I was hoping to get a release of the Photoshop CS4 Automator Action Pack posted today, but for now, this beta will have to do. As near as I can tell, it’s completely usable and should work just fine, but I haven’t had a chance to test it very thoroughly, so I’d appreciate any bug reports. This 4.0 collection currently only supports CS4 and has a number of bug fixes, and 6 new actions.

So you’ve got a camera that delivers the features, quality, and performance that you want, you’ve tricked it out with high-quality, speedy lenses, multiple flash units, and a really cool bag, and you’re pumping your completed images into a fast desktop workstation with a beefy graphics card. You’re set, right? You have the dream digital photography setup, no? No. Because if you spend any appreciable time editing your images, you need a Wacom pressure sensitive tablet. For masking, retouching, cloning, dodging and burning, there’s no substitute. A Wacom tablet is truly an essential piece of photo gear. Not convinced? Read this to understand more.

If you’re looking for a fun, interesting vacation option that also offers good photo opportunities, then you might want to consider an African safari. I was fortunate enough to go on a few different safaris last November, and it was definitely an experience I won’t forget. However, before you try it, you might want to know a little more about what you’re getting into, photo-wise, to better decide if it’s the right excursion for you, and to properly prepare.

I love my aluminum MacBook. While I used a MacBook Pro for years, the smaller MacBook is a little easier to carry, and it never feels like it flexes or bends under its own weight, as the MacBook Pro sometimes did. However, it’s still just big enough that packing it in a bicycle or motorcycle bag is problematic, and it’s heavy enough that for backcountry or extended travel, it’s a bit of a load. What’s more, a lot of times it’s overkill. Usually all I need in the field is a place to dump images, and perhaps some email access. Over the last year or so a new class of tiny, ultralight laptop computers - netbooks - have appeared on the market at extremely reasonable prices. These machines turn out to be ideal photo accessories. Of course, Apple doesn’t make such a product, but there are now quite a few netbooks that can be hacked to run the Macintosh OS, allowing you to make something that Apple doesn’t: a tiny, very portable Macintosh.

A friend of mine has a very cool portable darkroom. (Because he’s primarily a wet-plate pinhole shooter, he needs to be able to develop plates as soon as he takes them.) As digital photographers, we have things a little easier, of course. If we want to process images in the field, we only have to carry a computer. But, if you’re on an extended trip, heading into the backcountry, or you just like to travel as light as possible, then carrying a computer is not always an option. Fortunately, over the last year or so a new class of tiny, ultralight laptop computers - netbooks - have appeared on the market at extremely reasonable prices. These machines turn out to be ideal photo accessories.

Photoshop CS4 packs a number of cool new features, from interface changes to the amazing new resizing tools. But unequivocally, the feature that makes this upgrade a no-brainer is Bridge CS4. While it may sounds a little strange to get excited over what has, in the past, been nothing more than a file browser, over the last few months Bridge CS4 has proven to be the workflow tool that I’ve been waiting for for years.

A signficant part of the visual processing part of the human brain is devoted to face recognition. As such, we’re extremely sensitive to slight changes in skin color - a blush that might show embarrassment, for example - and texture. In addition to good lighting, one of the best ways to make portraits appear more attractive is to do a little work on your subject’s skin, not just to hide blemishes and possibly reduce wrinkles, but to soften and smooth skin texture in general. Imagenomic’s Portraiture 2.0 plug-in is an excellent one-stop tool for performing sophisticated skin corrections.

Every year, I try to spend as much time as I can in Death Valley. To some, this may sound a strange destination to pine for, but returning visitors to this web site might have already noticed my predisposition to Death Valley’s beautiful, unique extremes. In 2008, I only managed one week-long trip, and it was far earlier than I’d ever been before. Spending the first week of February in Death Valley showed that it can be as uncomfortably cold as it can be brutally hot. Unfortunately, I have not had a chance to sort through the images until now, one year later.

It says a lot about the Canon EOS 5D that, years after its debut, the release of a successor does not necessarily compel 5D users to upgrade, even though the new model packs 21 megapixels, improved high ISO performance, and burst speed, high-def video, and more. The fact is, the original 5D is a great camera, and many users are coming to realize that they may have all the pixels they need for the type of output they do. However, the 5D Mark II’s improved noise performance and interface changes are good enough that, depending on what and how you shoot, the cost of an upgrade might be worth it. And, while you don’t need 21 megapixels for every shot, the ability to print large, and crop tight, can be welcome in many situations. In Part 1, I looked at the interface and physical changes between the 5D and the 5D Mark II. Now it’s time to discuss image quality.

If you’re a photographer, then there’s a good chance that the most signficant announcement of the year is not a new camera or new lens, but the release of Photoshop CS4. While Photoshop can’t turn a crappy photo into a masterpiece - you still need decent gear and a fair amount of skill to capture a good image - it is still the best tool for realizing the final vision that you had when you shot. Photoshop serves many different disciplines from photography to design to research, and Photoshop upgrades often add features that are of little use on the photographic side of things. And while CS4 packs a few new items that most shooters will have no interest in, the new features are largely additions that all photographers will be interested in

The American Southwest is one of the great deserts of the world. A trip across the Southwest will take you through an incredible variety of desert climes. From the Sahara-like sand dunes of Death Valley, through the Coyote/Roadrunner terrain of the Mojave to the high deserts of New Mexico, the great American desert yields an incredible variety of truly exotic landscapes. When most people choose to explore the Southwest, they hit the high profile locations: The Grand Canyon, Zion, Arches, Monument Valley, Canon de Chelly. These are all places that you should see, but don’t think you have to go to a big national park to see something special in the Southwest.

Nikon’s Capture NX2 offers revolutionary image editing tools wrapped up in a full-featured editing environment, with a built in browser. Real World Capture NX 2 will walk you through every function of the program, while teaching you good post-production workflow, and image editing tips. Aimed at the novice and experienced user, the book is ideal for anyone who wants to use the program.

The Rebel XSi is a great camera (and you can learn more about it here). If you’re lucky enough to have one, you can learn more about how to use it with my Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi/450 Companion. While that’s a bit of a mouthful, I promise the text inside the book is concise and to the point, and should do a good job at teaching you how to use your new camera.