Newsletter

June 2009

On The Cover
When Chris Alvanas first started taking HDR photographs he was drawn to subjects he could portray with an edgy, even eerie feeling, like this fishing boat at a Newport, Rhode Island, pier. A distinct preference to turn HDR toward the dark side still plays into Alvanas’s plans and digital darkroom work. Explore his reasoning and learn about his technique, beginning on page 104. Aside from Alvanas’s dynamic work, we have many more digital darkroom treats in store this month, such as our special report on obtaining great scans from Kodachrome slides. We also have a multitude of Test Reports on the latest image-editing software.

Tools

Covering The Photo Beat
by C.A. Boylan

32 Digital Innovations
Digital Darkroom Days
by Joe Farace

68 Buying Smart
Tripod Tips
by Jon Sienkiewicz

74 Digital Help
Q&A For Digital Photography
by David B. Brooks

76 Test Report: ZEUS Lighting System
Power Pack Systems
by Stan Sholik

88 Test Report: HP’s Photosmart B8550
A 13x19” Desktop Option
by Jon Canfield

94 Test Report: Fast Fixed Focal Length Lenses
Sigma’s 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM And 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM
by Peter K. Burian

116 Photoshop Actions
Add Effects With A Mouse Click
by Joe Farace

120 Online Storage
You Might Need It, But Take Care—It Can Bite You!
by Jon Sienkiewicz

122 Test Report: Microsoft’s Expression Media 2
An Organizing Tool For Very Large Image Collections
by John Brandon

126 Test Report: Image Doctor 2
Speedy Automated Retouching And Repair
by Howard Millard

130 Test Report: Genuine Fractals 6
Blowups And More
by George Schaub

132 Test Report: iPhoto And Face Recognition
Inside Apple’s iLife For OS X 10.5.6
by George Schaub

176 Help!
Q&A For Traditional Photography
by Robert E. Mayer

Techniques

46 Business Trends
“Stock Shock”
by Maria Piscopo

110 Please Don’t Take My Kodachrome Away
New & Better Profiled Kodachrome Scanning
by David B. Brooks

167 Post-Processing Lightens The Load
Raw Conversion As A Studio Tool
by Fred Collins

Creativity

10 Picture This!
Monthly Photo Assignment
by The Editors

20 Talking Pictures
Capturing The “Mood”…
by Steve and Marcia Sackmary

24 Student Union
Profiles Of The Up And Coming
by Jay McCabe

38 Passport
Rx For Travel
by Jack Hollingsworth

58 Locations
Big Bend National Park, Texas
by David W. Shaw

70 Web Profiles
Great Photo Sites Reviewed
by Joe Farace

102 Book Reviews
Latest Photo Books Reviewed
by C.A. Boylan

104 Tales From The Dark Side
Stephen King, Meet Chris Alvanas
by Barry Tanenbaum

154 The Night Time Is The Right Time
Low-Light City Photography
by Fredrik Froman

Departments

8 Editor’s Notes
160 Trade Shows
161 Workshops