The new Lowepro Photo Sport AW Series was designed for outdoor adventurers that like to bring photo gear along when skiing, biking or snowboarding. Comprising a dual-compartment sling bag ($129.99) and a photo backpack ($199.99), the Photo Sport AW Series offers “supreme protection for adventure sports enthusiasts”, the company says.  To ensure quick access to camera equipment, the lower compartment of each pack includes Lowepro’s Ultra-Cinch Camera Chamber that snugs gear in a secured compartment to prevent bouncing while in motion. A zippered, side-access pocket allows the wearer to quickly rotate the pack to the front, unzip, un-cinch and access the camera compartment which can accommodate a DSLR with attached lens and a flash unit. The top-loading upper compartment provides flexible storage space — 13.9 litres in the 200 AW backpack and 9 litres in the Sling 100 AW — for other essential photo gear.

Adobe has released an update to Photoshop CS5. Officially called Adobe Photoshop 12.0.4, the latest version enables specially designed apps on tablets, smartphones, and PCs to communicate with and control interaction with Photoshop CS5. (The first such apps have been developed by Adobe itself, and will shortly be available for purchase on iTunes.) To apply the update choose Help > Updates in your current version of Adobe Photoshop CS5.

The winners of the fourth International Garden Photographer of the Year (IGPOTY) competition have been announced. The title winner of the £5,000 prize for the best single image is UK-based photographer, Colin Roberts for Sea Thrift Flowers, while the Best Portfolio Prize has been awarded to John Grant, from the USA, for Fairy Tales and Reveries. The Young Garden Photographer of the Year went to 15-year-old Jamie Unwin for Little Mouse on some Wild Wheat, an enchanting black and white photograph of a curious wild mouse who allowed Jamie close enough to capture it on camera (above).

Five months after discovering vulnerability in Canon’s Original Data Security System, ElcomSoft apparently found a similar problem with Nikon’s Image Authentication System. The system enables users to determine whether an image has been altered after capture, providing proof of image authenticity for the purposes of law enforcement, insurance, and so on. ElcomSoft claims to have identified a major flaw in the manner the secure image signing key is being handled, allowing forged images to pass validation with Nikon Image Authentication Software. “The signing cryptographic key can be extracted from the camera and used to sign any picture, genuine or not,” the company said in a statement, adding that “all past and current Nikon cameras supporting Image Authentication are affected, including Nikon D3X, D3, D700, D300S, D300, D2Xs, D2X, D2Hs, and D200 digital SLRs”.

Redrock Micro has announced the new Redrock Micro micro3D rig for professional stereoscopic 3D production. Designed for today’s smaller format cameras and price-conscious stereographers, the micro3D rig is a state-of-the-art side-by-side support rig for two-camera setups. Featuring a bottom mounting plate with ¼” and 3/8” taps for virtually any tripod mount, the micro3D rig supports a broad range of cameras from Canon, Sony, RED and other manufacturers. Available for ordering immediately direct from Redrock Micro, micro3D rigs are priced from $895.

Sony Czech Republic have published the full manual for the new Sony NEX-C3 compact system camera (thanks to SonyAlphaRumours for spotting this). The widely rumoured Sony NEX C3 features a 16 megapixel sensor, tilting LCD screen, built-in pop-up flash, stereo sound, a new range of Picture Effects and will be smaller than the year-old NEX-3 model that it replaces. Interestingly, the manual also makes reference to a NEX-5C model, not sure if this is just a typo…

The login details for the public download site are:
Username: czmanuals
Password: pooyaiD7

Download the Sony NEX-C3 Manual (Czech)

Sony Czech Republic have published the full Polish manual for the new Sony SLT-A35 DSLR camera (again thanks to SonyAlphaRumours). The widely rumoured Sony NEX A35 seems to be essentially the same as the A33 model that it replaces, with a few minor improvements including longer battery life and video recording times.

The login details for the public download site are:
Username: czmanuals
Password: pooyaiD7

Download the Sony SLT-A35 Manual (Polish)

The winners of the April 2011 Photography Blog Competition have been announced. The theme for April was “Candid” - you can view all of the entries in this gallery. Here are the 5 winners:

1st Place
Jewels in the Crowd by Simon K

Prize: X-Rite ColourChecker Passport
Kindly donated by X-Rite
http://www.xritephoto.com/

Bokeh by Arqball is an interactive e-book for the Apple iPad, designed to teach beginners about zooming, focusing, depth of field and exposure. Each lesson simulates the photographic process on a real scene as you interactively adjust a camera setting. “This book will appeal to enthusiasts who want to learn more of the science behind photography and how modern digital SLR cameras function,” the publisher says. Bokeh for iPad is available on iTunes for $1.99.

Mom’s Healthy Secrets has teamed up with PeopleJar to give away an all-expense paid week-long trip for two to Rancho La Puerta, Mexico. To enter, all you have to do is upload to PeopleJar a photo of your favourite place to enjoy a sunrise or sunset. The submission deadline is 1st June. At the end of the submission period, a panel of judges will select the grand prize winner based on originality, creativity, intrigue and the number of “likes” received on the PeopleJar website. The contest is open to adult Canadian and US residents only. As with every photo competition, we recommend that you read the rules before entering any photos.

Website: PeopleJar

OK, so you’ve captured the most precious moments of Kate and William’s wedding with your digicam - now it’s time to enter your photos in Yahoo!‘s photo contest for a chance to win a £5000 ‘honeymoon’. ‘The People’s Royal Wedding Album’ aims to capture the people’s take on the event. “Whether it’s photos of celebrations down the pub, your pet in royal regalia, camped in a sleeping bag on the Mall, a fantastic knitted souvenir… Yahoo!’s ‘People’s Royal Wedding Album’ wants to capture it all, hopefully with a sense of humour,” the organisers say. You can enter the competition by uploading your photos to the The People’s Royal Wedding Album group on Flickr. Make sure to go through your snaps and select the best ones quickly though, as the deadline for entries is 6 p.m. tomorrow, UK time. Do note that while any Flickr member can upload their photos, only UK residents aged 18 and above are eligible to win. As always, we suggest that you read the rules before entering your work.

Adobe UK is organising a free, one-off event in London to showcase the latest features of Adobe Creative Suite 5.5. The one-day event will be held at Vue Cinema in Fulham, starting at 9:00am and finishing at 4:00pm on 11 May 2011. “The workshop will be especially valuable to those that are on early Creative Suite versions such as CS3 or CS4 and who are keen to understand the value of upgrading,” Adobe says. You can register online at the website below.

The third issue of Landscape Photography Magazine is now available online. This edition includes a great variety of new articles and tutorials on topics like creative seascapes, preparations before a photo shoot, shooting under available night light, visiting Corfu and Higger Tor, shutter speed choice, and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. You can download the latest issue from the website below, after registration.

Website: Landscape Photography Magazine

RogueSheep today announced that an important update for its TouchUp App for iPad is now available from the App Store. The TouchUp app leverages the Apple iPad’s graphics processor and OpenGL graphics “to provide high-performance image editing in a refined user experience”. Users can apply a variety of effects to their photo which can then be “brushed” on or off any portion of the image. Users can stack any number of effects and adjustments on their photos to make even more impressive results. The update includes three new pixel-image effects, two new “Lo-fi” filters, adds Flickr import with full Set, Tag, and Favorites integration, and more. TouchUp for iPad 1.2 is available on iTunes for $9.99.

TIPA editors have voted Nik Software’s Complete Collection as the Best Photo Software for 2011. The collection is a suite of all Nik Software plug-ins for Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, and Apple Aperture, including the latest versions of Color Efex Pro, Silver Efex Pro, HDR Efex Pro, Viveza, Sharpener Pro and Dfine. “We are particularly proud to win the prestigious 2011 TIPA Award for Best Photo Software, as this award is given internationally by the people who represent imaging and photography customers worldwide,” said Michael J. Slater, President and CEO of Nik Software.

Phase One has released Capture One 6.2, which adds camera support for a range of Samsung, Fuji, Ricoh, Panasonic, Canon, Sony and Nikon cameras, as well as the Phase One IQ180, IQ160 and IQ140. Further additions and improvements include local adjustment of saturation and clarity and the ability to copy a local adjustments mask from other layer, auto sync of XMP metadata, additional camera controls for Canon and Nikon, and improved OpenCL and 64 bit performance. Capture One version 6.2 is a free upgrade to current owners of Capture One Express 6 and Capture one Pro 6.

The Epson Stylus Photo R2000 is a new A3+ high-gloss photo printer that uses 50% larger ink cartridges for fewer cartridge changes. The new A3+, 8-colour R2000 printer delivers high-quality photographic prints using Epson UltraChrome Hi-Gloss pigment ink and features Wi-Fi, USB and Ethernet connectivity. The Epson R2000 will be available from May 2011, priced at £419.99 / $499.99.

Epson has published two Masterclass videos featuring tips and tricks from Epson Certified Digigraphie printmaker Gary Wornell. In the first Epson Masterclass video, Professional Digital Photo Printing, Wornell tells us about the importance of accurate colour representation and how by using large format inkjet technology he is able to accurately reproduce captured images. The second video, Masterclass Tutorial for Image Production, is a sequel to the first one, featuring more printing tips and tricks. You can view both videos below.

Established in 2009 by Redeye the photography network, the third National Photography Symposium will be held in Liverpool from 13-15 May 2011. Dubbed “The most important forum in UK photography” by the Financial Times, the event is aimed at photographers at every level, and those working in other fields who are interested in photography - curators, writers, students, academics, buyers, editors and collectors.To find out more about the programme visit the website below.