Attack of the Top Ten Lists

Photography News that's Fit to Blog (This Week)
by Kerry Raminiak

Taking notes throughout the week for this round-up has turned out quite the hodgepodge of goodies. (Remember if you’ve got good news let me know by commenting or by reaching out on Twitter or Facebook. I’m always interested.)

PMA Data Watch has evidence that there is no downturn in child photography
While my version of their headline is much shorter, their's is certainly catchier: Despite economic downturn, parents not penny pinching when it comes to their children. The report, published this morning, indicates that children are the primary drivers for camera and photography purchases. As a result, women with children are most likely to make these purchases. Furthermore, children are the main focus for personalized gift products like greeting cards, calendars, mugs and mousepads. We don’t mean to sound repetitive but all current research points in this direction (click here to read a recent recap we put together of similar studies published this year). Click here to read the PMA release with a lot more information.

Bing gets more press
The power of the blog format is that when we get a whim we write it out and hope others read and enjoy it. That said, we scooped the industry’s formal acceptance of Bing and how they are using photography to impress and delight (yep, our CEO blogged about it last month here). Now with that said, Photo District News has a nice interview with the people behind the phenomena. The behind the scenes reminds me that great photos simply stand out which I imagine makes their lives just a little bit easier when hunting and gathering their image choices.

My favorite article of the week has to be:
The Rule of Thirds Revisited
Although the article was posted a couple of weeks ago to the Canon Blogger, I keep coming back to it to compare my most recent shots to the mind’s eye symmetrical diagrams of past and future. I also enjoy the article because it isn’t an ordinary how-to but rather someone’s wise experiment to be shared via post and publicizing via social media outlets. Kudos Canon Blogger, you have made it to the favorites.

Last week was the week of “Top” Lists for the photography industry (wondering why). In order of awesomeness (with the last one being #1 or the best):

• Here are the Top 10 Final Photographs from, who else, TopTenz. I find this whole post very dreary, but I also felt I couldn’t leave it out.
  
  
• Here is PDNPulse’s Top 20 Songs About Photography… which I am a bit impressed in the cross genre considerations.
  
  
• And, the #1 Top list sent my way last week: Digital Photography School's, 10 Photography Quotes You Should Know. Although not as toe tapping as the previous contestant, this compilation is just… assuring.

Quick announcements from our news desk:

There is a PhotoReflect “Getting Started” webinar this Wednesday night at 7:00 pm Central time which shows you how to utilize free tools to start selling your photography online with custom storefronts and…

We will be randomly selecting a Facebook fan to win their choice of sports templates this week. There is nothing to do to enter other than being a “fan,” so join us.