Kubota Image Tools has created a new set of image-enhancement functions, plus an application that helps pro photographers create magazine-style album pages for Adobe Photoshop CS2 or greater.

Version Four (V.4) of Artistic Tools features more than 40 new actions and is now available to the professional photography community. In addition, this new set of...

San Francisco photographer Peter Hobbs Digrazia was nominated in the Fine Art, Abstract and Nature categories at the Photography Masters Cup Contest, an online competition recognizing excellence in color photography. Digrazia also recently premiered his first show, "Asleep in America," at the Museums of Los Gatos in California.

Gallery locations: Denver and Breckenridge, Colo.

Favorite gear: The Linhof Master Technika 4 x 5 view camera and Fujichrome Velvia 100 film. "I used other field cameras while working my way up financially, and the Linhof Master Technika is the most durable for wilderness work, and the most flexible with movements," Fielder says. "I've destroyed several cameras, including Linhofs. The Master Technika is made of metal alloys, and it is the least destroyable field camera I've used..."

John Fielder's background in retail has helped him build a successful niche in high-quality local-interest calendars and books that show off his beloved Rocky Mountains.

It's one thing to take a photograph," says nature expert John Fielder, "but it is another thing, entirely, to sell it."

Colorado specialist Fielder excels at both of these difficult challenges. He's a seasoned and hardworking large-format nature and landscape photographer who runs a multifaceted business selling his work....

Rosanne Olson's new book on female body image

Sharing innermost thoughts with others can leave one feeling exposed, vulnerable — naked, even. These feelings can be even more intense when the subject is the person's own body. But the catharsis can also make a person stronger and more confident.

This theme was made literal in a recent project by Seattle fine-art and commercial photographer Rosanne Olson. Her first book, "This Is Who I Am," released in April 2008, is a collection of black-and-white nude studies of women — none of whom are professional models — from all ages, races, body types and walks of life. Juxtaposed with each photo are the stories of each woman as they courageously discuss their bodies with unflinching honesty.

After spending a large part of his career in Southeast Asia, photojournalist Richard Vogel thought he had seen every type of Buddha statue as he covered various religious shrines and festivals for the Associated Press. Until he saw this one in 1996.

While on a two-year stint in Thailand, Vogel came across this uncharacteristic Buddha representation in a well-hidden part of Bangkok. "I had no idea what that Buddha statue looked like and was very surprised when I saw it," he recalls. "It had these giant feet, which was very unusual, and people were praying and putting gold leaf on it."

Vogel, who prefers to be "as a fly on the wall," snapped this quiet image of a man praying at the Buddha’s heel and left him undisturbed. Later, Vogel transmitted the image to the AP wire, where it was sent worldwide...