Karen Kuehn Photography

While scanning the latest updates on Matt Kloskowski’s Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Killer Tips blog, I noticed his posting regarding New Mexico photographer Karen Kuehn. I just wanted to share this wonderful photographer’s website and body of work. Take a look for yourself at the impressive images of celebs such as Sean Penn, Santana, Denis Leary and many more.

Karen Kuehn Photography

Corel Announces Paint Shop Pro Photo X2

Official Company Press Release:

Corel Corporation, a leading developer of graphics, productivity and digital media software, has announced the launch of Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2, a major new product release from its award-winning digital media portfolio. Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 is the ideal digital photography software for aspiring photographers and business communicators who want to transform their digital pictures into professional-looking photos fast. Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 provides users with the widest selection of photo editing features ranging from automatic tools for quick fixes to precision controls for fine-tuning. Unlike lite, essentials or elements version photo editors, Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 provides continued depth of functionality that enables users to grow as their skills and knowledge progress.

With Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2, viewing, sorting and processing downloaded photos is faster than ever thanks to the all new Express Lab. Beginners benefit from a wide range of automatic, one-click adjustments while advanced users can take full advantage of the program's manual adjustments providing more direct control over each photo. With speed improvements and the built-in Learning Center, new users can produce results quickly, learning as they go.

"Our focus for this release of Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo was to make it even easier and faster for both new and experienced users to create stunning digital photos," said Denise MacDonell, Director, Product Management, Digital Media at Corel. "We worked closely with users to understand how they interact with our software in order to deliver an end product that truly reflects and enriches the way they use Paint Shop Pro Photo at home and at work."

Powerful Photo Editing Made Easy

Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 offers a number of new features and significant enhancements to bring the power and creative possibilities of digital photography to more users. New features in Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 include:

Express Lab

The all-new Express Lab mode enables users to view and edit dozens of photos in the time it used to take to edit just a few. When using Express Lab, users can rapidly crop, rotate, apply color adjustments and perform other common tasks on large numbers of images without having to open each image individually. Now even new users can edit photos with the speed and efficiency of a professional photographer. Express Lab includes full support for all file formats including camera raw.

Graphite Look and Feel

Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 features a new graphite workspace that puts the focus on the photo. The new interface also provides a neutral background for unbiased color adjustments.

HDR Photo Merge

With the NEW HDR Photo Merge, users can easily create photos that capture the full details found in the shadows and the highlights of a high-contrast scene. Users can combine two or more photos taken at different exposures and use the Clarify feature to automatically "dodge and burn" bringing out the contrast.

Makeover Tools

With the NEW Thinify tool, users can make anyone look thinner with just one click. The NEW Eye Drop tool takes the red out of bloodshot eyes. The popular Suntan brush and Blemish Fixer have also been enhanced so users of any skill level can quickly and easily touch up images like the pros.

Layer Styles

With the NEW Layer Styles, photographers and business users can add drop shadows, embossing, outer and inner glows, bevels and reflections to text, photos and creative projects.

Visible Watermarks

Users can easily create and add a personal watermark to their photos, whether they are a professional photographer sharing proofs with a client or an individual user who wants to share images online.

Auto-Preserve Originals

The NEW Auto-Preserve Originals option enables users to freely experiment with changes to their photos, confident that their original image is preserved.

Save for Office

With the NEW Save for Office option, photos are automatically resized and saved in the appropriate format for a given project. File sizes are also automatically compressed to make it easier for the business user to share images via email. Users who prefer to Copy and Paste can use the NEW Copy Special options for the same benefits.

Dynamic Language Switching

With Dynamic Language Switching, Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 makes it easy for users to work in their preferred language, a feature especially useful to Corel's growing number of multinational corporate site license customers.

Crop as New Image

For people who scan multiple images at once, the Crop as New Image option automatically opens scanned photos into separate documents, dramatically increasing the speed and efficiency with which users can crop and save their photos.

For a complete list of new and enhanced features in Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2, please visit www.corel.com/paintshopprophoto.

"With Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2, Corel is demonstrating a clear understanding of its target customers - aspiring photographers and business professionals who want to use images to enhance their communication at work, in their communities or in their personal relationships with family and friends," said Alexis Gerard, President, Future Image Inc. and author of Going Visual. "This release of Paint Shop Pro Photo delivers improved usability with the addition of Express Lab, adds many more options to the photographer's toolbox and continues to push the envelope for ease-of-use and price/performance ratio."

Pricing and Availability

With a suggested retail price of $99.99 (US and Canada), Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 is available starting today through www.corel.com and in the coming weeks through Corel's global channel partners. Included in the purchase price are video tutorials from www.lynda.com, Nik(TM) plug-in filter effects and a special version of Corel(R) MediaOne(TM) Plus - the fast, fun and easy photo and video software. Corel MediaOne Plus will be available via download beginning mid September. To learn more about Corel's digital media portfolio or to download a free, fully-functional trial version of Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2, please visit www.corel.com/paintshopprophoto.

FujiFilm Reduces Price Of FinePix S700

Effective September 2, 2007, Fujifilm has reduced the price of the FinePix S700 to $229.95. The FinePix S700 has not only received rave reviews in many publications, but now it becomes an even greater value.

Ideal for families seeking to kick it up a notch with a more advanced, compact SLR-style digital camera without losing operational simplicity, the FinePix S700 is feature-packed, yet affordable and easy to use. Additionally, its powerful 10x optical zoom will ensure that you capture great close-up action shots of your kids playing sports or candid shots of the family on vacation.

provided by fujifilm

New Lenses And Vertical Grip With Sony's A700 DSLR

The Alpha 700 DSLR from Sony has now been announced and will be available in October. The camera will be introduced with two new lenses, bringing Sony’s lens and teleconverter catalog up to 23 models. Supplied as a standard kit lens, the new DT 16-105 mm f.3.5 – 5.6 lens features a distinctive zoom range (35mm equivalency of 24 – 157.5 mm); compact, lightweight design; and internal focusing. The other addition is a powerful and compact high-magnification DT 18 – 250 mm f3.5 – 6.3 lens. Sony is also planning to introduce a specialty 70 -300 mm f4.5 – 5.6 SSM G telephoto lens featuring super sonic wave motor auto focus drive system for smooth auto focusing in Spring 2008.

Sony’s full line of accessories will also expand to include a new vertical grip. Equipped with buttons and switches for the most essential control functions, it offers the same ease of operation and handling as when shooting vertically. It houses two InfoLithium® batteries (sold separately), which will automatically switch to the second battery when the first one runs out. Remaining charges of both batteries are displayed on the camera’s LCD screen.

Sony Finally Reveals New Alpha 700 DSLR

Sony finally reveals its next addition to the Alpha Digital SLR camera line. As a current owner of the Sony A100, the A700 is a curiosity but I won't even entertain the idea of upgrading until I see the 'Pro' version which is rumored to be released early next year.

From the official company press release:

Sony is expanding its α (Alpha) digital SLR system with the introduction of the DSLR-A700 camera, which is aimed at photo enthusiasts or serious photo hobbyists.
The new model features advanced imaging technologies and ultra-responsive operation, as well as a lightweight, dust- and moisture-resistant, magnesium alloy construction common to enthusiast-class D-SLR cameras.
Like Sony’s mainstream DSLR-A100 model, the new A700 unit incorporates Super SteadyShot® Inside image stabilization in the camera body and is compatible with most Minolta Maxxum® mount lenses in addition to Sony lenses.

Imaging Resource takes a closer look and has posted various images of the new camera body.

Popular Photography & Imaging also provides some insight regarding this new Sony DSLR release.

O'Reilly Media Releases Sony Alpha Manual

O'Reilly Media has released the Sony Alpha DSLR A100: A Better Manual in .pdf form. According to O'Reilly "This unique manual is better than the manual that comes with your camera." It should at the very least assist a first-time DSLR owner who has purchased the Sony Alpha 100. Written by Ken Milburn, this 90-page document is available for download for only $9.99.

Nikon Announces Eight New CoolPix Digicams

Nikon has taken the wraps off eight new CoolPix cameras, offering a wide selection of features and price points designed to appeal to first-time digital camera buyers, experienced point-and-shoot snappers, and more serious photographers who want more power and control of their picture-taking. At the same time, the company has also announced my Picturetown, enabling users to securely store up to 2 GB of images and video online, accessible via either computer or BlackBerry handheld device.

First up, the slim CoolPix S700 and S510 offer 12.1 and 8.1 megapixel resolutions, respectively, along with a 37 times; optical zoom, optical image stabilization, and high ISO sensitivities for snapping pictures in low light conditions (the S510 goes to ISO 200, the S700 to ISO 3200). Both cameras feature 2.7-inch LCD monitors, store images fo SDHC media, and offer faster startup times, improved image processing, and Nikon's Face Priority autofocus system which can pick out and optimize for up to 12 faces in a single frame. Expect to see them in September, with the X700 running around $375.95 and the S510 going for around $299.95.

If you're looking for something a little more wireless, check out the Coolpix S51C a Wi-Fi enabled Coolpix camera which can send images via email without using a PC, but also offers direct support for my Picturetown, so users have a convenient, wireless means to back up their images and video. The S51c offers 8.1 megapixel resolution, a 3× optical zoom, and sports Nikon's Expeed image processing system. Also on board: optical image stabilization, ISO sensitivity down to 1600, a 3-inch LCD monitor, face-priority autofocus, and SDHC image storage. Expect to see the S51c in September for about $329.95; it also comes with six months of complimentary Wi-Fi service on T-Mobile's HotSpot service. A Wi-Fi free version dubbed the S51 will also be available for $279.95.

Next up, Nikon is adding the budget-friendly L14 and L15 to it's "Life" series of Coolpix cameras. The L14 comes in at 7 megapixels, features a 2.4-inch LCD display, while the L15 steps things up by offering 8 megapixels, a 2.6-inch display, and optical image stabilization. Both cameras sport 3× optical zooms, sensitivity down to ISO 1000, 15 different scene modes, and Nikon's Expeed image processing for fast response times. Built-in face recognition can optimize images for up to five faces in a single frame, and both can run off readily-available AA batteries, in case you get caught on vacation or in the middle of nowhere without a charger. The L14 and L15 will be available in September for suggested prices of $149.95 and $179.95, respectively.

If budget cameras aren't appealing, check out Nikon's new CoolPix P5100 and P50. The P5100 offers a 12.1 megapixel resolution, a 2.5-inch LCD display, a 3.5× optical zoom, optical image stabilization, sensitivity down to ISO 3200, and a slew of shutter, program, aperture, and manual exposure modes sure to appeal to the photographer who wants full control of a shot rather than the point-and-shoot gamble. The P5100 is also compatible with a wide range of accessories, such as Nikon telephoto lenses and wide angle lens converters. Meanwhile, the P50 offers an 8 megapixel resolution, a 3.6× optical zoom, a 2.4-inch LCD display, sensitivity down to ISO 2000, electronic shake reduction, and the ability to run off AA batteries. Both cameras feature Nikon's Expeed image processing system and Nikon's Face Priority autofocus system. The P5100 should hit retailers in September around $399.95, while the P50 will wait until October, at which point it'll go for about $229.95.

provided by digitaltrends.com

Nikon CoolPix S51c Digicam Press Release

Furthering the development of wireless sharing technology in digital cameras, Nikon has introduced the new COOLPIX S51c digital camera. This camera not only sends images via email through Wi-Fi, but it also supports my Picturetown, Nikon’s new photo sharing and storage service. In addition to an innovative Wi-Fi feature, the S51c boasts 8.1 megapixel resolution for generating high quality prints, a 3x Zoom-Nikkor glass lens ensuring great pictures with true-to-life color, and a huge, bright 3.0-inch LCD screen for users to easily compose and share images. The S51c is also the first in Nikon’s Style line of COOLPIX cameras to utilize the new EXPEED™ image-processing system. To help ensure the consumer will be able to capture stunningly sharp images, the S51c features an Optical Vibration Reduction (VR) image stabilization system and ISO up to 1600, enhancing the camera’s low-light performance.

“Not only does the S51c boast superior imaging abilities, but it also enhances the photo sharing experience for the consumer,” said Bill Giordano, General Manager Marketing, COOLPIX for Nikon, Inc. “With the S51c and my Picturetown, consumers will be able to easily share and securely store their images, faster and more efficiently than ever before.”

Across town or across the ocean, by using the S51c’s One Touch Email with the Picture Mail button and Nikon’s new photo sharing and storage service, my Picturetown, consumers can take advantage of several avenues for sharing their images and videos. Through my Picturetown, users can email pictures directly to friends and family, publish pictures to the photo community sharing website Flickr, and link their photos to blogs and social networking sites. Pictures can also be sent to the email addresses of a Blackberry® device for viewing. Each S51c ships with a six-month complimentary T-Mobile™ HotSpot™ Wi-Fi service for digital cameras, allowing the user to send images and videos to my Picturetown from over 8,200 T-Mobile™ HotSpots™ nationwide.

In addition, S51c owners can utilize my Picturetown to store up to 2 gigabytes of images and movies, providing a valuable back up to memory card storage. S51c users are also able to access my Picturetown from their computers and Blackberry® devices, providing instant access to their images anytime, anywhere.
Adding to the advanced sharing capabilities of these cameras, the S51c features a huge, bright, high resolution 3.0-inch LCD monitor with a 160-degree viewing angle and an anti-reflection coating facilitating easier composition and high-quality playback anywhere, even in direct sunlight.

Furthermore, the LCD monitor serves as an excellent platform for Pictmotion™, which allows users to select up to 200 images along with music that’s pre-loaded, or from the user’s library. The music and photos are then automatically compiled in-camera to produce audiovisual shows in VGA quality for a truly personalized photo-sharing experience.

For capturing great portraits with ease, Nikon has enhanced their hallmark Face-Priority AF feature. When using the camera’s convenient One-Touch Portrait button, the S51c will be able to detect up to five faces in a frame, ensuring in- focus smiles and properly exposed faces. In addition to face detection, S51c users will be able to take advantage of In-Camera Red Eye Fix™, for fixing most instances of red eye, D-lighting, a feature that automatically lightens dark images as well as Optical Vibration Reduction, ensuring sharp pictures. This camera will also utilize EXPEED™, Nikon’s new imaging processing system for enhanced speed and brilliant color reproduction.

In addition to the COOLPIX S51c, Nikon has also today introduced the COOLPIX S51. Similar in features and form, the S51 offers the same stylish body and advanced yet easy to use imaging technologies as the S51c without the wireless transfer capabilities.

Both the COOLPIX S51 and the COOLPIX S51c come bundled with Nikon's COOLPIX software suite for transferring, organizing, editing, and sharing images. The cameras utilize a rechargeable EN-El8 Li-ion battery and are compatible with a wide array of SD and SDHC memory cards.

The COOLPIX S51 and the COOLPIX S51c digital cameras will be available nationwide beginning September 2007. The S51c has an MSRP of $329.95, and the S51 has an MSRP of $279.95. For more information about these and other COOLPIX cameras, please visit http://www.nikonusa.com/.