Friday, November 06, 2009

Starting on Saturday 7 November in the Guardian and The Observer is a 9-part free booklet giveaway called 100 Years of Press Photography. Each booklet will be grouped by decade, starting with 1910s and 1920s in one part. The booklets promise to be a fantastic collection of images from the last century. The scope of the series ranges from hard news photographs from the front line of international conflicts to social documentary of everyday events, fashion photography and portraiture. Each instalment in the series offers a unique and surprising glance at the decade through the eyes of some of the world’s greatest photographers.

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liveBooks, providers of websites that allow creative professionals to promote and manage their businesses online, have announced that they had secured $5 million in funding from strategic and private investors, allowing the company to expand into new markets. This funding has also helped liveBooks to lower the cost of entry into the liveBooks suite, introduce a subscription-based service to “eliminate the need for front-loaded monetary commitments” and launch pre-designed site offerings. The company is now offering an array of pre-designed themes and layout options with subscriptions priced at $39 a month. To reflect the expansion of its business model and offerings, liveBooks have also re-launched their website.

Website: liveBooks

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Panasonic has launched a bid to take over Sanyo in a deal that would make it one of Japan’s biggest electronics companies. The Guardian says Panasonic is offering ¥402bn (£2.7bn) to secure a majority stake in Sanyo. According to CrunchGear, the new firm “will rival Japan’s biggest electronics company, Hitachi, in terms of sales”. The main reason for Panasonic’s interest in Sanyo, however, is that the takeover would fortify the former’s position in the field of “green” energy.

Via The Guardian | CrunchGear

Landscape and travel photographer David Noton has announced the next location in his series of inspirational evening events – the ‘Chasing the Light’ Road Shows. The event will take place at the Pennine Lecture Theatre, City Campus, Sheffield Hallam University on Thursday 25th February, with take-off scheduled for 8.00pm. “The Chasing the Light Road Shows will take guests on a global adventure, using the latest high definition projection and satellite navigation to whisk them around the world,” Noton says. “Of course we’ll be talking photography and travel, but the Chasing the Light Road Shows will be much more than that.” Tickets are priced at £16.50. To book your place, visit the website below.

Website: David Noton

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Olympus has published a roadmap for its Micro Four Thirds lens releases over the next two years. Apart from the existing two lenses and the two zooms planned for 2010, there are four lenses planned for spring 2011. These include a telephoto zoom and three primes including a 50mm macro, an 8mm fisheye and a wide-angle lens whose exact focal length is hard to determine from the roadmap. Currently, there are two Olympus-branded Micro Four Thirds lenses available, including a 14-42mm zoom and a 17mm “pancake”, plus one Leica- and five Lumix-branded optics, with two more Lumix lenses coming, according to Panasonic.

Source: Olympus PEN Micro Four Thirds Lens Roadmap [PDF]

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Fujifilm’s president and CEO, Shigetaka Komori, has been awarded the prestigious decoration, The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star. Mr Komori is being recognised for his accomplishments in industry and in furthering culture through his leadership roles at Fujifilm, Japan’s Broadcasting Company – NHK, and a range of industry and cultural organisations including the Photo-Sensitised Materials Manufacturers’ Association, the Japan-German Society, and the Japan-Netherlands Society, among others.

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George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film is commemorating its 60th anniversary in 2009 with a deluxe portfolio of 12 photographs created by celebrated international artists. The featured artists are Edward Burtynsky, John Divola, Harri Kallio, Mark Klett & Byron Wolfe, Astrid Kruse Jensen, Richard Misrach, Abelardo Morell, Lori Nix, Erwin Olaf, Martin Parr, John Pfahl, and Alex Webb. Their portfolio photographs represent the wide range and variety of approaches, techniques, and aesthetics that characterise today’s photographic art practice. Special preview events are being held in New York City and Los Angeles in November to showcase the portfolio. For more information, and to view the photographs, visit the Eastman House website.

Website: George Eastman House 60th Anniversary Portfolio

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The Institute for Contemporary Culture (ICC) at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) continues The Question of Celebrity, a series of events and programmes inspired by the exhibition Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913-2008. The events include an illustrated panel discussion entitled “Facing the Lens, Seeing the Light: Observations on Portrait Photography”, which will explore the photographic portrait, its significance through the history of photography and its enduring fascination; a Sony Family Portrait Weekend on 14-15 November; and a series of film screenings.

Website: Royal Ontario Museum

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Sony has updated the firmware of its A230, A330 and A380 digital SLR cameras, all of which have been reviewed on this site. Version 1.10 brings about the following improvement: when the metering mode is set to centre-weighted or spot, the exposure will be locked when focus is confirmed. This applies to shooting in AF mode.

Website: Sony DSLR Firmware Update (Windows)
Website: Sony DSLR Firmware Update (Macintosh)

Thursday, November 05, 2009

Photo enthusiast Jarle Aasland has set up a website in an attempt to fund a Leica M9 for himself - and possibly another photographer too. “Like many photographers, I’d love to get a Leica M9, but it’s an expensive tool. First I’d have to sell a kidney, and then I would have a hard time convincing my wife that I really need a Leica,” he says. Seeing that it would be a difficult path to trod, he created a website and online store called Leicadream instead. Through this website, he is selling a huge variety of rangefinder-themed T-shirts, baseball caps, bags and other merchandise; and of course accepts donations as well. But he has gone one step further: “If I’m able to fund a Leica M9 for myself (which remains to be seen), I could do the same for someone else,” he says. So if you feel like helping him realise his Leica dream, and/or would like to get a chance to win an M9 for yourself, pay a visit to the website below.

Website: LeicaDream