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Hillingdon Ranch: David Langford chronicles the heart of the Texas Hill Country

Congratulations to our good friend David Langford on his beautiful new book, , published by Texas A&M as an example of successful, multi-generational land use strategies. It is great to see his amazing photos from a historic piece of Texas. For those intrigued by the area and its history, our is actually on a ranch that was a part of the Hillingdon Ranch until our hosts Larry and Sharron Jay purchased it from the family, so we hope you can join us…

Want to cram more gear into your carry-on? Jaktogo pushes beyond the photo vest

Jaktogo foto 1Without question, traveling with photo gear only gets harder. Airlines continue to winnow down the amount of carry-on they allow, and checked bags are subject to loss and breakage. As many of my readers (and safari participants) know, I’m a big fan of my Scottevest, that allows me to stash a tablet, phone, headphones, hat, glasses, lunch, and maybe a rainshell conveniently. But it doesn’t really help with the bulk storage of laptop, camera, lenses, flashes, and chargers. Photo vests are an alternative used by many of us, but now a new set of products pushes the limit even further…

Composition Tip: Don't frame so tight you forget where you are...

When something unexpected happens on a photo shoot it is easy to get carried away in the moment and start firing away. If you've done some action photography your reflexes may take over and you'll instinctively start cropping to maximize the impact of the subject. Sometimes, though, it pays to take a deep breath and think things through first....

Adobe semi-caves on cloud pricing: Introduces $10/month Photoshop + Lightroom rental deal

After tons of totally-justified flack about trying to force all its users into a rental business model, Adobe has relented somewhat today, hoping to add enough grease to silence the squeaky wheels. Instead of the previous $20/month rental price for Photoshop Creative Cloud, Adobe has introduced a new that gives the user both Photoshop CC and Lightroom 5 for $10/month.

Sony NEX-6 deal: Father's Day savings on the ultimate mirrorless camera

Nikon updates firmware for D600, D800/e, fixes HDMI output

Nikon has released , which addresses an issue with black bars around HDMI output. It also fixes several other issues (including an irksome color change gremlin), adds support for the 800mm lens, and improves subject-tracking autofocus. There is also new and Nikon D800e. 

ThinkTank Glass Limo torture test: Compact photo safari backpack delivers in African Adventure

There are plenty of good options for large photo backpacks for use on safari, with my favorite for trips requiring international connections being the ThinkTank Airport Takeoff combo roller/backpack. Unfortunately, unless you’re on a dedicated photo safari with extra luggage allowance and lightly loaded vehicles (like the ones we offer through ), a full-size backpack may be more than you’re allowed to bring (or perhaps more than you want to carry). It is also notoriously hard to work two to a row (like you’ll find on most typical safaris) with full-sized bags.

Heads up: Canon New Jersey repair facility closed due to Sandy

Nikon D600 crushes competition in DxOMark tests: Amazingly in stock for $2099

I am really excited about the as a new, less-expensive, way to get high-performance full-frame images. Mine is arriving tomorrow, and I'll be writing more hands-on when I get it. But in the meantime, I was blown away by the amazing test results achieved by the D600 by the folks over at DxOMark. In their bested not only the Canon 5D Mark III, but Nikon's own D4 for low-light performance and overall image quality...

Google buys nik Software to get Snapseed: Promises filters have a future for serious photographers

Yesterday Google announced it is acquiring much loved digital photo filter maker nik Software to get its hands on nik's award-winning Snapseed mobile app. Google desperately needs an edge to help Google+ gain ground on Facebook, and counter FB's acquisition of Instagram. T

Nikon D600: Finally a full-frame camera for the rest of us!

Remember when I wrote that I wished Nikon would make a camera with specs similar to the , but at a lower price? well now they have and it sounds awesome. the is a 24mp 5.5t fps monster tucked into a package not much bigger than a . Somehow it also manages to have a 100 percent viewfinder and a pop up flash.

Book Review: Photoshop CS6–the missing manual by Lesa Snider

The well-liked “missing manual” series has finally tackled Photoshop, and the result is quite a magnum opus. I’ve never seen so much information about Photoshop packed into a single volume. At 862 pages it may be a little daunting, but it is well-organized, colorfully-laid-out and has an excellent index. As someone who has watched with dismay as the documentation provided with Photoshop decreases and its complexity and price grows, this book is very much needed.

’s strength is its broad coverage of Photoshop, and its appeal to all levels of users. There is a soup to nuts treatment of almost every aspect of the program, starting with the very basics of each piece – from opening images to using layers. That breadth is also the source of the book’s biggest shortcoming, that in trying to be all things to all people it risks not being ideal for anyone.

A couple openings for an exclusive polar bear trip on a chartered icebreaker in August 2013

Pro-quality slideshows come to the iPad: Photodex launches ProShow Web for iOS

You've always been able to show off your ProShow slideshows on your iPhone and iPad (or any other mobile device), but now thanks to a new application from our partner Photodex, you can create them on your iOS device as well. ProShow Web for iOS has plenty of built-in features, including effects, themes and transitions, and integrates with popular online sharing sites including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. I haven't had a chance to try it yet and will write more about it when I do, but in the meantime you can read all the details below...

Great deal on ultimate DX format camera kit: Nikon D7000 + Nikon 18-200mm VR II lens for < $1600

B&H are offering a pretty amazing deal on a Nikon D7000 plus Nikon 18-200mm VR II lens. The . That's just about the same price as the D7000 would normally be with a kit lens, and you're getting a state of the art all-in-one zoom, probably the single best lens ever for DX format cameras. If I didn't already own a D7000 and 18-200mm lens, I'd certainly be!

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