Jon Sienkiewicz

It snowed yesterday where I live, so it's time for a sleighride song. This ditty is sung to the tune of Jingle Bells and is called "Wannabe's Lament." It's a cheerful tune about the photographer I could have been, if only I'd had the right equipment. Sigh!

The photo backpack is the best innovation since dry dog food, so when an iconic camera bag brand like Domke produces their version, people expect to see lightning in a jar. Does the Domke Everyday Backpack deliver? Or is it just another bowlful of puppy kibbles?

DxO just announced a major upgrade for the popular Nik plug-in suite. Named the Nik Collection 2, the additions include 42 new presets, a bundle version of DxO PhotoLab 2.3 Raw format processor and more. We had a chance to try out a pre-release copy. Take a look at what we cooked up, starting with the image above.

Drawing on a neural network that is trained using billions of image samples, DxO PhotoLab 6 now features DeepPRIME XD, DxO Wide Gamut, improved retouching tools and a revamped library system. Meanwhile, DxO ViewPoint 4, the software that corrects warped perspective (converging parallels, for example) and geometry, now has a supercharged Reshape Tool that can warp and repair individual parts of a scene, positionable Guides and a better interface.