As a FotoMagico 2 user, you might have downloaded FotoMagico 2.1.3 that we released late last friday night with the intent to provide our customers with a version that runs on Leopard as soon as possible.

It turns out that we were a bit too quick to make that release. In the frenzy to get it ready we forgot to turn off an option that lets us test a new file format that is in development. As a consequence, if you create a new slideshow, FotoMagico 2.1.3 tries to save it in the new format which is currently not fully implemented and does not work.

If you have downloaded FotoMagico 2.1.3 please remove it from your computer by dragging the FotoMagico application icon to the Trash.

Then, download FotoMagico 2.1.4 which has this problem fixed from this location:

http://boinx.com/download/files/current/Boinx_FotoMagico_2.1.4.dmg

We are sincerely sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Your FotoMagico Team.

Posted by Allen Rockwell at 06:19 PM | Permalink

Aperture customers can now install the Aperture 1.5.6 Update, either by running Software Update or by visiting the Aperture Download page. Recommended for all those using Aperture, the Aperture 1.5.6 Update addresses issues related to performance, improves overall stability, and supports compatibility with Mac OS X v10.5. The update should be installed before first use of Aperture with Mac OS X Leopard.

Posted by Allen Rockwell at 12:52 PM | Permalink

Now that we have a Digital Photography Forum I decided to turn off commenting on the blog. If you want leave a comment please go to the forums to do so.

FYI, I was deleting about a dozen or more spam messages a day from the comments here from people trying to sell viagra and other pharmaceuticals and we were rarely getting any "real" comments ... so just turning off that option seemed like the best solution to the spamming problem.

Posted by Allen Rockwell at 12:22 PM | Permalink

In this episode I talk about my blind religious devotion to Apple and how it almost caused me to ignore a great piece of software.
I’ll also review Ultra Image plugins for Photoshop by LumiQuest.

Ultra Image by Lumiquest:

...the way Ultra Image is a little different than other products ... you simply select the type of image or image subject such as Sports, product, wedding, landscape, portrait and they have optimized the actions for those kinds of images.

Ultra Image offers versions of their actions specifically tailored for Canon, Nikon, Fuji, Kodak and a catch-all version called Other Digital Cameras ... which is the one I got because I did not specify Canon.

Ultra Image is compatible with Photoshop 6, 7, CS, CS2 and CD3 for both windows and Mac. Check it out at www.lumiquest.com There are some very nice before and after photos there where you can see what the actions to do ordinary images. The fact that Ultra Image uses Actions means that every command that is run in the action is something you could do yourself if you wanted to take the time ... you could even record the actions yourself once you got them exactly the way you wanted them .... But Ultra Image saves you all that work, they’ve done it all already for you, you just press play and watch your images get better before your eyes.
I would say that this is a good product that does what it says it does and it’s worth checking out if you want to improve your images without doing a lot of the legwork yourself. Again, you can get more information on Ultra Image at www.lumiquest.com

Here is a sample of a photo before (left) and after (right) the Ultra Image action.
(click for larger version)

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom

Download your free 30 day trial of Lightroom here

Posted by Allen Rockwell at 10:44 PM | Permalink

Dear listeners,

I am in the process of moving the podcast feeds to a podcast hosting company to better serve you guys.

The move is not going forward without some growing pains.

Please be assured that I am working hard to get everything working as before so that you notice little or no interruption of service. iTunes users should have it the easiest, (I think) iTunes will simply update internally with the new feed location and you'll have to do nothing.

People that get the podcast other ways will need to go to www.allensphotoblog.com and click on the links on the homepage to subscribe to the new feeds.

I am still producing podcasts, they just might take a few days to show up in iTunes.

Please be patient and check back here for updates.

Posted by Allen Rockwell at 08:49 PM | Permalink

Tonight's video podcast is a review of the ExpoDisk.

If you are not using custom white balance to get your images white balance perfect it's probably because your think it's a major pain in the backside ... well, not with ExpoDisc. Check it out.

Get the video podcast here http://digitalphotovideo.podango.com/

Here is the image that was used in the podcast. (click to enlarge)

Yes I know it's not my sharpest image ever ... that was not the point of the demo :)

Posted by Allen Rockwell at 08:39 PM | Permalink

Where to rent equipment:

Try your local camera shop first, then check these out:

• Adolph Gasser: 181 2nd St., San Francisco, CA 94105; 415-495-3852
• Adorama: 42 W. 18th St., New York, NY 10011; 212-627-8487
• Alkit: 222 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10003; 212-674-1515 ext.5
• Backscatter Underwater Video & Photo: 225 Cannery Row, Monterey, CA 93940; 831-645-1082
• Calumet Photographic: Rental locations in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Ana, and Santa Barbara.
• Fotocare: 136 W. 21st St., New York, NY 10011; 212-741-2990;
• Global Imaging: Louisville, CO, 800-787-9801; Dallas, TX,
800-787-9802
• Lens and Repro: 33 W. 17th St., New York, NY 10011; 212-675-1900
• Lensrentals: 8940 Meaghan Dr., Cordova, TN 38018; 866-472-9853
• Pro Photo Supply: 1112 NW 19th Ave., Portland, OR 97209; 503-517-3637
List compiled by www.popphoto.com

Here is the complete article from Popular Photography and Imaging magazine.

Posted by Allen Rockwell at 11:21 AM | Permalink