Nature Photographers Online Magazine has been updated for September with some new articles and an excellent cover photograph.

- Photos from My Back yard - A Photo Essay by Jim Erhardt
- Andy Rouse’s Shots of the Month
- Quick Tips for Better Nature Photography by Darwin Wiggett
- The Art of Communicating with Light by Darwin Wiggett
- Landscape Photography Composition - Part 1 by Guy Tal
- Wildlife Photography - Direction of Light by Jim Erhardt
- Using Reflectors and Diffusers for Macro Photography by Jim Erhardt

Website: Nature Photographers Online Magazine

Sandisk Press Release 08/09/04

SANDISK AND AMERICAN PHOTO MAGAZINE OFFER UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE PICTURES WITH PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS IN EXOTIC LOCATIONS

“Extreme Adventure Series” Lets Winning Bidders On eBay Travel to Six Locations Around The World For Hands-On Mentoring With Renowned Photographers; Proceeds To Benefit “Make A Better Place” Charity

Sunnyvale, CA, Sept. 8, 2004 - SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) today announced that SanDisk and American PHOTO magazine will launch the Extreme Adventure Series, a unique opportunity for avid photographers at all skill levels to gain first hand experience by working one-on-one with some of the world’s most famous photographers in six ‘extreme’ locations around the world starting in 2005. Each travel package will be auctioned off with winning bidders traveling to Florida for Super Bowl XXXIX, Indiana for the Indy 500 Auto Race, Botswana for an African safari, France for the Tour de France, Canada for a polar bear expedition and an exploration to India.

The auction can be previewed at (http://www.ebay.com/americanphoto) and bidding will take place from September 10-20, 2004. Proceeds from the auction will benefit the Make A Better Place organization, a not-for-profit arts and education organization that promotes youth development and learning through community service and positive social change (http://www.makeabetterplace.org). In addition, each winning bidder will receive a 1 gigabyte (GB) SanDisk Extreme CompactFlash card, which is specifically designed for harsh weather and rapid-fire shooting.

Express Digital Press Release 08/09/04

EXPRESS DIGITAL’S PHOTOREFLECT.COM SITE FOR PRO PHOTOGRAPHERS REACHES 13,000 STOREFRONTS

Compelling Photos Attract 850,000 Unique Visitors per Month

PhotoReflect.com Grows 50% a Year
Storefronts Gross Over $1 Million Per Month for Pro Photographers

ENGLEWOOD,  CO - September 8, 2004 - Express Digital, the leading provider of digital imaging software, e-commerce and lab solutions to professional photography businesses, today announced that its PhotoReflect.com site for pro photographers www.photoreflect.com has hit a high of 13,000 professional photographer online storefronts, reflecting the growing International market for online photo services for pro photographers.? PhotoReflect.com continues to grow rapidly, adding more than 1,400 new storefronts each quarter and showing more than a 50% growth year over year.
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Express Digital pioneered the on-line professional photography marketplace with its creation of PhotoReflect.com in 2000.? PhotoReflect.com is the Internet storefront of choice for the professional photographer.? It is a simple and affordable digital solution that allows the photographer to create new revenue streams and grow their business.?
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New Digital Photography Search Engine cuts through the Internet “noise” to return only relevant Digital Photography content.

New Digital Photography Search Engine Uses Revolutionary New “Automatic Preview” Function to Summarize Search Results Instantly.

Louisville, KY (PRWEB) September 7, 2004—Photopheed.com unveiled their new Digital Photography-only meta search engine designed to cut through all of the Internet clutter and return only relevant digital photography-related search results.

“Photopheed uses a special algorithm that submits background queries to the major search engines, sorts through the results, ranks them according to relevancy, and then displays them for the user,” according to Nathan Lynch, Director of Marketing for Warren Lynch and Associates, Inc. and Webmaster for Photopheed.com.

“Digital photography is an exploding market segment. Amateur and professional photographers alike are on a constant search for relevant information. Traditional search engines return too much unrelated material. It’s time for a smart digital photography-only search engine,” added Lynch.

In this month’s Sunday Morning Photographer column Mike Johnston explains what he got up to in hospital, what he thinks of the Canon EOS 20D, and why he’s just purchased a Bronica:

“So what’d I do on my summer vacation? Well, the flip side of digital’s snowballing popularity is that film cameras are going begging, much like a used M3 in 1969. Being the astute market analyst that I am, I’ve perceived that the steepest price drops have been in professional equipment, especially second-tier professional equipment that even in good times sells without a snootiness premium. So before I left for Michigan, I bought a nearly perfect Bronica SQ-A, lens, and back for less than a few couples would spend on dinner and wine at Lutece. Old technology? To be sure. A fierce shout-out against digital? Not at all, friends, not at all. I’d take a shiny new (okay, matte black new) 20D over an old Bronica any day. It’s just that the Bronica is still a lot better than a gnarly little consumer digicam. IMHO anyway.”

Website: Sunday Morning Photographer: Bronicas and Robot Friends: What I Did Last Summer

This feels very weird, linking to an article that is essentially about me and this website, but I’ll run with it anyway :-) e-FotoGrafija have published a good, great, fantastic interview with none other than yours truly. If you’ve ever wondered how PhotographyBLOG first started, what the future holds for the site and what I looked like just a couple of days ago, then head over to e-FotoGrafija and read the interview.

Website: e-FotoGrafija - PhotographyBLOG and Mark Goldstein

LetsGoDigital have launched their coverage of the Photokina 2004 photography trade show, which takes place from Tuesday September 28 to Sunday October 3 in Cologne, Germany. Asu usual, the LetsGoDigital team have pulled out all the stops and produced an easy-on-the-eye website that is available in four different languages.

Website: LetsGoDigital - Photokina 2004

HP Press Release 01/09/04

Britain’s first National Photo Album unearths hidden photographic treasures

HP is pleased to announce the initial success of the National Photo Album, one of the most ambitious public archiving projects in recent history. Having urged the nation to dust off its old photograph albums and rummage through its attics, HP has been astonished to see people react so positively.

With over 5,000 images already submitted and more than 300,000 hits in the first two months, The National Photo Album has been embraced by the public.  The search has uncovered some hidden gems from the photo albums of members of the public, such as:

- The enchanting image of Big Ben taken during the strikes in the 1970s, when fuel was at a premium and the spot lights had to be switched off
- A chance meeting with George Best relaxing on holiday in Majorca in 1972
- Young twins working a wooden washing machine in 1939
- A boxing match between sailors, to entertain the troops on HMS Emperor of India in 1915

The book publisher O’Reilly has just launched a new website which focuses on their range of digital photography books. Derrick Storey commented “As our digital media books continue to roll off the presses, we realized that we hadn’t provided an online meeting place for this community. As of today, that’s changed. Welcome to our new Digital Media site.” As well as promoting their books, the O’Reilly site also has some interesting articles and interviews.

Website: O’Reilley Digital Media Centre

O’Reilly have also created a new Digital Media Professionals Directory, where you can browse the directory, find and rate professional photographers, and enter your own free listings.

Website: O’Reilley Digital Media Professionals Directory

Website: Read my Review of Digital Photography Hacks

The Digital Wedding Forum website have announced their first ever convention, to be held in Las Vegas in March 2005. It will feature 17 seminars, a sunset shooting trip in the desert and 200 people have already signed-up.

“The DWF Convention will be a learning experience that could change your career!

Intensive seminars will feature some of the world’s best wedding photographers. They’ll teach shooting styles, lighting, processing, marketing, sales, and much more.

Road Trip!  The entire convention moves an hour outside Las Vegas for a live sunset seminar in the Valley of Fire.  Yervant will lead a live shooting demonstration amidst the Red Rocks.  You’ll also have an opportunity to shoot landscapes, hike, and we’ll provide the picnic!*

You’ll stay at a modern, hotel, with awesome rooms, and clean air!  The Westin Casuarina Hotel & Spa Casino at a special DWF rate.”

Website: Digital Wedding Forum Convention

The fourth issue of AK47.tv is out now. This is an online art photography magazine, published bimonthly, which showcases images from both fine arts and documentary photographers. It looks very similar design-wise to 28mm.org, but it’s mainly flash-based and features less photographers (5 in total this month).

Website: AK47.tv - August/September 2004 Issue (#2)

Photobird.com have posted a great interview with Rafa Torcida, who has had a portfolio published here on PhotographyBLOG.

Photobird.com Press Release 17/08/04

Torcida discusses his inspirations, his methods, and his tools for creating beautiful photographs

San Francisco, CA - August 17, 2004 - Photobird.com, the easy way to share your photos around the world, today announced the immediate availability of its interview with international award-winning Spanish photographer Rafa Torcida.  In this revealing interview, Rafa Torcida shares some insight into the tools he uses, his photography methods and processes, and his variety of inspirations that enable him to create beautiful photographs.  This interview with Rafa Torcida is available for free to everyone visiting Photobird.com and is published in the Photobird Learning Center at www.photobird.com/learn/rafa.html.  More details and a free trial to Photobird.com for sharing digital photos is available at www.photobird.com.

“I was really amazed when I saw Rafa’s photos for the first time.  They are some of the most vibrant and inspiring photos I have ever seen. Naturally, I wanted to learn more about Rafa and his techniques.  I also wanted to share his ideas with other digital camera users and
photographers so they can learn, improve their skills, and simply enjoy Rafa’s magnificent work,” said Ed Krimen, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Photobird.com.  “One of the best ways to improve one’s skills in any craft or occupation is to learn more from the experts.  I’m very pleased that Rafa was able to take time out of his busy schedule to share his thoughts with Photobird.com so that we can in turn share his expertise with everyone visiting Photobird.com.”

Popular Photography have been busy posting a lot of new reviews and articles on their website, including a review of the Fujifilm Finepix S20 Pro (pictured). So in no particular order…

- Fujifilm Finepix S20 Pro Review
- Blur Busters!
- Snapshot Print-Off
- Kodak EasyShare DX7630 Review
- Epson Stylus Pro 4000 Review
- Digital Toolbox: Divorce, Digital Style
- Digital Toolbox: The Photoshop Makeover
- Sigma 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 EX OS APO AF
- Canon 28-105mm F/4-5.6 AF
- Flash Battery Packs Review

Imaging Resource have just reviewed the intriguing 93 Photo Street, a web application that lets you download a free map of any place in the USA, drag virtual thumb tacks onto the map where you took photos, and then link your images to a location so other people can see what’s there. Anyone care to develop something similar for the UK?!

“Even for those of us who have seen it all before, know where we’re going and never have to ask directions, a map is a handy thing. And with the extra dimension of a slide show, it may soon become impossible to get lost. You can think of 93 Photo Street as a way to illustrate your maps or as a way to arrange your images by location. But whether you’re a tourist, a real estate agent, a visual blogger or just someone who leaves their house every now and then, this is one tool you’ll use. And delight in using, too.”

Website: Imaging Resource - 93 Photo Street Review

FortuneCity Inc. Press Release 27/07/04

ONLINE PHOTO ALBUM SERVICE TEAMS UP WITH PREMIER BLOG DIRECTORY

New York, NY, July 27, 2004 - MyPhotoAlbum, a service from the leading web-hosting provider, FortuneCity Inc., has teamed up Blogarama.com, an active directory of thousands of web blogs.  Blogarama.com has named MyPhotoAlbum the “Official Online Photo Album of Blogarama.com.”  MyPhotoAlbum is providing online photo album services, printing services and community based photo sharing for Blogarama. 

Colin Cheung, owner of Blogarama.com states, “Blogging has gone mainstream and is here to stay. It’s everywhere and everyone is doing it. For those that think blogging is confined to just text based diaries, then think photoblogs! MyPhotoAlbum will open the world of photoblogs to our users.”

Photobird.com Press Release 21/07/04

Beautiful photos by vacationers, mothers, hobbyists, photographers, updated every hour

San Francisco, CA - July 21, 2004 - Photobird.com, the easy way to share your photos around the world, today announced the immediate availability of the Photobird Photo of the Hour.  The Photobird Photo of the Hour is the perfect opportunity for vacationers, mothers, hobbyists, photographers, and everyone with a digital camera to share their best photos.  The Photobird Photo of the Hour is shown on the Photobird.com home page giving everyone who visits Photobird.com the ability to see some of the absolute best digital photos.  A free trial to Photobird.com and more information about the Photobird Photo of the Hour announced today are available at www.photobird.com

“So many beautiful photos are taken by digital camera users that we wanted to provide an easy way for customers to show off their best photos to everyone around the world, not just friends and family.  To achieve that goal, the Photobird Photo of the Hour is very clearly
shown on the Photobird.com home page for everyone to see,” said Ed Krimen, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Photobird.com.  “Some websites pick a different photo every week or every day.  We show a different photo every hour because there are so many amazing photos to share.  Best of all, submitting photos for Photo of the Hour is done by simply clicking a checkbox.”

PhotoPermit is a new website that aims to help the individual photographer through the potential minefield of being challenged in a public place whilst using a camera. Do you know what your rights are? Have you ever been confronted by someone? PhotoPermit may be able to provide some answers.

“Have you been hassled while trying to make what you thought was an innocuous photograph or video? Have you been threatened? Have security guards demanded that you hand over your film, memory cards, and/or camera? Perhaps snatched them from you? Then this site is intended for you.

Have you been successful in convincing irate parents, confused policemen, and troublesome self-appointed “authorities” to let you go on with your own work in peace? Then this site is especially intended for you, to share your methods and success in making the world a more free one.”

Website: PhotoPermit.ORG

In line with the idea that “a picture is worth a thousand words”, visitors to the A Picture’s Worth website are invited to share the memories, emotions or creative stories triggered by a photograph of personal significance in the form of a photo-essay. A Picture’s Worth has been running since August 2003 and is about to celebrate its 1st birthday. Founder David Chin explains:

“In a few days time, “A Picture’s Worth” will celebrate its first year of “show and tell”!

Since 1 August 2003, “A Picture’s Worth” has been showcasing daily the works by visitors who have sent in their special photographs with an accompanying story to explain the photograph’s significance.

Since birthdays aren’t meant to be celebrated alone, I would like to invite you to join in the first birthday celebrations! I have attached to this e-mail an invitation (in .jpg format) which you are encouraged to share. The invitation outlines that one of the birthday presents to the site can come in the form of a submission. A submission would certainly kick start the site’s second year.

However, I can understand if you do not have the time or are not interested in writing about a photograph. If you are still keen to celebrate, there are certainly other ways to support the site into its second year. For example, you can donate funds to help with running costs or by spreading the word (such as forwarding on the attached invitation) to help the site reach a wider audience. Such help would be significant as most of the contributors have come as a result of learning about “A Picture’s Worth” through word of mouth.

It is undoubtedly the work contributed by visitors that has been responsible for the site receiving “site of the day” awards from Yahoo!, LockerGnome and Coolstop. More importantly, “A Picture’s Worth” has become a haven for people to “show and tell” and where visitors can learn the story behind personal photographs. The site remains a non-commercial project and into its second year my work on “A Picture’s Worth” will continue to aim to provide a valuable contribution to the internet community.”

Website: A Picture’s Worth

The latest issue of the monthly online photo magazine, Vivid Light Photography, has just been published. It’s packed to the rafters with some great articles - here are my highlights, in no particular order:

- Street Shooting Tips
“For many of us, street shooting is something we only do when we’re traveling. For others it’s our prime form of photography. Those candid shots of people in an exotic local can make your images of buildings and places come alive. It helps put a place into context and brings it alive - both for the people viewing your images and indeed for you when you go back and look through those images later.”

- What Really Matters?
“To get so wrapped up in the technology, or so wrapped up in tradition is to lose sight of the real reason we do what we do. Technology is great for those who enjoy it, as is tradition to the person who appreciates it. Trust me here when I tell you, I still have to focus my digital camera, compose my image, select the right focal length and figure out the exposure just like I do with my film camera. I still use a tripod and a cable release too. I use the technology that I have but I don’t allow the technology to come between me and my subject.”

- Le Flaneur de la Photograhpie ? Paris
“I love Paris. It is my favorite city in the world. I have been visiting Paris for business and pleasure for over twenty years and now that I live in France I go even more often. I have burned many rolls of film in what is probably the most photographed city on Earth. But I never tire of Paris and its marvels. Like all cities, Paris has its good and bad points; it also has its secrets and special photographic gems.

My purpose here is to share with other wandering photographers some of the locations and views I have discovered while photographing Paris over the years. I hope these will be especially useful to those of you who may be on tight schedules and must maximize your shooting time in “the City of Lights.”

I’ll leave you to enjoy the rest of this month’s issue.

Website: Vivid Light Photography - Issue #37

LetsGoDigital Press Release 16/07/04

LetsGoDigital kicks of with a French edition and extra features

EMST, 16 July 2004: LetsGoDigital, the multilingual online magazine about digital imaging, is proud to announce a French edition of its website. French speaking readers and French natives are now able to get the latest news about what is happening in the world of digital imaging by clicking on http://www.letsgodigital.fr By reaching out to the French speaking audience LetsGoDigital considerably expands the effect on its publications. According to Dennis Hissink, editor of LetsGoDigital UK and Dutch edition: “By investing in a new French edition we are able to bring the daily news in an extra language beside the already existing editions of LetsGoDigital; English, Dutch and Spanish.”

Raphael Lessinger, editor of LetsGoDigital France: “By kicking of a French edition we will be able to reach a possible figure of millions of French speaking readers. For France it will be a welcome news source for those who want to know the latest of Digital Imaging.”