The winners of the Student Focus Competition for the Sony World Photography Awards 2010 have been announced. Victoria Ines Dobaño and Rodrigo Terren Toro’s winning images, entitled Villa Epecuen, depict the overwhelming power of water. The students’ challenge was to produce a series of six photographs that explored the notion of ‘Power’. The 2011 Student Focus competition has now been launched.

The 30th edition of the PhotographyBB Online Magazine has just been released. Editor in Chief, Dave Seeram, commented “We’ve got another superb issue filled with photography tips for the nature photographer, a thought provoking look at where digital art sits in the world of ‘art’, and a tutorial on how photographers can make use of some cool Facebook automation features to better share their photos with the world.” PhotographyBB Online Magazine is a free publication with the goal of educating beginner to intermediate level photographers.

Express Insurance and world renowned photographer Ray Archer have teamed up to launch a new online competition in search of the best UK motocross photography. The theme of ‘Motocross’ encompasses every element of the sport, photography submitted could include a picture of a static bike, a shot of a professional rider in action or even a creative photo of a pair of gloves. Budding photographers should log onto Facebook and become a fan of Express Insurance UK. The closing date for entries into the competition is Sunday 10th October 2010. The first prize on offer is £250 worth of KTM Gear and an exclusive one-to-one photography lesson with Archer. The runner-up will receive a Flip HD Video Camera and a pair of tickets to a round of their choice at the 2011 Maxxis Motocross championships. Third prize is a pair of tickets to a round of their choice at the 2011 championship.

Simon Roberts, who was commissioned by the House of Commons to produce a series of artworks documenting this year’s election in the UK, will provide a guest lecture and workshop as part of a photography masterclass being offered at Nottingham Trent University (NTU). The course, being run from the University’s Bonington building, is aimed at enthusiasts and professionals and will focus on black and white landscape photography through the medium of the fine art print. The schedule will include portfolio advice, seminar presentations, darkroom techniques, one-to-one and group tutorials by landscape photographers, and guest lectures on landscape and documentary photography.

Albert de Bruijn has released “Portrait Effects”, a package of Adobe Lightroom presets, developed specifically for portrait photographers. The package is made up of 54 Develop Presets and 12 Adjustment Brush Presets and comes as a digital download for the price of US$24.95. The Develop Presets come grouped in 5 sets of effects: Toning, Lighting, Skin, Softness and Basic. The Adjustment Brush Presets get loaded under the adjustment brush and provide fine-tuning tools for skin tone, make-up and eye enhancements.

Website: Portrait FX for Adobe Lightroom

The Silver Eye Center for Photography has announced Fellowship 2010, an international photo competition. Now in its 11th year, the competition is open to all photographers, not just Silver Eye members. A $3,500 award and is open to all eligible photographers, while a $1,500 is open only to Pennsylvania residents (who may apply in both catagories). The juror of the competition is Deborah Klochko, Executive Director of the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego, California (see picture above). Entries must be postmarked or delivered on or before Friday, 27 August 2010 at 6 p.m. EST.

Website: Silver Eye

Color Confidence has announced that the launch of the PChOOD range of monitor hoods has been “one of their most successful product launches yet”, with “unprecedented post-launch customer interest”. The complete PChOOD range offers a selection of monitor hood solutions in a variety of sizes and designs for both PC and Macintosh, including the PChOOD Pro, the PC Laptop Hood and the Mac Laptop Hood. “The PChOOD range offers a definitive selection of monitor hoods which reduce glare and shield unwanted light from any monitor display and so improves on-screen colour consistency” Comments Simon Prais, Technical Director Colour Confidence. The PChOOD range is now in stock now and is available direct from www.ColorConfidence.com

The Creative Alliance, an alliance of six high-profile companies focused on the professional photography market, is partnering with Photokina and Koelnmesse to present educational sessions daily during Photokina 2010. The Creative Alliance Theater is located in Hall 4.1, stand I-010. Visitors can take advantage of seven educational sessions beginning hourly during the show from 11 AM. The schedule of sessions will be posted at The Creative Alliance Theater and is also available online in English and German.

A new adapter from German accessories manufacturer Novoflex enables aperture control, stop-down metering and aperture-priority shooting with G series Nikon lenses on Canon EOS SLR bodies. According to Cameratown, the secret to this is a lever on the side of the adapter, which allows the user to control the aperture on G series lenses that lack an aperture ring. This is not the first Canon-to-Nikon mount adapter out there, but the majority of older models would only allow shooting with older Nikkors that do not carry the G designation. The new Novoflex adapter lets Nikon fans who have been waiting in vain for Nikon to release an affordable 20+ megapixel DSLR to buy a Canon EOS 5D Mark II and use their existing F mount lenses on it, and also allows current Canon users to purchase Nikon lenses that have no Canon equivalent - such as the 14-24mm f/2.8 ultra wide zoom pictured above - for their Canon SLR cameras. In the EU, you can order the Novoflex EOS/NIK NT adapter directly from the manufacturer for €169. In the US, Novoflex adapters are marketed by HP Marketing Corp.

Via Cameratown

JVC has recently launched “The Perfect VIP Experience” sweepstakes, offering Stone Temple Pilots fans the opportunity to win a grand prize ticket package for each stop on their Summer/Fall 2010 tour. The prize package includes two VIP concert tickets – located within the first 10 rows –, a JVC Everio or Picsio video camera, and a meet-and-greet photo opportunity with one of the band members after the show. Prize winners will be encouraged to use their JVC camcorders to take videos and still images at the concert that may be featured on Stone Temple Pilots’ Facebook page. Fans enter to win the “The Perfect VIP Experience” sweepstakes by simply “Liking” the JVC Facebook page, selecting a tour stop, and entering their e-mail address at the website below.

Website: JVC on Facebook

Phanfare for the iPad lets you edit, organize and display your Phanfare photos and videos on the Apple iPad. Slideshows take advantage of the increased screen real estate available on the iPad relative to the iPhone, bringing down higher resolution versions. You can create albums, import photos and videos, edit captions, crop photos and perform basic edits all from within the app. Any changes made are synched back to the online service of Phanfare. Phanfare for the iPad is available immediately in the Apple App store for free.

Fujifilm has organised a scavenger hunt on 25th July in New York City to celebrate the resurgence of instant film photography on the declaration of its first annual Instax Day. Instax Day will bring 50 instant film enthusiasts together to use instant film to capture New York City landmarks and hot spots during a summer fun scavenger hunt that will take place between Rockefeller Center and Union Square Park. Contestants will be given a map to help plot their course, and compete for a chance to win first ($500), second ($250) and third ($100) prize gift certificates to B&H Photo Video. Check-in for the scavenger hunt will begin at the B&H Event Space at 10am and the scavenger hunt will officially kick off at 11am sharp.  The date of 7/25 reflects the model numbers of the two currently available Instax Mini instant cameras, the Mini 7S and the Mini 25.

Website: Instax on Facebook

FotoWeek DC, the premier photography festival in Washington, DC announces the launch of its third annual International Awards Competition. Images are judged in 12 different categories, with cash prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place for each category. There is also the Spirit of Washington Award, which honors the photograph that best captures the essence of the US capital and includes a top prize of $5,000. The competition is open to all photographers, both amateurs and professionals. Entry fees apply, but there is an early bird discount for work submitted before 31 July. The final deadline for submission is 20 September 2010.

Website: FotoWeek DC 2010 Festival

Focussion is an online photo gallery and feedback site where members earn tokens by giving others feedback on their photos. These tokens are needed to be able to upload further images, so the system encourages photographers to look at and critique others’ pictures. Therefore Focussion is more focussed on quality than quantity, and seeks to become a community of committed photographers who really love to review each other’s work. “Moreover, unlike the type of short comments you’ll find on other photo sites, Focussion members will discuss and elaborate, rather than reply in short sentences,” says Focussion founder Aljan Scholtens.

Website: Focussion

East London photographic gallery theprintspace will play host to a fantastic exhibition of still life and commercial photography from acclaimed photographer Ed James. East London photographic gallery theprintspace will play host to a fantastic exhibition of still life and commercial photography from acclaimed photographer Ed James. Amongst the collection of photography is a series on TV dinners, shooting the dinners under photographic studio light, paying attention to every detail and showing people who usually eat this food by the light of the television set, what it really looks like. Another photograph (above) captures a wooden deer head in a living room, illustrating the irony of hunting. The wallpaper shows the animal in its environment; with the wooden trophy suggesting the hunter cannot quite do the deed of killing the deer. The exhibition is on view from today until 17 August 2010. The gallery, located at 74 Kingsland Road, London E2 8DL, is open from 9am to 7pm, Monday to Friday.

Corel’s Quest for the Best Creativity Challenge is looking to discover and showcase some of the extraordinary and inspiring work made in Corel software every day. “As we celebrate our 25th birthday, it’s the perfect time to shine a spotlight on the talent and skills of our community as we thank them for their loyalty and longstanding support,” said Nick Davies, Senior Vice President, Corporate Marketing at Corel. To enter, design your creation in one of Corel’s products and upload your entry to the website below, or simply visit the website and pick your favourite submissions.  The contest is now open in the US, UK, Canada and Germany. Deadline for participation is 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time on 31st August 2010.

Website: Corel Quest for the Best

Litepanels has introduced the MicroPro Hybrid, billed as the first professional LED light to combine continuous output and a “Flash” feature in a single fixture. The Hybrid’s “Continuous Mode” provides luminous, wrap-around soft output that beautifully complements any motion-enabled DSLR camera’s video capability. The “Flash” feature produces a 400% brighter burst, which is perfect for illuminating a variety of still images. Readers requiring further information should call 01293 583300 or visit the website below.

Website: Litepanels