A new website called LightingDiagram.com provides a web-based software tool to allow customers to create photographic lighting diagrams and upload photographs to display alongside thier lighting diagram. Developed by ChimpWorks, the LightingDiagram app may be of interest to any photographer who would like to show off what lighting setup they used to create a particular photograph. As with any other web-based service, it is recommended that you read the terms and conditions before using the app.

Website: LightingDiagram

Online graphics service provider Mister Clipping has launched in the UK for the first time, providing a photo-clipping service for professional-looking images starting at less than £1. Designed for graphic arts professionals, marketers, brand managers, advertising agencies, mail order services, and photographic studios, it allows users to choose the options they need for individual work paths, masks, resizing or scaling, re-colouring or retouching, or isolating images according to their needs. Through the Misterclipping.com website, users are able to upload and download images quickly, using its automated wizard. Mister Clipping provides a guarantee to isolate and return images via the application within 24 hours, regardless of the number of images to be processed.

iExplore Travel UK has announced a travel photography contest. Photographers are encouraged to check out the iExplore Facebook page, and then upload an image or short video to the competition page which best captures the essence of a “thrillaxing” holiday. “Thrillaxing holidays are those where you experience something amazing and where relaxation meets exhilaration,” the company says, “essentially the most memorable experience you can imagine.” The top prize is a trip of a lifetime worth £5,000.

SeaWeb’s Marine Photobank has announced the winners of the fourth annual Ocean in Focus conservation photography contest. The grand prize is awarded to Terry Goss, of San Francisco, for his photograph of a blue shark off the coast of Rhode Island with a rusted hook protruding from its lower jaw (above). This photo has earned Goss a 10-day, two person expedition to the Galapagos Islands with Lindblad Expeditions, the expedition travel company that voyages the world in alliance with the National Geographic Society. The runner-up for the Ocean in Focus contest is Peri Paleracio of Quezon City, the Philippines, for his picture of a boat in the Philippines with plastic and trash pollution suspended in the water. For the runner-up photograph, Paleracio has received a 7-night dive vacation at Matava, Fiji’s Premiere Eco Adventure Resort.

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has launched a digital photography contest for US residents. The “Best Shots” competition is now open for entries and photo submissions will be accepted until 23 December. Entrants can submit one photo in each of four categories: people, travel, pets and cell phone shots. A slate of expert judges will select the finalists, and winners will be determined by an online popular vote running from 9-12 January 2012. The grand prize winner, to be announced on 13 January at the 2012 International CES, will receive a Nikon D3100 digital SLR camera kit. As always, we suggest that you read the rules before entering your work.

LockCircle has launched the LockPort Universal accessory, a new product developed to help avoid damaging the miniHDMI port on the Canon EOS 5D and 7D cameras. The LockPort Universal safely secures a 90° front/rear miniHDMI-to-full-size-HDMI adapter, which has gold plated contacts and a full-size female output that allows you to use the stronger standard HDMI cables. Available now, the LockPort Universal sells for $109 and ships in 24 hours.

Drobo and Pogoplug have announced a partnership to deliver a comprehensive personal cloud solution for anytime-anywhere access to your files. According to the agreement, Drobo customers will have access to free cloud storage, remote file access and digital media streaming using Pogoplug Cloud. “Together Drobo and Pogoplug Cloud offer customers with large personal media files remote access to these files under the security of linking a Drobo appliance to a personal cloud,” the companies said in a joint statement. More information on the partnership can be found at the website below.

Leica has announced the expansion of its premises in Bruton Place, Mayfair. The Leica Store Mayfair (opened in September 2009) at 34 Bruton Place will continue to display and offer the entire range of Leica products. Above the store, the current Leica Akademie training facility will be expanded to encompass a second Akademie space, allowing the company to offer a wider range of training workshops, one-to-one product demonstrations, advice sessions and private consultations for its customers. In addition, Leica will open a dedicated Media Centre for members of the press, a complimentary café-style area for Leica owners, a service centre, a gallery of images created using Leica cameras and a fully equipped studio available to hire exclusively to photographers using the Leica S-System.

Fujifilm has announced that the Fujifilm X100 large-sensor compact camera has scooped up an iF Design product design award. Established in 1953, and sponsored throughout by the International Forum Design GmbH of Hanover Germany, the iF product design award is recognized all over the world as a symbol of outstanding design and innovation. As one of the 2012 Product Design Award winners, the Fujifilm X100 will now also be automatically put forward as a nomination for the iF Design’s 100 Gold Award winners, to be announced on 10 February 2012.

The “Photographs of the Year” competition, open to all professional photographers residing in Europe, is now open for entries. There are fifteen categories plus a “Young Talent” competition, open to individuals having less than one year of activity as a professionnal photographer and under the age of 25 on 1 of January 2012. The contest is sponsored by Nikon, who offered a total of €10,000 worth of photo equipment to the winners. The submission deadline is 15 January 2012.

Ilex Press has released the pilot issue of Photographer’s i Magazine, which is billed as “the world’s first interactive, multimedia tablet magazine for photographers”. Photographer’s i offers informative articles about the world of photography in the form of text, photos, video and audio as fully integrated elements that add up to an informative experience greater than the sum of its parts, the publisher says. The pilot issue — available for US $1.99 / UK £1.49 after downloading the free app from iTunes or the Android Market — features internationally acclaimed professional photographers such as Abbas, Julian Broad, Michael Freeman, Steve Simon, Jay Maisel, Romano Cagnoni, Bob Krist, Haje Jan Kamps, Stephanie G. Roberts, Natalie “Miss Aniela” Dybisz, Robert Golden, Laura El-Tantawy, Steve Sint and others. Future issues will be available for a single issue price of US $5.99 (UK c. £3.75) or through money-saving subscription offers.

Rivolu has released TideTrac 1.0.1 for iPad, and the app is currently available for free. A useful tool for landscape photographers, TideTrac allows you to quickly find high tide and low tide events anywhere near coastal United States. Incorporating an interactive tide graph and a Map view to visualise the locations of tide stations, the app presents all of its data on a single screen making it easy to use. TideTrac is available on iTunes.

Plum Amazing Software has released iWatermark 1.1, which adds iPhoto and Aperture integration. iWatermark lets you add your personal or business watermark to any photo or graphic. In addition iWatermark can resize and rename your images, add IPTC and XMP metadata, create thumbnails, and filter incoming photos. iWatermark Pro is available for $30 through the website below.

Brilliant Prints have announced a 40% Christmas discount for all new UK customers plus the chance to win a £300 voucher. Simply register online before the 15th December at the website below to go into the draw. Established in Australia in 2004 producing just canvas prints, Brilliant Prints has since expanded its operations to include a range of acrylics and fine art papers. Their Singapore office opened in 2007, while the UK branch was set up earlier this year.

Olympus UK has announced a cashback promotion on the Olympus XZ-1 premium compact camera. The cashback offer is running in the UK (£40) and Ireland (€40) until 31st December 2011 and is valid on
purchases of the XZ-1 from authorised UK and Ireland stockists. For more information, visit the website below.

Cypress Innovations has launched piRAWnha for iPhone to complement the existing piRAWnha app for iPad. The new app enables iPhone users to edit the raw data and once the settings have been optimised, a high?quality JPEG image file can be exported to the Photo Library. Currently, piRAWnha works with all raw files supported by Apple and supports raw image files transferred to the iPhone via iTunes. The iPhone app is available on iTunes for $4.99.