exposure

Let's face it: How much sun is too much sun is, for most of us, one giant guessing game. We can use all the sunscreen we want and watch the clock like hawks, but the surest signs that we've had too much -- the pink burn, the blisters, the vomiting -- come well after the damage has been done.

Chemistry professors at the University of Strathclyde in Sweden hope to remove some of the guesswork with their UV-detecting wristband, which they plan to bring to market in 2013.

The device, which uses what is called UV dosimeter technology, relies on concepts that have been used in clinical research for years. An acid-release agent decomposes in sunlight, while a dye responds to pH levels, so that as sun exposure increases the color of the band gradually shifts from yellow to pink.… Read more

CyberLink PhotoDirector is an all-in-one photography workflow program that lets you manage, retouch, enhance, share, and print your digital photos. With its intuitive workflow and nondestructive editing environment, it appears to be a great choice for beginners and intermediate users. Plus, with the possibilities furnished by the robust DirectorZone.com community, it might even work for more-advanced users as well.

One change you'll notice from the last version is that the PhotoDirector interface is now split into five main viewing panels as opposed to three: Library, Adjustment, Edit, Slideshow, and Print.

The Library presents all of your digital photos … Read more

CyberLink PhotoDirector 2011 is an all-in-one photography program that lets you manage, retouch, enhance, and share your digital photos. With its intuitive workflow and nondestructive editing environment, we think it's a great choice for beginners and intermediate users. Plus, with the possibilities furnished by the robust DirectorZone.com community, it might even work for more-advanced users as well.

PhotoDirector is split up into three main viewing panels: Library, for managing and sifting through your photos; Adjustment, for retouching and enhancing; and Slideshow for turning your stills into moving masterpieces.

The Library presents all of your digital photos in an … Read more

For the past couple of years, I have been writing the iPhone apps of the week in this space. But we've decided that instead of the same old app rundown, we're going to do something a little different. Starting this week, we're going to be putting together three apps that fulfill a specific theme. We're going to try to introduce one or two new apps and put them alongside older classics in the category. This way, you will be able to compare new apps with older ones, and also, find out about apps in the category that you may not have seen before.

This week's apps revolve around your iPhone's camera capabilities. The first one is a popular app for snapping old-school photos, the second lets you take photos that make objects appear miniature, and the third is a newer app for chronicling gradual changes in your appearance.

Hipstamatic ($1.99) is an extremely popular app that turns your iPhone's digital camera into an old-school single-shot camera of the past to give your images that grainy, washed-out (in a good way) retro look. The interface is a bit confusing at first, but you'll soon figure out how to switch among different types of retro film, different types of lenses, and even effects for different types of flashes. You can switch between each of the different variables with a swipe of your finger, with dramatically different results depending on the combination you choose before taking your snapshot.… Read more

On Call runs every two weeks, alternating between answering reader questions and discussing hot topics in the cell phone world.

Next Monday, the Environmental Quality Committee of the California State Senate will hold its first hearing on a bill that would require retailers in the state to inform consumers of the possible health risks of cell phone use. SB 932, which was introduced by Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), would add notices on product packaging and at the point of sale explaining that phones emit radio frequency (RF) energy. If it passes, it would be the first statewide law of … Read more

While I know which camera I should recommend to my friends, I find it hard to suggest which camera bag they should get since I own only two. Don't get me wrong. I love bags, and camera bags in particular. But for those who must get a new carrier every month, there's Bag Exposure.

This is the first site I've came across that has a comprehensive library of camera bags. The portal doesn't offer in-depth reviews of the carriers, but lets you know what's special about the bag and how much it can hold. There … Read more

We possess some basic knowledge about photography and photo editing, but occasionally we encounter a photography-related program that we don't fully understand. Fortunately, one of us is married to a photographer, and he comes in pretty handy when we have questions. So it went with ExposurePlot. We understood that the program displayed EXIF info for groups of images in a bar graph format, but we didn't understand why.

"I don't understand why, either," said our photographer-husband as we looked at ExposurePlot together. The Overview tab of the program was displaying four bar graphs depicting the … Read more

The ubiquity of computers in the workplace has created a legion of workers who spend long days typing and staring at screens, often to the detriment of their bodies and their productivity. Oh, we know we should take breaks to rest our eyes, wrists, and minds, but that's difficult to do when the work seems never-ending and deadlines are looming. WorkPace is an ingenious program that reminds--or forces--you to take periodic breaks, ensuring that both your mind and body have a chance to refresh themselves.

The program is extremely well-designed, and first-time users will find a thorough introductory video … Read more

Able RAWer is, ostensibly, a program that allows users to edit raw images and export them in a nonproprietary file type. Unfortunately, Able RAWer is way more trouble than it's worth.

The interface is a disaster. It's completely unintuitive, a characteristic that is aggravated by the program's lack of a Help file. It took us way longer than necessary to figure out how to use the program, especially given the fact that its features are quite basic. Editing is done in a separate window that does not allow users to view the entire image at full size, … Read more