Kia Ora:

1. As many of you know, I am a big fan of plug-ins. One of my favourites is the PhotoSuitecollection from Onone software. Genuine Fractals is a particular favourite of mine, especially when I’m upsizing for an exhibition. Phototools is a collection of really valuable actions, which allow you to read a wide range of effects. Now the nice people over there have released PhotoTools Lite, which is a free plug-in for PhotoShop CSx. you can download it either here or by linking from the graphic at the top of this post.
2. Onone have also released a remote control application which allows you to control your Canon  DSLR from your iPhone. You can download it from the iTunes store. While it is Canon-only at the moment, a Nikon version is about four weeks away.
3. If you run Microsoft Windows Vista, and have your Windows updates set to do it automatically,then you will probably have noticed is offering to install Service Pack 2. Be advised: this may or may not work (it certainly didn’t in my case!). I spent a frustrating hour and a half, while it  attempted to install itself , accompanied by at least two instances of the dreaded BSOD (blue screen of death), then another half-hour while it rolled back the install. My suggestion: if you don’t know what you’re doing, stay well away, or get an expert to do it for you. You might also want to wait, since Windows 7, the successor to Vista, will be out before Christmas, and by all accounts, it is stable, speedy, and a worthy successor to Windows XP.Mac aficionados will of course be laughing their heads off at this point!
4. Oh, and on the subject of Photosuite, Onone Software have just featured me as one of their exemplar photographers. To read more, go here.