Software News

(The Goods is a new feature in Shutterbug that spotlights the hottest premium photo gear out there.)

Can you call Michael H. Steven’s pictures photography? No — no way. In all but a few cases, no camera was involved. Creative imagery? Yeah, that label might work. But where does it fit? Somewhere near the intersection of Photography Parkway and AI Boulevard. Under the blinding neon sign of a mildly demented mind. But is it art?

The following is something people tell me when I suggest using a plug-in or specialized software for enhancing or retouching portraits: “But you can do that in Photoshop!” That’s because when it comes to software for wedding, portrait, and boudoir photographs, everyone has an opinion—sometimes a strong one—even if they’re wrong.

A total of $7000 in cash prizes is being awarded. But hurry – the competition closes on June 30th. You can submit one photo per day until the contest ends, so get on the stick.

There are some Photoshop tutorial videos out there that can be extremely helpful and there are some that can be extremely annoying. The humorous short clip below from Sugar Zaza shows precisely why some of them can drive us completely batty.

Tiffen’s Dfx 3.0 offers photographers software that can make their images stand out from the crowd. The bundle is a digital emulation of 2000 of the company’s glass filters that for convenience uses the same names of the company’s Soft/FX or Pro-Mist filters, so those who’ve shot with their filters in the past know exactly what to expect when applying their digital equivalents. For those who haven’t, rest assured that the company who made their name in filters knows their stuff. As a bonus, the software also includes effects created by lenses, lab processes, film grain, color correction, plus natural light effects.

I must confess that previous versions of Tiffen’s Dfx Digital Filter Suite, while interesting, did not make the final cut of power tools in my personal digital toolbox. All that’s changed in 3.0. It takes all of the good stuff from the previous versions, blends in new options, and wraps it around an interface that, while still containing a few less-than-elegant elements, retains its individuality and provides for smooth workflow.

Whoever said, “nothing is ever free” was dead wrong: Today you can download the latest Nik Collection of powerful image-editing software. Many of us love this suite for the simplicity it offers is getting the best out of our images. And now you can do so without spending a dime.