AppleMatters has published a great list of their top ten ways photographers can benefit from the iPhone. From sharing your portfolio on-the-go to note taking, it's a good list. My favorite is the example of a wedding photographer who keeps a sort of "check list" of shots to get (grouped shots, individual shots, etc.) as a reference on his phone.
We've seen people use the iPhone's camera to create to-do lists, share instructional videos and more. On a recent car shopping expedition, I made a gallery of all the vehicles I test drove for reference and comparison at home.
Back in January, the folks from Creaceed released version 1.0 of Hydra -- a Leopard-only, GPU-powered photo application for creating High Dynamic Range photos that competes with the much-renowned Photomatix Pro. Just in time for the Apple Design Awards version 1.5 of Hydra is available. With more tone-mapping options, an image-navigation HUD, RAW importing (should you wish not to convert to 16-bit TIFF before importing), a plethora of Aperture options (more on those in a moment), and many more new features it's certainly a compelling release.
As mentioned before, there's plenty of Aperture integration with this release. As well as being able to import photos from (and export photos to) Aperture, Hydra is now available as an Aperture plugin (beta) - based on the all-new Aperture 2.1 Plugin SDK - that allows you to create HDR photos from within Aperture.
Unlike the cross-platform Photomatix Pro, Hydra's UI is the epitome of OS X slickness -- replicating much of the look and feel of both Aperture and other iLife applications. We'll be taking a look at both Hydra and Photomatix Pro in the near future to see whether Hydra's charms are merely skin deep.
Hydra 1.5 costs $59.95, and is a free update for those we already have a license.
Photon, the speedy digital photo workflow app and labor of love from Mike Bernardo's Green Volcano Software, has been updated to v1.1.
Photon differs from Aperture, Photoshop, and the like by focusing on the front end of the photography workflow. Importing RAW images from DSLRs is fast, and Photon's stacking feature simplifies sorting and culling your photos. The update includes:
An overhauled caching engine to improve import speed and responsiveness
A "Discards" stack for unwanted image files that provides a direct route to Trash
A "File stack" feature for moving existing files to a new spot on your hard drive(s)
Improved memory card download performance
The ability to save and recall stacks when re-launching the app.
The update is free to registered Photon users, or you can buy Photon for $69 (Universal Binary). Thanks to Mike B. for the tip!
There's been much debate on the interwebs on what lies in store for users of Aperture (Apple's professional-level photo management software). I'm not suggesting that we mourn Aperture's passing, but it has been a little neglected of late, and as someone who uses Aperture almost daily that makes me intrigued by Apple's plans for the application.
Apple has been hounded for a little while about some cameras not having RAW support in OS X: colleague Chris Ullrich's Nikon D300 is still unsupported, for example. So you can imagine the widespread surprise when Joe Schorr, Apple's Senior Product Manager for Photo Applications posted a thread on the Aperture Discussion Groups: "We're constantly working to make Aperture an even better tool for users, and will soon release an upgrade that includes RAW format support for new cameras and other exciting new features. Please stay tuned."
This is where the plot thickens, dear readers, as the updates for Aperture's camera support actually hinge on updates to OS X. So if a new camera comes out, Apple puts out an OS X RAW Support Update for these new formats, and Aperture just works -- as do any other applications that utilize the OS X image frameworks. Now add into that the use of the word 'upgrade', not update, but upgrade. While perhaps hinting at a paid upgrade, it's good to know that the frustration of photographers everywhere isn't falling on deaf ears.
Photon just loaded 839 JPEG image previews for me in under 2 seconds. That's expletive worthy speed. And when it loads the full image, it's just as fast, even with RAW format images. And it loads every pixel of a RAW image. If you set the preview mode to fit-to-screen, clicking the image gives you a loupe-style zoom to full resolution. It reads photos–from folders or directly from cameras/memory cards–with a feature they call "Instant Import". I plugged in a camera and by the time I had looked back at the screen, it had recorded all of the images on the card.
Photon serves one purpose, but serves it well. It helps you do a rough cut of large batches of images before heading into Lightroom or Aperture for more advanced procedures. It lacks any form of image flagging, has limited viewing of metadata fields (the columns in the HUD aren't individually expandable or adjustable) and no search feature of any kind. It basically provides a very fast, very streamlined interface for creating collections ("stacks") of images and–once you've bought the full version–exporting them with options to convert the format to jpg, png, psd and more. It does provide histograms, which is handy for deciding on which RAW images you're planning to keep.
A demo of Photon is available for download, and costs $49 to purchase. That's shown as a markdown from $69, but I'm unsure if that's a limited-time offer.
I am sure there are more than a few photographers out there reading TUAW (Mac users are a creative lot), so this is for you. American Photo is looking for the next great photographer by scouring the web for amateur photographers to feature in a special upcoming edition of their magazine. Apple has created a special plugin for Aperture which lets you submit your photos to American Photo's 'Portfolio Review' and get them in the running for publication (which is available for download).
American Photo suggests you check out Aperture's free trail, but I assume if you have a full version of Aperture the plugin will work just fine.
Flickr user curiouslee noticed that the iPhone's camera lens is flush to the back of the device, and took a photo with a pocket magnifying glass held against it. The results looks good (that's the command key on his Powerbook). He's started a Flickr group for anyone else who wants to give the idea a try (this one looks pretty good).
Now that I'm on the home stretch of my undergrad (just a thesis project left to finish), I'm finally able to stretch my legs into some hobbies I've been meaning to pick up. One such hobby is photography, and since I've been flexing my digital tools, I've quickly become enamored with Aperture, Apple's professional alternative to iPhoto. Even though I am by no means a professional photographer (no laughing at my pictures!), there are a ton of features in Aperture that drew me away from iPhoto, and I thought highlighting some of these tempting tools would be ripe for a TUAW podcast. Aperture, in my opinion, isn't just for the photographers whose lens bags weigh more than most typical household dogs; it offers a wealth of general features for power users, photography enthusiasts and those who need something that lands right at the intersection of iPhoto and Photoshop in terms of both functionality and price.
While iWork isn't exactly at the top of everyone's wishlist of Apple software, it still offers a fairly strong set of Apple-esque tools for creating gorgeous presentations and documents. Since the company already has a fairly thorough iWork product page aimed at the general audience, it seems only natural (if a bit long-time coming) that Apple focus on the business customer with a new set of iWork@work Profiles. Through case studies that delve into the daily duties of a photographer, a historian and an architect, Apple highlights how iWork (and iLife, of course) helps them all get the job done.
Naturally, these profiles are filled with quite a bit of Apple fluff, but I think it's interesting to read some of the finer details and features that iWork offers people who are actually running businesses with it. Yes there are plenty of complaints against iWork - it's missing a spreadsheet, it doesn't do this, it messes with that - but these profiles are a nice read if you're willing to set all that stuff aside for a moment and investigate what Apple's productivity suite has to offer.
Our faithful reader and tipster Nik Fletcher just passed a link our way to a new web seminar Apple has made available called Aperture for iPhoto Users. I haven't had a chance to watch it yet (I wanted to share it with y'all before diving in myself), but details on the site reveal exactly what you would expect: the seminar explores the advantages of stepping up to Aperture from iPhoto, as well as how to migrate your library (spoiler: it's really just a one-click process - I recently did it myself as I'm testing out the Aperture demo) and even how to use both applications for your photography workflow (something I'm particularly interested in). Apple also includes links to other Aperture resources such as the O'Reilly-dedicated Aperture site with links, blog posts and tips of their own, as well as another Apple seminar that covers the world of Aperture extensions.
If you ask me, this seminar was far too long in coming, but it looks like it could be a great start on answering all those 'why should I move to Aperture?' questions for anyone interested in stepping into the world of professional digital photography management.
It is mid-February, and you know what that means: Adobe today announced the immediate availability of it's competitor to Apple's Aperture, Photoshop Lightroom. Version 1.0 includes the updated Camera Raw 3.7 framework which adds support for a number of new cameras including the Nikon D40 and Pentax K10D. Lightroom is available at a special discounted introductory price of $200 until the 30th of April, after which the price will increase to $300. Current users of the Lightroom beta can continue using the software until the 28th of this month.
I've been using Lightroom since I picked up a Pentax K100D back in December, and I absolutely adore it. The interface is beautiful, it runs pretty darn well on my aging PowerBook, and it seamlessly integrates with Photoshop CS2. Now I just have to figure out how to work the automated processing features and I'll be golden... once I find the cash to pay for the full version.
Adobe has announced a shipping date of February 19th for Lightroom, their new toolbox for professional photographers that's been in beta for the last year. Lightroom carries a final retail price of $299, but until April 30th, Adobe is saying thanks to everyone who participated in the beta (and lowering the bar for early customers) with a price of $199. The current beta expires February 28th, so either way it's decision time for those who have found a place in their hearts (and workflows) for this professional managing, adjusting and presenting photography software.
For more details on Lightroom, we've been following the betas since Lightroom's introduction, and Macworld also has a nice summary of the latest improvements to the shipping version. Adobe, naturally, also has an official product page with demos, feature tours and interviews with photographers on the beta experience and what it's like to see Lightroom get all growed up, ready to make a difference in the (wide-angled) world of professional photography.
When photographs dream, they dream in both color AND black & white -- and they dream of being managed with Aperture. The 1.5.2 update of Apple's pro lightbox is out tonight on Software Update and via the download page; what's new, gang? [I]mproves overall reliability and performance in a number of areas of the application, including contact sheet printing, Smart Albums, watermarks, Lift & Stamp, image export, and versions using an external editor.
Note that you'll need to be at OS X 10.4.8 before you can move up to Aperture 1.5, to say nothing of bumping up to 1.5.2. Happy sorting everyone.
Finally, something to do with the ExpressCard slot on your MBP. Storage and digital photo accessory supplier Delkin Devices today announced their eFilm ExpressCard 34 is available for pre-orders. To be officially unveiled at Photokina and shipping Oct. 16th, the EC-34 is the first Compact Falsh-to- ExpressCard converter. It is plug-and-play on both Macs and PCs in both 34mm and 54mm EC slots, and will allow photographers and others to transfer photos and other data directly between their CF cards and computers at 20MB/s without the need for external USB readers. All I can say is: Delkin, where were you when I came back from vacation this Summer?
From the press images, it looks like there is also an eFilm EC-34/8GB CF Card combo pack in the works, but it's not listed in the store yet.
I am solidly in the rank amateur category of photographers, which is why I have never had reason to look into either Aperture or Lightroom. My camera doesn't even shoot in RAW.
However, James Duncan Davidson earns his way by shooting photographs and as such has used both Aperture and Lightroom (which is in beta). He compares and contrasts the two, though there is no clear 'winner' in this battle. Aperture is able to handle a huge volume of photos fairly well, but Lightroom's printing options are miles ahead of Aperture's.
AppleMatters has published a great list of their top ten ways photographers can benefit from the iPhone. From sharing your portfolio on-the-go to note taking, it's a good list. My favorite is the example of a wedding photographer who keeps a sort of "check list" of shots to get (grouped shots, individual shots, etc.) as a reference on his phone. 
Back in January, the folks from Creaceed released 
There's been much debate on the interwebs on what lies in store for users of 
I am sure there are more than a few photographers out there reading TUAW (Mac users are a creative lot), so this is for you. 
Flickr user 
While iWork isn't exactly at the top of everyone's wishlist of Apple software, it still offers a fairly strong set of Apple-esque tools for creating gorgeous presentations and documents. Since the company already has a fairly thorough 
Adobe has announced a shipping date of February 19th for 
Finally, something to do with the ExpressCard slot on your MBP. Storage and digital photo accessory supplier Delkin Devices today announced their 
I am solidly in the rank amateur category of photographers, which is why I have never had reason to look into either Aperture or Lightroom. My camera doesn't even shoot in RAW.
