Niagara Falls?

Yep…I’m hooking up with Michael Reichmann of The Luminous Landscape to shoot material (shots and video) for our upcoming Lightroom 2.0 video tutorial.Now, don’t make too much about the timing of this…this is the only time Michael have to actually get together to shoot stuff photographically before we tape our video.

We wanted to shoot stuff together (something a bit North of Antarctica ya know) in order to have working photo samples to demo our respective workflows. The release of the video tutorial will come after Lightroom 2.0 ships (we really can’t say exactly that will be).

So, stayed tuned for an update, but I’ll be gone for the week starting, well, now! I’ll try to post something while we work. Michael it seems, has booked a suite (not the honeymoon suite I hope) so we can shoot night shots of the falls & the fireworks (assuming they do it in the rain). So, we’ll see what happens…(or doesn’t).

Source: Myrtlebeach Online
Written by Steve Palisin
Art has always captured rock guitarist Ace Frehley’s eye.

After joining KISS in the mid-1970s at its lead guitarist, with the “Spaceman” makeup and silver sprayed hair, Frehley designed the group’s logo.

Overlook Center to Reflect Adobe’s Commitment to “Green” Building Practices

Press Release: WALTHAM, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE – News) today announced it has entered into a purchase and sale agreement with Normandy Real Estate Partners to acquire Overlook Center upon substantial completion at 21-61 Hickory Drive, Waltham, Massachusetts. According to the purchase agreement, Normandy will complete construction of an office building shell and core totaling approximately 108,500 square feet of space, a parking structure and site improvements. The transaction, valued at $44.7 million, is expected to close by May 2009, subject to the agreement’s closing conditions.

Let Liz and Kate keep their airbrushed beauty. They’ve earned it

Source: The Guardian
Written by Julie Burchill

Votes for Women! The Equal Pay Act! Divorce! Abortion! Ooo, don’t you love the smell of full-on feminist legislation in the morning? This, girls, was the 20th century.

And now, lucky ladies that we are, we’re about to get … um, a law in France banning all ‘ultra-thin’ models and in this country, if not a law, then a request from the British Fashion Council to the Periodical Publishers Association to, in the words of heat magazine, ‘form a group to curb the use of airbrushed and digitally enhanced pictures.’

Learn Lightroom 2.0 with D65

Adobe released Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 beta which features enhancements such as dual-monitor support and localized dodge and burn corrections. It is the first Adobe application to support 64-bit for Mac OS X 10.5 Intel Macs and Microsoft Vista 64-bit operating systems.

We are now teaching the transition to 2.0 and all the features.

HOW TO SPOT PHOTOSHOP CHICANERY.

Source: Slate
Written by Jacob Leibenluft

After a New Yorker profile implied that “king of the photo touchup” Pascal Dangin had airbrushed photos taken by Annie Leibovitz for Dove’s high-profile “Campaign for Real Beauty,” the company issued a statement last Friday explaining that Dangin had only removed dust and performed minor color corrections. Is it possible to determine whether the Dove photos were retouched?

Source: The New Yorker
Written by Lauren Collins

For a charity auction a few years back, the photographer Patrick Demarchelier donated a private portrait session. The lot sold, for a hundred and fifty thousand dollars, to the wife of a very rich man. It was her wish to pose on the couple’s yacht. “I call her, I say, ‘I come to your yacht at sunset, I take your picture,’ ” Demarchelier recalled not long ago. He took a dinghy to the larger boat, where he was greeted by the woman, who, to his surprise, was not wearing any clothes.

“I want a picture that will excite my husband,” she said.

Capturing such an image, by Demarchelier’s reckoning, proved to be difficult. “I cannot take good picture,” he said. “Short legs, so much done to her face it was flat.” Demarchelier finished the sitting and wondered what to do. Eventually, he picked up the phone: “I call Pascal. ‘Make her legs long!’ ”

On the Lightroom Journal blog, Tom Hogarty announced that the DNG Specification has been updated. He also indicated that the DNG Codec for Windows Vista (32-bit) has been posted to Adobe Labs.

Easy to use plug-in for Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements helps photographers selectively blur and/or vignette areas of an image

Press Release: Portland, OR – onOne Software, Inc., announced that its new software plug-in for Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements – FocalPoint 1.0 – is now available for immediate download. onOne Software’s FocalPoint is a selective focus and vignetting plug-in designed to help photographers easily blur and/or vignette areas of an image.

Photoshop Disasters web site recently took a swipe at Photoshop User TV for doing “inept reflections” in an announcement at the most recent Photoshop World about the Photoshop User TV live taping. See: Photoshop World: Photoshop User TV Useless At Photoshop.

Jeeesh, everybody is a critic!

John Nack posted an expanded explanation of a recent Digital Photo Pro DNG article that quotes Kevin Conner, senior director of product management for Adobe’s professional digital imaging products, saying:

“We’ve actually started talking to ISO [International Organization for Standardization] of potential standardization around a new RAW format,” Connor says. “We’ve submitted DNG as something for them to consider. At this point in time, it’s sort of premature to speculate whether a formal standard will come out of that or not. Obviously, it’s a standardization process that can take a long time, with many parties involved and different viewpoints. The good thing is that there’s a discussion happening.”

John also mentioned that Adobe will be releasing a “DNG-viewing codec for Windows Vista, making it possible to view DNG files right within the operating system. Expect this free download to be posted soon.”

You Suck At Photoshop, the trials and tribulations of Donnie, has won a People’s Voice Award in the 12th annual Webby Awards Comedy: Long Form or Series category. You Suck also won a People’s Voice Award in the “How To” category.

The creators of You Suck were recently revealed to be Troy Hitch and Matt Bledsoe, two ad agency refugees from Covington, Kentucky. See this PSN story: THE PHOTOSHOP GUYS REVEALED!.

Press Release: ALYS BEACH, Fla., May 6 /PRNewswire/ — A Florida beach resort town will host a unique festival on Labor Day weekend.

“Digital Graffiti at Alys Beach” was created to celebrate and promote the world’s most talented and innovative digital artists. But the event has a very unusual twist.

“We’re inviting digital artists from around the world to project their original artwork onto our town’s famous white walls,” said Kelli Arnold, Alys Beach’s Events Coordinator. “Our entire town will literally become their blank canvas.”

Click on the image to see larger sized image in a new window.
The sunset view from Greg Gorman’s Mendocino home & studio.

GREG GORMAN’S MENDOCINO DIGITAL WORKSHOP – SPECIAL GUEST: JEFF SCHEWE
June 8-13, 2008

Delight your senses, hone your craft and maximize your technical expertise at the most unique photographic venue this June, 2008 in Mendocino, California*. Immerse yourself in the secrets of the pros within a small intimate setting during a week-long workshop at Greg’s personal studio adjacent to his home. Nestled in the picturesque coast of the Pacific, the studio offers an amazing backdrop for photography students – redwood forests, vineyards, and the spectacular local sites of Northern California.

Technology and Content Innovators to Drive Consistent Rich Internet Experiences Across Multiple Screens

Press Release: SAN JOSE, Calif. — May 1, 2008 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the Open Screen Project, supported by a group of industry leaders, including ARM, Chunghwa Telecom, Cisco, Intel, LG Electronics Inc., Marvell, Motorola, Nokia, NTT DoCoMo, Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics Co., Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and Verizon Wireless. The project is dedicated to driving rich Internet experiences across televisions, personal computers, mobile devices, and consumer electronics. Also supporting the Open Screen Project are leading content providers, including BBC, MTV Networks, and NBC Universal, who want to reliably deliver rich Web and video experiences live and on-demand across a variety of devices.

Source: CNET
Written by Stephen Shankland

Adobe Systems is discussing potential standardization of its Digital Negative (DNG) format for digital images, a company executive has said.