The 31st issue of PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available for download. This edition features an in-depth look at lighting techniques for corporate and industrial photography, along with an exploration of light modifiers and their uses in portrait photography. Additionally, this issue looks at how and when to break photography’s “sacred” composition rules. PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available as a free download at the website below.

Website: PhotographyBB Online Magazine

Microsoft is devising a new way to combat image blur resulting from camera shake. The 1001NoisyCameras blog points to a research paper presented by the Redmond based software giant at the SIGGRAPH 2010 conference, which discusses a solution that uses a combination of an external “image deblurring attachment” and sophisticated software algorithms to reduce the adverse effects of camera shake on image quality. “Our approach uses a combination of inexpensive gyroscopes and accelerometers in an energy optimization framework to estimate a blur function from the camera’s acceleration and angular velocity during an exposure,” Microsoft says. “We solve for the camera motion at a high sampling rate during an exposure and infer the latent image using a joint optimization.”

Website: 1001NoisyCameras

Vietnamese tour operator Luxury Travel has introduced a range of specialist photography holidays for photo-enthusiasts. These holidays often include the services of qualified photography leaders to assist travellers and provide workshops along the way. The tours are geared toward beginners, but photographers of all levels are welcome. “With time spent in lessons and learning techniques, lots of… ‘in the field’ practising and review sessions to look over their work, visitors will develop their photography skills while also enjoying the journey,” the company says.

Website: Luxury Travel Vietnam

The CompactFlash Association (CFA) has announced key development goals for a new CF5.1 specification. These include Mandatory Write Caching, an UDMA mode that enables the development of higher performance cards while providing complete backward compatibility, a new Sanitize function that provides an efficient NAND Block Erase of the entire user data area to return the CF card to “fresh” state before reuse, a new protocol that allows improved internal data organisation, and an optional card capability to report the operating temperature range of the card. The new CF5.1 specification is expected to be formally released later in 2010.

Canon has just added a third service support center to be located at the company’s Canon Virginia Incorporated facility in Newport News, VA supporting the Canon Professional Services (CPS) programme. Along with enhancing service, Canon USA will extend its CPS hotline service to provide 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week technical support to all CPS members. A separate international customer support number will also be made available to US-based professionals travelling and working abroad.

X-Rite has announced its upcoming schedule of free webinars that have been developed to address specific color management topics. On July 7th at 11am EDT, you can learn more about the ColorChecker Passport, a powerful “capture to edit” colour solution for any photographer looking for more accurate, consistent color and creative flexibility. On the 12th, you can participate at a webinar on ColorMunki Photo, a completely integrated colour control solution to calibrate displays, projectors and printers. Finally, on the 13th your can learn about “raw colour power” with Adobe Lightroom and the ColorChecker Passport.

Website: X-Rite

Starting tomorrow, Leica will donate €0.50 to the Association for International Cancer Research (AICR) for every new follower of Leica’s Twitter account. The charity project for the benefit of international cancer research is part of an initiative that was launched by Leica enthusiast photographers who met on the independent International Leica User Forum. At the cornerstone of the project is the Leica User Forum Charity Book 2010, which is available through online publishing company, Blurb. A significant donation from the participating photographers, as well as € 6 from the € 95 price of the book, will benefit the AICR. Leica itself has decided to join in after seeing that more than €9,000 has been raised this way. In addition to the 50 euro cents for every new follower on Twitter, Leica will donate an additional €1,000 to the AICR upon reaching 10,000 followers by 9 July 2010.

The 29th edition of the free PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available for download. The edition features a tutorial on how to create dramatic landscape photos. Additionally, readers will learn about the differences between small flash units and studio strobes, along with the practical applications of each option. This release also examines the relationship between sensor sizes vs megapixels in digital cameras, and how both of these factors combined affect overall image quality. In its Photography Around the World series, the magazine takes its readers to the island of Oahu to show them the filming locations from the TV series, LOST.

Website: PhotographyBB

Pentax has opened its first camera boutique within Willoughby’s Camera, New York City’s oldest photographic emporium. The new shop-in-shop puts visitors within easy reach of Pentax DSLR cameras, premium lenses, stylish and rugged compact cameras and a full line of sport optics including binoculars and scopes. Today from noon to 2pm, shoppers may trade in any pre-owned camera for major savings on a new Pentax digital camera purchased over-the-counter from Willoughby’s.

According to new research commissioned by Mozy, an online backup service, a third of Brits have lost precious digital photos forever due to a computer failure. The research has revealed the average Brit has over 1,500 photos or videos stored on a computer. A fifth of all respondents do not back them up at all, and over a quarter only backup data on a CD, USB stick or external hard drive. Mozy argues that a house fire or similar accident is just as likely to destroy these media and devices as a PC, and offers its MozyHome online backup service to those worried about data loss.

Website: An overview of consumer backup habits in the UK and Ireland

Canon has recently filed a patent application for a solution that would allow digital cameras to faithfully capture high-contrast scenes in a single take. Photography Bay reports that the patent application describes a process whereby different exposure times are assigned to different photosites on the sensor to ensure highlights are not blown out and shadows are not blocked up. If you are interested in the technical details, you can read the entire patent application online.

Via Photography Bay

Four photographic archives of previously unseen images of U2, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones are to go under the hammer at the Entertainment Memorabilia auction on 23 June 2010 at Bonhams, Knightsbridge. These include thirteen - mostly unpublished - photos of U2 from 1978, fifty-six shots of Led Zeppelin from 1973, a collection of informal Polaroids of The Rolling Stones and Andy Warhol, and eighteen black-and-white negatives showing The Beatles at a reception in 1964.

Leica Akademie, the company’s London training facility, has announced a new programme of photography workshops. Leica Akademie workshops operate in small group sizes to allow attendees to get the utmost support from the experts and maximise their learning potential, the company says. The range of currently available workshops includes courses dedicated to specific Leica models, from film cameras to digital compacts to digital rangefinder cameras, as well as thematic classes such as “Holiday & Travel”, “Pictures for Profit”, “See the World in Black & White”, and more. Interested readers should contact the Leica Store Mayfair on 07514 539566.

The 28th edition of the PhotographyBB Online Magazine has just been released. This issue features techniques for improving photography at auto-shows, a portraiture tutorial on skin softening, and how to create digital frames for showing off web gallery photos with style. Additionally, photographers will learn how their peers are using personal blogs as a means for acquiring photography related jobs and freelance work. In their Photography Around the World series, the editors take readers to New Zealand for a photographic exploration of the Otago Rail Trail, a popular biking trail for outdoor photo enthusiasts. PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available for free download through the PhotographyBB website.

Website: PhotographyBB Online Magazine

Gerald Donovan has posted a 45-gigapixel panorama of Dubai to the Gigapan website. Before Christmas, we wrote about a record-breaking 26-gigapixel cityscape of Dresden, Germany, which was soon followed by a similar resolution panoramic image of Paris. With almost 45 gigapixels’ worth of detail, the Dubai photo - which was allegedly taken with a Canon EOS 7D and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L lens mounted on a Gigapan Epic Pro robotic camera stand - is now the world’s largest-resolution photograph. According to Donovan, he stitched together 4,250 individual shots taken at the long end of the zoom over a period of three and a half hours to set a new world record.

Website: Gigapan: Dubai 45 Gigapixels

PhotographyBB has announced the release of the 27th edition of the PhotographyBB Online Magazine. This issue features an 11-page special report on the release of Photoshop CS5. Additionally, photographers interested in starting their own photography business will get an overview of the type of business entity they may become, along with important considerations when selecting a business name. The magazine also has an article on simplifying your digital workflow, and for the portrait photographers they have a tutorial on creating drama through subtle selective colouring. PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available for free download through the PhotographyBB Website.

Website: PhotographyBB Online Magazine

Sony UK is introducing a new initiative whereby consumers can trade in their old consumer electronics goods – whether in working condition or not – in return for money off new Sony products. The campaign will run from 29 April until 11 July, the day of the World Cup final. The promotional offer is valid at participating stockists only. For more information, visit the website below.

Website: Sony Uk Trade-In Promotion

Blurb has launched Blurb BookShow, a widget that enables authors to share their books in an experiential format wherever they are online – on Facebook, their blog, a website and so on. Blurb BookShow offers an experience similar to that of turning the pages of a book as users can flip through the book’s pages online making the book more discoverable and driving interest to the print book. On the iPad, users can use the device’s touchpad to flick through the book pages as well as pinch and zoom to enlarge images. During beta testing, Blurb authors using Blurb BookShow allegedly experienced 6x more visits to their bookstore pages and had an 88% increase in book sales.

Website: Introducing the Blurb BookShow Widget

Marketing Essentials International (MEI) and Bourne Media Group (BMG) have announced the formation of GoingPro, a totally new programme providing educational opportunities and business advice for emerging professional photographers. Created by MEI’s Skip Cohen and BMG’s Scott Bourne, GoingPro is a year-long annual programme dedicated to educating professional and aspiring professional photographers through a soon to be published GoingPro book, educational workshops, national conferences, free webinars and podcasts, blog and training DVD.

Website: GoingPro

Canon Europe has re-launched its after-sales support scheme for professional photographers and videographers, the Canon Professional Services (CPS) programme.  The new CPS introduces multiple levels of membership, allowing a greater number of professional photographers to qualify. There are Silver, Gold and Platinum membership types available, depending on the qualifying equipment registered with the scheme. Existing CPS community members are invited to validate and update their details through the CPS website in order to ensure the correct CPS membership has been registered. All existing, unvalidated memberships will expire in June 2010. After this, a new registration will be required and new cards will be issued.

Website: Canon Professional Services