The latest version of DxO OpticsPro was introduced right before PhotoPlus Expo. It can be used as a standalone app or integrated in to a Lightroom 5.7 workflow. And for RAW shooters, it adds a fast, powerful way to process those files.

The starting point workspace for DxO OpticsPro. It can be configured to your tastes.

In my opinion, DxO OpticsPro is for photographers who want their images to shine, but who don't necessarily want to spend a lot of time fiddling with them in post. The software has a knack for bringing out the best in a photograph through its intelligent algorithms and lens profiles that correct distortion, minimize noise, enhance contrast. And with the latest version, removes haze via a new feature called ClearView.

I wrote about ClearView in an article titled, New ClearView Feature Shines in DxO OpticsPro 10. In short, it wipes away atmospheric haze for landscapes, and air pollution for urban scenes. I also discuss how to integrate DxO with Lightroom 5.7 in the article.

The bottom line is this: DxO OpticsPro 10 Elite costs $149 (through Dec. 25th) and is an intelligent, easy-to-use RAW processor that produces beautiful results.

It runs on Mac or Windows computers, can also fine-tune Tiffs and Jpegs, and supports camera and lens profiles for most popular hardware. In my case, all of my Canon, Olympus, and Panasonic gear had profiles.

And to be honest, I really like what it does to my RAW files.

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For the Oct. 2014 Photo Assignment, TDS shooters got their feet wet. See for yourself in our gallery, Water. And which one will be the SizzlPix Pick of the Month?

Photo by Glenn Hubbers. Glenn writes, "I took this shot at sunrise after being out for half the night trying my hand at astrophotography. Despite going out to capture star trails, (which was a failure that will need more practice!) I decided to hang out to see the sunrise. After all was said and done, I thought this shot was the best of the trip. I had travelled for the weekend up to Tobermory, Ontario to get away from light pollution. It was a great trip, just me and my camera kit hanging out for the weekend." See all of the great images from this month's assignment by visiting the gallery, Water.

Participate in This Month's Assignment

The Dec. 2014 assignment is "Frozen." Details can be found on the Member Participation page. Deadline is Dec. 31, 2014. No limit on image size submitted.

Please follow the instructions carefully for labeling the subject line of the email for your submission. It's easy to lose these in the pile of mail if not labeled correctly. For example, the subject line for this month's assignment should be: "Photo Assignment: Dec. 2014." Also, if you can, please don't strip out the metadata. And feel free to add any IPTC data you wish (These fields in particular: Caption, Credit, Copyright, Byline), I use that for the caption info.

Gallery posting is one month behind the deadline. So I'm posting Oct. 2014 gallery at the end of Nov., the Nov. gallery will be posted at the end of Dec., and on and on.

Good luck with your December assignment, and congratulations to all of the fine contributors for October.

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Being a photographer, I know how difficult it can be to shop for one. For example, right now I would love to have the new Panasonic Lumix GM5 mirrorless camera. Unfortunately, it costs $897. I don't really have any friends who like me that much. (But, hey, the shipping is free!)

But I do have folks in my circle who will spend $25, $50, or even $75 for something special. So I wrote the article 11 Great Gifts for Photographers - All Under $100 for those who care about the shooters in their lives, and want to get them a goodie for the holidays.

For example, did you know that you can get the versatile Lowepro Photo Hatchback 16L AW for $55? That will knock their Christmas socks off! And there's more...

Hop over to the lynda.com Article Center and peruse 11 Great Gifts for Photographers - All Under $100. It just might save you $800.

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This week on The Digital Story Photography Podcast: Manual Exposure Mode Situations, Photo Q&A: How to Shoot a Buffalo, Gifts for Photographers Under $100, a Surprise Birthday Party - All of this and more on today's show with Derrick Story.

Snapshot - The Birthday Party - I think it's difficult going to an event as a civilian, then suddenly being pressed in to duty for the big shot. I discuss a case in point in this week's snapshot.

Weekly Update - Cactus V6 update adds Micro Four Thirds and Metz flashguns to wireless control list - Olympus FL-50R, FL-36R and Panasonic FL-500R and FL-360R. (Source: DP Review)

In other news, Rumor: FAA may kill commercial drone operations by requiring a full pilots' license (Source: Imaging-Resource)

And finally, 20 Dos and Don'ts for Shooting the Moon - Do use a tripod and telephoto lens; don't use a slow shutter speed and image stabilization. (Source: Digital Photography School).

Manual exposure was used to capture this NY night scene. Photo by Derrick Story.

Story #1 - 5 Situations for Manual Exposure:

1. Nighttime exposures outside
2. Fill flash indoors
3. Off-camera flash outdoors
4. Flowing waterfalls
5. Street shooting

Story #2 - Photo Q&A with Leah - "Shooting Dark Objects in Contrasty Midday Light" - Leah wants to photograph a buffalo. To help her, I cover RAW, spot metering, and recovering shadow detail. 

Story #3 - 10 Photo Gifts Under $100 - I've published a fun post over at lynda.com Article Center with some terrific gift ideas for photographers, under $100. Here are a few of my favorites from that list:

• Joby GorillaPod Micro 800 Tripod ($20)
• Nanuk 903 Case ($30)
• Kenu Stance Compact Tripod for iPhone ($29)

Virtual Camera Club News

Photo Assignment for December 2014 is "Frozen".

Red River Paper - Save 10 percent off your next order of inkjet paper and greeting cards. Good one per customer. Use discount code STORY10X - Ends 1/15/15.

And Finally...

If you haven't done so already, please post a review for The Digital Story Podcast in iTunes.

BTW: If you're ordering through B&H or Amazon, please click on the respective ad tile under the Products header in the box half way down the 2nd column on thedigitalstory.com. That helps support the site.

Download the Show

In addition to subscribing in iTunes, you can also download the podcast file here (37 minutes). You can support this podcast by purchasing the TDS iPhone App for only $2.99 from the Apple App Store.

More Ways to Participate

Want to share photos and talk with other members in our virtual camera club? Check out our Flickr Public Group. And from those images, I choose the TDS Member Photo of the Day.

Podcast Sponsors

lynda.com - Learn lighting, portraiture, Photoshop skills, and more from expert-taught videos at lynda.com/thedigitalstory.

Red River Paper -- Keep up with the world of inkjet printing, and win free paper, by liking Red River Paper on Facebook.

SizzlPix! - High resolution output for your photography. You've never seen your imagery look so good. SizzlPix.com. SizzlPix! now is qualified for PayPal "Bill Me Later," No payments, No interest for up to 6 months, which means, have your SizzlPix! now, and pay nothing until June!

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When Canon announced its compact EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM lens for $149, the only real question was its performance. And now we have more information about that too.

PhotographyBlog reports in their post, Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM Review:

"Image quality is very good. Centre sharpness is excellent even at the maximum aperture, and almost as impressive at the edges of the frame. Chromatic aberrations are fairly well controlled, although there's obvious vignetting at the maximum aperture and some barrel distortion too. The lens doesn't ship with a hood, although it didn't really exhibit any unwanted flare effects."

They went on to give it 4.5 stars, stating that "We can strongly recommend the Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM as an extremely small and lightweight prime lens for APS-C DSLR owners that won't break the bank."

I think this optic would be particularly attractive to Rebel and 70D owners. You can read all the details for yourself over at PhotographyBlog.com.

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I've been using the Lumu light meter for iPhone since it was first released. Using the dongle along with the Lumu Photo app, I could employ my smartphone for incident light measurements.

Now, with version 2.0, photographers can take reflective readings too - no dongle required. Lumu Photo uses the iPhone's camera for reading the light. So all you have to do is download the app, fire it up, and start taking meter readings. And if you need spot readings, just tap on the screen in the area that you want to measure.

Lumu Photo can be a lifesaver for analog film shooters with non-metering cameras. But this app is also handy for evaluating scenes, double-checking your camera's light meter, and of course, taking incident measurements if you have the Lumu dongle (which happens to be on sale at the moment).

I tested the performance of the reflective meter with an iPhone 5S, and the readouts were very accurate, producing excellent exposures. The app also includes the ability to save meter readings, along with location data, and your notes via iCloud, then synced across devices. Again, great for scouting missions for both photo and video projects.

Speaking of which, Luma also makes a Video and Pinhole app.

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Note: Now that Black Friday is over, so is the special price for this kit. It does, however, remain in the store at $34.95.

A great deal in the Nimble Photographer Store for 24 hours only - the Walking Man Shoulder Bag + Dual-Function Stylus Pen + microfiber cloth - entire kit for $19.95 (regular $34.95). Here's more about it.

Take the stairs instead of the elevator - You're light on your feet with the Walking Man Shoulder Bag slung across your back.

The Urban Explorer Kit includes our classic Shoulder Bag designed by Lowepro and made of recycled material (it's planet friendly!), the Dual-Function Nimble Stylus Pen (perfect for iPad browsing in a restaurant or coffee shop), and the "I have a high nimbleosity rating" Microfiber cloth (for keeping your electronics and optics nice and shiny).

The kit comes packed with the Stylus Pen and Microfiber Cloth nestled in their dedicated pockets inside the Shoulder Bag. Plus, we include a holiday gift bag. So all you have to do is sign the card and present the gift.

The Black Friday Sale Price is effective until 11:59 PM on Friday Nov. 28th. Offer good while supplies last.

I was just contacted by the folks at Ghost Drone, letting me know that they have an IndieGoGo project going that can get backers flying for as little as $375. The other thing that caught my eye, as a potential pilot with no experience, is that they claim that the Ghost "is the world's easiest drone to fly. It is perfect for first-timers and experienced pilots alike."

OK, you've got my attention.

The basic kit doesn't include a gimbal (stabilizing camera mount), so it's more for learning to fly, then you can add your own gimbal later if you wish. But if you're willing to back the project for $599, you get everything your need to mount a GoPro camera to the Ghost and start recording images and video from above. If you don't have a camera already, there's a $979 package that includes the Ghost Drone, gimbal, and GoPro4 Silver Edition. This is considerably less than the DJI Inspire-1 for $2,800 (without controller) that I wrote about last week.

Speaking of controllers, you don't have to buy one for the Ghost Drone because it uses an iPhone or Android device to control it. The software is free. "Travel light with just your phone, and let Auto Mode do the flying, so you can focus on generating the perfect shot. Point your finger on the map, and the drone flies to that spot. No bulky RC controller to carry around. Just your phone and a small G-Box."

Ghost is going to send me the $375 basic kit in January so I can test it. My backing is this blog post. Their focus at the moment is trying to raise as much capital as possible via the IndieGoGo project, which is open only until Dec. 10, 2014.

If you want to try your hand at ariel photography, but have been nervous before about your skill level or making a big investment, there are still good deals available for backers. Then we'll all get together in February and compare notes.

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This week on The Digital Story Photography Podcast: All (Backup) Systems Go, Mirrorless Camera Recommendations, Nimble Black Friday, Workshops Update - All of this and more on today's show with Derrick Story.

Snapshot - "After the Rain" - I keep my Canon S110 on the kitchen counter so I can grab it on my way out the door. On this afternoon, I captured not one, but two beautiful shots as a result. Here's the story about why I'm glad I had a compact and not just my iPhone.

Weekly Update - MacBook Pro 13" with Retina Display. I needed a new travel computer. And since Apple hasn't put a Retina Display on the 13" Air, I went with the MacBook Pro that was released in Aug. 2014.

The specs are pretty good: 2.8 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GBs of RAM, and 512 GB SSD hard drive. How's it performing? I'll provide an update in this segment.

In other news, There will be a Nimble Black Friday. What might the special be?

Story #1 - All (Backup) Systems Go, 5 Tips for Year End Archive Maintenance: Spin up old hard drives, update photo management libraries to current versions, review your cloud storage strategy, evaluate and adjust your backup hardware for the new year, and finally, make 6 archival prints of your best shots. I go into detail in this segment of the show.

Story #2 - My Recommendations for Mirrorless and Premium Compacts - here's a list of new, high performance cameras that you won't want to miss.

Story #3 - TDS Workshops Update - Reservation forms have been sent for the SF Street Shooting Workshop, and we're going to most likely adjust the dates for the Aperture to Photos event currently scheduled in February. More on this during the podcast.

Virtual Camera Club News

Photo Assignment for November 2014 is "Layers".

Red River Paper - Save 10 percent off your next order of inkjet paper and greeting cards. Good one per customer. Use discount code STORY10X - Ends 1/15/15.

A Note from SizzlPix

Special for TDS listeners, a 20 percent discount on all SizzlPix ordered, now through end of November. Using the comment space on the newly streamlined SizzlPix order page, write "TDS 20 percent discount."

And Finally...

If you haven't done so already, please post a review for The Digital Story Podcast in iTunes.

BTW: If you're ordering through B&H or Amazon, please click on the respective ad tile under the Products header in the box half way down the 2nd column on thedigitalstory.com. That helps support the site.

In addition to subscribing in iTunes, you can also download the podcast file here (34 minutes). You can support this podcast by purchasing the TDS iPhone App for only $2.99 from the Apple App Store.

More Ways to Participate

Want to share photos and talk with other members in our virtual camera club? Check out our Flickr Public Group. And from those images, I choose the TDS Member Photo of the Day.

Podcast Sponsors

lynda.com - Learn lighting, portraiture, Photoshop skills, and more from expert-taught videos at lynda.com/thedigitalstory.

Red River Paper -- Keep up with the world of inkjet printing, and win free paper, by liking Red River Paper on Facebook.

SizzlPix! - High resolution output for your photography. You've never seen your imagery look so good. SizzlPix.com. SizzlPix! now is qualified for PayPal "Bill Me Later," No payments, No interest for up to 6 months, which means, have your SizzlPix! now, and pay nothing until May!

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As we wind down 2014, many photographers are thinking about year-end purchases and gifts. For those who appreciate quality and nimbleosity, I've published my recommendations for mirrorless and premium compact cameras in the post, The Gift-Giver's Guide to Premium Compact and Mirrorless Cameras on the lynda.com Article Center.

The guide is organized by four categories. Here are those categories and an overview of the cameras that I think have the right stuff.

The Well-Heeled Traveler

• Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LX100 ($899)
• Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 III ($798)
• Canon PowerShot G7 X ($699)

The Serious Enthusiast

• Fujifilm X-T1 Mirrorless Digital Camera with 18-55mm Lens ($1,599)
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH4 4K Mirrorless Micro Four Thirds Digital Camera (Body Only) On sale right now for $1,497 and a $50 B&H gift card is included.
• Olympus OM-D E-M1 (body only) ($1,299)

The Emerging Artist

• Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mirrorless Micro Four Thirds Digital Camera with 14-42mm Lens ($799) - Includes an Olympus Nylon Camera Case for OM-D E-M10 and Stylus 1 Cameras (Black)
• Sony Alpha a6000 Mirrorless Digital Camera with 16-50mm Lens ($698)

The Flat Out Bargain

You can read all about these recommendations over at lynda.com Article Center.

Join me on my Instagram site as I explore the world of mobile photography. And now Instagram features 15-second movies too.

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