Press Release—Macworld Conference & Expo 2007, taking place at the Moscone Center in San Francisco January 8-12, brings together creative professionals from a wide array of disciplines to see and experience the latest in Mac technologies. The 2007 show offers attendees an unprecedented number of world-class interactive exhibits, educational/training sessions and speakers.

For photographers, Macworld presents the Digital Photography Experience where novices and professionals alike can experience the latest tools, hands-on demonstrations, training, tips and techniques and learn from others who use Mac technology for business and for pleasure.

4-Minute videos debut the December 1 in the Tamron Pro Learning Center

Press Release—If a picture is worth 1,000 words, a how-to video must be as good as a book, especially if it compresses the knowledge contained in a 45-minute lecture into a concise, well-focused, viewer friendly 4-minute format you can download to your iPod or computer. That’s the exciting concept behind the incisive, entertaining, and informative new podcasts posted in the Tamron Pro Learning Center at www.tamron.com.

Hosted by leading photographers, each one gives clear step-by-step pointers on shooting everything from surfing to portraits to macro in Central Park. The information is presented in simple, direct language with verbal hints and tips immediately illustrated by concrete visual examples. Watching one of these podcasts on the screen feels more like being at a hands-on photo workshop in the field than sitting in the classroom. And by mixing video footage with outstanding still photographs, each technique becomes crystal clear. It’s easy to hook up with this incredible learning experience—just make sure you’ve got QuickTime on your 'pod or PC, click on podcasts at the Pro Learning Center and take a few minutes to download the videos.

By Ron Eggers

All images © Ron Eggers

In the December issue of Professional Photographer magazine, Ron Eggers reviewed the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi. Right-click or ctrl-click the images for a download of the full-resolution files at different ISO settings, as well as an example of a monochrome capture.

One of the things that always comes up with digital SLRs is low-light shooting, so, while in New York, I shot in Times Square at night and repeatedly captured the same scene, changing the ISO one stop each time, from 100 all the way to the maximum 1600. I wanted to see how much noise difference there really was. The shots themselves aren't noteworthy, but I tried to compose frames that included both bright and dark areas.

Caption: 1/13 second at f/3.5, ISO 100

In the December issue of Professional Photographer magazine, Ron Eggers reviewed the Nikon D80.

Technology Editor Joan Sherwood took low-light photographs at ISO 800 and 1600 with the Nikon D80. Right-click or cntrl-click the image for a full-resolution JPEG download. Right-click or ctrl-click the link to download the original NEF file. Images © Joan T. Sherwood. Custom white balanced using ExpoDisc.

Caption: 1/10 second at f/6.3, ISO 800. Download NEF file (9.36MB).

Features Interviews with Mikhail Baryshnikov, Tina Brown, Graydon Carter, Rosanne Cash, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Whoopi Goldberg, Mick Jagger, Bette Midler, Demi Moore, Mark Morris, Yoko Ono, Keith Richards, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Patti Smith, Gloria Steinem, Jann Wenner, Anna Wintour,  and family members

Press Release—It’s 1972, the year of Watergate, "The Godfather" and Exile on Main Street. On a suburban Maryland lawn, a young Anna-lou Leibovitz peers into her Nikon as members of her family scramble into place.  As they pose, an ever-present Super 8 camera captures the scene. Although Leibovitz is a Rolling Stone magazine photographer, this event—her first turn as the official family photographer—is as important to her as any arena concert or movie shoot.

Flash forward 34 years to 2006. This time, the now-famous photographer is on the other side of the lens. And this time, her younger sister Barbara is pointing the camera, documenting the life and times of Annie Leibovitz for AMERICAN MASTERS.  "Annie Leibovitz: Life Through A Lens" premieres Wednesday, January 3 at 9 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings).

Caption: Café Flore, Paris, 1997; photo by Martin Schoeller

Everest Climb for Peace Takes Epson Multimedia Storage Viewer to New Heights

Can Epson technology survive in the midst of extreme sub-zero temperatures, fierce winds, avalanches and oxygen deprivation? Epson’s P-4000 Multimedia Storage Viewer met the challenge with ease as it aided climbers on their trek during the treacherous 60-day Everest Climb for Peace expedition. The team reached the pinnacle on May 18, 2006.

Versatile High Capacity Portable Storage

By Ron Eggers

A multi-function unit with a lot to offer, the Wolverine ESP joins the increasingly crowded field of portable storage devices. It functions as image storage on the road, as an entertainment device with video and audio capabilities, and as an auxiliary hard drive for laptop or desktop computer system.

While the ESP stands on its own merits, and does so very well, the interface bears a surprising similarity to Digital Foci's Picture Porter Elite. I'm not quite sure who came up with it first or if they both got it from the same source, but they're virtually identical. They have the same menu structure, the same terminology and very similar iconography. But physically the ESP is different. It looks different and the controls are different.

Professional Photographer magazine offers our readers free lighting tutorials from Web Photo School.

Achieving a pure white background may seem simple, but it's not so hard to foul it up. A new photographer usually goes too far in one direction or another when attempting to create a perfect white background.

A) An insufficient amount of light on the background creates a shade of gray.

B) Too much light on the background turns the subject matter 'milky' and saturation is lost.

This lesson shows you the techniques necessary to control your white backgrounds.

Topics Covered:

• How to prepare for an indoor sports portrait
• Setting up proper lighting ratios
• Techniques on using a light meter
• Special effects using Plexiglas

Go to Achieving a Pure White Background at Web Photo School.

By Joan T. Sherwood

The world is both a small and limitless place, and once you begin to explore it, as Lou Jones has, you find out how little you know and how much there is to see. In his new book "Travel + Photography: Off the Charts" (Focal Press Elsevier; $29.95), Boston-based freelance fine art and commercial photographer Lou Jones helps prepare photographers to venture across the globe, sharing invaluable experience beyond lighting and composition. He broaches the realities of the world when you enter into other countries and cultures with a camera.

Caption: Construction worker, Alaman, Cuba. ©Lou Jones

Photoshop Legend Recognized for a Lifetime of Contributions to the Development, Advancement and Education of the Digital Imaging Community

Press Release –The National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) has announced that Bruce Fraser – best-selling author, internationally recognized Adobe Photoshop expert, Photoshop Hall of Famer, and co-founder and principal of Pixel Genius LLC – has been named as the recipient of the first NAPP Lifetime Achievement Award.

According to Scott Kelby, president of NAPP, “I don't think there's a Photoshop professional out there, that doesn't owe a significant chunk of their expertise, and a big debt of gratitude, to Bruce Fraser. He almost single-handedly shaped the way we work with color, how we process RAW images in Photoshop, and even how we sharpen our photos. I think it's safe to say that this industry wouldn't be where it is today without Bruce's input, advice, and guidance. He's a gifted and talented instructor who has dedicated his life to taking the mystery out of digital imaging technology, and that's why we're proud to honor him as the first recipient of NAPP's Lifetime Achievement Award.”

Bruce Fraser was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer earlier this year and, according to a Dec. 13 posting on PhotoshopNews, his condition has worsened in recent weeks.

New Release Includes Chroma Key and Masking Tools, Keyframing Controls, and Expanded, Popular Output Options Like Adobe, Flash,QuickTime and HD Video.

Press Release—Photodex Corporation has announced the release of the next generation of its slide show software for professional photographers. The all-new ProShow Producer 3.0 expands upon the impressive list of creative features and production control options. Now photographers can create polished, professional-grade slide shows with advanced, high-end artistic effects previously achievable only through using third-party professional photo and video editing software.

From digital proofing to high-end multimedia slide shows, ProShow Producer has introduced photographers to a new way of presenting their images to the world. With Producer, photographers can create multimedia slide show presentations and output them to their choice of 14 different formats, including DVD, CD and the newly-added HD Video, Flash and QuickTime output options.

Photoshop CS3 beta includes a pre-release version of a major upgrade to Adobe Bridge, as well as a preview release of all-new Adobe Device Central

Press Release—Adobe Systems Incorporated introduced a beta version of Adobe Photoshop CS3 software on Friday, December 15. Adobe is delivering a widely available Photoshop CS3 beta to enable customers to more easily transition to the latest hardware platforms, particularly Apple's new Intel-based systems. The beta is available as a Universal Binary for the Macintosh platform, as well as for Microsoft(r) Windows(r) XP and Windows Vista computers. The final shipping release of Adobe Photoshop CS3 is planned for Spring 2007. The software can be downloaded at: http://labs.adobe.com, in the early hours Pacific Standard Time on December 15.

Improvements of interest to professional photographers include an automated alignment feature, useful for quickly compiling the best expressions from group photos into one image. Bridge has a whole new look and a lot more flexibility in organization. And new edge-detection advances speed the process of making selections.

Packed with new features, Photoshop CS3 beta also includes a pre-release version of a major upgrade to Adobe Bridge, as well as a preview release of the all-new Adobe Device Central. Photoshop customers can use Adobe Device Central to design, preview, and test compelling mobile content, created specifically for smaller screens. This new tool, integrated in the Photoshop CS3 beta, simplifies and accelerates the creation of mobile content through a preview environment and built-in device profiles.

CS3 Learning Center Offers Tutorials, New Feature Overviews, Interviews and More for the Newly-Released Adobe Photoshop CS3 Public Beta Preview

Press Release—The National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) has announced the launch of their online learning center in conjunction with the release of the Adobe Photoshop Creative Suite 3 public beta preview. The CS3 Learning Center is now live and available at http://www.photoshopuser.com/cs3.

"Adobe did the right thing by releasing this first-ever public beta preview of Photoshop CS3,” said Scott Kelby, NAPP president and editor-in-chief of Photoshop User and Layers magazines. “This is a huge boon to Mac users because CS3 is optimized to run on Apple's Intel-based machines. They included the Windows users too, so everybody gets a chance to take this amazing new upgrade for a spin. This free public beta preview is a big risk for Adobe, but I applaud them for taking that risk and doing what's right for their customers on both platforms."

Professional Photographer readers receive a 20% discount on any Noiseware product (Standalones, Plug-ins, Pro Bundle). Enter coupon code PPA2006 when ordering via www.noiseware.com. Offer ends Dec. 31, 2006.

By Ellis Vener

A universally respected and liked man, author and digital imaging expert Bruce Fraser's greatest contributions were perhaps behind the scenes as a consultant for companies like Adobe, Apple, Epson, GretagMacbeth, HP, Eastman Kodak, and X-Rite among others. Fraser died at home in the company of his wife and friends on December 16, 2006. He had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer earlier this year.

Fraser's work went to the very heart of what we do as photographers, and his was a defining voice in the evolution of Photoshop. He was able to address an abstruse, technical subject and explain it in a way that was both powerful and practical to use. As a lecturer and writer, Fraser directly influenced many photographers with the "Real World Adobe Photoshop" series (co-authored with David Blatner) and "Real World Color Management" (co-authored with Chris Murphy and Fred Bunting) books, and most recently "Real World Image Sharpening with Adobe Photoshop CS2."

He lectured frequently and was a founding member of PixelGenius, LLC, where he designed the PhotoKit Expert Sharpener plug-in toolset and other PhotoKit products. Additionally, he was an associate editor at Macworld magazine and wrote the "Out of Gamut" column for CreativePro.com. In the field of photography he was a tireless advocate for use of the ProPhoto work space and 16-bit per channel capture and processing. He believed that photographers should be able to have the full resources a camera, software and printers are capable of producing.

"Bruce was a remarkable person," said photographer Greg Gorman. "He was a very generous spirit. He just just opened his heart to me. He was always kind, always there for me, and had a unique ability to make things more clear for me than anyone else could. You could not ask for a better teacher and he leaves a big hole that will never be filled."

"Bruce was absolutely instrumental in defining the color management UI (User Interface) and workflow in Photoshop 6," stated Mark Hamburg, former Adobe Photoshop engineer and current Adobe Lightroom engineering architect. "On a vast number of issues on both Photoshop and Lightroom, Bruce was either my primary source of advice or one of my primary sources. Bruce had a wonderful balance between understanding the technical issues and understanding the user perspective all wrapped up in a great sense of both humility and humor."

Friend and PixelGenius business partner Jeff Schewe affirms that Fraser was never one to boast of his own accomplishments, and that "he worked tirelessly behind the scenes with companies to ensure that technology was implemented in a manner that real-world users could actually use."