Those folks at Adobe are full of new stuff. And this is another one that’s free (for a test drive, anyway).
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SAN JOSE, Calif. – April 2, 2008 – Adobe Systems Incorporated
(Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 beta, a
public preview of new and improved functionality to be delivered in the
next major release. Lightroom is the professional photographer’s
essential toolbox, providing one application for managing, adjusting,
and presenting large volumes of digital photographs. Lightroom 2.0 beta
will feature enhancements such as dual-monitor support, localized dodge
and burn correction and will be the first Adobe application to support
64-bit for Mac OS X 10.5 Intel Macs and Microsoft Vista 64-bit operating
systems.

“Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 beta provides early access to requested
improvements over version 1.3 and continues our ongoing dialogue and
open communication with the photography community,” said Tom Hogarty,
senior product manager for Photoshop Lightroom and Camera Raw. “We’re
excited not only for our existing customers, but also for the general
public who will have an opportunity to take Lightroom 2.0 beta on a test
run.”

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 beta is available as a 30-day trial for
free download on Macintosh and Windows platforms at
this link. Existing Lightroom 1.0 customers
will be able to test the beta for an extended period until Aug. 31, 2008
and can invite friends to take part in this trial period.

I am so in. All of the things weve been asking for. Especially dig the 2 monitor upgrade.
As soon as we take it on a test run, we’ll report back with some real world results. Spinning thorugh it, it is promising to get a bit closer to Photoshop than before, with ability to do localized corrections on your images.
Perfect timing: shooting a magazine layout tomorrow with a fast turnaround (is there any other kind these days?) Great way to test it out.

â€:â€:..And the photographer says â€: the photographer says â€:â€:â€:

I got nothing.
Seriously.
Nothing.

Why are there no jokes about photographers? Well, there are a couple but they are terrible. Is it something we said? Or did?

While lawyers enjoy a plethora of comedy junctures, we photographers have to be satisfied with the “Say Cheese” factor.
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So, if you know of a great photog joke, post it here under comments.
And we don’t mean : How many photographers does it take to change a lightbulb? 50 – one to change and 49 to say “I could’ve done that”.
OR
What’s the difference between a photographer and a pizza?
- a pizza can feed a family of four .
Been there, Done that.

And please not the baby photographer joke. Oh, go ahead. Google it. You’ll be sorry.

Let’s have a laugh.

And the weekly giveaway returns next week. Along with the NEWSLETTER.

[photopress:2008_benefit_website_plain_.jpg,full,alignright] inMotion’s Annual Photography Auction and benefit is coming up on April 2nd at the Waldolf Astoria. Mark your calendar. The proceeds benefit inMotion, an organization that is celebrating 15 years of providing free legal services to women and children in domestic crisis.

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© Elliott Erwitt

What caught my eye were the amazing images that will be up for auction. The heartwarming study of legs and body by Elliot Erwitt (pictured) is just one of 25 incredible pieces of work up for auction. The names featured just stun you; Helen Leavitt, Chuck Close, Joel Meyerowitz, Louis Stettner, and on and on. A private portrait commission by Mark Seliger will also be offered, as well as a silent auction featuring photographs and illustrations from The New York Times Photo Archives and The New Yorker, and works by Ruth Orkin, and Jenny Parker, among others.

It’s at the Waldolf, and Laurie Litchenstein from inMotion told me that it is the city’s most successful charity art auction.

If you’re in the market for some superb photography, or just want to help out an incredibly worthy cause, you absolutely have to check this out.

For more information, click on InMotion or call InMotion at (646) 442-1174

In 2 out of 3 point and shoot digital cameras, Fotonation has a bit of DNA. The coolest thing is that they are making the digital photography lives of the mainstream “point and shooters” into a foolproof world. At least from a technical aspect.
Quietly at first, they introduced Face Tracker technology, which sees your subjects and then corrects focus and exposure for up to 10 faces. The Red-Eye reduction system they gave us doesn’t just take the red out, but leaves what is called a “catch light” in the eye.
What does that mean ???
Well, instead of the subjects eye going dark, and perhaps looking a little lifeless, the light reflected into it remains. take a look at Martin Shoellers photos for a more pronounced example: look into the eyes for the “catch-light”.

The company was recently acquired by Tessara Technologies, makers of some of the tiniest cameras you can imagine. Wait….you probably have one in your cell phone.
Take a look at this video to see what else is in their bag of tricks.

And click onto their website to see what is coming up. By years end, point and shoots AND mobile phones will have a whole new list of contents.

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Notice the blue circle in the top corner. Once the last person comes into the shot it becomes a number, counting down to the shutter release.

Personally, I loved FaceTime: integrating face detection with a self timer, it’ll wait for the shooter to enter the picture before it takes the shot.

I know Monday morning is not always the time you are looking for some tech stuff, but we’ve been waiting to get this to you. And a bit of the future seemed like a good way to start the week.

Today Adobe launched Photoshop Express beta. Online photo editing for FREE.

Heck, they’re giving it away.

Sample screen:

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Now, we’ve taken a look around and it’s pretty cool.[photopress:pexpress_menu.jpg,full,alignright]
It does have a lot of the same features you may be using now in Picassa or iPhoto.
But this product may not be aimed at you if you are dependent on huge megapixel files. Or it can be that quick and easy tool for uploading and sharing without a lot of manipulation of the image.

Take a look at this menu column. Pretty darn impressive for an online image editing program. One if the best things we saw is the line-up of images on top to show you what could happen to your photos when you make a possible change. This technology has been previewed before but not in such an easy to use system. Did we say it was free?

Right now, it’s not for the huge files of the DSLR folks out there. And not yet available outside of the US. Like we said, it’s a beta version. Once folks check it out report in to Adobe about bugs, issues etc., I’m sure it will roll out globally.

By the way you do need Flash Ver. 9 to run the app.

And you’ll get 2 gigs of free storage. Right there it tells you that it’s for the snap shots not the full up DSLR files. You’ll be able to purchase more storage eventually.

One if the best things we saw is the line-up of images on top to show you what could happen to your photos when you make a possible change. This technology has been previewed before but not in such an easy to use system.

Did we say it was free?

Here are some sample screen shots of what you’ll get when you check this puppy out.
One each of the images, which run on top of the page, you mouse over them and the main image shows you what your choice would look like when it’s committed to.

If only we had bars like this for the rest of our life. A quick look to see what it would look like before we leap.

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It’s not just image editing, either. You can upload to another sharing site, create galleries, albums, all of the now standard stuff. Plus you can embed the galleries you create into your blog. (hmmmmm…maybe something WE can use.)

Take it for a spin, see what you think and recco it to your friends who want that easy to use, first step into the world of Photoshop. And hey, as photographers, isn’t that the world we all live in? Isn’t better to stick with one system and grow with it?

You’ll be making your peeps very happy (and yourself) once they try it.