Some items you might find to be of interest. Click 'read more' to read more.

Some software for photographic freelancers:

FotoBiz looks pretty comprehensive, with a FotoQuote stock pricing module. It's written in FileMaker and is extensible. $229.

An index of software for photographers over at stockphoto.net. Not a very focused list, but maybe worth a look if you can't find anything else.

I've been trying to find some relatively easy software solutions to the problem of tracking photography submissions to various publishers. There are a bunch of options for freelance writers, but none I can find for photographers.

However, I did find this nifty run-down of IMS (Image Management Systems) software, at the Technical Advisory Services for Images, an academic standards group.

I doubt whether it's right to call them 'cult classics,' but this web page does a great job of telling you which third-party lenses are worth checking out.

Of particular interest to me is the Tamron section, which exposes me as a fraud; maybe I am part of the Cult Of Tamron.

A variety of topics dealing with editing digital images.

I've recently been learning a lot about the L*a*b (or Lab) color space, for image manipulation.

To see why, here's a simple experiment you can do: Open up an image in Photoshop and convert it from RGB mode to Lab Color mode. Add a Curves effect layer (or just edit the curve) and tweak the a and b channels. Choke them down so that a 90% input equals a 100% output, and a 10% input equals a 0% output.

Now compare the original image to the tweak. You can't do this by simply turning up the saturation, either...

So here's some stuff dealing with L*a*b color. More to come on this topic, for sure.

The Tamron Professional Learning Center isn't so professional as you might think, but it's also a whole lot of useful information.

A Simplified Zone System For Making Good Exposures

Norman Koren walks you through the basics.

I'm a sucker for a DIY project:

Build a Pentax Cable Release F out of spare parts.

And to replace the CS-205:

Making an electronic cable release for use with DSLR's.

The latter project has the benefit of being useful for non-Pentax cameras, as well.

I'd like to find a kit for making a timer device. Anyone know of any?

Some things you might need to know about using Tamron Adaptall-2 lenses with your Pentax K-mount camera.

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