John Freeman Photours has launched a series of photography prints and gift vouchers in time for Mother’s Day. The prints feature John Freeman’s award-winning photography of nature and landscapes, still life, world architecture and more. They are available on paper or canvas and can be purchased as print-only - starting at £45 - or in one of several high-quality frames. For mothers who are keen photographers themselves, vouchers can be purchased for John Freeman Photours studio workshops and luxury photography holidays to locations in the UK, further afield in Europe, or as far-flung as Namibia, South Africa and India. Gift vouchers start from £50 and are presented in specially designed gift cards featuring John Freeman’s own photography.

Website: John Freeman Photours

Easy Release by ApplicationGap is an iPhone app designed to replace paper-based model releases with a slick, streamlined application. Founder Robert Giroux, a commercial and editorial photographer who has been working for Getty Images for years, conceived the idea of Easy Release as a way to bring the model- and property-release process into the digital age. “Back then there wasn’t a suitable mobile platform for it. I thought of using bio-metric signatures on an HP device or other PDA, but the bio-metric readers were expensive and uncommon. When it arrived, I knew the iPhone was the exactly right platform”, says Giroux.

Mastering Canon EOS Flash Photography is a new book on the subject of flash photography using Canon Speedlites. The book covers the fundamentals of flash metering, discusses key lighting concepts, and documents a wide range of Canon and third-party equipment. The book, written by Canadian photographer NK Guy, is lavishly illustrated with diagrams that demonstrate important functions and lighting arrangements, and inspiring photos that show sophisticated flash techniques. Though tailored for users of Canon EOS cameras, owners of other camera systems will find much valuable information as well. With a foreword by David Hobby, founder of strobist.com, Mastering Canon EOS Flash Photography sells for $44.95 and is available from O’Reilly.

Paragon Software has released Hard Disk Manager 2010 for home users. Available in two editions, Suite and Professional, the software provides all the tools you need to manage today’s hard drives, including partitioning, backup & restore, migration, optimisation & defragmentation, hard drive disposal, boot management and system recovery. The Professional Edition includes all the functionality of Hard Disk Manager 2010 Suite plus full maintenance for virtual drives, seamless migration to virtual environments and a built-in scripts language to automate standard maintenance routines. Paragon Hard Disk Manager 2010 is available for £29.95 (Suite edition), £69.95 (Pro edition).

Website: Paragon Hard Disk Manager Versions Comparison

The long-awaited Pentax 645D digital medium-format camera will be available in May 2010. The 645D features a 40 megapixel Kodak sensor, SAFOX IX+ autofocus system with 11 sensor points, weather-proof body, dual SD/SDHC card slots and a glass prism viewfinder. Expected to sell for ¥850,000 ($9,500 / £6,300), the Pentax 645D will initially only be available in Japan, with a decision about release in other countries still to be decided. In addition to the 645D body, Pentax will also launch the D-FA 645 55mm F2.8 AL [IF] SDM AW lens, which is equivalent to 43.5mm in the 35mm format and will cost around ¥100,000 ($1,100 / £750).

Focus on Imaging is Europe’s biggest annual photography show, and this year’s event is currently being held at the NEC in Birmingham, England. Open to both trade and the public, business seemed brisk as we made our way around the show floor, perhaps indicating that the worst of the global recession is behind the photography industry - or at the very least that photographers are window-shopping again. Read on for our Focus 2010 show report.

Canon had a fleet of branded Mini Coopers at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver - and our reader Jerry was there to take a few high-quality images of them. These cars, all decked out in Canon gear, roamed the streets of Vancouver, serving as private shuttles. “It was pretty awesome,” Jerry commented. Click through for a small gallery of his images. We thank Jerry for sending them to us.

London-based writer and photographer Steve Davey is launching a new bespoke travel photography tour to Ladakh, India. Impressions of Ladakh, organised in association with Intrepid Travel, takes participants to this unique region sandwiched between the Greater Himalayan and Karakoram Mountain ranges. Timed to correspond with the Tse Chu festival at the Thak Tok monastery, Impressions of Ladakh kicks off on 12 July 2010. Highlights of this travel photography tour include the two-day drive across the Leh-Manali Highway (one of the highest motorable roads in the world), the picturesque high-altitude city of Leh, the famous Hemis Gompa and Dharamsala the seat of the exiled Dalai Lama in India. Steve Davey uses a mix of nightly illustrated talks, group practical demonstrations and personal tuition and critique to teach you about travel photography. The cost of participation is £1495 excluding international flights.

Manfrotto has launched its new generation of joystick heads; the 324RC2 and 327RC2, designed for the amateur and professional photographer. The 324RC2 and 327RC2 are the latest versions of the Manfrotto joystick heads, making full use of new technologies and materials to improve both design and technical specs. The heads have been optimized to provide intuitive, fast operation, improved comfort and reduced weight. The 324RC2 (£109.95) is made of Adapto, an ultra-durable and lightweight technopolymer, optimised for compactness and transportability with a high load capacity and reduced weight. The 327RC2 (£164.95) has a magnesium body shell that provides superior performance and durability. Both Manfrotto tripod heads are available now.

Jobo AG, a German company founded in 1923 and today best known for its digital photo frames, card readers and storage devices, has been declared insolvent. Photoscala is reporting that insolvency proceedings have been initiated against both Jobo AG and Jobo Labortechnik GmbH & Co., and a lawyer, Hans-Gerd Jauch, has been appointed as provisional liquidator. (Pictured above is the Jobo Nano 8 Pro digital photo frame introduced barely more than a month ago.)

Via Photoscala

Leading East London photographic gallery theprintspace has announced details of a forthcoming exhibition to be compiled entirely of work by photographers on Flickr. theprintspace Gallery, located in the heart of Shoreditch, are looking to bring together the best of Flickr, whatever the subject, context or style of photography. World Press Photography Award-winning photojournalist Laura Pannack says: “The lack of restrictions on the competition opens up a world of diverse photography, from photographers of all ages, with no distinct theme or genre. We can look forward to discovering some hidden gems.” Photographers are invited to enter their photographs at the website below.

Website: theprintspace Gallery on Flickr

Canon is showcasing various imaging products, from input to output, at this year’s Wedding & Portrait Photographer International (WPPI) Convention at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. On display is the new REALiS SX7 Mark II Multimedia LCOS projector, three new imagePROGRAF large format printers, in addition to the company’s EOS Digital SLR camera line and PIXMA Pro Series Inkjet printers. The all-new Canon REALiS SX7 Mark II Multimedia LCOS projector (see picture above) offers a remarkable 4000 lumens of brightness and advanced LCOS technology, delivering film-like photos and video with fine details and exceptional colour reproduction, the company says. Canon’s WPPI 2010 booth is #401.

Kubota Image Tools have announced the new and improved Dashboard 3 Pro software, an intuitive way for photographers to enhance their digital images. Dashboard 3 Pro is a floating palette within Photoshop (CS2 or newer) that acts like a mini search engine for actions.“Our new DASHBOARD 3 Pro has been designed to work the way photographers think,” said Kevin Kubota, Idea Man of Kubota Image Tools. “The efficiencies gained from harnessing actions through this one-stop solution will help photographers create stunning images in just seconds. I guarantee it to be the fastest path from original image to finished art.” Priced at $79, Dashboard 3 Pro is available for purchase and download now on the Kubota Image Tools website.

Website: Kubota Image Tools

AsukaBook USA showcases an award-winning new album choice, two new book lines and faster turnaround time on orders for professional photographers and designers. The two new book lines, including the Zen Lay-flat and the Neo Classic Book Line are currently being previewed at WPPI 2010, and will be available from 17 March. The Zen Lay-flat is a superior quality lay-flat style book with patent-pending, invisible binding, whilst the Neo Classic book line is a more traditional style with thicker, board type pages. In addition to new product offerings, AsukaBook has now shortened its turnaround time for finished orders from 4 weeks to 3 weeks guaranteed.

Website: AsukaBook

Zenfolio has added new offerings that provide users with a unique way to add music to their site, and select and share favorite photos. Zenfolio users can now enhance their photo presentations by adding soundtracks to be played along with their images. Photographers can easily upload legally licensed songs for use on their Zenfolio web site. Music files can be selected to play when a visitor enters a photographer’s portfolio home page, views customisable full-screen slideshows, or along with embedded slideshows on external web sites.

Website: Zenfolio

Tamron says it is developing a premium telezoom for full-frame DSLR cameras, called the SP 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di VC USD. The VC abbreviation in the product name stands for “Vibration Compensation” - so it is an optically stabilised lens -, whilst the USD designation indicates that the Tamron SP 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di VC USD will have an Ultrasonic Silent Drive auto-focus motor, which also enables full-time manual focus override, with no need to switch the lens to MF mode. In the pursuit to achieve the most outstanding image resolution in the 70-300mm class, this 60th Anniversary lens from Tamron utilises an advanced optical design that features an LD (Low Dispersion) and an XLD (Extra Low Dispersion) lens element made from specialised materials that prevent chromatic aberration. The Tamron SP 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di VC USD will be available for Nikon, Canon and Sony/Minolta AF mounts.

Digital Foci will introduce a new Pearl White version of its popular Photo Book, a portable digital photo album with an 8-inch 800x600-pixel colour screen and a 4GB of internal memory. Featuring a slim design encased in a soft leather-like case for a convenient, elegant photo display, Photo Book offers over 2.5 hours of battery life and an easy and portable way to enjoy and share digital photos in a comfortable setting. Built-in memory card slots provide native support for CF, SD/SDHC/MMC, xD, MS and MS PRO memory cards, and supports mini-SD, RS-MMC and MS Duo with adapters. Photo Book includes a leather-like case, AC power adapter, USB to computer, USB adapter to USB flash drive, and Quick Start Guide. Priced at $189 SRP, the Pearl White version of the Photo Book will be available June 2010.

Leica has announced a partnership with UK celebrity and fashion photographer, John Wright, for the Leica S-system. As part of the agreement between Wright and Leica, photographers will be able to experience the S-system first hand through a series of activities including interviews and photographic sessions, and workshops at the Leica Store Mayfair ‘Studio S’. John will also use the camera for a number of high profile shoots throughout the year. John Wright said, “Leica is one of the premier camera manufacturers in the world and I’m delighted to have this opportunity to be involved with the S-system. My initial experiences have been extremely positive. Ease of use, reliability and incredible image resolution are all essential in my work, and the S2 has delivered in every department.”