A recent survey of over 1,000 professional photographers reveals that 89% of their images are digital, and they keep 90% of those. “Today’s photographers are technologically savvy, as a significant majority is using image editing software and many are using RAW conversion and color management software,” commented Ed Lee, Director at InfoTrends. “It’s particularly interesting to note that 83% of professional photographers are using the Web as part of their business and about 30% use an online photo service provider.” The full survey results are available in InfoTrends’ recently released report, “Digital Imaging and Professional Photographers: 2007 Survey Results”.

i1 Defined is a brand new training package for all Eye-One colour management solutions. It offers users an interactive guide to Eye-One products, plus an overview of the fundamentals of colour management. An enhanced version of the package, including a Personal Color Trainer session, is also available. “Eye-One solutions have always combined user-friendliness with professional standard features, and the extra support from i1 Defined takes this to a new level. i1 Defined offers much more than the standard manual or CD-ROM; it gives users the chance to understand just how their Eye-One system can benefit their specific workflow, and therefore maximise the return on their investment”. commented Geoffrey Clements, Managing Director of Colour Confidence.

Website photo-i has launched a Nikon D40x DVD user guide in association with Nikon. Written and presented by Vincent Oliver, the DVD shows how to get the best from the Nikon D40x without having to wade through hefty manuals. The Nikon D40x DVD User Guide runs for 1 hour and 25 minutes and costs £12.

The Digital Story have published an impressive gallery of underwater photos taken with the SD700 IS camera (also known as the Canon Digital IXUS 800 IS), plus some useful tips on how get better results under the waves.

“Having a camera with image stabilization is very important. Everything is moving underwater, including you. The image stabilizer minimizes the effects of camera movement during exposure. I also increase the ISO to 400 to enable as fast a shutter speed as possible. And don’t forget to use the camera’s Underwater scene mode if it has one. It really helps with the white balance setting.”

Website: The Digital Story - Caribbean Underwater Gallery Posted (and shooting tips)

The free “The Good, the Bad, the Ugly” Adobe Photoshop online training course features portrait retouching tips and techniques from expert Russell Brown. “This fun and exciting class features all of the professional techniques that anyone using Adobe Photoshop needs to know to make their portraits better than real life,” said Siotha Vest, xTrain’s Director of Training. Dr. Brown provides several insider secrets for retouching portraits such as whitening teeth and eyes, enhancing eyelashes, reducing 5 o’clock shadow, removing wrinkles, and color correcting skin tones.

xTrain.com has announced six new online course titles and classes, including Digital Photography & Photoshop for Baby Boomers. “xTrain is delighted to add these new online video courses,” said Siotha Vest, xTrain’s Director of Training. “The breadth and depth of our courses are matched only by the quality of our instructors and the first-rate production values built into each class.” You can pay $79 to access a specific course for 1 year or $29 a month to access all of xTrain.com’s creative training.

Interested in food photography? New York photographer and author Lou Manna is holding an all-day digital food photography workshop at his studio in New York. The workshop explores how effective lighting, composition and tricks-of-the-trade all work together for creating the perfect recipe for success. It’s open to all and is ideal for photography students, professional photographers and culinary experts. Lou Manna’s food photography workshop takes place on Sunday, November 18, 2007.

The Royal Photographic Society have released details about their range of Winter 2007 photography workshops. Topics include Studio Portraiture, Documentary Photography, Colour Management and Adobe Lightroom. All workshops are open to non-members and members of The Society, with most held at the RPS headquarters in Bath.

Kubota RAW Workflow for Lightroom is a new DVD that helps photographers learn how to efficiently use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. It guides the user step-by-step from proper organization, to efficient editing, to quickly adjusting the images, to enhancing, to final presentation. “We created this tutorial, derived from our live Lightroom workshops, to help photographers make the most of the features they really need, and to understand the ‘big picture’ of the entire workflow system.” said Kevin Kubota. Kubota RAW Workflow for Lightroom costs $79 and is available now.

Fujifilm’s “Capture to Print Solutions” seminars for professional photographers show how Fujifilm’s FinePix S5 Pro DSLR can be usedfor school, portrait, sports and wedding photography. Held in five cities across the United States, the seminar series will kick off on Monday, November 5th in Orlando. The half-day “Capture to Print Solutions” seminars are completely free to attend.

The Apogee Photo Online Campus is adding 2 new instructors and 5 new classes coming in November 2007 and January 2008. Professional nature and wildlife photographers Noella Ballenger and Andy Long will teach 5 online photography classes, which aim to make learning this photography easy, interactive and fun. Apogee Photo is an online magazine designed to entertain and inform active photographers of all ages, both amateur and professional, from around the world.

Eddie Tapp joins Scott Sheppard to explain how he maintains consistent colour throughout his workflow on the Inside Digital Photo radio show. Eddie shares some steps with Inside Digital Photo on the elements of good color management starting with white balance using a target while on location, calibrating your monitor, and different equipment to use to measure and monitor your color. Eddie warns users about the dangers of “tweaking” color in their PhotoShop files using an uncalibrated display as this can significantly remove critical color data from the file and ultimately impact the quality of final output. Eddie and Scott also discuss output color profiles and the importance of choosing the right color space within PhotoShop to ensure great prints.

Website: Inside Digital Photo - Eddie Tapp Interview

Raw without FUD is a video tutorial which explains why RAW is the easier way to shoot. Available either as a download or a DVD-ROM, Michael Tapes from RawWorkFlow.com cuts through the FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) surrounding the RAW format. The 6-hour DVD and Download Versions are Mac- and Windows®-compatible and plays on any PC with Adobe Flash Player installed in the user’s web browser. The RAW without Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt Video Tutorials are now available and will be priced at $34.95 (Download Version) and $49.95 (DVD with Extras Disc). Both are currently discounted to $29.95 and $44.95 during October 2007.

Northlight Images has just published an excellent two-part beginner’s guide to black and white photography, covering everything from taking the image to printing it out.

“When I’m thinking of black and white images, the absence of light can be as important as the highlights. Good deep shadows can give a depth and solidity to an image. If you look at old black and white movies you can see a completely different way of lighting sets. The lighting directors knew how different colours and lighting would show up on film, and made use of the knowledge…Lots of pictures of things that don’t look very good in black and white will help you decide what looks better in black and white. It also has the beneficial side effect of making you think about colour much more when you use it. My black and white photography has really benefited from the switch to digital. I take more pictures, I experiment more and –many- more of my images get printed.”

Website: Northlight Images - Black and white digital photography

Epson America has teamed up with Inside Digital Photo to deliver a new weekly podcast series aimed at advanced amateur and professional photographers. The “Passion of Photography”series will take a closer look at what inspires some of today’s top photographers. It will also cover a range of topics impacting the entire workflow, from capture to output, including techniques and technology insight provided by leading creative professionals. In the inaugural episode, pro shooter Jack Reznicki joins Scott Sheppard to discuss helpful tips and advice for taking sharp photos and making breathtaking prints.

The Photodex ProShow Workshop Seminar Tour covers the most important features in ProShow Gold and ProShow Producer. The next Seminar takes place this weekend on September 15, 2007 in Chicago. Course attendees receive hands-on instruction, training materials and a Training DVD. Registration for a full-day workshop is $250.00.

The Adobe Creative Licence Tour 2007 showcases the latest Adobe professional tips and techniques across the UK and Ireland. Starting in London on 17th September, the Creative Licence Tour is free to attend and runs from September through to December. “By taking the Creative Licence Tour on the road we are reaching out to creative communities across the UK and Ireland, providing forums to meet and learn from industry experts and show them the latest tools and workflows that can help them meet the demands and challenges of today’s market.” Mark Wheeler, marketing director, Adobe Northern Europe, commented.

Square Group and Apple are hosting two free seminars in London, UK to help you get the best out of your images. The free of charge events take place at Square Group’s Showroom in New Oxford Street on Friday 31st August and Saturday 1st September. The latest Intel powered Apple computers, Aperture 1.5, and Wacom’s pro range of graphics tablets will be demonstrated.

On the latest Inside Digital Photo online radio show, Adobe present their vision for the future of digital imaging. Kevin Connor, Senior Director of Product Management for Adobe’s Professional Digital Imaging Group, explains Adobe’s vision and synergy behind both PhotoShop and Lightroom with some workflow tips from the perspective of how the applications were developed to work closely together. He shares some tips, including using the “targeted adjustment” tool in Lightroom. Kevin also discusses how keeping in touch with their customers and beta testers helps them develop the features they include in the latest versions. Hear how other markets, including medical imaging, influence future application features.

Website: Inside Digital Photo - Kevin Connor Interview

The RPS has announced the fifth in its series of highly successful teaching symposiums. This year’s event is called “Good Picture 2007 – The Imaging Chain” and will focus on on various aspects of the digital imaging process. The RPS Teaching Symposium takes place on Tuesday 18th December and cost is £54 full rate or £30 for retired, student or unemployed.