NFL teams. He’s shot several key events including the Super Bowl, the Pro Bowl, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.Will discusses his long road to maintaining contacts in the sports media field and how he is able to gain work and access to professional sports venues and sell images he’s captured at the events.He explains that being an avid fan gives him an advantage when shooting games as he’s able to capture the emotion of the athletes during critical game points. In addition to sports, Will’s assignments also include corporate and family events, landscape and wildlife as well as environmental portraiture.

Will describes his workflow and preferred gear as well as sharing his thoughts about the current trends in prosumer retail. He’s experienced the prosumer transition from film to digital first hand and sees that more and more average consumers are opting to do-it-yourself rather than hire a professional on both the capture and output side of the business. Consumers are told by media that capturing professional images is as easy as point and shoot. He often advises his clients, to take advantage of their local school photographer’s images rather than compromise their memories by attempting to shoot the pictures themselves.

For more information on Will’s work, visit his portfolio site at: http://www.williamhauser.com/

The McNamara Report on Inside Digital Photo with Michael J. McNamara
This week’s topic: Don’t believe the rumors, the Nikon D3X is REALLY here!

From the minute Nikon released the pro, full-frame D3 in August of 2007, the rumors began flying about the Nikon D3X. That’s not surprising, considering that Nikon followed its older D2 and D1 with x versions. But while those cameras provided incremental advances over their x-less models, and cost about the same, the new D3x costs $3000 more than the D3. Is it really worth that much for the extra detail and other features it offers?
In this segment, Mike takes a close look at the D3x’s new features, potential image quality, and its appeal to Nikon professional photographers ready to shoot down Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III and Sony A900 owners, as well as the medium format digital crowd.

Listen in on the McNamara Report segment or get more photo insights and analysis on a variety of topics from Mike McNamara at: http://www.mcnamarareport.com