FotoDC has partnered with the US National Cherry Blossom Festival to produce the National Cherry Blossom Photo Contest. The submission deadline has been set for 9th April 9. The contest, is accepting entries in three categories: Landscape, People, and Festivities, taken during this year’s festival (26th March – 10th April), or taken within the previous two years. For each category, first place winners will receive a $500 cash prize, second place winners will receive a weekend stay at the Renaissance Washington, DC Dupont Circle Hotel, and third place winners will receive a Nikon Coolpix S3000 camera.

Website: National Cherry Blossom Photo Competition

Zacuto USA has just announced the Point’n'Shoot Pro external camera grip for those wishing to shoot steady video with their compact cameras without mounting them on a tripod. “The Point’n'Shoot Pro is my favorite Zacuto product. I originally made it just for me,” says Zacuto owner, Steve Weiss. “I love to use point and shoot cameras to shoot video, especially now that you can
shoot full 1080 24p. Trying to hold one of those tiny cameras steady is impossible but the Point’n'Shoot makes it the steadiest camera in the world. Having the quick-release makes it so I can put the camera in my back pocket and the Point’n'Shoot in the other.” The Point~n~Shoot Pro is available for $89.

Lomography has announced the Diana Deluxe Kit, which includes a Diana F+ camera and a wide range of accessories. These include a flash with hot-shoe adapters, a cable release, four different masks for various film frame formats, a range of lenses from fish-eye to telephoto, two external viewfinders, and more. Available online from the Lomography Store, the Diana Deluxe Kit sells for €200. The kit is also sold in a bundle with a 3-pack of X-Pro Slide 200 transparency film in 120 format, at a price of €220.

Rocoh has released a function-enhancing firmware update for the Ricoh GR Digital III camera. Like the GXR firmware update that was also posted today, it adds a Subject Tracking AF option to the focus modes on offer. Version 2.30 of the Ricoh GR Digital III firmware additionally gives photographers the choice to measure white balance off a small spot within the frame rather than the entire frame, and enables use of the electronic level gauge during self-timer operation.

Website: Ricoh GR Digital III Firmware 2.30

Model and fashion icon Daisy Lowe has collaborated with the British Heart Foundation to create a collection of photographs reflecting the theme of ‘Hope’. The photos, signed by Daisy, will exhibit at Westfield London from tomorrow until Sunday 3rd April as part of The Big Fashion Wardrobe event and are available to buy exclusively through eBay. The online auction starts today and lasts until 7th April.

Website: British Heart Foundation on eBay

Ricoh has posted a major firmware update for the Ricoh GXR body and four GXR lens modules, enabling the auto focus system to continuously follow the subject so that it’s in focus at precisely the moment you want to shoot. Version 1.33 also adds five new scene modes, including soft focus, cross process, toy camera, miniature and high-contrast black-and-white. Furthermore, exposure compensation] and white balance can be assigned to the zoom button. First announced on Thursday, this function-enhancing firmware upgrade is now available for download from the website below.

Website: Ricoh GXR Firmware 1.33

Today marks the international launch of the Apple iPad 2. In addition to the USA, the tablet is now available in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. In the United Kingdom, the cheapest 16GB Wi-Fi model costs £399, while the most expensive 64GB Wi-Fi+3G configuration sells for £659 including VAT. The iPad 2 will be available in Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and additional countries in April, and in many more (unspecified) countries around the world in the coming months.

Twenty-two images of popular protests, elections, political campaigns and civic action have been named winners and finalists in the 2011 Photography Contest sponsored by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES). The winning photograph in the public category was “The Egyptian Revolution” by Jonathan Rashad, an image of a man holding an Egyptian flag during a demonstration in Cairo’s Tahrir Square in February. The IFES’ Choice category was won by Matthew Parry’s photograph “Issuing Referendum Ballot,” which depicts a southern Sudanese woman receiving her ballot paper during the region’s referendum on self-determination in January. The winners each will receive a $600 cash prize.

Kubota Image Tools have announced their Spring 2011 Digital Photography Bootcamp. Taking place from 10-15 April 2011 near the Kubota headquarters in Oregon, this Bootcamp will include the newest image editing tools such as Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5, in addition to the very latest tips and techniques for inspiration, creativity, capture, sales, marketing and presentation. The cost of attendance is $2,995 including tuition, deluxe accommodations and three meals per day. Kevin Kubota is also offering a referral bonus for any photographers that refer a colleague or friend to the workshop. For any photographer that signs up for the workshop, their referring friend can receive a $100 ‘Kubota Bucks’ gift that can be used towards their next Kubota related purchase.

Website: Kubota’s Spring Digital Photography Bootcamp

Color Confidence has confirmed the UK availability of the latest 30” SpectraView Reference and MultiSync additions to the NEC monitor range.The new NEC SpectraView Reference 301 LCD widescreen monitor (£2915) offers professional standard colour accuracy, and boasts features like a 10-bit P-IPS wide format display, a 14-bit Look-up-table for each RGB channel and a picture-in-picture system that allows you to work on two images simultaneously. The MultiSync PA301W option also offers excellent levels of colour accuracy and many of the features of the SpectraView Reference but carries a lower - if still eye-watering - price tag of £1519.

Demand for digital cameras is shifting from the developed markets of Western Europe, the USA and Japan to emerging economies such as Brazil, China, India and Russia, according to a report by Futuresource Consulting. In developed markets - with nearly 80% household penetration - vendors are focusing on existing owners in an effort to shorten the upgrade/replacement cycle, as well as differentiating digital cameras from smartphones, which continue to pose a growing threat, the analysts say. “As we move forward, the primary opportunity for digital cameras is as a ‘one in every household’ device as opposed to one in every pocket,” James Wells, Research Consultant at Futuresource. “Despite lacking the imaging capabilities of most digital cameras, the smartphone will satisfy the personal role and will help complement the overall photo experience.”

SF Photo School has launched a downloadable version of its ‘Masters of Light’ webinar series. Featuring multi award-winning photographers Kevin Wilson, Martin Grahame-Dunn and Uzair Kharawala, the webinar series content includes Essential Elements of Composition, Lighting Essentials, Elements of Posing, Video Marketing, Mastering Off-Camera Flash & How to Get Free Traffic to Your Website & Blog. Including over 360 minutes of high class photography tuition, this downloadable product is priced at £39 + VAT.

Manfrotto School of Xcellence has just announced the addition of three UK photographers to the Manfrotto Local Heroes Programme. They include extreme expedition photographer Phil Coates, adventure photographer Sarah Outen and landscapist Pete Bridgwood. Marco Tortato, Education and Testimonial Manager Imaging, said: “We are working with these photographers on three very interesting and varied projects - aiming not just at promoting our products and brands, but at stimulating emotions, inspiration and imagination through their impactful images and film making.”

Thanks to one of our readers, we have just learned of what must be the first Compact Flash memory card reader for the Apple iPad 2. Available in the M.I.C. Store for $29.90, this is a 2-in-1 device that is backwards compatible with the original Apple iPad. According to M.I.C. Gadget, this memory card reader supports both UDMA and non-UDMA cards and is capable of achieving transfer speeds of up to 133MB/s.

Thanks to our reader Chris Chang for tipping us on the news.

Canon USA have issued a brief statement about the import of their products from Japan. The release states “We are carefully assessing the situation, and its impact on production and operations” and that US Customs are scanning cargo for radiological contamination.

On Monday, 28th March, Gary Fong will be launching a Micro Four Thirds version of the Gary Fong Puffer pop-up flash diffuser. Affixing directly to the camera’s hot-shoe, the variable-position Puffer is adjustable for centre positioning on camera models with off-centre flash placement, such as the Olympus E-PL1 and E-PL2 or the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 and GF2. The Micro Four Thirds Puffer Pop-Up Flash Diffuser will be available from Monday at a price of $21.95.

Online backup experts MiMedia have teamed up with DiJiFi to offer customers a combined digitisation-backup service. Those who enlist DiJiFi to scan photos and transfer videos will have the option to automatically pre-populate a MiMedia account. Following a 60 day free trial, they will receive a 30 percent discount. An annual subscription for 100GB of data will be $70, versus the $120 retail value.

PhotoShelter has just published its first free electronic guidebook for 2011, titled “How to Sell Prints”. This PDF guide gives valuable insight on everything from print sales marketing to colour calibration and features contributions from print experts Mark Joste (Spectrum Photographic), Richard Jackson (Hance Partners/Image Craft), and Ingrid Spangler (AdoramaPix). Available for immediate download, “How to Sell Prints” fits into PhotoShelter’s series of free special reports that have been around since 2009.

Website: PhotoShelter