News

In response to the economic climate, ExpressDigital has announced a significant instant rebate and marketing campaign surrounding their DARKROOM workflow software solution. According to Graham McFarland, founder and CEO, “We have always been inspired by the professional photographer and understand that simplifying ways for them to increase business and profits is more important than ever.”

The campaign is three-fold with the largest component being the authorization and coordination of a significant instant rebate of both DARKROOM Professional and Core editions via authorized dealers for a limited time (between two and four months depending on response). In many cases, the instant rebate results in a 30% price slash. Continues McFarland, “Right now we have to reduce the issue of cost as much as possible but also serve the emerging or veteran professional photographer by giving them the tools they need to succeed.” The company contends that the features of the workflow software – which includes, but is not limited to, greenscreen technology, free calendar, card, picture and memory mate templates, template creation tools, photo repair features, proof wizards, instant printing locally or to a lab, and built-in camera and printer drivers – are critical to the professional digital photographer wanting to remain competitive and profitable.

Other aspects of the campaign include an entirely new website for DARKROOM (www.DarkroomSoftware.com) that offers online training and streamlined understanding of the software’s functionality and the launch of social media websites to encourage interactivity and facilitate contests via Yahoo!Forums, Twitter and Facebook. As a result, the new website and supporting newsletter will advertise cues on how and when anyone can win free software and other prizes on a monthly basis along with photography inspired interviews, reviews and workflow tips.

Visit www.ExpressDigital.com or www.DarkroomSoftware.com/home_love.

...

liveBooks, Inc., (www.livebooks.com) has introduced liveBooks Photojournalism, a cost-effective, pre-designed website offering and community for photojournalists. This new offering will provide photojournalists worldwide with an opportunity to have a professional web presence at an affordable price. liveBooks Photojournalism (http://pj.livebooks.com) is designed to help photojournalists and documentary photographers gain visibility for their work and build successful careers by offering cost-effective, yet highly professional pre-designed websites that will garner additional exposure for their creative visions. liveBooks Photojournalism users can choose a website look and feel that best fits their style by choosing from 78 variations of page designs created by the same liveBooks creative team that has been developing award-winning, customized sites since 2004.

Every pre-designed liveBooks site offers the same benefits of the company’s custom-built sites, including:

• An intuitive, drag-and-drop interface for users to easily update the content of their sites
• Easy upload of multimedia including videos, music, slideshows and more
• Advanced search marketing tools to turn each site into a virtually effortless, yet sophisticated and powerful marketing tool
• Free web support from liveBooks

...

Bogen Imaging announces a free webinar titled “A Budget Safari – Wildlife Photography at Your Local Zoo: Roundtable with Julie Larsen Maher.” Part of the company’s Bogen Café series of free instructional webinars, the seminar will be held from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EDT, on Friday, June 19th. Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Staff Photographer Julie Larsen Maher, and David Fisher, Bogen Imaging’s Gitzo, Metz, Gossen and Litepanels Product Manager, will discuss the best practices, gear, and times to visit when shooting wildlife at a local zoo.

...

ShootQ, a web-based studio management solution for event photographers, announced the general availability of ShootQ v2. The newest version of the ShootQ solution offers several new features including a new user interface, powerful business reporting tools and improved integration capabilities.

...

Nikon Inc. has announced the next addition to the NIKKOR lineup with the new AF-S DX-NIKKOR 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED lens. Compact and lightweight, the new 2.4x zoom DX-NIKKOR lens offers a focal length of 10 to 24mm, creating a picture angle ranging from 109-degrees to 61-degrees (FX-format equivalent of 15-36mm).

The AF-S DX-NIKKOR 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED lens offers an array of versatile Nikon technologies, including Nikon’s compact Silent Wave Motor (SWM) technology for quiet, fast and accurate autofocus performance.  An advanced optical formula, featuring two extra-low dispersion (ED) glass and three aspherical lens elements renders stunning images while minimizing distortion, a common problem with ultra wide-angle lenses.

Fully compatible with Nikon’s complete line of DX-format digital SLR cameras – including the D300, D90, D60, D40 and the newly announced D5000 – the AF-S DX-NIKKOR 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED lens enables photographers to broaden their view in new and interesting ways.  FX-format shooters can also benefit from the AF-S DX-NIKKOR 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED, as Nikon’s FX-format cameras – the D3X, D3, and D700 – will automatically apply the DX-Crop Mode when shooting.

The AF-S DX-NIKKOR 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED will be available at Nikon authorized dealers beginning May 2009 at an estimated selling price of $899.95*.  For more information, please visit www.nikonusa.com.

...

Interfit has announced the arrival of the new Kooltubz 4 x 55 watt and Kooltubz 6 x 55 watt flat panels, thus adding to their versatile fluorescent range. The new Kooltubz 4 and Kooltubz 6 will be available as a single head with barndoors, Velcro fit softbox  cover for ease of use and an all-in-one carry bag.

...

Nik Software announced that Silver Efex Pro, its popular digital photographic plug-in offering the most advanced, complete, and straightforward black-and-white solution, is now available for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3 and higher. The update is available now as a free download to current owners of Silver Efex Pro.

Silver Efex Pro installs as a plug-in for Lightroom 2.3, itself a free update from earlier versions and available for download at www.adobe.com/downloads/updates. Once installed, Silver Efex Pro is accessible via the Lightroom Photo>Edit In… menu. Edits made using the plug-in within Lightroom are non-destructive in nature, with edits applied automatically to a newly generated TIFF file and not the original. It also takes advantage of Lightroom and its efficiencies for everyday tasks, like the ability to edit multiple images in one session, saving time and increasing www.niksoftware.com/silverefexpro.

The fully compatible Silver Efex Pro product, offering support for Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, and Apple Aperture, is available immediately for electronic delivery directly from Nik Software (www.niksoftware.com) or through specialty camera retailers. A complete list of resellers may be found at www.niksoftware.com/resellers. Current owners of Silver Efex Pro may download a free update at www.niksoftware.com/lightroom.

The suggested retail price of Silver Efex Pro is $199.95. Silver Efex Pro installs as a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom or Apple Aperture 2.1 and is available for Windows and Macintosh operating systems, including Vista and Leopard. For more information about Silver Efex Pro, including video tutorials showing the software running within Photoshop, Lightroom and Aperture and a free 15-day fully functional trial version, please visit www.niksoftware.com/silverefexpro.

...