The winners of the June 2012 Photography Blog Competition have been announced. The theme for June was “Global Warming” - you can view all of the entries in this gallery. Here are the 5 winners:

1st Place
Saving the tree by czardases
Prize: X-Rite ColourChecker Passport
Kindly donated by X-Rite
http://www.xritephoto.com/

The distribution, sales and marketing of Ricoh camera products in the UK has been transferred from Alpha Digital Services to Pentax Ricoh Imaging UK. “We are very excited about the addition of Ricoh cameras to our portfolio,” said Jonathan Martin, General Manager.  “The new arrangement will enable us to offer an efficient streamlined service with one point of contact for both product ranges.”

Six politicians have been named as the ‘Judges Choices’ winners of the Jessops All-Party Parliamentary Photographic Competition.  This year over 400 entries were submitted, displaying a diverse range of imagery taken from both the politicians’ personal and professional lives. The winning photographers from the House of Commons are: Andrew Miller MP, Caroline Flint MP, Nick Raynsford MP, Austin Mitchell MP and Tim Loughton MP. Lord Crathorne is the sole winner from the House of Lords. The six winning photographs together with a further 100 images will be available for public viewing from today to 5th July at the Jessops All-Party Parliamentary Photographic Exhibition in The Upper Waiting Hall of the House of Commons.  The Exhibition will then move to the Royal Robing Room at the House of Lords from 6th July for a further two weeks.

Corel has acquired Avid’s consumer video editing product lines, including Pinnacle Studio HD and Avid Studio. “With the power of the Pinnacle Studio and Corel VideoStudio brands, Corel now offers the industry’s broadest consumer video editing software portfolio,” said Matt DiMaria, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Digital Media at Corel. “These products will meet virtually any need or creative impulse – whether customers are looking to quickly capture, edit and share videos on their iPad or require the exceptional control of a full-featured desktop application.” Corel will offer the Pinnacle consumer video editing products to customers and partners through its global sales, marketing and services organisations.

Oakwood, has announced its “Most Memorable Travel” Photography Competition, offering a chance to win the grand prize of a trip for two with airfare and accommodations to an Oakwood property in Asia and a Nikon 1 J1 digital camera. The submission deadline is 15 September 2012, after which the shortlisted images will be posted on the competition’s microsite for public online voting. On 15 December 2012, a Grand Prize winner and three runners-up will be announced. The runners-up will each receive a Nikon Coolpix P7100 digital camera.

The new Sony XQD S Series memory card is faster than the maximum speed limit of Compact Flash. Offering actual sustained read/write transfer speeds of 168MB/s, XQD surpasses the 167 MB/s maximum interface speed limit of Compact Flash. On the Nikon D4 DSLR, the XQD S Series captures a non-stop burst of 108 RAW frames at 10fps, enough to record the men’s 100m final from start to finish in one burst. The XQD S Series memory card will be available in 64GB capacity from July 2012. A 32GB card will also be available later in 2012.

iPhoto for iOS, a new iBook textbook about iPhoto for iOS, has just been released. iPhoto for iOS offers technical information that other books don’t offer such as how iPhoto handles high-resolution images, what Photo Box is, and how to beam RAW files as well as video tutorials to cover all parts of iPhoto’s user interface. iPhoto for iOS is available for $4.99 on the US Apple store at http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/iphoto-for-ios/id539513153?mt=11 .

Photography education and entertainment site PhoozL announces its latest “super-judged” photo contest: “The Art of Nature.” Nature and wildlife pro photographer Daniel J. Cox selected the contest theme and will pick the final winners. The contest is open for submissions now until July 31 with participants allowed up to 5 photos relating to the theme: “the art of nature.” Entry is free and open to all logged-in members of Phoozl.com, amateur to pro, 18+ worldwide. There are prizes with the Grand Prize winner receiving personal 1:1 review from Daniel Cox on their work.

The Samsung WB100 superzoom camera has been launched in the UK. The AA battery powered, 16-megapixel Samsung WB100 features a 22.3-579.8mm equivalent lens, dual image stabilisation, 3D photo capture, a Live Panorama Mode and 720p HD video recording capabilities. Weighing in at 403 grams without the batteries, the Samsung WB100 is available in black or red. The UK price has not been revealed yet but the recently announced German SRP (€219) should serve as a good indication of what to expect.

Manchester-based Eposure, a new business which has been set up to support professional photographers by promoting its members to photography buyers, has just launched its website. Designed to create a single place where buyers can find, research and commission commercial photographers, Eposure.com allows members to create their own portfolio pages, which are then actively marketed and promoted to buyers on a daily basis. ” We have a blog which is a key part of the site, which is already well respected in the industry, based on feedback we get, because we are covering issues in the commercial photography market that nobody else has,” says Gabrielle O’Hare, director of Eposure. “The team behind Eposure have a strong photographic and marketing backgound, which means we understand the sector, and the people who commission and use photography for their own marketing.”

Website: Eposure

The National Park Foundation, the official charity of America’s national parks, has launched the Share the Experience photo contest. Now in its 12th year, the competition provides an opportunity for amateur photographers to submit pictures taken at any US federal lands site for the chance of having their image selected for use on the America the Beautiful Federal Recreation Lands Pass. Entries will be accepted through 31 December 2012. As always we recommend that you read the rules before entering your work.

The Tiffen Company today unveiled its redesigned Davis & Sanford Magnum XG13 Tripod and FX13 Head. Billed as “the digital imaging industry’s first advanced DSLR/video tripod developed with a switchable counterbalance to prevent the common problem of camera dumping,” the XG13 tripod is manufactured with a powder-coated and anodised finish to resist abrasion under heavy use. Shipped with the Magnum XG13, the FX13 Head is manufactured with the new Davis & Sanford advanced, built-in fluid system. The fluid system is ideal for DSLR shoots in video mode as well as shooting stills of fast-moving subjects like birds. The head has a maximum load capacity of 13lbs and has three spirit levels to ensure perfect levelling. The three-way head has 360-degree pan, 90-degree down, and 60-degree upward tilt plus landscape and portrait tilt mode. The Davis & Sanford Magnum XG13 Tripod and FX13 Head are available today through Tiffen resellers for a street price of $189.

J.D. Power and Associates have published their 2012 Digital Single-Lens Reflex Camera Online Buyer Report. Responses were collected via PowerReviews - a social commerce network recently acquired by Bazaarvoice - and reflect the attitudes of actual DSLR camera owners who used an e-commerce site to make their purchase. According to the report, Pentax ranks highest in online buyer satisfaction with a score of 899 (on a 1,000-point scale), followed closely by Nikon (891) and Canon (888). The average price paid for a digital SLR camera has increased from $937 in 2011 to $1,291 in 2012, reflecting a shift towards more prosumer-oriented and semi-professional cameras.

Oloneo has released Oloneo PhotoEngine 1.1 and Oloneo HDRengine 1.1 for Windows. These updates support DNG v1.4 as well as 24 new cameras including the Nikon D800, D800E and D4, the Canon EOS-1D X, 5D Mark III and PowerShot G1 X, the Sony SLT A37 and SLT A57, as well as the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1 among others. The latest English/International 32-bit/64-bit versions of Oloneo PhotoEngine and Oloneo HDRengine for Windows are available through the Oloneo online store. A 20% Summer Special discount is available until 15th July.

Sigma has announced the release date and suggested retail pricing for the Sigma DP2 Merrill large-sensor digital compact camera. Featuring a 15x3-megapixel Foveon sensor and a 30mm f/2.8 lens, the Sigma DP2 Merrill will be available in the UK from 12th July with a suggested retail price of £799.99. In the United States, the camera will hit the shelves on the same day at an estimated street price of $999.

ChromaLuxe has announced the availability of 18 new configurations for its ChromaLuxe Connection line.  With these new layouts, ChromaLuxe now offers close to 50 configurations with which to arrange its HD Metal Photo Panels to create individualised wall décor in any home or business setting. Metal photo panels from ChromaLuxe present an archival-quality, highly scratch-resistant surface that is waterproof and resistant to UV rays and other damaging elements that would easily destroy standard paper prints. For more information, visit the website below.

The Nimbus Cloud Dome is a new accessory designed to help photographers take professional-looking pictures of jewellery and other small products. As a smaller version of the original Cloud Dome, the new Nimbus is a portable and durable mini-studio that eliminates harsh shadows and strong specular highlights, helping to create evenly lit product shots of shiny objects - even with a smartphone camera. “I insisted that it be usable for any cell phone with a close focus camera, which includes most newer smartphones,” says co-inventor Dave Burchett. “The Nimbus Dome holds the phone steady and takes clear, non-glare, diffused photographs.”

Alamy has published the results of a round table discussion on image licensing and pricing. Participants included picture buyers, photographers, journalists and commentators as well as stock image providers. The key findings from the report are that photographers are finding the current market hard, complicated pricing structures are a disincentive to first-time picture buyers, conventional licensing models are outmoded, and that technology has failed to solve the problem of unauthorised image use so a simplified system is needed. You can download the entire White Paper by visiting the link below.

Lastolite has unveiled its new Low Level Posing Tubs. The set consists of three tubs in a variety of sizes which can be used on their own or in conjunction with Lastolite’s existing set of posing tubs. Each unit is capable of supporting up to a 20-stone adult and comes with its own carry case & shoulder strap. The new Low Level Posing Tubs are available at £130.

Instaprints have launched an online marketplace which offers Instagram users around the world the ability to sell their photos as canvas prints, framed prints, acrylic prints, greeting cards and posters. “Instaprints was designed for anyone who wants to turn their Instagram photos into an online business,” said Sean Broihier, founder of Instaprints. “Instagram users love transforming their photos into stylized works of art. Our website allows those users to generate income by selling their photos as actual art products which you can hang on your wall.” The company sets a base price for each available product, and sellers then add a markup to each base price. When a sale is made, sellers keep their entire markup.