The much awaited update to Lightroom 3 is now available from Adobe. Judging by the list of bugs they fixed, it’s a major update. I’m downloading it right now. I am hoping it works as well as they describe, because I was frustrated with how buggy and slow Lightroom 3 has been for me. So much so that recently I’ve been tempted to switch back to Lightroom 2 that worked flawlessly for me before. I spend more time in Lightroom when I’m working on my photographs than in any other software. I am hoping I can take my mind off how problematic that part of my workflow has been.

The list of fixes is here.

Pacific Tank Farm, Reno, Nevada

One of the more frequent question we get as photographers from our non photographer friends is which camera to buy. I typically offer a couple cameras I am familiar with, and then refer them to sites that specialize in camera reviews and tips for beginners. I’ve recently found another good site that offers that kind of service. That site is DigitalImagingHQ.com. From those who are new to photography and are looking for their first camera to the seasoned vet, Digital Imaging HQ is a good place to start.

Take a look here.

A few of you who visit my blog shoot weddings. Maybe I’m just ignorant, and all Swedish people get married like that. But I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything like this before. They’re simply the strangest wedding photos I have seen. Check out the link below. The man who’s getting married is Henrick Zetterberg, Swedish star hockey player who plays in the NHL for Detroit Red Wings. Many of his guests are also Red Wings players.

Anyway, take a look for yourself – link.

UPDATE: Puck Daddy has an article with more photos and explaining why they’re all dressed like this. Clever people. Take a look here.

San Jose, CA

I’ve recently switched hosting for my blog. There are still some glitches I am working through, such as some pages not displaying images correctly.

Please be patient. This move have not been easy, but when it’s done, my web-site will work significantly faster than it did before under my former host.

Want to participate in a good cause and also win Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended? Here is how.

Last fall, I participated in a fundraiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and with the help of many of you I was able to raise over $2,000 for a stair climb we did. Cystic Fibrosys is a rare but deadly disease that affects the lungs and the digestive system of individuals, and currently there is no cure for it. The family we are good friends with, Brett and Carmen, have a son Jackson who has CF, who is our son, Maks’ best friend. In fact, they play together in our home every day (I took this shot just minutes ago – can’t get that boy to smile for the camera – maybe if I had Canon cameras…). While right now there is no way to tell that the kids are different on the outside, Jackson has to take a number of pills every day and participate in an hour of therapy every day to maintain his health.

We have a strong belief that the doctors will find the cure for this disease in our lifetime, and we want to continue raising money for this cause.

Brett and Carmen are participating in a fundraising event, Great Strides, this coming Saturday. I am helping them with the fundraising for the event. 100% of all donations go directly to the foundation and into research surrounding the disease.

This time there is an extra incentive to donate. Our friends at Adobe have been kind enough and donated a couple of items to help the fundraising. The two items are two full licenses to Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended, or to any product within the CS5 family (InDesign, Acrobat Pro, Dreamweaver, etc.), if you already own CS5. Here is how we will give those two awesome prizes away.

First, we’ll give away the license to a CS5 product to the largest donor this week.

Second, all remaining donors will be entered into a random drawing for the second license.

To donate, please go to the donation page I set up and make a contribution there.

Here are the rules of how to enter.

- Any small donation counts and will be entered into the drawing.
- You have to donate before Noon, Pacific Time on Friday, May 21st. The drawing and winners will be announced here on the blog shortly after that.
- After you donate, if you want to double your chance of winning, you can do so by sharing the link to this post on your blog, on Twitter, or on Flickr and then sending me the link via email (ivan@ivanmakarov.com), so I remember to put your name in the drawing twice.
- The winners will be able to choose between Mac or PC versions, or other CS5 product.

That’s all! If you have a few spare bucks in your pocket for a good cause, and if you’re interesting in getting a license to an Adobe CS5 product, this is your chance.

Last Saturday was a beautiful “summer” day here in the Northern California and we headed down to Carmel to the beach. Maks kept asking that we go, and I had a hard time saying no this time, seeing how I just bought a lens I’ve been long dreaming about – the beautiful Nikon 85mm f/1.4.

I love that lens for two reasons. First, it is extremely sharp – definitely the sharpest lens I ever shot with. This shot shows you how sharp it is at f/1.4, but it gets even better once I hit f/2.8. Second, I love that lens for how it renderes the out-of-focus area of the photo. When I first rented that lens, I never wanted to shoot with my 50mm ever again.

I plan on using that lens mostly for portrait and family shots.

This photo was taken just 6 minutes after the one I posted earlier. As I had my son with me, I couldn’t walk too far from the parking lot. I just set my tripod in the same spot, and kept turning it back. This kind of light was just about anywhere I looked.

This one was taken when color was at its peak. The sun went down right behind the oak tree, and this is where the color exploded the most or about 10 minutes after the sunset.

Nikon D300
42mm, 1/30 sec, f/16, ISO 200
No filters (silhouette was the intention)