360Photography

Flickr mucked around with the pricing on their Pro accounts today. The one year option stays the same price at $ 24.95. They reduced the 2 year option by $ 1.50 per year from $ 47.95 to $ 44.95 and they raised the price of a year of Pro $ 2.85 per year for those wanting to pay quarterly to $ 6.95 per quarter ($ 27.80 per year).

They also announced said that going forward your account would be set up on auto-renewal.

I did think the blog post on the pricing change was a little misleading where it says “We’re also dropping the price of a 2 year subscription to $ 44.95 (a savings of $ 10.95 off the 3 months at a time price).” This makes it sound like Flickr reduced their 2 year account by $ 11 when in fact they really reduced it by $ 3 from their previous pricing but now compare it with the more expensive quarterly payment option — but I guess that’s marketingspeak for you.

As far as the cost of a Pro account, it is still a screaming good deal for a photographer like me. Where else could I store 67,000+ full high res photos online for $ 22.48/year (I do the 2 year option)? Plus I’m participating in the Flickr/Getty stock photography deal that paid me over $ 500 last month so really it’s like Flickr is paying me, not like I’m paying them.

For many photographers though I think Flickr Pro is looking like a worse and worse deal. Google+ will host an unlimited number of photos for you for free now. Flickr’s free account only will let you access your 200 most recent photos and even worse if you don’t reup for a Pro account they hold the rest of your photos hostage on their site until you do renew.

I don’t think today’s pricing really is much of an announcement at all — and I think you’ll continue to see causal photographers letting their Pro accounts at Flickr lapse while they move to other cheaper alternatives like Google+. I also think that the higher end of the photography market is also increasingly moving away to sites like Smugmug (disclosure, they are a sponsor for our Photo Talk Plus show) which are more geared as high end galleries to actually sell your photos. Flickr doesn’t allow you to sell your photos on the site yourself.

Are you on Flickr? And if so will you renew your Pro account when it comes due? And if you do what option would you choose as far as paying for it?

Thomas Hawk Digital Connection

Over the last week, with the launch of our brand new Guide to Post Processing eBook, there’s been a lot of discussion around dPS around post processing – particularly about software and tools.

One of the common threads of conversation that I’ve been hearing is around the expense of some of the better post processing software tools and a hesitancy to spend so much on a tool when one doesn’t know if it suits you.

I can relate to that feeling. I still remember the first time I looked at Photoshop and considered purchasing it but balked at the price. It seemed a big risk to invest in something that I wasn’t completely sure would suit my needs.

Things have progressed a lot since those days – now many software tools give you trials before you buy. One of the exciting trials currently on offer is the ability to test the brand new beta of Lightroom 4.

Lightroom has been a product that many photographers of all levels have adopted as their preferred option and it has evolved in its first 3 versions into a very useful tool. It’s how I manage and edit my own images and I’m pumped to see them releasing Lightroom 4 soon.

In the lead up to the full launch Adobe are allowing everyone to download and trial Lightroom 4 for free. Download it today and you get to use it until the trial ends on March 31 2012. That’s over 2 months of free use of one of the most popular post processing tools on the planet! More than enough time to see if it’s right for you and the perfect time to take your post processing stills up a notch with our new Post Processing Guide.

So what are you waiting for? Download the free beta of Lightroom 4 today and tell us what you think!

Update: Worth noting are the system requirements for using Lightroom 4 beta:

The minimum system requirements for Lightroom 4 beta are as follows:

Windows
Intel® Pentium® 4 or AMD Athlon® 64 processor
Microsoft® Windows Vista® with Service Pack 2 or Windows 7 with Service Pack 1
2GB of RAM
1GB of available hard-disk space
1024×768 display
DVD-ROM drive
Internet connection required for Internet-based services*

Mac OS
Multicore Intel processor with 64-bit support
Mac OS X v10.6.8 or v10.7
2GB of RAM
1GB of available hard-disk space
1024×768 display
DVD-ROM drive
Internet connection required for Internet-based services*

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

Download and Test Lightroom 4 for Free

Digital Photography School

Aspen, Colorado-based photographer Tyler Stableford generally shoots action and adventure, most of it aboveground. But this shoot for Timberland PRO would send him a half-mile deep into the earth.

That far down, before adding light it is absolutely pitch black. As in, you cannot see your hand in front of your face. And the lights the miners use while extracting coal there aren't much friendlier — low-level, and a mix of tungsten and fluorescents.

So Stableford shot the entire campaign working on the edge of the quality envelope, and lighting with only a few speedlights. Read more »

Strobist