Alien Skin software is offering a 20% discount on everything in the Alien Skin Store. The sale lasts until 21 October. Alien Skin Software makes Photoshop plug-ins for photographers and graphic designers. Some of their products include Exposure, Blow Up, Bokeh, Snap Art and Image Doctor.

Website: Alien Skin

In addition to the special rebates announced two months ago, Tamron USA now has a mail-in rebate offer on its two newest lenses: SP AF17-50mm F/2.8 XR VC Di II LD Aspherical IF and SP AF60mm F/2.0 Di II LD IF 1:1 Macro. The two new lenses are designed for APS-C size DSLRs and are available in Canon and Nikon mounts (plus Sony in the case of the macro). The $25 rebate is valid on purchases of these lenses made by US residents at an authorized Tamron USA retailer from 15 October 2009 through 31 December 2009. As noted, there are other, ongoing rebates on offer too: consumers receive $70 back on the 18-270mm VC and $60 on the 18-200mm, both popular and award-winning all-in-one zooms, when purchased between until the end of this year

Pentax Japan has announced a limited-edition, multicoloured version of the new Pentax K-x digital SLR camera. If you can’t choose from the black, white, red and blue colour schemes offered, you can now have all of them combined, with yellow and grey thrown in as a bonus. You do have to live in Japan though, and be quick to place an order, as the multicoloured version announced today comes in a very limited quantity - only 100 such K-x kits will be produced. Pentax took the inspiration from the hand-made, wooden “Korejanai” toy robot that has been quite popular in Japan for years. The top of the built-in flash even features the face of the robot! If you thought the camera itself was a toy too, you would be mistaken: the camera body and lens specifications are the same as that of the regular K-x.

Website: Pentax K-x “Korejanai” Press Release in Japanese

An exhibition from the pages of Dispatches’ first five issues will be held in Bar 61, 3 rue de l’Oise, Paris. The exhibition opens at 7 p.m. on 20 October and runs until 1 November 2009. Dispatches is a quarterly that has been conceived “to fit somewhere between Gutenberg and Google, a lively source of fresh knowledge about a world changing at warp speed in a format for people who savour the heft of words and images on paper”. The exhibition features photographs by Antonin Kratochvil, Yuri Kozyrev, Seamus Murphy, Gary Knight and Philip Blenkinsop.

Website: Dispatches

The UK band Editors have decided to promote their new album in a unique way - they have augmented Google Street View’s London content with their own custom panoramic photos!  Within each location the user can hear music from the album, which was inspired by the mood and magic of London at night. Each of the nine tracks on the album has its own location which are unavailable on the regular Street View. Editors modified version of Google Maps allows users to enter into these locations and make the transition from light to dark so fans can explore the band’s atmospheric vision of London at night. The shots for this projects were taken by photographer James Royall in multiple parts using a 180-degree fish-eye lens, and stitched together using PTGui. .

Website: Editors Custom Street Views

X-Rite has announced a free webinar entitled “Raw Color Power with Adobe Lightroom and ColorChecker Passport”. Topics covered include white balance and camera calibration, creating and applying DNG camera profiles in Lightroom & Photoshop, one-click image enhancements, matching colour response with different cameras and matching colour response under different lighting conditions. The webinar takes place at 10 a.m. GMT on 23 October 2009. To register, visit the website below.

Website: RAW COLOR POWER with Adobe Lightroom and ColorChecker Passport

Lexar announced today it will host presentations from critically acclaimed Lexar Elite Photographers Jerry Avenaim, Douglas Dubler, and Rick Sammon during PhotoPlus Expo 2009 at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. These world-renowned digital photographers will share their latest work, imaging tips and techniques, and best practices with visitors in the Lexar Media booth (#1036) on October 22-24, 2009. Additional information on these and other Lexar Elite Photographers, as well as their photography and techniques can be found at the website below.

Website: Lexar Digital Photography

PhotographyBB has just announced the release of the Portrait Magic Pro Action Package for Photoshop. Portrait Magic Pro retains natural skin texture while smoothing imperfections, blemishes, and wrinkles. Additionally, the actions apply a unique portrait sharpening enhancement to give your portraits an instant one-click retouch in seconds.  Detail in the eyes, hair, and teeth are preserved while skin is naturally smoothed. The package launches with a 30% discount on this action pack (and all existing action packs) by using the COUPON CODE: ATN30 in the shopping cart at: http://www.photographybb.com/actions

Canon has announced its free Easy Photo-Print App, which is now available on the App store. The Canon Easy Photo-Print App enables wireless photo printing from your iPhone or iPod touch to a compatible Canon PIXMA printer via a wireless network with a few taps. The app allows users to print photos as large as 8 1/2 x 11 on six different types of paper. Additionally, this new application allows consumers to print up to 20 copies at one time to a compatible Canon PIXMA printer, PIXMA MP990, MP640 and MP560 Wireless Photo All-in-One Printers.The Canon Easy-PhotoPrint App is available for free from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch.

Photo-i has just launched its latest DVD title, A Guide to Digital Printing and Scanning. Written and presented by Vincent Oliver, photographer and editor of photo-i.co.uk, this 2 hours and 54 minutes DVD shows you how to get the best from your printer and scanner in an easy-to-follow way. Topics covered include choosing a printer, colour management, profiling a monitor, creating custom printer profiles, choosing the right paper, optimising photographs for printing, printer settings for monochrome, scanning film and prints, and more. A Guide to Digital Printing and Scanning has been produced in association with Epson and is available to buy online at the website below.

Website: photo-i

Rocky Nook have just announced a new title, Mastering the Nikon D90 by Darrell Young.  Each chapter explores in detail the features and capabilities of the D90, surpassing basic user manuals by providing step-by-step menu setting adjustments coupled with illustrations, logical explanations, and personal recommendations for each option. Young’s writing style supplies the reader with directions in a friendly and informative manner, “as if a friend dropped in to share his experience and knowledge,” the publisher claims. An entire chapter is devoted to the D-Movie mode. Mastering the Nikon D90 is available for $34.95, £26.99.

Review: Read our in-depth review of the Nikon D90

Photographer and inventor Don Zeck has announced the “Don Zeck Lens Cap” for long telephoto lenses. While many high-end telephoto lenses from Canon come equipped with only a “sock” to cover the lens and lens hood, the Don Zeck lens cap has been engineered for superior protection from scratches, dust, rain and other hazards. The lens cap is equipped with a collapsible low-profile handle, so that the cap can easily be mounted or removed while the hood is in either the shooting or stored position. Don Zeck lens caps come in a variety of sizes to match some of the most expensive long telephoto lenses from Canon, and will shortly be available for a range of Nikkors as well. The innovative lens caps are available through the website below.

Website: Don Zeck Lens Cap

Nikon has posted a number of sample photos taken with the new Nikon D3s DSLR at sensitivity settings ranging from ISO 200/24° to ISO 12,800/42°. Six full-resolution sample shots are available for download. All of them are JPEGs, though one was originally shot in NEF format. The lenses used for capturing the sample images include the 400mm f/2.8G ED VR, the 600mm f/4G ED VR, the new 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II and the 14-24mm f/2.8G ED. The majority of the photographs were taken at high ISOs, though none was captured using a boosted setting (Hi1, Hi2 or Hi3).

Website: Nikon D3s Sample Images

Kelby Training LIVE has just announced Scott Kelby’s Photoshop for Digital Photographers one-day seminar tour. It includes five classes, covering editing images in Adobe Camera Raw, portrait retouching techniques, shooting and creating HDR images, printing techniques that will help you get what you see on screen, as well as Scott’s very own step-by-step Photoshop editing workflow from start to finish. The Scott Kelby’s Photoshop for Digital Photographers seminar tour officially debuts on Oct. 26 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Registrations are taken online at KelbyTrainingLIVE, or by calling 800-201-7323, Monday-Friday, 8:30am to 7:00pm EST.  Following Boston, the new tour travels to Philadelphia on Nov. 2 at the Philadelphia Convention Center. The entire day of training is $99 USD or $79 USD for members of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP).

Twelve reproductions of photographs printed by Ansel Adams are now available from The Ansel Adams Gallery at affordable prices. The most recent additions to the the Ansel Adams Gallery’s collection of Ansel Adams Archival Replicas include four black-and-white images, “Banner Peak, Thousand Island Lake” made by Adams in 1923, “Frozen Lake and Cliffs (1935), “Leaves, Mt. Rainier” (1942) and “Vernal Fall” (1948, see above). Ansel Adams Archival Replicas are digital reproductions of photographic prints made by Ansel Adams. “The imaging process used is coupled with digital printers that use 12 inks, including four shades of gray to give the Archival Replicas the full range of tone and hue of gelatin silver prints,” said Matthew Adams, grandson of the artist. Ansel Adams Archival Replicas range in size from 7 by 9” to 30 by 38” and cost from $79 to $999, depending upon size, mounting, matting and framing. Ansel Adams Archival Replicas can be viewed in Yosemite Valley at The Ansel Adams Gallery and online at the website below.

Website: AnselAdams.com

On October 22, Swann Auction Galleries is holding a Photographs & Photographic Literature Sale, featuring works ranging from the earliest days of photography through images by modern masters. Some of the works, including a series of portraits by Diane Arbus, are expected to sell for $20,000 to $30,000 each. Others, such as Richard Avedon’s nude portrait of Rudolf Nureyev or Ansel Adams’s landscape shot, Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park, California, are estimated to be sold for $30,000 to $40,000. Other interesting items include a “mural-sized” chromogenic print of Marilyn Monroe, an album containing Los Angeles Police Department photographs from the years 1917 through 1942, as well as a selection of rare salted paper prints by William Henry Fox Talbot, one of the inventors of photography itself (pictured above).

Trek-Tech is introducing the new and improved TrekPod II, a three-in-one monopod, tripod and hiking staff. It weighs only 28 ounces but can support 200 pounds as a hiking staff. As a hiking staff and monopod, the TrekPod II adjusts from 43 inches to 62.5 inches. Trek-Tech’s patented quick release ball head and a rugged carry-case that fits airline carry-on are now included with every TrekPod II. In tripod mode the TrekPod II telescopes from 39 inches to 57.5 inches. The TrekPod II breaks down into two pieces and fits in the included travel case. The price of the TrekPod II is $99.

The Stock Artists Alliance (SAA) has announced that it will merge with the Alliance of Visual Artists (AVA), an umbrella organisation representing five photographic associations and some 45,000 professional photographers worldwide. With the merger of the two groups, SAA becomes the sixth photographic association to join AVA’s family, which also includes Professional Photographers of America (PPA), Society of Sport and Event Photographers (SEP), Evidence Photographers International Council (EPIC), Student Photographic Society (SPS) and Commercial Photographers International (CPI).

A new company called Livedrive has an online storage and backup product with advanced photo functionality. The Livedrive product offers unlimited storage, and automatically backs up files. Additionally, Livedrive includes JPEG file editing, raw file thumbnail support, FTP access, quick and easy file sharing and more - all within the web browser, making it easy to access, edit, and share from any device. Livedrive boasts Facebook, Flickr, and SmugMug integration, so users can just drag and drop photos from Livedrive easily. Livedrive is also accessible from mobile devices, with special support for iPhone and Blackberry users.

Website: Livedrive