Fotolia has announced that it now offers over eight million images for download. As the first microstock to offer extended licenses, Fotolia provides instant access to a diverse image library of royalty?free photos, vectors and videos starting at $1. Over 1.4 million professionals look to Fotolia for affordable, high-resolution images, the company claims. Founded in New York City in 2004, Fotolia spans the globe with websites in 10 languages and offices in 12 countries.

Website: Fotolia

DxO Labs have released DxO Optics Pro v6.1 for Windows, an update that adds RAW support for 3 new cameras - the Canon EOS 7D and PowerShot G11, and the Nikon D3000. For this new release, DxO Labs fixed several bugs and also made some improvements to the user interface, based on customer feedback and suggestions, including full-screen display mode for increased visual comfort, additional shortcuts for improved productivity and additional presets for increased flexibility. Furthermore, 56 new DxO Optics Modules are now available to DxO Optics Pro users, covering the Canon 7D, 400D, 450D, 500D, Nikon D3, D300, D300s, D40x, and D3000; the Olympus E-30, E-420, E-510, and E-620; and the Sony A300, A850 and A900. DxO Optics Pro v6.1 for Windows, both Standard and Elite editions, are immediately available from both DxO Labs’ e-store and selected resellers at a 30 % discount until 31 December 2009. This means the standard edition is now £69 instead of £99, while the elite edition can be yours for £139 instead of £199.

Website: DxO Labs

The TrekPod II, an easy to use, flexible camera stabilisation tool that quickly converts from monopod to a tripod to a hiking staff, is now available in the UK. The new TrekPod II with brushed nickel finish weighs only 0.79kg but can support 12.7kg. As a hiking staff and monopod, the TrekPod II adjusts from 43” to 62.5”. In tripod mode, the TrekPod II telescopes from 39” to 57.5”. With a suggested retail price of £79.99, the new TrekPod II now includes over £40 worth of free accessories, including a quick release ball head and a rugged carry-case. In the UK, the TrekPod II is sold by JP Distribution.

Website: Trek-Tech

Rocky Nook have announced the release of a new photography book, entitled The Portrait by Glenn Rand and Tim Meyer. The two authors “have avoided the single-style viewpoint common to so many books on portraiture and have crafted a definitive resource for professionals, as well as students and avid amateurs,” the publisher says. Topics covered include, among others, the mastering of lighting ratios, the quality of light, lighting patterns on the human face the importance and selection of backgrounds, composition in portraiture, eliciting the appropriate expression and more; including extensive coverage of lighting setups. The 170-page book sells for $34.95 / £26.99.

Website: The Portrait

Ricoh have issued a firmware update for the Ricoh CX2 digital compact camera. Version 1.14 addresses the following issue:

The startup time may take longer than usual when turning on the camera in a My setting mode in some combinations of the My setting registrations.

Website: Ricoh CX2 Firmware

The organisers of the Can-Do film festival and competition are seeking short videos shot on a Canon EOS 1D Mark IV (pictured), 5D Mark II or 7D. The films can be in one of ten genres including music video, spec commercial, TV show teaser, movie trailer, narrative, documentary, nature, sports event, wedding event and military services. The submission period opens on 1 January and closes on 20 March 2010. You can submit more than one movie, but each film should be four minutes or shorter. All submissions must be in the H.264 Apple QuickTime file format, and every submission must be accompanied by a Release Form. To read the full rules and regulations, head to the website below.

Website: Can-Do Film Festival and Competition Rules and Regulations

The launch of new photography website FocalPop brings photographers and photo buyers a new way to buy and sell photography. FocalPoint works on the principle of crowdsourcing: image seekers create a request describing the photo they need, photographers upload shots that meet the request, and then the seeker selects a winning photo. Photographers can sign up for notifications of new requests and participate in those with the style, price, and licensing that best works for them. They also stand to earn high revenues with a minimum of 70% commissions on photo sales and the price of photos starting at a minimum of $50. Buyers will be happy to finally get the exact photos they need without having to spend hours digging for the right photo, the company predicts.

Website: FocalPop

The new Pandigital portable photo printer is the first product coming out of an alliance between Zink Imaging and Pandigital, which extends to the development and marketing of products that leverage Zink’s so-called Zero Ink printing technology. Zink Technology provides Pandigital with a technology platform from which it will launch a new generation of devices that are compact, easy?to?use, and earth?friendly. Powering these Zink?enabled products is the patented Zink Paper, an advanced composite material with embedded yellow, magenta, and cyan dye crystals. Zink?enabled devices use heat to activate and colorise these crystals, radically simplifying the printing process. The new Pandigital portable photo printer which, thanks to Zink’s technology, requires no ink cartridges to produce borderless full-colour 4x6” prints, will be available in limited release before the end of 2009, with US-wide distribution planned for the first quarter of 2010. According to Engadget, the printer has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $149.99, while a pack of Zink Paper will cost you $39.99.

Via Engadget

German university student Franziska Dierschke has come up with an idea for a digicam that looks like a toy gun. The Aimat, as it is called, has no viewfinder, LCD screen or anything that’s considered a basic “ingredient” of a digital camera, except a lens, a sensor and a shutter release. Apparently, the emphasis is not on image quality, perfect focus or exposure; but on the playful act of shooting a picture of someone who doesn’t quite know what’s going on. The Aimat digital camera was first displayed at Berlin’s DesignMai exhibition back in 2007, but disappeared under the radar for over two years, to recently resurface - still as a design concept only, rather than an actual product. We’ll keep you posted if/when it becomes commercially available.

Via SG | Thanks to our reader Tibor for tipping us on the news!

Enlight Photo has announced that the Orbis Arm, a mounting bracket for the Orbis ring flash, is now available across the U.S.A and in many other countries around the world. The arm makes the Orbis even more versatile, firmly connecting the whole flash system into one unit, the manufacturer says. The arm is now on sale in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the USA, Canada, Singapore, the UK and across Europe. The US price of the Orbis Arm mounting bracket is $59. A full list of dealers can be found at the website below.

Website: Orbis Flash

Leaf Imaging announced today the immediate availability of Leaf Capture Remote – an application that extends Leaf Capture 11 workflow software, enabling remote image viewing on an Apple iPhone, or iPod Touch. The Leaf Capture Remote app allows photographers and digital operators using Leaf digital backs and camera systems to view, zoom and pan high resolution Leaf RAW images on an Apple mobile device. Leaf Capture Remote application version 1.0 is free and available now for download from Apple’s iPhone App Store. It supports all Leaf products that connect to Leaf Capture.

Website: Leaf Capture Remote

Nikon has created a new and exciting interactive tool to graphically represent their current lens lineup. The horizontal axis of the chart shows the actual focal length in millimetres, the vertical axis is for the maximum apertures. The lenses themselves are represented by a spot, a bar or a rectangle; depending on whether we are talking about a prime, a zoom with a fixed maximum aperture or a zoom with variable maximum aperture. You can also display product images of the lenses as thumbnails if you wish. Users of the tool can also filter lenses by the size of their imaging circle (DX or FX), focusin method (AF or MF), prime or zoom, and features (such as vibration reduction, internal focus etc.).

Website: Nikkor Lenses Positioning Map

Via Thom Hogan | 1001 Noisy Cameras

Anyone who purchases 200GB or more of extra Google storage will receive a free Eye-Fi wireless memory card, which lets users send photos and videos directly from their camera to the Web. The combined power of Google’s Picasa Web Albums and Eye-Fi’s automatic geotagging service also lets users easily view their photos plotted on a map where the image was taken, and search or organise photos by location. Google’s storage solutions featuring the Eye-Fi card start at 200GB per year for $50 and are available for customers in the United States and Canada via the website below.

Website: Picasa Web Albums

This month we are giving away three Photo Paper Direct Give-Away Sets and six O’Reilly photography books!

On Monday 11th January 2010, nine names will be randomly selected from the list of PhotographyBLOG Newsletter subscribers and will each one of the following great prizes:

Three people will each win a Photo Paper Direct give-away set, a fantastic prize for either the amateur or for the professional photographer. Each of the 3 give-away sets has a combined list price of over £50.00 per set.

Six people will each win one of these O’Reilly photography books:

From Camera to Computer
Mastering Digital Panoramic Photography
Build a Better Photograph
Photography Unplugged
Photoshop Elements 8 for Mac: The Missing Manual
Photoshop Elements 8 for Windows: The Missing Manual

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

Jessops have announced a number of pre-Christmas offers across its product range. The Fujifilm FinePix J30 in blue colour now costs £79, £50 less than its introductory price of £129; the FinePix F72 EXR (pictured) is £179, down from £249. Those wishing to purchase the Nikon Coolpix S225 can now get it for £89, saving £10. Finally, the pink version of the Canon Ixus 95 IS digital camera can be had for £149.

Website: Jessops

South Coast Media Group and SouthCoastToday.com are now accepting photo submissions for their holiday photo contest. Interested participants are encouraged to submit their photos now through 16 December via the contest website.Following the open submission period, voting will take place between 16 and 23 December. Contest winners will be chosen by popular vote and judges votes with different prizes for each. Final contest winners will be announced on 24 December.

Website: South Coast Today Holiday Photo Contest

AKVIS Software has released an update to AKVIS Enhancer, an image enhancement program that improves image detail, fixes dark, hazy, or out of focus photos, and can create HDR images. AKVIS Enhancer works in four modes: Enhancer, Focus, Smart Correction, and HDR mode. In first three modes you can improve a picture using one single shot; in the HDR mode you need a series of shots, but the result is impressive, the company says. The program is available in two versions – as an independent program (standalone) and as a plug-in to a photo editor. Version 11.0 adds a new interface design, gains Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 / Snow Leopard / Windows 7 support, and the plug-in version now supports the Smart Filter function in Photoshop CS3 / CS4. 64-bit support has also been added to the plug-in version. Registered users of Version 10 can upgrade to Version 11 for free, while to owners of older versions, upgrades to v.10-11 are available for $29. The full price of AKVIS Enhancer is $69.

Website: AKVIS Enhancer

A UK-wide survey by HP Photosmart demonstrates the fun Britons have in sharing amusing – often embarrassing – photos with friends and family over Christmas. Falling asleep and dodgy dance moves are the most embarrassing images caught on camera with men more likely to be caught snoozing and women more likely to have their uninhibited disco moves immortally captured in print, the company says. Based on their regional findings, HP have compiled a light-hearted list of the top five things you should do to avoid getting photographed in embarrassing situations. These include being wary in Nottingham - as Nottingham residents are said to be most likely to post incriminating photo evidence on social networks -, keeping an eye out in Belfast - where people are most likely to print off photos “purely to embarrass their friends” -, avoiding 25-34-year-old men - who are most likely to circulate embarrassing photo evidence to colleagues -, steering clear of Edinburgh -  where you’re most likely to be snapped having a drunken sob -, and heading instead to Brighton, whose inhabitants are least likely to be caught on camera doing something embarrassing.

London’s theprintspace gallery is to host DayFour’s “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” exhibition. ??The idea for this exhibition was to explore something we in the affluent West have become very used to over the last few years: the ability to have most of our desires satisfied with comparative ease. The contributors were asked to think about wishes, desires, lusts, hopes, expectations. The exhibition will run from Friday the 11th of December until Wednesday the 30th of December (excluding bank holidays) at theprintspace gallery on 74 Kingsland Road.