Black Friday/Cyber Monday Deals for Photographers

I haven’t seen too many Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals of interest for photographers recently. So on this Thanksgiving-eve, I thought I’d pass along a couple of items.

First up, I got an email from Adobe offering deals on its software titles until November 29. I’m always a little skeptical because I can usually find better prices on Amazon; but this is actually a good one. You can buy the full version of Photoshop CS5 for $549. The best price I found on Amazon was $610. Lightroom 3 is $199 which is about 3-dollars less than the price on Amazon. The fine print says you have to click the “buy” button and the discount will be applied when you add it to your cart. Click the image above for the link.

This may not be breaking news, but did you know you can subscribe to Adobe titles instead of paying the full price? In the screen where you select the version, platform etc.; click the drop down menu for “version” and select “subscription”. For Photoshop CS5, for example, you can pay $49 every month or $35 a month with a yearly plan. Excluding the deal mentioned above, it could save you money over buying the full version; not to mention having to pay the upgrade price when a new version comes out.

Speaking of which, Scott Kelby recently wrote Adobe a letter regarding their upgrade policy. You can read it over at his blog.

That leads me to the next Cyber Monday deal: UPDATE 11/29/11: The following offer from NAPP and Kelby Training have been extended through Tuesday.

The folks over at NAPP and KelbyTraining.com are offering some pretty sweet deals on Monday. NOTE: I did read on Facebook that these deals are active now, so you don’t have to wait; but I haven’t tested it myself. Some of the deals include 6-months added to your NAPP subscription, $50 off one year of KelbyTraining or get one year of both NAPP and KelbyTraining for $199. If you’ve never heard of it, KelbyTraining is a great educational resource with online courses covering photography and software training. I credit it with teaching me Photoshop. Check out NAPP, if for nothing else, the discounts they offer on products and services photographers use. The discounts I got from Adobe and Apple  more than paid for my membership fee.

That’s it for now. If you see any deals out there, let me know. Until then, Happy Thanksgiving and happy shopping!

Adobe Photoshop Touch for Android Tablets

Adobe just announced a tablet application for Photoshop. It’s called Photoshop Touch and right now it’s just for Android tablets. That alone is a bit puzzling given the dominance of the iPad, but I’m sure it had something to do with programming on the Android platform that’s a bit over my head. Over on the Chase Jarvis blog, however, he says it’s coming to iOS.

The video looks like it has some pretty cool features including some quick search tools and compositing tools. I’m still trying to figure out who it’s for or what direction Adobe wants to go in. On the one hand, lots of  people use their phones to take pictures and then use apps to add effects. Photoshop Touch might be useful to an on-the-go photographer who can’t be tied down to a desktop or might not have Photoshop on a laptop. Then again, this initial roll-out seems aimed at the more casual photographer; giving them some basic tools to start with. Adobe also seems to be emphasizing the social sharing and cloud-based aspects as it did when it announced Carousel a few weeks ago. From the Photoshop blog:

Photoshop users interested in mobile design and photo editing will have the freedom to brainstorm and create in Photoshop Touch, and then access their artwork through the newly announced Adobe Creative Cloud to take it further in Photoshop CS5. Anyone can enjoy Photoshop Touch for quick social photo compositing…and share it out with friends.

Assuming you had an Android tablet, would you use Photoshop Touch?

Lightroom Deals and Tips

Amazon.com’s Gold Box deal of the day is Lightroom 3 for $188.99. That’s 37% off the full price.

Adobe is also offering a 10% discount on either Photoshop CS5 or Lightroom 3 with offer code: FEB10CSW1

Speaking of Lightroom here’s a good post from Tip Squirrel about 10 Things Beginners Should Know in Lightroom.

The Elements of Photography and More in Photo News Round-Up

If you’re still looking for gift ideas for photographers, check out this retro camera-looking Iphone/ITouch case from Etsy artist, Coolbeans 717.

Retro Camera Ipod Case

It’s 20-bucks plus shipping and the site says there’s only one available. But they are handmade (takes 5 days to make!) So I imagine the artist can make more. 

In other news, I wrote about this next item on the PetaPixel blog. It’s a concept design called the Underabove. As the name implies, it’s a camera with two lenses that takes a picture of what’s below the surface of the water and above and then stitches the images together.

The Underabove Camera

The design won a 2010 Red Dot award and works like a submarine, with a water filled ballast on the bottom and an air filled one on the top. It even has a timer for self-portraits and a flash.

And now, proof that photography is elemental.

Click to download hi-rez versions

I think they did a good job of grouping things together. I just wish they’d tell me the atomic weight!

Lastly, if you have Lightroom 3 or Photoshop CS5, make sure to download new updates. The updates fix some bugs and include updates to camera profiles for the lens correction feature.

Gift Ideas for Photographers

Black Friday is almost upon us and if you have a photographer on your list then you probably won’t get them anything they want. Why? Because the things we want include 16-hundred dollar lenses and 5-thousand dollar camera bodies. But no fear, you don’t have to break the bank.

In October, I blogged about stocking stuffers for photographers. I’m still on the look-out for great deals and gift ideas like these cool lens bracelets:

click for link to site

Lance Armstrong’s got nuthin’ on these! They’ll set you back about 10-bucks.

I blogged about this one too awhile back:

This next one costs more, but is still a great deal. Pro Studio Supply is selling Adobe Lightroom 3 for $219. That beats Amazon and B&H by about 60-bucks.

[UPDATE: 11:34AM] Just got an email from Adobe. Great prices on Photoshop Elements 9 and Lightroom 3.

That’s if for now. All the big name retailers (Adorama, B&H, Amazon) are advertising deals and promising Black Friday promotions; but I wanted to give you some options that won’t cost you an arm and a leg.

If I see any amazing deals, I’ll post them. If you hear of any, let me know. Until then, Happy Thanksgiving!