Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

 

Alien Skin Bokeh 2 Review

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Bokeh 2 is a plug-in from Alien Skin that allows you to create all kinds of focus effects and vignettes.  As with other plug-ins from Alien Skin, Bokeh 2 is now updated to deliver full 64-bit support with Photoshop CS5 (it also works with Lightroom 3).  And, it is quite peppy even with my aging Windows Vista machine.

Software products often tend to get pushed back in the review cycle in favor of camera reviews here on Photography Bay, which is a bit of a shame for the cool stuff like Bokeh 2.  When I got around to actually putting Bokeh 2 to use, I was really amazed at the power that it gives you to take your images so far beyond what is practical when using Photoshop or Lightroom alone. [Read more…]

Try Out the New Forum & Win a Copy of Strobist Photo Trade Secrets

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Want a free copy of Strobist Photo Trade Secrets?  (Read the review of these cool books.)

I’ll be handing out a couple copies of these books to active members in the new and improved Photography Bay forum.

Just sign up for a free forum account and start talking to your fellow Photography Bay members.  You don’t have to say anything about the giveaway in the forum, just be there and be active (don’t be spammy though).

I’ll notify the winners at the end of this week via personal messages through the forum.  So, check in to see if you are a winner.  If I don’t get a response from the winners by Monday, I’ll notify another forum member instead.

If you miss out on this one, stay tuned for more ways to win more cool stuff…

And, don’t miss out on a chance to win the Photography Bay Swag Bag if you haven’t entered yet

Japan Earthquake Effect on Camera Manufacturers

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As you are probably aware, many camera manufacturers are based in Japan.  Nikon, Canon and Sony (among others) were all affected by the catastrophic earthquake that struck Japan last week.

Below you will find links to relevant stories concerning damage to manufacturing plants and the temporary closings of certain plants, which resulted from the recent earthquake, tsunami and/or nuclear disaster in Japan. [Read more…]

B&H Photo Now Carries PluralEyes and DualEyes

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For all of you HDSLR users out there, B&H Photo is now carrying PluralEyes and DualEyes.  If you aren’t familiar with this software, it’s a mix of genius engineering and voodoo.  You can check out my previous PluralEyes review to learn more this great program.

You can find the software (available for immediate download) on B&H Photo’s website here.

Lightroom 3.4 and Camera Raw 6.4 Release Candidates Available

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Adobe has made release candidates of Lightroom 3.4 and Camera Raw 6.4 available for download in Adobe Labs.  These versions add RAW file support for the following cameras:

A number of new lens profiles have also been added, along with several bug fixes.  Additional release notes are indicated on the respective download pages for each product.

Remember, these are release candidates, which means they’ve been pretty well tested and Adobe thinks they are ready for full release; however, it’s recommended that you keep production work to prior versions until the official releases drop.  Expect those to come soon though.  Release candidates mean that the final versions are just around the corner.

Lightroom 3.4 release candidate can be downloaded here.

Camera Raw 6.4 release candidate can be downloaded here.