PhotographyBLOG member Northscape has kindly offered all of our readers a £40 discount on the cost of one of their photography workshops (except for the Masterclass weekends), held at various stunning locations in the North of England.

“Northscape Workshops take place throughout the year in some of the most beautiful locations the British Isles have to offer. Weekend courses feature full board and transport, so that all you have to do is bring yourself and your camera - from then on it is our aim to provide you with the best photographic opportunities. Our help and knowledge is yours to utilise during the course and beyond, but above all we want you to go home having enjoyed your stay with us and with a camera full of beautiful images.”

Website: Northscape Workshops

ILFORD Photo Press Release

Never mind those characters in the blue-and-white football shirts singing Arrivederci Roma, the real winner of this year’s World Cup was Alex Handley who triumphed in the Spirit of the World Cup competition sponsored by ILFORD Photo to win a year’s supply (365 rolls) of ILFORD film of his choice. The competition provided an open palette to photographers of all walks, with no restrictions on subject matter or location, provided it reflected the enthusiasm which surrounded this quadrennial highlight of the world sporting stage.  The many hundreds of competition contestants covered an extremely wide range of takes on the subject theme, from celebrations to commiserations, from anticipation to action. However, the winning image did not actually feature football or players or even fans of the game, but showed the extent to which patriotism extended to all areas of daily life while the nation held its breath over the four weeks leading up to the 9 July final.

Virtual Moment Press Release

Spitfire Photo Pro Offers Integrated Print Fulfillment and Introduces SpitfirePrints™ New, affordable options for e-commerce-enabled photo databases

SAN FRANCISCO, October. 4, 2006. - Virtual Moment, LLC announced today the expansion of the Spitfire Photo Pro image management system to include a flexible new store front for selling photos online. This new feature includes integration with a partner print lab to offer a wide range of professional quality prints and photo merchandise. In addition, photographers can choose to self-fulfill orders for added control over product offerings. “Our integrated fulfillment option adds one more level of automation to the normally tedious and time-consuming workflow tasks that photographers face,” said Jody Vandergriff, Co-founder of Spitfire Photo Pro. “By choosing to sell through our pro lab services, photographers can rely completely on us to print, pack, and ship.”

JPG Magazine has just relaunched. Members can now upload photos, submit to themes, and review other submissions. Contributors get a free year subscription and $100 if they are published. More on how it works here: http://jpgmag.com/about/howitworks.html

JPG is also currently seeking submissions for Issue 7 on three themes: Big, Hometown, and Self-portraiture. 
Photos must be 72dpi JPGs, 2200px wide/tall, and photographers can submit one to each theme.

shootExperience have just launched a global photography competition. Simply take a photo representing the colour “Red” and upload your three best photos onto the Shoot Experience website. Deadline for entries is the 23rd of October and winners announced by Friday the 27th of October.
http://www.shootexperience.com/archived/octobercomp/content/info.php

If you live in or near to London, there’s also a Shoot Brixton event on 21st October.
http://www.shootexperience.com/archived/brixton/content/info.php

Andy Rouse Press Release

Wiltshire, September 2006: the UK professional wildlife photographer Andy Rouse will be bringing his latest African adventures directly to his popular website BLOG as they happen. Every night from October 8th – 14th he will update the BLOG live from the wilds of the African bush with images taken during that day and the stories that accompany them. This will provide a unique insight into the work of one of the most prolific wildlife photographers in the world and will provide an educational experience for photographers and animal lovers alike.

AOL Press Release

Popular Online Photo Service Offers Both Private and Public Galleries, Providing Consumers More Choices for Sharing Digital Photos

DULLES, VA—September 27, 2006 – As part of its continued expansion of free features and services for all Internet users, AOL today announced that its popular online photo service, AOL Pictures, will now offer public photo galleries.  The new feature is available today through the AOL Pictures website at http://www.aol.com/pictures. With the addition of public galleries, AOL Pictures® now integrates the benefits of sharing digital photos privately through email or sharing them with anyone on the Web, all conveniently from one place.  In addition, users can browse others’ public galleries, comment on photos, tag photos for easy searching, subscribe to users’ photos and much more.

Sigma User Press Release

The quality and popularity of SIGMA’s lenses, flashguns and other accessories along with their SD series of cameras goes hand in hand with the huge increase in the use of Digital SLR cameras over the last few years. Sigma are now leading the way with third party optics designed for these modern electronic cameras. With this vastly increased quality, along with the number of ‘new’ photographers, we at SigmaUser.co.uk thought it was about time for a dedicated, independent website where users of Sigma’s equipment can exchange views, techniques, ideas and generally share their knowledge and show off their images. So we have put one together!

muvee Press Release

Free web service automatically creates finished video mixes out of users’ uploaded video clips, pictures and music for online enjoyment

muvee announces muveeMix.com, a brand new site that allows anyone to automatically create polished video montages – called muvees – online without having to do any video editing. muveeMix intelligently cuts highlights of a user’s video and pictures to the beat of personally selected music, and adds in other themed artistic elements based on the video creation style that the user chooses. As the pioneer and leader in Instant Personal Video, muvee has over five years’ experience developing its unique approach to consumer video production, and is now making this technology available through any web browser. Users go to www.muveeMix.com where, in a few quick steps, they can add in their video clips, pictures and a music track. They then choose a video style that comes complete with transitions, special effects and other graphical elements. Without further user intervention, muveeMix transforms the images into a stylish, professionally-cut video production that the user can embed in a blog or post to a favorite video hosting or community site.

Wetpixel.com / DivePhotoGuide.com Press Release

The 2nd Annual Wetpixel.com and DivePhotoGuide.com International Underwater Photo & Video Competition, in association with Our World Underwater—over $35,000 in prizes.

(PRWEB) September 12, 2006—Wetpixel.com and DivePhotoGuide.com have teamed up again in association with Our World Underwater to celebrate the beauty and delicacy of the marine environment with their 2nd annual international underwater photography and video competition. The competition aims to become the “Superbowl” of international underwater photo competitions—with fantastic prizes, celebrity judges and the opportunity to have your images showcased to the world as some of the world’s best. A new website has launched to support the competition at http://www.underwatercompetition.com

Canon USA Pres Release

Grand Prize Winner Awarded a Trip for Four to Super Bowl XLI and Winning Photo to Be Displayed in the Pro Football Hall of Fame

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., September 6, 2006 - Canon and the Pro Football Hall of Fame are once again giving football and photography fans the opportunity to capture the fun, passion and excitement of youth football by entering their best football photos, everything from a playful catch in the backyard to any youth, school, or organized football games in the “Why Do You Love Football” Photo Challenge. The nation-wide amateur photo contest features two entry categories “Action” and “Feature.”  The “Action” category focuses on any image that captures football action during game play, while the “Feature” category comprises any football imagery outside of game action on the field.

Nikon UK Press Release

Opodo Reflections and Nikon reveal new trends in travel photography

Thursday September 7, 2006 - The Feb launch of Opodo Reflections, in association with Nikon, to celebrate and reward budding photographers has brought to light some beautiful travel images from all over the world. Proof that more and more everyday holidaymakers are turning their hands to professional photography with the help of today’s digital camera technology. On the back of this, a recent survey of customers from the Opodo database* has revealed some significant and exciting changes in today’s travel photography trends…

Shutterfly Press Release

Shutterfly launches simple digital scrapbooking solutions with customizable pre-set styles designed to save customers time while sharing memories

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — (September 6, 2006) — Shutterfly, Inc., an Internet-based social expression and personal publishing service, today introduced a new line of Photo Books, designed to make it easier than ever for customers to be thoughtful and creative with their memories.  Joining Shutterfly’s award-winning hardcover 8x11 Classic Book and softcover 5x7 Casual Book, the Company’s new Photo Book line-up features three square book formats: the 12x12 Memory Book, the 8x8 Story Book and the 4x4 Brag Book. Nearly two thirds (65%) of Shutterfly customers surveyed cited the main reason that they preferred Shutterfly Photo Books is because the service is “easy to use.”  To build on this positive experience, Shutterfly added new design tools, a larger workspace, hundreds of creative page designs, greater editing flexibility including detailed preview and “zoom” features and the ability to re-arrange completed pages.  The new Photo Book creation process gives customers numerous choices while building the ultimate Photo Book in less time.

Stock Artists Alliance Press Release

Stock Artists Alliance Actively Engages in Developing the Next Generation of Rights Based Licensing

Through dialogue with Getty Images and participation in industry initiatives, the trade organization of stock photographers is an active proponent of new approaches to stock licensing that balance the needs of customers with the interests of photographers. Stock Artists Alliance is pleased to announce that Getty Images revised their “rights ready” model in response to concerns voiced by SAA and photographers about the unlimited license term originally proposed by the company. The “rights ready” model-launched earlier this week in the new Riser collection-now has a ten-year term limit.  While SAA had urged Getty to cap licenses at five years or less, this revision has addressed the organization’s chief concern about tying up images for an indefinite future.

ExpressDigital Press Release

Englewood, CO-August 31, 2006- ExpressDigital, the foremost authority on digital photography software and software solutions, has launched a podcast series for customers called “Digital Dialog.” The podcast can be streamed or downloaded to a personal MP3 player at www.expressdigital.com. The first edition of “Digital Dialog” expands on CEO Graham McFarland’s Keynote Address from the recent ExpressDigital User Conference in Denver. The podcast features excerpts from his keynote as well as a conversation with McFarland to expand on his comments. Future editions will explain new ExpressDigital products and product features, provide insight into the digital photography industry and recap important company and industry developments.

Zimbio Press Release

Zimbio Offers Photo Sharing to Members Through KODAK EASYSHARE Gallery

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Aug. 29, 2006—Zimbio (http://www.zimbio.com) today announced the launch of a “Linked Services” feature with KODAK EASYSHARE Gallery, the leading online digital photo service. Users can now easily share photos from their KODAK EASYSHARE Gallery account on Zimbio’s Public Portals. “Zimbio is a great resource for people who want to learn about niche topics such as Skydiving or Green Weddings and we’re thrilled to help people integrate photos into that experience,” said David Westendorf, Senior Director of Partnerships, Kodak Imaging Network, Inc. “By providing companies like Zimbio with our photo sharing services and specialty products, we’re expanding our reach and enriching the social networking experience with photos.”

That’s My Monkey Press Release

Topeka, Kansas – August 22, 2006 – Wedding photographer Bruce L. Snell and travel photographer Michael C. Snell have teamed up to create That’s My Monkey, a web-based resource for fellow digital photographers seeking to refine their craft. Drawing from their
decades of experience, the brothers provide tools and techniques to improve digital photos, workflow and business practices for photographers of all levels. What makes That’s My Monkey different is its point of view. The Snell brothers are both working photographers and speak from experience as they discuss what has worked — and not worked — for them as they’ve approached their respective genres. Through blogs and in-depth articles (many in pdf format for convenient printing and archiving) they offer a virtual “ride along” to other photographers interested in improving their skills. The Snells also sell Photoshop actions that they have created to enhance their own workflows.

lynda.com Press Release

lynda.com Releases Secrets to Selling and Publishing Photography Self-Paced Training for Aspiring Professional Photographers - lynda.com, the company specializing in self-paced career and computer training in digital media and design, announced today the release of Secrets to Selling and Publishing Photography.

Ojai, CA (PRWEB) August 29, 2006—lynda.com, the company specializing in self-paced career and computer training in digital media and design, announced today the release of Secrets to Selling and Publishing Photography. Scott Bourne, a professional photographer with over 30 years’ experience, identifies his tried and true methods for starting and maintaining a successful career as a photographer. In Secrets to Selling and Publishing Photography, Scott explains how to make a profitable living in this demanding field by developing a professional identity, setting realistic goals, getting publicity, finding customers, getting published, and working with agents.

The Photocast Network Press Release

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom/EWORLDWIRE/Aug. 21, 2006—- An organization of volunteers, the Photocast Network is a new concept in podcasting designed to assemble the top photography-based podcasts available. With goals of initially growing listenership among all the member shows and providing a central resource where listeners can find other shows of their interest, the network forms a strong collective voice that can speak to traditional media, industry and advertisers alike. The Photocast Network will help podcast listeners that are interested in photography to find other podcasting resources related to their hobby by visiting the Photocast Network Web site at www.photocastnetwork.com. Along with working together to promote photography related resources, Photocast Network members will collaborate and provide projects and competitions to the photographer community.

snapmania Press Release

Obstacles Blocking Your Otherwise-Perfect Photo? Remove them with snapmania’s ‘Tourist Remover’ - First-ever Online Tool Removes Obstacles from Photographs -

SAN FRANCISCO – August 15, 2006 – snapmania (www.snapmania.com), a leading Web-based digital photo management service, announced the first-ever online tool application that removes unwanted moving objects such as tourists or passing cars from photographs. ‘Tourist Remover’ is a free application, available to users of snapmania’s online photo service that offers a new way to organize and share photos. Tourist Remover’s removal algorithm is fully automatic and requires only 3-10 photos of the same object taken in succession.