On The Digital Story virtual camera club Derrick Story has made cell phone photos his monthly photo assignment for January 2012. See “Special Offer from SizzlPix!” in the center of the page.

So we can build up a gallery of SizzlPix! made from cell phone images. Any TDS listener or reader gets a 20% discount on SizzlPix!™ Hi Definition Photography™ made from pictures shot with T-Mobile My Touch Slide 4G, Samsung Galaxy S II, or Apple’s iPhone 4S.

SizzlPix! may be from 18” to 60” in the longest dimension. Photographer’s cropping will be honored.

Shipping will be within one week. Photographer gives us permission to publicize, with credit, their SizzlPix! made from a cell phone original  in yours and our on-line galleries and blogs, Twitter, FaceBook, Google+. etc.

You get your 20% discount just by saying in the comment space on your order that you heard or read about this special offer on The Digital Story.

Plus you’ll get free shipping and our money-back guarantee of satisfaction.

Many questions were raised in comments to the AllThingsD report.

SizzlPix’ comment:

Excellent questions: essentially, how will images from Lytro compare in resolution, iso and exposure latitude with other pocket cameras? Also, while millions more pictures are now shared digitally than printed, there remain photographers who see the printed page, and especially wall display, as the ultimate medium for their best output, and this starts with a single image that displays the artist’s desired focus throughout.

Could this be a solution in search of a problem? Are out-of-focus pictures a widespread issue with today’s cameras?

For concerned photographers there have existed for some time ready methods for achieving virtually unlimited depth of field: In PS 5, Adobe offers a sort-of HDR for focus. That is, if one makes several shots at various focus points, Photoshop can combine them into a single photo with depth of field from inches to miles. My 3-year old Canon Rebel T1i, and subsequent models, offer focus bracketing (which, of course, can produce the source shots for the Photoshop combining of images.)

On a positive note, neither the Canon nor the Adobe methods provide a way to do it all at once in a single box.

Most promising, perhaps, would be an every-persons’ camera providing more ease, as well as lower cost and learning curve, than the combination of hardware and software we’ve described.

Perhaps a bigger question, could this could be the answer to the golden fleece of 3-D without glasses?

The clinic has created a gallery extending through the waiting and examination rooms featuring SizzlPix! High Definition Photography by Robert Flatt. Flatt is also adjunct professor at the Rice’s Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management, teaching Leading Change in Operations.

His photography began after his diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease. As a patient of the PDMDC, Robert hopes his work will create an interesting, natural and pleasing setting for others dealing with neurological illnesses. His work also speaks of the healing nature of art and how his diagnosis was the start of a new career as an artist.

Some of his best pictures were taken in his front yard on Albans Street, where he practiced his craft for days on end and developed an eye for interesting subjects and unique detail. Many of his nature photographs were made in the Houston area, specifically his own neighborhood, Southampton, although his practiced art has taken him to Africa, Antarctica, and Japan.

It was −20°centigrade in Hokkaido, Japan when Robert took his photo, Swans, Fog, and Sunshine.

With outstanding guidance from instructors at the Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies, he was able to transition out of a distinguished scientific engineering career and into a life as a burgeoning artist. 45 of his photographs, including 26 spectacular SizzlPix, in sizes from 20×30 to 48×36-inches are now in the gallery on the 18th floor of Smith Tower, 6550 Fannin Street.

According to Don Sherman, head of the Silicon Valley company, the new SizzlPix High Definition Photography technology eliminates toxic chemicals used in developing, the need for glass or a frame, and produces luminous colors and an illusion of depth not found in conventional photographs.

It also produces pictures that are water-, stain- and fade-proof, and scratch- and UV -resistant, making them safe to use in bathrooms and sunlit rooms.

Robert Flatt adds, “Unlike paper or canvas photos, SizzlPix can be kept sterile with a simple disinfectant spray and wipe, making them uniquely suitable for medical and other scientific environments.” At the Baylor clinic they are displayed in waiting areas, hallways, conference rooms, offices and examination rooms.

Another benefit is that the photographer isn’t limited by predetermined sizes, Sherman says. Heights and widths can range from 18 inches up to 5 feet.

“They’re a dramatic advance over conventional paper or canvas prints.” But, he adds, “How do you describe high-definition photographs? You have to see them in person.”

Professional photographers aren’t the only ones who can turn their photos into high-definition pictures. Anyone can have his or her own photos processed using the SizzlPix! process.
Prices range from $199 to $1,499 and include free shipping and a money-back guarantee.
They’re not for the shy and retiring, though, Sherman cautions with a laugh. “SizzlPix! is dramatic. It will make a statement in any room.”

The SizzlPix CEO says, “Robert’s indomitable spirit is reflected in his spectacular photographic interpretations of the wonders of life in the natural world. It is an honor to have been chosen as his gallery display medium.”

Robert Flatt: “My pictures look wonderful in SizzlPix. I’ve been recommending it to everyone, telling them it’s the only way to go.”

By displaying Robert Flatt’s nature photography in the clinic, Eli M. Mizrahi, MD, Chair of the department, and Dr. Joseph Jankovic, Director, hope that patients will not only enjoy, but understand for the selves the healing benefits of art, and how it can affect the autonomic nervous system, hormonal balance, brain neurotransmitters, the immune system, and the blood flow to all organs of the body.

Here’s Doug’s story in his own words: “I saw my first SizzlPix in Derrick Story’s studio. I loved the look and decided to try one for myself. The challenge was to find an image that was dramatic enough to take full advantage of the high-definition technology.

“A month later I captured this image of a corroded latch on a weathered door in Santa Fe. It was shot with a Nikon D700 at 1/50th, f/5.0, 82mm using a 28-300mm lens. By using a small handheld LED flashlight as a key light and underexposing by -2 EV (aperture priority) I was able to get rich saturation in the upper midtones and full detail in the highlights while giving up the shadows.

“I was nervous about the color of the final SizzlPix, but what came back is a near-perfect match to my original. I will make a few changes for my next prints, however. First, I’ll order a larger version. (Mine was 24×17 inches.) I’m accustomed to framed prints and I didn’t take into account the overall real estate of the total package. Doh! Second, I won’t sharpen the image as much as I did for my first one, but I will do more noise reduction in the solid-color areas of the image. A SizzlPix really is “HD” and doesn’t appear to introduce any grain or texture of its own. In other words, you can’t hide your image’s flaws. It’s not at all like any regular print. The artifacts from over-sharpening and any noise in your image will reproduce quite faithfully.

“I told another photographer friend that the closest thing to a SizzlPix is probably a high-resolution LED display. If I reduce the sharpening and selectively increase the noise reduction so the image looks exactly like I want it on my monitor, I think that’s going to give me the best results with SizzlPix I certainly won’t use any final “for screen” or “for print” sharpening.”

…Doug Kaye, Kentfield, California

Unlike ordinary paper or canvas matted and framed wall display, SizzlPix! waste no paper, glass, plastics nor wood. They are aluminum, one of earth’s most commonly recycled materials, rated Green by EPA. They are on public display for the first time in Ohio, during the limited-run Break Gallery, Millworks Gallery, 106 N Main Street, Akron.

SizzlPix!™ High Definition™ fine-art photography is a new technology rapidly being recognized for exceptional realism, detail and depth many of us may never have seen on the wall. For photographers, decorators, designers, architects, and for anyone who enjoys unusually beautiful pictures on the walls of their homes, offices, and in public areas, here at last is a display comparable to the luminance of a properly calibrated back-lighted computer display … except these displays are from 18” to five-feet in height or width (and cost a few hundred, not thousands of dollars)!

Says photographer Ken Latman, “SizzlPix! look great! They just seem to jump off the wall! Very pleased with these results.”

Latman and Bryant who have traveled together on photo adventures, each entered monthly photo assignments on The Digital Story podcast and blog; different topics, different months. Neither digital photo guru Derrick Story nor his sponsor SizzlPix! had any idea whatsoever they even knew or lived near each other. they were each chosen among dozens of entries, for different months, last year. Here are the photos with which they won separate competitions. Both will be on display at Break in Akron.

For more information on the Break gallery: parking, directions, and hours, call Millworks: 330-253-2007 and see this page.

Red Riding Hood in theaters this week is not as eerie, not as much fun as Dusty Divine’s RED original painting, now a SizzlPix! displayed, along with his BEAST and YGGDRASL, at Aurora Art Studio (paintings and fine art), 1350 Fourth Street in San Rafael, California.

You may have to blink to see the wolf! The illusion is startling, especially 18″ high.

Dusty says, “I really didn’t expect my paintings to reproduce so well in SizzlPix. We’ll be doing more.

Thanks for your extra effort and great work.”

Yes, the stamps would show, each a foot wide. Quite a challenge, but the kind we love.

A real opportunity to show off SizzlPix! technology!

Writes John, “Zowee!  I am delighted with the results of the processing of the five train stamp strip.  Once I do a show-n-tell at next month’s stamp club meeting, I’ll find it a place of honor in my den. 

Thanks to all involved with this good work.

– John

PS – - While I may have entered your site directly, I need to give credit to Derrick Story for the initial heads-up on your products.  He always has great things to say about Sizzlpix on his podcast..”