Friday, May 29, 2009

KelbyTraining LIVE have announced their newest digital photography seminar tour, Location Lighting Techniques for Photographers, featuring internationally acclaimed American photographer Joe McNally (pictured), author of The Hot Shoe Diaries and other best-selling books. The Location Lighting Techniques for Photographers seminar begins its tour of the U.S.A. in San Francisco at the South San Francisco Conference Center on Friday, July 31. Other U.S. tour stops include Washington DC, Los Angeles and New York City. Attendees will learn the step-by-step process of going from bad to good light with just one flash, then working your way up to two or more flashes. McNally will take you through a variety of lighting set ups with live demonstrations. A full day of training costs $99 ($79 for NAPP members), and includes many bonus materials.

Website: Kelby Training LIVE

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HDMI Licensing LLC, the agent responsible for licensing the High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) specification has announced the features that will be incorporated in the upcoming HDMI 1.4 specification. Enhanced functionalities include: a new data channel for Ethernet connectivity, an Audio Return Channel, 3D over HDMI, support for high-definition resolutions four times beyond the resolution of 1080p (including 4096x2160 24Hz), expanded support for colour spaces including AdobeRGB, a Micro HDMI Connector and a new Automotive Connection System for in-vehicle HD content distribution. The HDMI specification 1.4 will be available for download at http://www.hdmi.org no later than June 30, 2009.

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Co-operative Xest’s talking photo album allows you to record a ten-second message to accompany each picture. The album accommodates up to twenty-four photos of 4x6” size, and lets you put a name to the people, places and events in each of them - a great tool for jogging your memory and preventing arguments in the family over when and where the shots were taken, the company says. When viewing the photos, all you need to do is press the play button to hear the message for the photo you’re viewing. Powered by two AAA sized battteries, the talking photo album is available online for £39.88.

Website: Talking Photo Album at Co-operative Xest

LifePics have announced the option for retailers to offer hundreds of new online photo book options to consumers via LifePics-powered retail photo sites. This means that LifePics’ online photo book offering has increased to a total of 450 possible books, allegedly the largest number available to retailers on the Web. The new additions include several in-house options that retailers can print on a variety of creative printing solutions that LifePics integrates with, including HP’s Photo Center, HP’s Indigo printers, Noritsu’s D701, several Xerox printers, and others. LifePics also added new book options via Proven Direct, a wholesaler that specializes in high-end custom cover wrap-around and lay-flat books.

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The Fashion 360, Powered by Nikon is an intricate technical rig of fifty D700 cameras timed at different intervals to capture celebrities on the red carpet from an innovative visual “surround sound” perspective. In collaboration with production company Big Freeze, the Fashion 360, Powered by Nikon will allow viewers at home to experience a 360-degree view of their favourite celebrities. Many of the Fashion 360, Powered by Nikon images will appear throughout the broadcast and online in an exclusive photo gallery on http://movieawards.mtv.com, offering viewers at home an opportunity to check out the latest in Hollywood fashion trends up close.

Website: Watch the making of Fashion 360

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According to Dublin-based market research company Research and Markets, product penetration for digital still cameras has reached at least 48% in the USA. Affordable and easy-to-use digital cameras have transformed how U.S. consumers use photography, changing it from something used to document important occasions like weddings and trips to an integral part of everyday life, the company notes in its new report, “Still and Video Cameras in the United States 2009”. The high penetration figure may indicate that the market is becoming increasingly saturated, and makes it challenging to maintain revenue growth.

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Santa Fe Photographic Workshops celebrate 20 years of instruction for the photographic community. The growth and success of the Workshops is attributed to attracting some of the world’s most influential photographers as instructors, the steadfast dedication of its talented staff, and developing new programs and partnerships. Starting with 27 workshops and 287 participants in its first season, the Workshops has grown more than 600% to offer over 200 workshops attended by 2,000 participants annually. With campuses in Santa Fe and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, programs extend around the world through photographic journeys in such regions as Tuscany, Bali, Provence, Ireland, Australia, Oaxaca, Tanzania, and Morocco. Week-long workshops are taught by talented, world-renown photographers such as Sam Abell, Joyce Tenneson, Platon, Nevada Wier, Nadav Kander, Julieanne Kost, Joe McNally, and Greg Gorman.

Website: Santa Fe Workshops

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Cecil Beaton: Portraits is an exhibition of nearly 50 portraits by one of the most famous photographers of the 20th century. The exhibition, which is going to take place from 26 June - 31 August 2009 in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, reflects the astonishing talents of the photographer who was also a writer, artist, designer, actor, caricaturist, illustrator and diarist. He photographed a dazzling array of superstars and leading personalities ranging from the Queen to Mick Jagger, Marilyn Monroe to Audrey Hepburn and Winston Churchill to Lucian Freud. His long career covered an era of great change from the Roaring Twenties to the dawn of the New Romantics. His early photographs were published in society magazines The Sketch, Tatler and Eve from 1925 onwards. In 1927, 23-year-old Beaton secured a contract with Vogue to provide portraits, caricatures and social commentary. His career – with the exception of two short breaks – continued with Vogue for the rest of his life.

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Thursday, May 28, 2009

Blurb is hosting a Photography Book Workshop series this June, featuring photographer Dan Milnor, graphic designer Bob Aufuldish, and Lightroom guru Jerry Courvoisier. These 4-hour workshops, preceded by an opportunity to have your work reviewed, will cover the principals of book design, editing your images in Lightroom for optimum results, and how to use Blurb books to promote your work. Each workshop is £30 standalone, or £50 including the portfolio review. The first Blurb workshop will be held on 22 June at Cayley Theatre, University of Westminster.

Website: Blurb Photobook Workshop

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The ATP GPS PhotoFinder Pro is a new device that allows you to geotag all of your photos. Designed for use with geotagging sites and software such as iPhoto, Flickr, Picasa3, Locr, SmugMug, Panoramio, Google Earth, and Google Maps and compatible with with more than 450 models of digital cameras, the ATP GPS PhotoFinder Pro provides easy geotagging without a PC or a need to go through complicated software installation processes. To use it, you first need to make sure there is no discrepancy between the time your digital camera is set on and the UTC time used by the Global Positioning System. Then all you need to do is take the PhotoFinder Pro along for the day’s shooting, then insert your memory card into the PhotoFinder Pro to geotag your photos. The MSRP is $119, and availability is slated for mid-July.

Website: ATP PhotoFinder Microsite