Blurb is hosting a Photography Book Workshop series this June, featuring photographer Dan Milnor, graphic designer Bob Aufuldish, and Lightroom guru Jerry Courvoisier. These 4-hour workshops, preceded by an opportunity to have your work reviewed, will cover the principals of book design, editing your images in Lightroom for optimum results, and how to use Blurb books to promote your work. Each workshop is £30 standalone, or £50 including the portfolio review. The first Blurb workshop will be held on 22 June at Cayley Theatre, University of Westminster.

Website: Blurb Photobook Workshop

The ATP GPS PhotoFinder Pro is a new device that allows you to geotag all of your photos. Designed for use with geotagging sites and software such as iPhoto, Flickr, Picasa3, Locr, SmugMug, Panoramio, Google Earth, and Google Maps and compatible with with more than 450 models of digital cameras, the ATP GPS PhotoFinder Pro provides easy geotagging without a PC or a need to go through complicated software installation processes. To use it, you first need to make sure there is no discrepancy between the time your digital camera is set on and the UTC time used by the Global Positioning System. Then all you need to do is take the PhotoFinder Pro along for the day’s shooting, then insert your memory card into the PhotoFinder Pro to geotag your photos. The MSRP is $119, and availability is slated for mid-July.

Website: ATP PhotoFinder Microsite

Critically acclaimed photojournalist Simon Norfolk is going to deliver a lecture on 11 June in London, as part of the PhotoVoice Lecture Series. The lecture will cover a number of topics ranging from early photojournalism to the “sublime awfulness of modern weapons systems”, from 18th century Romantic paintings to the questions of how to photograph a nuclear missile and how to “yomp 12,000 watts of lighting through the jungles of the Yucatan”. The lecture will be held at Conway Hall, South Place Ethical Society, 25 Red Lion Square, starting at 7:30pm on Thursday, 11 June. Tickets are £10 in advance and £12 on the door.

Website: Online Booking

Kate Labs have released Frame 1.0, a piece of software developed for testing digital cameras and lenses. The application is available for Mac OS X and Windows, and offers a graphical user interface as well as a command line prompt. Frame 1.0 can be used to conduct tests of exposure, signal-to-noise ratio, dynamic range, tonal range, colour sensitivity, resolution and vignetting. All results can be exported to standard ASCII, XML, HTML, and CSV documents, which enables compatibility with third-party applications. The price is €99 and a 14-day trial version is also available.

Website: Kate Labs

Online photo site snapizzi, the one-stop shop for portrait and event photographers, today announced that it has added an array of new web tools and print products. The photo site recently added a suite of high-quality print products that includes a variety of formats (matte, gloss, lustre) as well as a wide choice of print sizes (from wallet to 20”x30”).  snapizzi also added an FTP uploader that allows high-volume photographers to upload hundreds of photos at a time – up to 4 GBs worth, since most photographers allegedly use 4-GB memory cards.

The winners and finalists of the second International Garden Photographer of the Year competition are featured in a new exhibition, which is now open at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The exhibition displays over 100 images from the second International Garden Photographer of the Year competition, specially printed and created for viewing outside in the delights of the Kew Gardens situated between the Pavilion Restaurant and the Pagoda. The exhibition will be on display at Kew Gardens until 3 September 2009.

ViewSonic has announced a new line of digital photo frames called TrueView. The new product family includes the 10.4” VFD1020, 8” VFD820 and 7” VFD720 digital frames, which all feature an aspect ratio of 4:3. The two smaller frames have an 800x600 high-resolution LCD panel, which is particularly unique for the 7” frame class since most frames this size on the market today do not offer such high resolution, ViewSonic claims. The 10.4” model coming in June will offer 1024x768 resolution. The frames are compatible with CompactFlash, MMC and MemoryStick cards and come with 2GB of internal memory as well as a USB 2.0 port. ViewSonic’s new digital photo frame line will be available in the second half of 2009, at $129.99 for the 10.4”, $89.99 for the 8” and $79.99 for the 7” models.

Adobe Systems, Apple, Hewlett Packard, Nikon, Nik Software, Wacom and X-Rite have joined forces for a unique, nine-city Creative Alliance Tour across Europe. The tour has been set up to provide creative professionals with a comprehensive insight into a complete digital workflow. A full-day seminar will take place at each city stop, hosted by renowned photo professionals and “evangelists” - Robin Preston, Boudewijn Krijger and Guy Gowan, among others. The seminars will consist of inspirational presentations and in-depth technical workshops, with the opportunity to share questions and experiences with the experts. The Creative Alliance Tour will begin in autumn 2009, with stops in the Netherlands, UK, Spain, France, Germany and Italy.

Website: Creative Alliance Tour

Sigma have released a firmware update for the Sigma DP2 digital compact camera. Version 1.01 promises improved AF accuracy and addresses the issue of intermittent camera freeze under certain conditions. The Sigma DP2 is a compact camera with a fixed 41mm equivalent f/2.8 lens and a nearly APS-C sized Foveon sensor, boasting a resolution of 3 x 4.7 million pixels.

Website: Firmware Download | Sigma DP2

Sony have announced two new, slim and stylish digital compact cameras, the Cyber-shot W180 and the Cyber-shot W190. These easy-to-use snappers feature a 3x zoom lens, a 2.7” LCD screen, Face Detection, Smile Shutter and SteadyShot image stabilisation, and come in silver, black and red colours. The Sony Cyber-shot W180 is a 10-megapixel model, while the W190 boasts 12.1 million pixels. Both models will become available from July.

Starting June, Digital Camera Buyer magazine will be sold under the title Digital Camera Essentials. The renamed magazine features the same in-depth reviews, hands-on group tests and 25-page buyers’ guide it has become famous for, but also now incorporates a large photo techniques section and editing tutorial. Along with the new name and a new look for the magazine, June will also see the launch of a new subscriptions offer for Digital Camera Essentials.

Canon have announced a new firmware update for the EOS 5D Mark II DSLR camera that will enable manual exposure control when shooting video. Available for download from 2nd June 2009, the 5D Mark II firmware update will include the following manual controls when shooting video:

- Full aperture selection
- ISO speed: Auto, 100 – 6400 and H1
- Shutter speed: 1/30th – 1/4000th second

Manual exposure control while shooting video on the EOS 5D Mark II is expected to make a big impact with cinematographers and videographers using the 5D Mark II for high-end HD video production.

Other World Computing has announced the OWC Mercury On-The-Go Pro, claimed to be the largest capacity, fastest bus powered portable storage solution on the market. The Mercury On-The-Go Pro is a new line of 500GB 7200RPM pocket-sized portable storage devices for Mac or PC users featuring FireWire 800, FireWire 400, and/or USB 2.0 interfaces for data transfer speeds up to 100MB/s. The line features three models, including a “Triple Interface” model for FireWire 800/400 and USB 2.0 ($239.99); a “Combo Interface” model for FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 ($219.99); and a USB 2.0 model (starting at $189.99).

LaCie has announced three new lines of mobile and desktop hard drive bags – LaCie Cover, LaCie Coat (pictured) and LaCie Cozy, all designed by Sam Hecht. The LaCie Cover provides a soft, thin, and comfortable second skin for your hard drive. The LaCie Coat offers a padded bubble pattern, adding style and protection for mobile and desktop hard drives. The innovative design allows users to reverse the Coat, revealing the inner suede fabric, for two bags in one. The LaCie Cozy offers a sturdy outer layer for the ultimate hard drive protection. Made of EVA, LaCie Cozy has a rigid exterior to withstand everyday bumps and bruises of the outside world. The LaCie Cover, Coat, and Cozy come in various colours and sizes including: 2.5” bags, which can hold mobile hard drives; and 3.5” bags that are ideal for desktop hard drives and their accessories. Customers can choose from a variety of colours including: black, gray, red, orange (for the Coat) and red, black, and gray (for the Cozy). The hard drive bags will be available through the LaCie Online Store, LaCie Reseller+ or LaCie Corner starting at the suggested retail price of £9.90 VAT included.

ACDSee Pro 3 is now available for public beta testing. ACD Systems International expects several thousand professionals to participate in the beta period and lend feedback in the development process, much like the 2,500 testers who helped shape the Pro 2 version. Anticipated for full release in the fall, ACDSee Pro 3 retains the same fast and flexible features photographers rely upon for their creative work and incorporates an enhanced user experience built around the key steps of managing, viewing and processing images.

Website: ACDSee Pro 3 Beta Downloads

Avanquest has released Avanquest SendPhotos, a new free application that enables Apple iPhone users to take a photo, back it up online and share the image with friends instantly all through one click of a button. The new iPhone application automates instantaneous photo uploads to the SendPhotos personal portal for organising an entire photo collection online, making images easily accessible to friends, families and business associates. Moreover, the iPhone application’s built-in photo editor allows colour and contrast adjustments to images and provides the ability to annotate, crop and ‘smudge’ out parts of a photo. Also unveiled today is the SendPhotos iPhoto Plug-in for the popular Mac Photo Gallery application, which gives users of the popular iLife ’09 iPhoto Macintosh application a simple one-step method for publishing of photos to the SendPhotos service.

ExpoImaging and One Model Place, the world’s largest online portfolio and talent community have announced the winners of their contest to find the best photos shot using ExpoImaging’s Ray Flash Ring Light Adapter. Photographer Hector Perez was awarded first place for his close-up glamour portrait. Second place winner, JD Millazo, was selected for his outdoor fashion shot. The Ray Flash is a lightweight adapter that converts your hot shoe flash into a ring light. Weighing less than a pound, the Ray Flash attaches in seconds by sliding onto the head of the flash. Once installed, you can shoot manually, or use your camera’s TTL functions. The versatility of the Ray Flash makes it ideally suited for use in fashion, portrait and macro photography as either a main, or fill light.

Today LaCie announced two design USB Hubs for mobility and desktop convenience – LaCie Core4 (pictured) and LaCie Core7. The LaCie Core4 includes four USB ports, three external USB and a built-in mini-USB cable. The LaCie Core7 has six USB ports, as well as the built-in extractible mini-USB cable for mobile device connectivity and charging. The LaCie Core4 is available in 3 different colours, Warm Gray, Blue and Orange, and the LaCie Core7 is available in Warm Gray, and can be purchased through the LaCie Online Store, LaCie Reseller+ or LaCie Corner starting at the suggested retail price of £9.90 for the Core4 and £19.90 for the Core7 including VAT.