Square Group is hosting a free event dedicated to Apple’s Professional Creative Applications in London, UK. The Square event will focus on the latest offerings from Apple in pro photo, video and audio technology, including Aperture 2. It takes place at The Design Council in London’s Covent Garden on Thursday 3rd July.

QuickPro has just released two Camera Guides for a couple of the most popular DSLR models on the market, the Nikon D60 and Canon XSi. The QuickPro Camera Guides include interactive camera-body tours, professionally shot pictures, and are narrated by Todd Hansen, the Emmy-winning writer. “QuickPro’s mission is to make sure SLR consumers realize the potential these cameras have by empowering them with camera and photography skills through our high-quality tutorials.” commented Landon Bradfield, QuickPro’s sales manager. The Nikon D60 and Canon XSi Camera Guides cost $24.95 each.

DSLR Doctor have published their top 10 tips for taking fantastic photos after dark with your DSLR camera.

“The best shooting mode to use for night photos is also the scariest for many DSLR owners – Manual exposure mode. The main reason for using this particular mode is that it’s usually the way to access the Bulb setting, which in turn allows you use shutter speeds longer than 30 seconds. Also, you’ll often find that the exposure suggested by the camera in Aperture or Shutter priority modes doesn’t give the most appealing results. Using Manual mode, you can quickly experiment with different shutter speed and apertures, finding the best combination for the subject that you’re shooting.”

Website: DSLR Doctor - Take Better Night Photos

Douglas Kirkland: Creative Inspiration is a new video course from lynda.com featuring one of the most renowned photographers of the 20th Century. Kirkland shares his insights on photography craft and technique, gleaned from 50 years photographing the entertainment industry. “Douglas Kirkland brings a lifetime of photography experience to this video course, having created some of the most iconic celebrity images of the last half-century,” says Lynda Weinman, CEO of lynda.com. Members of the lynda.com Online Training Library receive on-demand access to this entire course, while non-members can access 10% for free.

Bogen is running a free, introductory lighting webinar titled “How to Overcome 5 Common Problems When Shooting Outdoors.” This introductory online course on the basics of lighting will be held from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EDT on June 6, 2008. Participants will have the ability to ask questions and interact one-on-one with each speaker, and can also be selected to win one of three prizes, totaling over $400.

Photo Iconic is offering a discount of £243 off its Mont Blanc Adventure photography course. Taking place from July 1st-7th, you’ll be able to the summit of Mont Blanc from a fantastic position. The Mont Blanc Adventure course is available for a last-minute discount cost of £1,287 per person.

QuickPro DVD Camera Guides feature interactive camera tour of the latest DSLRs. QuickPro is now producing new DVD Camera Guide titles every month, the latest being tutorials for the popular Nikon D60 and Canon Xsi. “People don’t want to spend the hours required to read and apply a user manual,” says Landon Bradfield, QuickPro, LLC’s sales manager. “Consequently, they buy these amazing SLR cameras and then never realize their full potential and the power of this mind-blowing technology. There’s a great disconnect there, so we’re changing that with our DVD tutorials.”

World-renowned photographer Greg Gorman is holding a series of week-long exclusive digital photographic workshops. This workshop series is aimed at any photographer looking to enhance their camera, lighting, color management, image editing and fine art printing skills. The weeklong workshops cost $4250 and are offered from June 8-13, August 3-8 and September 21-26, limited to nine attendees each.

Tamron Photo Workshops are hands-on, in the classroom and in-the-field photo workshops led by professional photographers. Don Gale, Terry Livingstone, Dave Maynard, Jim Shadle, Roy Toft, and Les Voorhis are some of the photographers involved for 2008. Each weekend event, which is limited to 30 participants, includes a Friday evening photo seminar and a full day Saturday workshop in the field, and admission fees and transportation where applicable. The $179 per person cost includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and/or snacks, and other surprise giveaways.

Colour Confidence is hosting a series of one-day digital photography seminars across the UK in association with renowned photographer John Clements. ‘Digital Photography in a Day’ will offer photographers the chance to see various techniques in action. “The Digital Photography in a Day concept was developed in response to customer feedback, and we are convinced these events offer something unique for photographers of all levels”, comments Javan Bramhall, Marketing Manager of Colour Confidence. “The flexible structure of the seminars allows both established professionals and newcomers to the industry to benefit.” A series of seminars at locations across the country will take place throughout May and June, with tickets available from £40 ex. VAT for a half-day or £65 ex. VAT for a full day.

Calling all Canon compact owners. Wired.com has a great guide to using the Open-Source CHDK (Canon Hacker’s Development Kit), a supplementary firmware version which gets more out of your camera. You can add exciting new features including RAW mode, a live histogram and long exposures for night photography.

Website: Wired - Supercharge Your Camera with Open-Source CHDK Firmware

The Fine Art of Digital Printing workshop is back for another year, visiting the East and West Coasts of America. John Paul Caponigro and R. Mac Holbert, two of the pre-eminent leaders in digital photography and fine art printing, are joining forces again to provide one-on-one instruction. The workshop covers topics impacting the entire printing workflow and employs innovative techniques with the industry’s leading printing technology. Limited to 24 attendees, the Fine Art of Digital Printing Workshop will be held at the Hallmark Institute of Photography in Turners Falls, Mass., July 20-25 and Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, Calif., Oct. 26–31, and costs $1,495.

HP are holding a photography and printing masterclass in collaboration with Magnum at the British Film Institute in London. The masterclass will be run by Magnum photographers Donovan Wylie and Chris Steele-Perkins along with a forum of other photographic industry professionals. The event takes place on 1st May from 10am – 5pm. Limited places at the masterclass are available through registration at www.hp.com/uk/masterclass . A £50 registration fee includes a full day at the masterclass from 10am–5pm and a copy of the attendees’ favourite image as a high-quality 45x60 cm HP print after the event. The fee will also be refunded on the purchase of an HP B-size or larger format printer.

Fashion photographer Claudio Basso is teaching a workshop at Calumet Photographic’s New York store. Basso has created editorial for prestigious magazines such as American Vogue, New York Woman, French Elle, Italian Vogue, Vanity, Bazaar, Amica and Grazia. The two-day weekend event covers the secrets, tips and tricks of successfully shooting supermodels and celebrities. The Claudio Basso workshop takes place on April 28-29 at Calumet Photographic’s New York store on 22 W. 22nd Street.

A study by the University of Utah has concluded that widescreen monitors can save up to 76 days in production per year. Moving from a single 18-inch monitor to 24-inch widescreen display reduced the time it took to complete a task from 8 hours to 5-1/2 hours. “The study revealed that large widescreen or dual-monitor configurations are recommended for use in any situation where multiple documents of information are an ordinary part of work,” said Dr. James A. Anderson, Ph.D., the lead author of the study and a Professor of Communication at the University of Utah. A summary of the University of Utah study and a Productivity Calculator can be found at http://www.necdisplay.com/gowide

Ben Willmore’s HDR Mastery Course shows step by step how to master High Dynamic Range images. “Ben Willmore is the master in high dynamic range image processing and xTrain is thrilled to offer his online training videos to our growing learner community,” said Siotha Vest, xTrain’s Director of Training. The course features 4 classes including Shooting for HDR, Merging Exposures, Processing HDR Files, and Enhancement. It costs $79 to enroll, or you can subscribe for $19.99 a month or $199 a year for unlimited access to all of xTrain’s courses.

The Essence of Photography with John Upton is a new educational DVD from Calumet Photo. It’s the perfect guide for beginners and advanced amateurs who want to learn photography from the legendary John Upton. The Essence of Photography provides a discussion of topics that include Upton’s mentors, understanding how cameras work, learning to see pictures, photographic history and development of the photographic image. The Essence of Photography with John Upton costs $39.99.

Travel Photographer of the Year are running a range of photography courses this year in the UK and internationally. TPOTY can help photographers strengthen their compositional and editing skills, get the most out of their camera, or really get to grips with Photoshop. To give a taste of what’s offer on TPOTY courses, TPOTY founder Chris Coe is giving free image critiques at Intrepid Travel’s London Store on Sunday, February 17th.

Kubota Image Tools has announced its 4th creative photography workshop for professional and advanced amateur photographers in Italy. This 7-day photography workshop (October 5-11, 2008) includes several exciting photo excursions, classroom instruction, photography critiquing and more. “My wife Clare and I are so thrilled to return for our fourth creative photography workshop in Italy – one of the most beautiful countries on Earth,” said Kevin Kubota, Idea Man of Kubota Image Tools. “There’s nothing like a trip to Italy to inspire you—and your photography. It really is a life changing experience.” The cost of the 7-day trip is $2,995 for class attendees and $2,550 for non-class participants.

Become a better photographer with HP, which is currently offering free online photography classes. Learn how to get better results from proper use of your digital camera, find out how to work with perspective, angles and light, and also how to share your digital photos with friends and family. For your New Year’s Resolution this year, learn to take better photos with HP.