W/E Sunday Apr 7th

[Kym]

http://imaginginsider.com/?p=213


PENTAX STAYS COLORFUL! PENTAX INTRODUCES THE K-30 DSLR IN A VARIETY OF NEW COLORS AND FINISHES!

Nine Bold Colors Available in Glossy and Silky Finishes Add Exciting New Options for this Weather-Sealed, Coldproof and Dustproof DSLR

Denver, CO (April 2, 2013) — PENTAX RICOH IMAGING AMERICAS CORPORATION today announced the availability of the K-30 DSLR in nine new, bold colors. Available in a shiny crystal or matte silky finish the 15 new color choices are great for photo enthusiasts looking to add some personal style to their photography.

Recognized as Editors’ Choice from Backpacker Magazine and awarded the coveted Gear of the Year Award from Men’s Journal, the K-30 DSLR is the ideal device for photographers and outdoor enthusiasts. The K-30 combines a compact, lightweight body with many advanced features found only in higher end DSLR camera models, such as a weather, dust and cold resistant body, a glass prism optical finder with 100% field of view, state-of-the-art autofocusing, and full HD video recording capabilities.

[Kym]

ACR and Lightroom updates are available

http://www.dpreview.com/news/2013/04/03/Adobe-Photoshop-Lightroom-4-4-Adobe-Camera-Raw-7-4

[Kym]

ACR 7.4 (Adobe Camera Raw) update for offline (not connected) Photoshop CS6 installations

See: https://blogs.adobe.com/crawlspace/2011/03/keeping-photoshop-up-to-date.html#notconnected

http://swupdl.adobe.com/updates/oobe/aam20/win/PhotoshopCameraRaw7-7.0/7.4.101/setup.zip < windows
http://swupdl.adobe.com/updates/oobe/aam20/mac/PhotoshopCameraRaw7-7.0/7.4.101/setup.dmg < mac

[Kym]

http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/features/an-interview-with-pentax-evp-jim-malcolm


Pentax loyalists stuck with the company through hard times. Now the head of Pentax USA is giving them a voice.

After a tumultuous few years under the ownership of Hoya, the Pentax camera division was sold off to Ricoh in 2011. The company's faithful fans (Pentaxians, as they're called) have no doubt been wary of another corporate buyout, and wondering what the future holds for their favorite brand.

One of the first major changes was the speedy exit of Ned Bunnell, President of Pentax Ricoh's US operations. Bunnell, who had been with the company since 2005, was replaced by new Executive Vice President Jim Malcolm. Formerly Director of Corporate Marketing at Sony, Malcolm had most recently worked as a consultant with Ricoh, facilitating Pentax's transition into the company. Bunnell had been a friendly if occasionally divisive figurehead for the old Pentax, and many were curious to see what the new boss would bring to the table.

A good read for Pentaxians.

[ricktas]

The George Eastman House (photography Museum) has come on board Google Art and some of the impressive photography on display in GEH is now viewable online.

http://www.eastmanhouse.org/tools/pressroom/view.php?title=googleartproject_eastmamhouse040313

http://www.googleartproject.com/collection/george-eastman-house/

A plugin called Photoshop Elements XXL has become available that brings a heap of photoshop features into Elements.

http://thepluginsite.com/products/elementsxxl/


120 new features for Photoshop Elements for Windows

Actions, Scripts, Filters & Adjustment Layers:
Open and run Photoshop actions and scripts (Elements 6 and higher)
Up to ten new filters: Curves, Exposure, Vibrance, Color Balance, Channel Mixer, Black & White, Selective Color, Sharpen, Sharpen More and Sharpen Edges.
Up to seven new adjustment layers: Curves, Exposure, Vibrance, Color Balance, Channel Mixer, Black & White and Selective Color.

Layer Features, Smart Objects & Smart Filtering:
Many new features, e.g. three new icons, for the Layers panel
Opens images as smart objects, creates smart objects and enables smart filtering
Use layer groups for additional masking and better organization
Use vector masks
Create and work with layer masks (for Elements 1-8)
Adjust the fill opacity of layers
Align layers to a selection or each other and distribute them evenly
Stamp visible function for creating a duplicated copy of all layers
Hide/show multiple layers

Enhanced 16-bit Image Processing:
Convert images from 8-bit to 16-bit per channel and back again (Elements 6 and higher)
Quick Mask Mode lets you create or edit selections with all available filters and tools, e.g. the brush or gradient tool. (Elements 6 and higher)
Edit the channels of a RGB image individually and use them as selections
New Curves, Channel Mixer and Sharpen filters
Apply Image command for blending the image with itself while using an image channels as a mask (Elements 11 only)

General Editing:
Up to 12 new key shortcuts known from Photoshop
Auto-Align and Auto-Blend features for recomposing portraits, creating panoramas and increasing the depth of macro shots (Elements 6 and higher)
Edit the channels of a RGB image individually
Fade and Trim commands like in Photoshop
Apply Image command like in Photoshop (Elements 11 only)
Soft proof option for seeing how your images looks on a certain device or printer
New options: e.g. Non-Linear History, Log History to Metadata, Auto-Update All Documents
Custom pixel aspect ratio

Selections:
Quick Mask Mode for editing selections with filters and tools, e.g. the brush tool
Transform selections (for Elements 1-7)
Create selections from layer masks, layer opacity and image channels

Text Features:
Larger Font Preview
Three new text anti-aliasing types
Spell check text layers and use Find & Replace on them
Convert text layers to shapes for more creative freedom
Adjust text tracking and use paragra

[ricktas]

4 gigapixel panoramic of Mars : http://www.360cities.net/image/mars-gigapixel-panorama-curiosity-solar-days-136-149#23.40,1.10,42.5