Sigma scooped up two accolades at this year's TIPA awards ceremony. The critically acclaimed Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM (pictured), which was announced in November 2012, has been named 2013's Best Expert DSLR Lens; while the Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC MACRO (OS) HSM has been granted the Best Entry-level DSLR Lens award.

The judging panel of the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) has honoured DxO Optics Pro 8 with this year's "Best Photo Software" award.  Jérôme Ménière, CEO of DxO Labs, states: “Being awarded the most coveted photo and image prize in the profession is a tremendous recognition for DxO Labs. It reinforces our goal to continue pushing the limits of image quality, while giving serious photographers the most successful tools for fully expressing their passion.”

Canon has been awarded five honours by the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA). These include te Best Entry-Level DSLR (Canon EOS 100D), Best Expert DSLR (Canon EOS 6D), Best Video DSLR (Canon EOS 1D C, pictured) ,Best Professional DSLR Lens (Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM) and Best Expert Photo Printer (Canon Pixma Pro-10). “This is yet another strong showing from Canon in the TIPA Awards,” said Kieran Magee, Marketing Director, Professional Imaging, Canon Europe. “Such recognition from TIPA clearly demonstrates the level of quality and innovation that is present throughout our product range, from our consumer and amateur models to our professional line.”

Fujifilm has received three awards from the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA). The Best Expert Compact System Camera award went to the Fujifilm X-E1, the Fujinon XF14mm f/2.8 R was named "Best Compact System Camera Prime Lens," while the Fujifilm X20 (pictured) received TIPA's Best Expert Compact Camera award.

Adobe presented a behind-the-scenes look at cutting-edge design and interactive technologies at Adobe MAX, The Creativity Conference. MAX Sneak Peeks offer a unique opportunity to see inside Adobe’s engineering labs and to preview new features during their early stage of development. Videos of the technology explorations spotlighted during the MAX Sneak Peeks, hosted by Rainn Wilson and special guest Mary Lynn Rajskub, with Ben Forta, director of Evangelism, Adobe, are available on YouTube.

Charity PhotoVoice has launched its fundraising WILD print sale of winning photographs from the WILD photography competition, judged by acclaimed photographer Steve Bloom. Until Monday 20 May 2013, photography collectors and nature enthusiasts alike will be able help raise money for the charity PhotoVoice by buying a print from a collection of 50 imaginative and remarkable photographs. Each photograph in the WILD print sale is available to purchase as a professional 16”x 12” Lambda C Type print in a limited edition print run for £50.00, with the money raised going to PhotoVoice. To view the WILD collection, visit the website below.

In a newsletter sent out to registered readers, editor-in-chief Dave Seeram has announced that the online PhotographyBB Magazine "will be retired" on 1st June. Until that date, you can download any or all 54 magazine editions in PDF format, free of charge, from the website below (registration might be required). Dave says he is now focusing on a new product called CLARITY, which he says will "knock the socks off of [the] previous magazine" and be available later this month. Do note that the PhotographyBB magazine library will be removed on 1st June, so downloading and saving the issues you are interested in is good advice, indeed.

Website: PhotographyBB Magazine Library

Swann Galleries have launched a social media project that reaches out to the global photography community of collectors, curators, dealers, critics, photographers and enthusiasts. The new blog, called Photophilia, is hosted on tumblr and offers a fully interactive platform for sharing your favourite photos along with a few lines of text explaining why you love them. More than 25 users have posted their beloved images so far, with works by well-known photographers such as Herb Ritts, Alfred Stieglitz, and Irving Penn. For those unfamiliar with web publishing tools, Swann offers a more old-fashioned way to take part in the project. They have produced a limited-edition series of postcards (pictured) with sample images that come in sets of five and are accompanied by a response card with room for a description of a favourite photograph.

X-Rite has announced its schedule of free May 2013 webinars. Topics include editing a portfolio and developing your vision, travel and landscape photography, professional monitor calibration and taking control of your monitor, projector, printer and camera. Click through / read on for the details.

WD and SanDisk are collaborating to introduce hybrid storage devices that feature SanDisk's flash memory technology and WD's hard drives. SanDisk is supplying a SanDisk iSSD storage device for the WD Black solid state hybrid drive (SSHD), the world's thinnest 2.5-inch SSHD solution, which utilises both WD proprietary hybrid technology and industry standard SATA IO technology. "Working with SanDisk, WD realized our vision for products that combine the best of both technologies," said Matt Rutledge, vice president of client computing at WD. "WD's SSHDs are a significant achievement in the continuing SSHD/flash storage revolution."

West Cumbria Tourism is calling on all budding photographers to send in their pictures with the launch today of a competition designed to capture the heart of the "other side" of the Lakes. The competition, supported by the Trout Hotel, Cockermouth, and the Kirkstile Inn, Loweswater, is open to residents and visitors to the area and photographs are welcomed from everyone from amateur snappers to professional photographers. "With the arrival of spring and the bluebell and daffodil season in full swing; this is the perfect time to take your camera and capture the heart of the Western Lake District," the organisers say. The closing date for entries is June 30th. The competition is open to all age groups and can be entered by emailing images directly to [email protected]

Samsung has joined forces with David Bailey to create an online exhibition and auction whose proceeds will go to Marie Curie Cancer Care. The auction will feature twenty photographs, one taken by the David Bailey and the others taken by 19 of his namesakes who were recruited by Samsung back in October. Live from today, the charity auction will be open for one week until 8pm on Tuesday 14th March and will feature a range of images taken by the David Baileys on a Samsung NX300 (pictured). Each print will be available to bid on for the duration of the week-long auction, with bidders invited to identify the real David Bailey from his namesakes to be in with the chance of getting their hands on an original David Bailey print. Anyone wanting to take part in the auction should visit the website below.

Akvis has released version 3.5 of Refocus, a program for improving the sharpness of out of focus images and adding lens blur effects to your photos. Version 3.5 offers an advanced algorithm with improved image processing speed for the program's "Tilt-Shift" (miniature) and Iris Blur modes. The improvement is especially noticeable when using the larger values of the Blur parameter, the company says. Registered users of Refocus can upgrade to version 3.5 for free by downloading and installing the new version.

Unified Color has announced the call for entries for its latest HDR imaging contest. To enter, participants choose their favorite HDR image(s) and resize them to 72 ppi with a width no wider than 900 pixels and email the entries to Unified Color at [email protected] The contest will last for 43 days, and submissions can be made until midnight on Tuesday, June 18th. The body of the entry email must state “I have read and accept the contest rules” and include the entrant’s name, email, and phone number.  The entry must have been edited in HDR Expose 2, HDR Express 2 or 32 Float v2 at some point in its creation. The winners will be announced on the company website and blog on June 12th. As always we suggest that you read the rules before entering your work.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania-based photographer Derek Schoffstall has started a petition urging Adobe to "restart development for Adobe Creative Suite 7," following the company's announcement that it had "no plans for future releases of Creative Suite or other CS products." Adobe has already decided that the newest iteration of Photoshop - called Adobe Photoshop CC - will be available exclusively to Creative Cloud members (although it did add that "Creative Suite 6 products will continue to be supported and available for purchase"). The petition, which has already been signed by more than 1500 photographers from around the world, argues that customers ought to "have a choice between either CC or the creative suite."

Fuji has issued a firmware update for the Fujifilm Finepix HS50EXR super-zoom camera. According to the company, Version 1.01 incorporates the following enhancements:

1. "Operability with Eye-Fi card is improved."
2. "Disconnection of objects shown in Motion Panorama images by vertical direction shooting is improved."

Website: Fujifilm Finepix HS50EXR Firmware Update