Beyond Color Control – Color Efects
The image color is great, but if an image fails to convey the mood or emotion, the story behind the image falls flat. One of the filters in Color EfexPro 3.0 may be just the tool for adding just the right effect to enhance the image’s story power.
Nik Software’s U [...]

Easy as 1-2-3 There are several books available to learn Adobe Photoshop Elements 8. One of the better ones I’m reviewing is Teach Yourself Visually: Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 by Mike Wooldridge, and published by Wiley.

Every Photographer’s Compact
Care to dazzle your eyes with a suave green, or cool blue? And no, I’m not talking about eye shadows. Just as most women have some small makeup compact in their purse, or pouch – photographers, you should carry this nifty kit in your camera bag. It’s flat, compact [...]

Eye Catching Color
Color.  The eye is naturally attracted to color, bright reds, vivid greens.  Stories have been written about color.  Songs have even been sung about color.  Remember the Simon & Garfunkel song Kodachrome?
Color control is vital to making a subject pop.  Nik Software provides a powerful color control solution with Viveza.  Nik Software’s U [...]

Digital Noise Tamed
Digital noise is inherent in digital images, much like grain is inherent in film images.  Sometimes, digital noise can enhance the mood of the image, and helps set the stage for the story behind the image.  More often, however, noise distracts the viewer from the subject and the story.  If the noise is [...]

Powerful Workflow Tools
The Nik Software Complete Collection provides a powerful end-to end digital workflow solution. The Complete Collection includes:
• Dfine 2.0 - Noise Reduction
• Sharpener Pro 3.0 – Raw Pre-sharpening & Output Sharpening
• Viveza – Color and Light Control
• Color Efex Pro 3.0 – Image Enhancements
• Siliver Efex Pro - Black & White Conversion and Black & White Enhancements

Keeping the Subject Sharp
Does a busy background distract the eye from a photo’s subject and confuse the communicated story? If blurring a busy background makes the subject “pop” and enhances the story, try Alien Skin’s Bokeh.

Photos Just Keep Getting Sharper
Adobe has some great products, and I’ve enjoyed reviewing a number of their applications (Photoshop CS4, Lightroom 1 & 2, Acrobat 8).
For photography classes, or plain photo buffs, Adobe just released Photoshop Camera Raw 5.5, Photoshop Lightroom 2.5 and DNG Converter 5.5, available immediately for download at Adobe Updates.

Press release from Adobe.
“Adobe is introducing Photoshop Marketplace to its customers, connecting them directly to the Photoshop community and helping extend the value of their Adobe software purchase. Photoshop Marketplace is a centralized hub on Adobe.com where visitors can find the most up-to-date listing of Photoshop resources including products, tools, services, communities and events.

Here’s a press release from Adobe.
Adobe has released its Photoshop Camera Raw 5.4 Release Candidate, available immediately as a free download from Adobe Labs at labs.adobe.com. The “release candidate” label indicates that this update is well tested but would benefit from additional community testing before it is distributed automatically to all customers.