Recently Adobe made a huge splash by announcing the release of the Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 Public Beta. For those of you who aren’t aware, Photoshop Lightroom is Adobe’s digital photography workflow tool for professional photographers. If you’re a registered Lightroom 1.0 user, you’ll be able to download and use the beta for the duration of the beta testing period. If you aren’t a registered 1.0 user, then you can still download and use the beta, but you’ll only be able to use it for a period of 30 days. Users will be pleased to know that Lightroom 2.0 is available as a 64-bit application, which should cutdown on load and processing times and give users a more streamlined application to work with. Other features include the following: Multiple Monitor Support - LR is now optimized for multiple monitors and includes for modes for viewing on an alternate screen (Grid, Loupe, Compare, and Survey). Enhanced Develop Module - Users now have the ability to make non-destructive localized dodge and burn modifications to their photos. Vignettes can now be applied post-crop. Meaning that the vignette will be rendered after the user crops the photograph, thus eliminating the vignette itself being cropped from the final composition. Revamped Library - The Library now ...

Photoshop Express is Adobe’s new online Photoshop program. This service is offered by Adobe free of charge and gives the user 2GB of storage space and also a custom web address to display their photo galleries. Adobe says that they see a trend of more and more users being online and also a custom web address to display their photo galleries (yourname.photoshop.com). Who Should Use It? Adobe Photoshop Express isn’t going to entice professional photographers. In fact it may not even attract the attention of the serious hobbyist, but for entry-level consumers and younger users (those who tend to spend more time online in the first place), this will be a great service where they can enhance the quality of their photos and quickly get them online to share with friends and family. What are the Limitations? Express is more like a light version of Lightroom than Photoshop. There are no layers or layer masking tools available to you, and no curves or levels either. These are essential features for most “real” Photoshop users and it’s because of these missing features that I don’t foresee very many traditional users paying much attention to this service. There are a few effects, but they are a ...

In today's high-tech world, podcasts are becoming more and more popular. As many of you know, I have been a podcaster for almost three years now and over that time I've seen an enormous surge of podcasts being released. All you have to do is launch iTunes and you'll be instantly presented with (literally) hundreds of podcasts devoted to teaching you how to do everything from photography to fitness. However, this is dzinemag and our focus is squarely on photography podcasts. Here is our list of the Top-Ten Photography Related Podcasts (in no particular order): This Week in Photography Photoshop User TV Photoshop Killer Tips Adobe Photoshop Quicktips Lightroom Killer Tips Lightroom for Digital Photographers Photoshop for Digital Photographers Adobe Creative Suite Podcast Layers TV Photoshop Elements Killer Tips SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "10 Useful Photography Podcasts", url: "http://www.dzinemag.com/2008/06/06/10-useful-photography-podcasts/" });