French Photographer Bettina Rheims Interview And Gallery

Popphoto.com has posted a conversation with French photographer Bettina Rheims, who offers a behind-the-scenes look at a recent photo shoot. Here is an excerpt.

… The images in the new project, with titles like "Dream," "Pride," "Desire," "Femininity, "Magnificence," and "Thirst," touch on themes that Rheims has focused on throughout her career. A former model, journalist, and art dealer, she turned to photography in 1980 with a breakthrough series on strip-tease dancers and acrobats. Her first book, "Female Trouble," a collection of portraits and nudes of actresses and models, was published in 1989. That was followed by "Modern Lovers," a series of portraits of androgynous teenagers, and in 1992 with her acclaimed book "Chambre Close," in which she turned to color to create a fictional erotic tale featuring women in hotel rooms…

Read the entire interview and view an image gallery on popphoto.com.
Image provided by popphoto.com and © Bettina Rheims

Free Custom Photoshop Brushes

Want loads of Photoshop custom brushes? Brusheezy.com provides downloadable brushes, patterns and their own blog. Best of all they are free. Check out brusheezy.com, as they say “stupid name, cool brushes!”

Film Scanning Tips From Macworld.com

Rick LePage provides some insight regarding scanning film on a flatbed scanner in a recent article on Macworld.com. Here is an excerpt.

… I’m still shooting quite a bit of film, and I have some dedicated film scanners and a couple of good flatbed scanners. I have been working on a review of the latest version of LaserSoft Imaging’s SilverFast scanning software—one of the few pro-level solutions still being developed today—but the quality of the film holders supplied by some of the scanner manufacturers hasn’t really been as good as I’d like. They’re flimsy, and they don’t really keep the film flat. Luckily, I ran across a solution that has really impressed me in the short time I’ve been using it: Doug Fisher’s custom film holders…

Read the entire article on macworld.com.

Lightroom-News.com Posts New Tutorial Podcast

Lightroom-News.com blog has posted a new Adobe Photoshop Lightroom tutorial covering the basics of using the Refine Photos command, in conjunction with the Pick and Reject flags, to help make editing large shoots very efficient. The podcast is around seven minutes long. View the tutorial at lightroom-news.com.

Pentax Releases v1.30 Firmare Update For K10D DSLR

Pentax has released a new firmware update v1.30 for the K10D Digital SLR camera. One aspect of the new update is to add support for SDM (Supersonic Drive Motor) lenses with built-in motors. These Pentax lenses are similar in function to the Canon USM and Nikon AF-S lenses. The K10D update comes on the heels of the recent announcement of the upcoming K100D Super DSLR, which will include SDM support.

Visit the Pentax K10D Firmware Update page to download and install v1.30.

Happy Independence Day!

To my fellow Americans here in the States and those abroad, have a wondrous Independence Day on this the Fourth of July. Celebrate our country’s history and future with your family and friends. Even though, as a country, some of us are divided by politics and policies, we are all Americans and hopefully can overcome our recent domestic and foreign affairs for at least this single, special day. God Bless America, and the men and women of the U.S. Military!
Image © TW Oliver.

Popphoto.com Provides Fireworks Photo Tips

Popular Photography & Imaging provides some insight regarding how to successfully capture the beauty of fireworks. Read the entire online article on popphoto.com.

New Lightroom 1.1 Sharpening Tools

Matt Kloskowski of NAPP has posted a video detailing the new Sharpening features of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 1.1 on his Lightroom Killer Tips blog. With the release of the 1.1 update to Lightroom, additional sharpening sliders are now available and Matt explains how they can be used to improve a landscape and portrait photo. View the instructional video on lightroomkillertips.com.

image provided by lightroomkillertips.com