Burrard-Lucas Photography has launched a “Pet Portraits” photo contest. This competition is open to participants worldwide, aged 18 or over on the closing date of 22nd May 2010. There is no entry fee, and each entrant can submit a maximum of three images. Entrants will retain copyright of their entries at all times and will always be credited alongside their pictures. Prizes to win include a Canon EOS 7D digital SLR camera, a Lensbaby Composer and SmugMug accounts.

Website: Pet Portraits Competition

This month we are giving away 13 great prizes, including Clickfree hard drives, Blurb vouchers and Henri Cartier-Bresson DVDs*, in our Spring 2010 Newsletter Contest.

On Monday 3rd May 2010, 13 names will be randomly selected from the list of PhotographyBLOG Newsletter subscribers and will each one of the following great prizes:

Five people will each win a Clickfree Transformer SE worth $79.99.
Five people will each win a Blurb voucher worth £30.
Three people will each win a copy of the Henri Cartier-Bresson: Collector’s Edition DVD worth $49.95 each (*US and Canadian subscribers only)

To have a chance of winning these great prizes, simply subscribe to the PhotographyBLOG Newsletter.

The winners of the March 2010 Photography Blog Competition have been announced. The theme for March was “Birth” - you can view all of the entries in this gallery. Here are the 5 winners:

1st Place
New Life by farsad

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

Canon has announced the 2010 schedule of Canon Live Learning educational events. In addition to the successful EOS Immersion Seminars and Workshops, Canon has two new intensive workshops for the professional EOS HD video user, EOS Moving Image Workshop and Canon Cinema Caravan.The EOS Moving Image Workshop provides hands-on instruction from industry leaders who currently use Canon EOS cameras in professional film and video productions, while the Canon Cinema Caravan workshops will provide expert instruction on mastering the cinematic capabilities of Canon’s HD video-enabled EOS products for professionals. The six-city workshop tour kicks-off July 7th and 8th in New York followed by stops in Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Portland. The final city will be selected via voting on the Cinema Caravan blog on the Canon Digital Learning Center.

Website: Canon Live Learning

Digital Foci has announced a major new firmware update for the Picture Porter 35 high-capacity portable photo manager. New features in version 1.2.1 include incremental photo backup, full screen preview and selection for convenient viewing, USB mode selection for secondary backup to external USB storage devices, and new professional DSLR extended camera support for RAW, EXIF data, IPTC and histograms. Picture Porter 35 features a 3.5-inch color LCD screen for easy viewing; built-in hard drive with 250GB and 500GB capacities, priced at $399 and $499, respectively; fast copy speeds of 1GB of data under 90 seconds; and a multi-format memory card reader for CF, MMC, SD/HC Card, miniSD, Memory Stick, MS PRO, MS Duo, and xD-Picture card.

Website: Picture Porter 35 Firmware 1.2.1 Release Notes

f-eleven has released the f-eleven vol. 2 photography book. The coffee table quality photography book, edited by internationally published photographer and art director Wolf189, features the work of 19 talented photographers of multiple genres. All sale proceeds from this book are going towards autism research and Fragile X Syndrome awareness.“We hope that this book would help raise awareness and provide some financial assistance for this worthy cause,” said Leo Lam, a fashion photographer in Seattle, and one of the contributors of f-eleven vol. 2.

Website: f-eleven Books

Adobe has announced release candidates for Photoshop Lightroom, Camera Raw and DNG Converter. The updates add raw file support for the Canon EOS 550D, Sony Alpha A450, the Olympus E-PL1, the Panasonic Lumix G2 and G10, the Kodak Z981, and several medium-format digital cameras and backs, including the Leaf Aptus-II 8, the Leaf Aptus-II 10R and the Mamiya DM40. The Lightroom 2.7 Release Candidate is available as a free download for Lightroom 2 users, and the Camera Raw 5.7 Release Candidate is available as a free download for Photoshop CS4 customers. The DNG Converter 5.7 Release Candidate is also available as a free download for all.

The Guardian, in association with Canon, has announced that its Guardian Eyewitness photography app for iPad is now available on the App Store. The app offers some of the world’s most distinctive and provocative photographs, providing a daily, visual re?ection of global events in an interface optimised for iPad. The app showcases the most recent 100 Eyewitness images, enabling users to save their favourites, and share images with their contacts via email or Facebook. Each image is also accompanied by a “pro tip”, to give professional insights into the composition or technical specification of a particular image. The Guardian Eyewitness photography app for iPad is currently available in the US for free from the App Store.

Website: Guardian Eyewitness for iPad

In a departure from his usual genre, British fashion / portrait photographer Rankin is launching his new book and exhibition RANKINJOZI - an insight into South Africa today. Exploring the genres of documentary, social portraiture, fine art photography and reportage, RANKINJOZI is the virtual record of Rankin’s journey to Johannesburg for the filming of South Africa in Pictures, his one-hour documentary for BBC Four. The documentary is airing in Spring as part of Wonderful Africa, BBC Four’s Southern Africa Season. Venturing out onto the city streets and into homes and communities, Rankin’s portrait of Jozi (i.e. Johannesburg) not only documents his own personal journey, but provides an insight into the land and its people. The exhibition will run from 7th May to 6th June at Annroy Gallery, Rankin’s own Kentish Town gallery space. The book is available via www.turnaround-uk.com, RRP £20.

South Africa in Pictures is a one-hour documentary in which British Photographer Rankin discovers contemporary South Africa. Airing in Spring as part of Wonderful Africa, BBC Four’s Southern Africa Season, the film follows Rankin through a series of encounters with some of South Africa’s most significant photographers from a range of photographic disciplines, including David Goldblatt and Alf Kumalo. Kumalo shares his experiences as one of the first black professional photojournalists for Drum Magazine, while Goldblatt - a documentary photographer with a career spanning more than five decades - talks about creating intimate and insightful portraits of South African communities.

Richmond has announced a new line of glassless box frames. Enabling you to display your favourite photos in the increasingly popular frameless style, the new glassless frames from Richmond are covered with a face paper that is simply peeled back before the print is applied. Richmond box frames are available now from Fuji Digital Imaging Service retailers across the UK, and come in 8x10”, A4 and A3 sizes priced at £6.69, £7.89 and £11.99.

Annabel Williams has joined forces with the organisers of International Garden Photographer of the Year (IGPOTY) to host a one-day workshop dedicated to ‘Photographing People Outdoors’. The seminar will be hosted at the brand new Annabel Williams studio in the Lake District and combine talks within the studio, together with practical shoots out on location using a variety of real people as models. The seminar is designed to help photographers of all levels engage more with their subjects – whether that’s just friends and family, or professional models – and make the most of natural lighting and backgrounds. The seminar takes place on Friday 14th May and costs £195.

Website: Annabel Williams

Red Bull Reporter is going to send a reporter to Cape Town who can bring home the best pics of the journey and also write down his/her experience of the Red Bull Street Style World Finals. Red Bull Reporter is a nationwide search to find the best young music & culture, and sports writers, filmmakers, photographers and presenters, giving them the chance to use their skills and indulge their passions as a Red Bull Reporter. Budding photojournalists are encouraged to check out the Red Bull Street Style website for finding out more about the national competitions and the World Finals in 2010 and the dedicated assignment page for full information on the assignment.

Website: Red Bull Street Style World Finals 2010

Canon UK has announced new cashback offers on select Canon EOS digital SLR cameras. The offers expire on 31 May. Those who buy the Canon EOS 500D before this date can claim £30 / €33 back. Those who purchase the Canon EOS 550D are entitled to a cashback of £50 / €55, whilst new Canon EOS 50D owners can get back £65 / €70 from the retail price. The offers are valid in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.

Nikon Uk has reduced the recommended retail price of the Nikon D3000 digital SLR camera. The new RRP is £379.99 for the body, £439.99 for the kit with the 18-55mm non-VR lens and £449.99
for the 18-55mm VR lens.

Sony has just announced an update to its Image Data Converter SR software, featuring algorithms that significantly reduce image noise at high ISO settings when converting raw data to JPEG files. The new algorithms implemented in Version 3.2 affect photos taken at ISO 800 and higher, allegdly “delivering impressively natural results with minimised colour noise right up to ISO 12800”. Registered Sony Alpha customers can download Image Data Converter SR Version 3.2 free of charge from the Sony Europe support website from the first week of April.

Website: Sony

A stunning collection of photography taken at the Glastonbury Festival, the UK’s largest outdoor performing arts event, will go on display at London gallery, theprintspace, from April 16th. ‘Glastonbury: 40 years’ documents the day-to-day life of a makeshift city with a unique sociological footprint. Photographer Liam Bailey’s images show the spontaneous side of the festival away from the stages. In addition to the photographs of Glastonbury, the exhibition will also house ‘Round & About’, a collection of photographs encompassing footballs and other sports balls found and discarded in locations all over London, and sets of used stamps found at car-boot sales. The exhibition runs until 4 May from 9am-7pm Monday-Friday.