Monday, November 30, 2009

Adobe has just announced the call for entries for the tenth annual Adobe Design Achievement Awards (ADAA). This premier competition honors the best student graphic designers, photographers, illustrators, animators, digital filmmakers, developers and computer artists from accredited higher education institutions worldwide. As demand increases for talented designers and developers in the interactive design and development fields, the Adobe Design Achievement Awards spotlight the talented work of students in three categories: Interactive Media, Motion Media, and Traditional Media. Photography falls into the Traditional Media category. For more information regarding the 2010 Adobe Design Achievement Awards, visit the website below.

Website: ADAA

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JP Distribution has announced a new RF flash trigger from Lastolite. With a range of 10 metres, the new battery operated (2 x AAA) RF flash trigger can be used with battery operated flashguns and studio flash systems. Simply attach the transmitter to the hotshoe on the camera, and then attach the receiver unit to the flashgun (via PC or X-sync cord) or to the studio flash head (via the sync socket). The trigger operates at 433 MHZ. The Lastolite flash trigger is available for £49.99, additional receiver units are priced at £29.99 apiece.

Website: Lastolite

Canon U.S.A. will be hosting a Canon Live Learning seminar in the Seattle area in early December. Canon Live Learning is a new education programme targeted towards photographers who are interested in Canon’s popular line of EOS photographic products. Canon Live Learning seminars offer high-quality classes and workshops conducted by a number of the industry’s leading professional photographers, Canon’s Explorers of Light. CLL attendees will learn how to get the most out of their gear while also having the opportunity to try out Canon’s latest line of EOS products. Guests can register at: http://www.usa.canon.com/canonlivelearning. Click through / read on for the programme schedule.

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Online photo printer FotoInsight has announced the start of its Danish and Swedish services FotoInsight Nordic. The Cambridge company, which was established in 2003, started a German operation in June 2005, Italian in October 2005 and Spanish in February 2006 and French in April 2007, apart from its original English language services. Each of the international web-services is covered by a web- and customer service team with native speakers. Quality and a speedy delivery all over Europe are achieved by the use of six strategically located production sites, the company says. FotoInsight caters for all major operating systems, including Linux, Mac OS and Windows as well as Firefox and Chrome browser users with special upload facilities with no need for additional software.

Website: FotoInsight

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iFotoGuide has released the first iPhone app & digital guide to on-location nature photography. “iFotoGuide: Arches” is the first in a series of digital guides for the iPhone providing nature photographers with a comprehensive resource for planning every aspect of a photography trip. It goes beyond the ordinary photo guidebook by providing three innovative ways for iPhone users to find a dynamic location for photography. An interactive park map allows users to zoom, pan and select photography locations by name. Images in the photo gallery serve to inspire and are also interactive – one touch provides detailed instructions for getting to and photographing each location. “iFotoGuide: Arches” even allows users to search for locations to photograph at sunrise, sunset or in mid-day light. It is available from the Apple App Store priced at $4.99.

Website: iFotoGuide

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Amazon has reduced the price of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 from nearly $300 to less than $170. The offer is valid on U.S. orders only, as the retailer explicitly states that this “item can be shipped only within the U.S.”. There is no information provided as to how long the deal will last.

Website: Amazon

Via John Nack and 1001 Noisy Cameras

Ed Nash, a young and promising entrepreneur from the UK, has created an iPhone application for measuring the attractiveness of one’s face - or at least a photo thereof. The ‘Fit or Fugly’ application uses the golden ratio - also called the golden mean or the golden section -, to “scientifically calculate” how attractive a photo of a human face is. Research has shown that the golden ratio - which pops up in the most unexpected places in nature, from the arrangement of branches along the stems of plants to the proportions of chemical compounds and the geometry of crystals - does indeed play a role in human perception of beauty. When key “anchor points” in someone’s face, such as the ears, eyes, chin, mouth and nose, are arranged more or less in accordance with the golden ratio, the face is likely to be perceived as beautiful. (On a side note, the Rule of Thirds, well known to photographers, has also been derived from the golden ratio by way of simplification.) Ed Nash encourages you to try out his app on a photo of yourself or anyone else to find out if you - or they - are “officially” fit or fugly.

Website: Fit or Fugly

Jessops have decreased the price of its own 7” digital photo frame by more than 35%. The device, which features a 480x234-pixel display, USB port, interval timer, slideshow facility, and interchangeable surrounds now costs £25 at http://www.jessops.com.

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The University of the Arts London has announced 28 Stories, a group show by graduates of the MA in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at the London College of Communication.  The exhibition includes a poetic exploration of a maverick spaceship designer, a reflection on elderly love, a study of the first female Indian soldiers deployed to the Indian-Pakistan border in Kashmir, a daughter’s interpretation of her father’s escape from Hungary and the former eastern bloc, remarkable and dignified bodies of work about loved ones living with illness, and numerous other exceptional essays, pieces and stories, the organisers say. 28 Stories runs from 10-23 December and 4-15 January, Monday to Saturday 10am-5pm.

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Friday, November 27, 2009

According to DC Watch, the launch day of the Ricoh GXR system will be 18 December in Japan. The Ricoh GXR body, GR LENS A12 50mm f/2.5 Macro and RICOH LENS S10 24-72mm F2.5-4.4 VC lens units will all go on sale that day, along with a range of accessories. The international launch date has not yet been confirmed.

Source: DC Watch via 1001 Noisy Cameras