PhotographyBLOG Editor, Mark Goldstein, was stopped and searched in central London yesterday for “taking photos of iconic landmarks”. Under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act, the Metropolitan Police are now conducting patrols along the South Bank of the River Thames, specifically targeting “individuals with cameras who are photographing famous buildings”. After informing the officer that I ran a photography website and giving her my business card, I was issued with Form 5090(X), with no actual search taking place. The whole process was somewhat undermined by two other officers posing for photos with tourists whilst their colleague completed the paperwork! I can only conclude that it was the bright pink Casio camera that I was testing at the time which attracted the police officer’s attention…

Have you been stopped by the authorities, legally or otherwise? Let us know by leaving a comment…

Marketing Essentials International has just announced “Skip’s Summer School ‘09”, open to professional photographers of all levels. Skip’s Summer School is the first photography workshop of its kind to create a series of programmes designed to help photographers realise the full potential of some of the new technologies, especially in mixed media (video and still imaging creation and presentation), Search Engine Optimisation, social media through blogs and Twitter while at the same time, fine tune their photographic skills in lighting, composition, exposure and even marketing and self-promotion. Taking place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV from Sunday, August 16th – Wednesday, August 19th, “Skip’s Summer School” is the creation of Skip Cohen, former president of Wedding & Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) and Rangefinder Publishing Inc. and former publisher of Rangefinder and AfterCapture magazines. The cost to attend Skip’s Summer School is $279 and it also includes free full registration to WPPI 2010 (March 4-11, 2010) for each attendee.

This summer The Photographers’ Gallery will exhibit, for the first time in the UK, the Hungarian photographer André Kertész’s On Reading series. Born in Budapest, André Kertész - whose original name was Kertész Andor - took his first photograph at age 18 with a simple box camera. During World War I, he photographed everyday life in the front line as well as the hinterland, perfecting his style while experimenting with new points of view and camera angles. He left Hungary in 1925 for Paris, where he lived for eleven years, immersing himself in the creative community and producing the now world famous images such as Mondrian’s Pipe and Glasses (1926) and The Fork (1928). Capturing readers of all ages in various locations – on rooftops and balconies, in parks, on crowded streets, at train stations, in libraries etc. – was one of his favourite projects. The photographs range from abstract formal compositions to playful, often humorous observations. The exhibition, which opens on 17 July, will feature a selection of these works, taken between 1915 and 1980.

Bogen Imaging has announced a free webinar titled “A Budget Safari – Wildlife Photography at Your Local Zoo: Roundtable with Julie Larsen Maher.” Part of the company’s Bogen Café series of free instructional webinars, the seminar will be held from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EDT, on Friday, June 19th. Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Staff Photographer Julie Larsen Maher, and David Fisher, Bogen Imaging’s Gitzo, Metz, Gossen and Litepanels Product Manager, will discuss the best practices, gear, and times to visit when shooting wildlife at a local zoo. To register for the free Bogen Café webinar and for additional information, please visit http://www.bogenimaging.us/webinar/

Website: Bogen Cafe

Scott Kelby has announced his Second Annual Worldwide Photo Walk scheduled for Saturday, 18 July. Scott Kelby’s Photo Walk is a fun, social photography event where photographers get together for two hours, usually in a metropolitan area or trendy section of a city, to walk around, shoot photos, and have fun with other photographers. Each Photo Walk has a local assigned leader who chooses the route of the walk and the ending place, where participants have the opportunity to look at each other’s photos from the walk and make new photography friends. Registration is free and open to all photographers – amateurs and professionals. Photo Walk groups are limited to 50 participants per walk and advance registration is required.

Website: Worldwide Photo Walk

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

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.

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

Adobe Systems, Apple, Hewlett Packard, Nikon, Nik Software, Wacom and X-Rite have joined forces for a unique, nine-city Creative Alliance Tour across Europe. The tour has been set up to provide creative professionals with a comprehensive insight into a complete digital workflow. A full-day seminar will take place at each city stop, hosted by renowned photo professionals and “evangelists” - Robin Preston, Boudewijn Krijger and Guy Gowan, among others. The seminars will consist of inspirational presentations and in-depth technical workshops, with the opportunity to share questions and experiences with the experts. The Creative Alliance Tour will begin in autumn 2009, with stops in the Netherlands, UK, Spain, France, Germany and Italy.

Website: Creative Alliance Tour

Blue Earth and The Ansel Adams Gallery have teamed up to bring the work of eight fine art landscape photographers to the Mumm Napa Gallery in Rutherford, California, for an exhibition entitled “Changing Earth: Photographers’ Call to Action”. The exhibition opens on 19 September 2009 and will be displayed for six months. The works depict endangered cultures, threatened environments and topics of social concern.  Their subjects include the Amazon, Colorado River Delta, wildlife corridors, the effect of climate change on local people, wildlife rescue, Siberia defrosted, animals in captivity and Earth as inspiration.

Gitzo has announced its support for the Wild Wonders of Europe - a photographic project set to reveal the amazing natural treasures of this continent to over 700 million people worldwide. The project celebrates the joy of wildness, reminding us all about why nature matters in our lives, and why we need to protect it. 66 European photographers are participating in Wild Wonders and they will complete very different missions before the conclusion in 2010 which will then see the launch of informative books and outdoor exhibitions that will tour Europe. Gitzo has provided a number of the photographers, who are based in various countries including Italy, Sweden, Russia, Norway, Hungary, Spain, UK, Holland, France, Poland and Germany, with equipment ranging from tripods and ball heads to apparel.

Olympus has announced a prize draw for new owners of certain Olympus products, giving them an opportunity to win a limited-edition Olympus Space Kit. The kit comprises two transparent lens caps (ø 67 and 72mm), an earthgreen camera strap and an exclusive Olympus Space Project 2009 card with Space Project logo. In the course of the Olympus Space Project, the Japanese astronaut Dr. Koichi Wakata took an Olympus E-3 and a range of Zuiko Digital lenses to the International Space Station ISS to shoot images of the Earth. Only new owners of an E-3, E-30, 50-200mm f2.8-3.5 SWD or 11-22mm f2.8-3.5 lens are eligible to enter, by way of registering their new camera or lens. The promotion runs from 20 May until 30 June. Click through / read on for details.

Tom Mackie Images are introducing a two-week workshop within the greatest national parks in the Southwest of the U.S.A. Taking place from the 18th September 2010 – 3rd October 2010, the workshop is designed to support all photographers to take their landscape photography to another level. The workshop kicks off in Las Vegas, with participants departing for the Grand Canyon National Park the next day. Lake Powell, a reservoir on the Colorado River, straddling the border between Utah and Arizona will also be visited on the workshop. Other locations include Monument Valley Tribal Park, Arches National Parl, Deadhorse State Park and Canyonlands National Park, Devil’s Garden and Bryce Canyon National Park. Tuition, accommodation, breakfast, all park entrance fees and transport during the workshop is included in the fee. Flights, lunch, dinners and insurance are not included. Contact +44 (0)1603 465 292 for details.

The date and location of this year’s Retail Imaging Show have been announced. This trade show, which is targeted at minilab, consumer electronics, computer/software and AV retailers, will take place on 25 September 2009, in the London Marriott on Grosvenor Square. The 2009 show will include the Pixel theatre, an area which will deliver a timetable of presentations from key manufacturers & industry trend analysts throughout the day. The show timetable will include a complimentary lunch service from Gordon Ramsay & Jason Atherton’s Maze Restaurant. Tickets cost £17.50 each but early birds can take advantage of some ‘pre-paid’ tickets (remember though that this show is exclusive to those working in the imaging trade). Click through / read on for the details.

Flying With Fish has announced two travel photography workshops dubbed Travel-Photo BootCamps. The focus of The BootCamps is simple, to force its participants outside of their comfort zone while teaching them how to adapt and succeed. Participants have no idea where they are headed to plan for the workshop - they meet at the airport (JFK and SFO for the East Coast and West Coast BootCamps, respectively), and only learn about the destination when they’ve handed their boarding pass. Upon arrival participants will be briefed on their first assignment and be required to quickly execute it before being handed the next assignment. Deadlines, ground-planning logistics and equipment restrictions are real. The East Coast Boot Camp kicks off on 21 June and costs US$750, whereas the West Coast BootCamp starts on 28 June and costs US$800. Both BootCamps have a maximum capacity of five participants.

Website: Flying With Fish

Vassilis Spyrou presents his third solo exhibition “In.dust.rial” at Hoxton bar-gallery in Athens. The opening of the exhibition will take place on May 20th, 2009. In this project, Vassilis Spyrou focused on interior industrial scenes. The photographs were shot on location at the Ladopoulos Papermill, which used to be the greatest papermill of the Balkans in the past, employing over 1200 people for decades, but is now completely deserted.

Website: Vassilis Spyrou

The Los Angeles Times has posted a number of interactive, 360-degree panoramas of the devastation caused by recent wildfires in California. Our attention has been brought to these panoramas by Hans Nyberg, who had been given permission to reproduce two of them at panoramas.dk. “Interactive panoramas are still not much seen in the large Internet media,” Hans comments. “However Bryan Chan, photo editor at the Los Angeles Times, would like to popularise them, and his first panoramas are from the recent wildfires in California.”

Website: The Los Angeles Times
Website: Panoramas.dk

PhotoTrek Tours, a company that combines an officially licenced New York City tour with professional photographs, is celebrating its five-year anniversary in 2009. PhotoTrek Tours offer a personalised private walking tour of New York City where a professional photographer will take pictures of the group and deliver a CD with their digital images to their hotel within 24 hours. Guests are from all over the world and include honeymooners, families, friends or couples who want to be photographed together while participating in a walking tour of the city.

Website: PhotoTrek Tours

Getty Images and Agence France-Presse (AFP) have renewed their partnership agreement. The renewed contract takes effect on 1st June 2009 and extends the partnership between the two companies for a further three years. AFP and Getty Images also signed a separate agreement on video sharing at the beginning of the year. Under the terms of the agreement, each party was granted access to the other’s video productions, for which they have non-exclusive worldwide marketing rights.

LEE Filters have teamed up with leading landscape photographer Jeremy Walker for a couple of weekend photographic workshops across the U.K. Jeremy is a professional landscape photographer with many years experience, his work has been used extensively by agencies and corporate clients around the world. He is an experienced course leader of workshops and tutorials, his easy going personality, inspirational photographs and close attention to detail help his students gain a thorough understanding of landscape techniques on both digital and film. Each extensive two-and-a-half-day workshop will be limited to just ten photographers.

Website: Jeremy Walker Landscape Workshops