Easy to Identify
HMH offers two field guide books written by the late American naturalist, Roger Tory Peterson. One field guide focuses on Western North America bird species, and the second field guide details Eastern and Central North America birds. Each book is well laid out. The front section offers quick one page references on bird families, bird topography and regional area covered by each book. The remaining sections are color coded based on identifying birds (i.e. bird size, wing shape, bill and tail shape, etc. – a must read for beginning birders) to various bird families.

Detailed drawings assist in bird identification, along with range maps and short information paragraphs. Is the bird common or uncommon? What is it’s song pattern? What is the summer, or winter range? All this information and more is provided.

In addition, the last section provides detailed range maps for specific species and a life long list index. Know the difference, and seen a verdin versus a snow bunting? Add them to your lifelong list index.

More to Peruse – Podcasts
In addition, Peterson offers 33 different podcasts covering species profiles, family overviews, tutorials, and a mini biography of Ralph Tory Peterson (1908-1996), one of America’s well known and respected naturalist.

Accessible, concise and easy-to-use, Peterson Field Guides continue to provide detailed information to birding enthusiasts.

System Requirements: iTunes or Windows Media Viewer
Contact: Peterson Field Guides
Cost: Each field guide $19.95 US

Composition
Composition is critical to the storytelling power of a photo or painting. Good image composition draws the the viewer in and leads to the subject. Great composition grabs the heart strings. Poor composition leaves the viewer lost.

Contents
Photographic Composition A Visual Guide is written in three sections and an appendix.  The first section in a few short pages discusses the physical and mental preparation that some photographers use to get ready to create photographs.  The second and more extensive section provides images and a short (1-2 paragraph) discussion of the composition.  This section is broken down into 11 subsections covering related composition element, for example, geometry or movement.  At the end of each sub section are exercises that can be used to practice composition.  Third section discusses composition post capture (or after the click).

Richard D. Zakia and David A. Page in Photographic Composition A Visual Guide provide a visual guide that that is worth taking a look at if you  are looking to improve image composition.

Contact: Focal Press or Elsevier

Price: $29.95 US

Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 is a teacher friendly, student friendly and parent friendly editing software program for digital photos. Hands-on, easy to understand and oh so creative, it offers a wide variety of tools and techniques to make your pictures shine!

Lots of online tutorial services offered by Adobe:
Adobe Photoshop Elements TV
Support

Here is the Adobe Digital School Collection that offers great teaching resources (lesson plans using Photoshop Elements 9 and other Adobe products) that were developed by teachers.

System Requireements: Mac OS X 10.5.8; Windows XP ( Detailed Specifics)
Contact: www.adobe.com
Cost: $99.99 US ($20 online rebate)

Creative Close-Ups has five chapters.  Each chapter is broken down into relatively short sections covering all aspects of close-up photography:

• Worlds of Wonder (subjects)
• Getting Close (equipment and procedures)
• Photographing Flowers
• Universe in a Grain of Sand (water drops & reflections)
• Close-ups in the Studio

Creative Close-Ups is an excellent book that includes many outstanding and inspirational photographs.  I strongly recommend the  book for beginners to expert photographers, even if close-up  photography is not your primary photo interest.  This book, while providing a wonderful introduction to close-up photography, is also suitable for the coffee table.

Contact: Wiley

Cost: $29.99 US, $35.99 CAN

Location, Location, Location
Location may not be “everything” in photography.  Composition, focus,  exposure and a tack sharp image are still king.  When using images to tell a story – even “where I went on my last vacation” – knowing the images location makes a story come alive.

Size Matters
The GISTeq PhotoTrackr Mini is small.  At about the size of a pack of gum or a large flash drive, the Mini easily fits in a pouch, pocket, purse, or camera bag.  Like any GPS device, the PhotoTrackr Mini must be able to receive the GPS signal.  If the PhotoTrackr Mini is left in a car, building or ferry boat where GPS reception is limited or non-existent while taking pictures outside (where GPS signals are available), GPS data for the pictures  will not be available.  To maximize the chances of automatically geotagging photos, keep the Mini with the camera.  A small pouch on the camera strap is the best solution.

Timing is Critical
Camera time, GPS time, local time, close is good enough … right.  Too early, too late – either way the geotag could be incorrect or the photo may not be automatically geotagged.  For best results, fully charge your camera battery and then set the camera’s clock to match the GPS time from the PhotoTrackr Mini.  GPS time is obtained using the PhotoTrackr software with the PhotoTrackr Mini plugged into the computer USP port.

Geotagging
The included PhotoTrackr software can geotag JPEG images.  If you do not use image data base tools like Adobe Lightroom or Apple Aperture, the images can be imported in to PhotoTrackr, crops and minor edits made if desired, and geotagged.  PhotoTrackr also makes it easy to upload images to photo sharing websites like Flicker.  However, if you use Lightroom, Aperture, or other image data base tools, the process is more complicated.  One option is to import the images into PhotoTrackr, geotag the image, and then export the geotagged image.  The geotagged imaged can be imported into the image data base application.  This option results in making three copies of the image – the original, PhotoTrackr import, and geotagged export.  A second option is to us a third party geotagging software, for example PhotoLinker.  This option requires exporting the GPS track (GPX file) using PhotoTrackr.  Then using the GPX file in PhotoLinker or another third party geotagging application to geotag the photos.

Pros:

• Small Size
• Easy to use

Cons:

• Three step process if you want to use the Geo-tagged image outside the Photo Tracker software.
• Non-replaceable battery must be charged from a computer USB port.

System Requirements:

• Windows XP or Vista, Intel ® Pentium ® PIII 500 MHz
• MAc OS X 10.3.9, 10.4, or 10.5.4
• 256MB RAM
• 25MB hard-disk space
• 1024×768, 32-bit (true color) screen
• USB1.1 Port
• Internet connection is required for online mapping

Contact: GiSTEQ

Cost: $69.00 US

Nik Software’s U Point® control points in Silver Efex Pro provide the tools of a black and white darkroom without messy chemicals, red lights, or working by brail.

User Interface
Silver Efex Pro opens in a clean, professional interface.  Preview and Loupe views are available to review the effect on the image.  When displayed, the style browser provides thumbnail views of 29 preset styles and any user created styles.  The extensive image enhancement tools are on the left of the preview image.  These tools include:

• Brightness, contrast and structure (amount of detail) sliders;
• Add a control point button;
• Shadow and highlight sliders;
• A control point section that provides for managing control points;
• A color filter section that provides 6 preset color filters and a details subsection that enables fine tuning the filter’s hue (color) and strength;
• A film types section that provides a pull-down menu with 18 simulated films and subsections that include tools for adjusting grain, color sensitivity, and the tone curve;  and
• A stylizing section providing subsections with tools for adjusting toning (simulate traditional darkroom toners or create a custom toner); vignettes; and burning edges.

Silver Efex Workflow
Open an image in Photoshop, select Nik Software and then Silver Efex Pro from the Filters menu.  Alternatively, access Silver Efex Pro in Aperture (Images -> Edit With -> Silver Efex Pro) or Lightroom (Photo -> Edit In -> Silver Efex Pro).

After the user interface is open, apply one of the styles from the style browser that is closest to the desired look.  Next, fine-tune the image with the enhancement tools.  While the enhancement tools can be used in any order, for best results, Nik recommends starting with brightness, contrast and structure.  Add one or more control points.  Continue working down through the section menus and tools – color filters, film types, and stylizing.

Images
To illustrate the black and white control abilities of Silver Efex Pro, an image was selected from photos taken with a Nikon D200 (10 MP sensor).  The selected image was processed in Photoshop CS4 using Silver Efex Pro.  The original and processed images are presented below.

Original photo

Silver Efex Pro

In the above images, the blue sky was de-emphasized by placing a control point in the sky and reducing the brightness.  And blue filter was added from the color filter section.  The image was then burned along both sides and the top.

Second Example

Original photo

Silver Efex Pro

In the second set of images, the “Wet Rocks” style was selected from the style browser.  The image was further adjusted by using a control point to reduce the sky’s brightness.

The above images barely scratch the surface of Silver Efex Pro’s powerful yet easy-to-control black and white tools.

Pros: Powerful black & white control; Excellent video training

Cons: None noted

Training

• Training videos
• Webinar schedule
• Archived webinars

System Requirements:
Windows:

• 32-bit version of Windows XP with Service Pack 3 and Windows Vista
  (64-bit operating systems with 32-bit host application)
• Pentium III 1GHz or better
• 1 GB RAM
• Adobe® Photoshop® 7 through CS4, Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 through 7.0; other Adobe Photoshop plug-in compatible application**
• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom® 2.3 or later

Macintosh:

• Mac OS 10.4 and later
• G4, G5, Intel® Core™ Solo, Intel Core Duo, Intel Core 2 Duo, Intel Xeon®
• 1 GB RAM
• Adobe® Photoshop® CS2 through CS4, Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 and 6.0; other Adobe Photoshop plug-ins compatible applications**
• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3 or later
• Apple® Aperture™ 2.1 or later

** Nik Software product filters are developed to integrate seamlessly into many popular image editing applications that support the Adobe plug-in architecture and there are numerous software applications that accept Adobe plug-in compatible filters. Please consult your image editing application’s documentation for compatibility and installation instructions for 3rd-party plug-ins.

Contact: Nik Software
Cost: MSRP $199.95

Digital Noise Tamed

New for Dfine 2.0:

• User Interface
• Improved noise reduction engine
• Image and camera profiles
• Improved batch processing
• Improved selective tool

User Interface
Dfine 2.0 opens in a clean, professional interface, and automatically measures the image noise to create a profile.  The image noise may be manually measured by selecting noise measurement areas, and then measuring this noise to create the profile.  Alternatively, previously saved profiles may also be applied.  Custom camera profiles are easy to create for each ISO used.  These custom profiles are based on the camera used to create each profile, and thus account for manufacturing differences between sensors.

Preview and Loupe views are available to review the noise reduction effect on the image. Selecting the “Reduce” tab provides controls for the noise reduction process.  Both contrast and color noise reduction may be controlled.  Control points may also be placed on the image to fine tune the noise reduction.  A brush tool is also available to selectively apply the noise reduction.

Images
To illustrate the noise reduction abilities of Dfine 2.0, an image was selected from photos taken in the evening at Seattle’s Pike Place Market (taken with a Nikon D200 (10 MP sensor) set to ISO 800).  The selected image was processed in Photoshop CS4, using Dfine 2.0. 100 percent crops of the original and processed images are presented below.

100 percent crop of the original photo

Automatic Noise Reduction

Nikon D200 ISO 800 Camera Profile

Control Point Adjustment

The above images illustrate the noise reduction abilities of Dfine 2.0.  The Automatic nose reduction works well.  Using a camera & ISO profile provides enhanced noise reduction.  And employment of control points provides precise noise reduction control.

Training

• Training videos
• Webinar schedule
• Archived webinars

System Requirements:
Windows

• 32-bit version of Windows XP with Service Pack 3 and Windows Vista
  (64-bit operating systems with 32-bit host application)
• Pentium III 1GHz or better
• 1 GB RAM
• Adobe® Photoshop® 7 through CS4, Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 through 7.0; other Adobe Photoshop plug-in compatible application**
• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom® 2.3 or later

Macintosh

• Mac OS 10.4 and later
• G4, G5, Intel® Core™ Solo, Intel Core Duo, Intel Core 2 Duo, Intel Xeon®
• 1 GB RAM
• Adobe® Photoshop® CS2 through CS4, Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 and 6.0; other Adobe Photoshop plug-ins compatible applications**
• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3 or later
• Apple® Aperture™ 2.1 or later

** Nik Software product filters are developed to integrate seamlessly into many popular image editing applications that support the Adobe plug-in architecture. There are numerous software applications that accept Adobe plug-in compatible filters. Please consult your image editing application’s documentation for compatibility and installation instructions for 3rd-party plug-ins.

Contact: Nik Software
Cost: $99.95

Lightroom 2 offers five different modules – Library, Develop, Slideshow, Print and Web. In each module, menus can be hidden to provide a larger work area.  In Library, photos can be viewed in multiple displays – either as a grid, single, side-by-side (compare) or survey workspace.  One advanced feature allows images to be displayed and edited in one window, while separate images can be opened in a second window. 

With the Lightroom 2 Filter bar, photographs can be organized and searched by filenames, titles, captions or keywords.  Photographs can also be selected and sorted by flags, star ratings, color labels or type of file.  Lightroom 2 always retains raw data, while storing edits on separate files.

Lightroom 2 allows for seamless integration with Photoshop CS3 and CS4.  When individual or a set of photos are selected, particular features from Photoshop can be enabled directly in Lightroom 2. Once changes are completed in Photoshop, these edited images can be viewed and further edited in Lightroom 2 without having to import the image.  One file can incorporate the total history of photograph adjustments.  Adobe reports Lightroom 2 allows editing on JPG, TIFF, PSD and over 190 camera raw file formats.

In the Develop module, Lightroom 2 offers a wide variety of tools to fine-tune individual pictures.  Some added features include Spot Removal, Graduated Filter and Adjustment Brush in addition to the various enhancement menus (Basic, Tone Curve, HSL/Curve/Grayscale, Split Toning, Vignettes and Camera Calibration). Pictures can be quickly zoomed by selecting Fit, Fill, 1:1 (100%) up to a 11:1 (1100%) screen.  Once enhanced, these dynamic digital pictures can be displayed in Slideshow, printed or uploaded onto the web to share with clients, family and friends.

In Lightroom 2, the Crop feature continues to offers a valuable tool in straightening images, making it easier to align horizon lines, vertical buildings or angled snapshots, and highlighting the rule of thirds.  The Print module provides tools designed to sharpen images, select Matte or Glossy print, and allow multiple sizing of images to be printed on one sheet. In the Web Module, a wide variety of features enable a person to quickly design, create, and enhance their own photo web page. Dynamic web galleries based on Adobe Flash or HTML can showcase photos online.

Lightroom 2 is a tool that works well with amateur photographers, but continues to have the power and depth to satisfy professional demands. The standard presets allow excellent imagery to be created with minor adjustments.  However, professional features and tools have been expanded to allow photographers ample tools to tweak pictures and beyond.  And smooth integration with Photoshop CS3 and CS4 offers advanced pixel-level editing and retouching.

Adobe’s Lightroom 2 offers a free 30-day trial download and online video tutorial.  In addition, Adobe provides online access to alternative learning resources through the Lightroom Learning Centers. LIghtroom 2 continues to offer a well-rounded photograph managing and editing tool for amateurs and professional photographers.

Made By: Adobe
Website: adobe.com
Price: $299, Upgrade $99

Pros: Well-designed modules, natural progression, 64-bit native on Macs
Cons: None noted