New Software Released
Adobe, the mother-ship of photo-editing software, who has set the standard for ages with Photoshop 7.0, CS, CS2, as well as the forthcoming CS3, has released it’s Lightroom software in version 1.0, for sale now at $199. This is clearly intended to be a companion package for those that use Photoshop or other image-editing software, but can be used on a standalone basis. our own Harvey Moore has been following this with interest and samples of his use can be seen here. Check out the tutorials over at Photoshopuser as well as the software from Adobe directly.
In the interests of full disclosure, DxO Optics has also released software upgrades, and those are talked about in-depth at The Digital Photography Show, which has regular podcasts to listen and glean tons of info.
Not to fear Mac users, for your answers are also here in Apple’s Aperture, now in version 1.5. Still available as a trial download for 30 days, it can be purchased for Apple faithful for a measly $299. While it has not gotten the same amount of press, it makes for great image library management as well as some cool editing capabilities. From friends that have test-driven it - not the same functionality as Photoshop, but remember, Photoshop is the benchmark upon which all others are measured, so that’s a tough standard to meet!
In the interests of putting more photos out there for people to enjoy, here’s a sunset shot from some mystery place. Anyone care to venture where? The winner….wins! 
