Lightroom 4 Beta – First Impressions

Adobe just released a new version of Lightroom in the market and it has created quite a buzz in the photography community.You can download it from the Adobe Labs site and use it for free till the 31st of March 2012.  What’s great is that you do not need a previous Lightroom version for this, all you need is to create a free account  with Adobe.

This version comes loaded with a variety of new features, although the interface still looks the same (Thank God for this!)

Here are the additions over Lightroom3:

Two new modules: Map and Book

•  Book Module

This module is a whole new step towards simplifying photo-book creation. And once you are done creating your book, you can export it as a PDF. Another cool feature is the ability to publish the book  directly to Blurb.

• Map module

This module is an excellent example of Adobe’s continuous innovation. It can find and group images by location, by reading data   from GPS enabled cameras. But if you don’t own a GPS enabled camera (like most of us!), then you can also assign locations to your images by simple drag and drop.

New local adjustment features

Now you can use the Local adjustment brush to adjust white balance, control noise and remove moiré.

New tonal adjustment controls

Shadows and Highlights have been introduced to the basic panel, replacing the old Recovery and Fill Light. These are far more powerful and cover the entire dynamic range.

Soft Proofing

We all have had experiences when we have our “perfect” images printed and they do not look so perfect anymore. Soft proofing can be used to work around this problem.

It allows you to work on a ‘proof copy’ and tweak images specific to the printer’s RGB profile.

Increased Video Capability

With Lightroom 3, Adobe just hinted at adding video editing features. What you could do at most was import and tag video clips, but for anything more we needed to use an external application. With the new version, Adobe has taken a deep plunge into video-editing! Now you can play the video, trim, extract frames, change its exposure and play with colour effects. And there is more; you can also share the video directly to Flickr and Facebook.

Email

Lightroom now allows you to configure your Gmail, AOL and other email accounts, which you can then use to directly email images.

So overall, it is a well-rounded update of the software. This version did surprise me on few aspects, but till now they have been all pleasant surprises!

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-lightroom.html

http://www.photoble.com/software/lightroom-4-beta-first-impressions

EILAT FOR YOU

Over the years, the city of Eilat has become the ultimate resort city with hotels and beaches packed with thousands of Israeli vacationers and tourists from around the world, who come to relax in the country’s southernmost spot.

In the winter it mainly attracts tourists from Europe who prefer vacations in a warmer and more pleasant climate while Israelis flock to the city in the summer. The secret of this little city’s charm is its special location in the northern end of the Bay of Eilat.
The combination of a hot climate, a tropical sea and a breathtaking background of wild, bare granite mountains has turned it into a tourist gem all the year round.

about eilat
Eilat’s location made it strategically significant during the many historical periods in which it served as a port – starting in the days of King Solomon (who built a large fleet of ships which he sent to Ophir), through the Nabataeans, the Romans, the Arabs, and the Crusaders, all of whom ruled the Land of Israel.

WeSell רשת שותפים

Photoshop CS6 to feature Content-Aware Age Tool

Photoshop CS6 will feature a new Content-Aware Age Tool that can instantly make people in photos look younger or older, according to leaked images discovered by our friends at Practical Photoshop.

Photoshop CS6, which is currently a beta version available to the public, made headlines months ago when one of Adobe’s ‘sneak peeks’ at the software revealed a new Content-Aware Move Tool that allows users to shift elements of a photo around the frame.

It is believed the newly discovered Content-Aware Age Tool will let users dramatically increase or decrease the age of a person captured in a photograph.

Leaked screen grabs of the Content-Aware age tool in use show a sliding scale ranging from baby up to elderly. It is not known if the Photoshop CS6 age tool will only age skin, as seen in the screen grab above, or if it will also, for instance, remove age-related body features such as facial hair and breasts as you drag the slider down to the ‘baby’ end of the scale.

“I would think Adobe will have to address this issue before the full release of CS6,” said Practical Photoshop Editor Ben Brain.

Ben added he cannot reveal how he came across the screen grab of the as-yet unannounced Content-Aware age tool, but hinted there could be further surprises in store from Adobe.

“I’ve not seen it, but I hear Adobe is already developing what they call a Clooning Stamp for Photoshop CS7,” he said. “Simply click the Clooning stamp over a person’s face, drag the Smugness Opacity slider to your desired level and it will make the person look more like George Clooney.”

It is believed Adobe is developing a female version of the Clooning Stamp called the Helen Brush Tool, based off a circa-1970s Helen Mirren.

source:

http://www.digitalcameraworld.com

Canon EOS 60Da blasts off for night photographers

Canon has expanded its range of EOS cameras with the launch of the EOS 60Da, a high-resolution DSLR built for advanced night photography.

The Canon EOS 60Da is based on the specifications of the Canon 60D and succeeds the EOS 20Da in the Canon lineup.

The Canon EOS 60Da is designed for astrophotography and can capture rich red colours produced by emission nebulae, with a modified low pass filter that makes it more sensitive to hydrogen-alpha (Há) wavelengths of light, Canon says.

In a standard DSLR, an infrared (IR) filter limits the amount of Há light that passes through to the camera sensor, reducing the transmission of red signals to prevent unwanted colour artefacts in the final image.

However the EOS 60Da features a new modified filter that offers three times more transparency for Há light than the EOS 60D, combined with an 18-megapixel CMOS sensor, DIGIC 4 processing and a high ISO range to capture crisp, clear images of red-coloured emission nebulae.

The EOS 60Da provides astrophotographers and night photography enthusiasts with high ISO speeds up to ISO 6,400 (expandable to ISO 12,800) and a curved body features with an improved button layout that has more frequently used controls grouped together for easy access.

Controls can be adjusted and reassigned to suit each user’s individual requirements, and a top LCD screen with backlight illumination lets night photographers adjust image parameters mid-shoot.

The Canon EOS 60Da is available from June 2012, priced at £1,174.99/€1,399.00 RRP incl. VAT

Canon EOS 60Da key specs

Enhanced sensitivity to IR light
18 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor
Vari-angle 7.7cm (3.0”) 3:2 Clear View LCD screen
ISO 100-6,400 (expandable to ISO 12,800)
Time-lapse shooting with EOS Utility or optional Timer Remote Controller TC-80N3

SOURCE:  http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2012/04/03/canon-eos-60da-blasts-off-for-night-photographers/

Beautiful Selective Color Photographs

Selective color is a post-processing technique where most of a photo is converted to black and white, but some parts are left in color. This is usually achieved by using layers and masks in photo editing software (Photoshop, SilverFast, Adobe Fireworks or The GIMP for example).
A common application for selective color is portraiture, to keep the eyes and sometimes the lips in color, against an otherwise black-and-white photograph. Small regions of color in an otherwise monochrome image immediately draw the viewer's eye.
Landscape photography is another common application for this technique. Colorful leaves in an otherwise drab scene can breathe life into a photo. Of course the technique can be applied to any genre, but portraits and landscapes are the usual beneficiaries.
Films such as Schindler's List and Sin City have made use of the technique.

:: The Apple ::
by ~onixa

Pink_Champaign_Concept_II_by_mojorison.jpg

i_still_see_you_by_Melancholera.jpg

rainy_pink_by_cunya

leaf in the wind
by ~WinterSnaps

Benches
by ~thisPhenomenon

autumn wishes
by ~Bleeding-Souls

Romance_by_0mda

The Narrows
by ~Plasmastorm

Just Take My Soul

Night photography

Night photography

Night photography has an attraction all its own. There's something about scintillating lights from office windows hanging in the dark of the night -- a modern version of the starry skies -- that appeal to us. Whether it's a city skyline, lamp posts on a dark and deserted street, or the front of your house all decked out with holiday lights, the challenge of capturing the mood of a night scene depends on whether your digital camera is capable of night photography and on a couple of simple techniques.

Run away (2) by Arnaud Montagard http://500px.com/photo/3816120

Karl Bang

Karl Bang Art Gallery

The incredible detail of Karl Bang's work is only a small part of the story. His remarkable sense of colour, the perfect poise and beauty of his subjects and the fascination that is the final work all play their part in the whole.



Karl Bang's collection of art masterpieces es could easily be called Goddess Central.   Karl was born as Bong Ka in Shanghai in 1935.   He was formally trained by the master artists of Chinese painting and he also formally trained in the European painting tradition in France and Belgium.  These multiple styles led to Karl Bang's multi-cultural blending of the traditional Chinese artistic discipline with the more personally expressive European style, and later also included traditions from around the entire globe. This cross-cultural fusion of styles has earned him the title of "Master of Contemporary Eclecticism". His art is currently represented by Richardson Gallery of Fine Art, and the exclusive originating source of all prints and original paintings by Karl Bang is Chantelle Publishing Company.  Art representatives who earn an online MBA or art history degree often work with international artists like Karl Bang.

During Mao Tse-tung's Cultural Revolution in China, Karl was obligated to paint only the propaganda images the government demanded him to paint. However, in 1984 he was allowed to emigrate to the United States, where Karl was free to paint his one heart's passion - beautiful women, goddesses, and the feminine archetype - from various races and cultures.  This central theme to all of Karl Bang's work is exquisitely developed and refined in each of his images. For Karl, painting women goes much deeper than their outer beauty. He sees women as epitomizing the gentler instincts of humankind - nurturing, gentility, truth, and inner strength.    Now the only strategic PR he espouses is the strategy of beauty.

Autumn Mistress

Felines

Hunters

Queen Ransom

Rithual

Underthemoon