PhotographyCourses.biz, a new subscription service for amateur, enthusiast and semi-pro photographers, has just launched a range of gift subscriptions. Timed to coincide with the pre-Christmas shopping season, the gift subscriptions are available now and cover 1-, 3- and 12-month periods.  Buyers simply fill in the name and email address of the recipient during the payment process, and the PhotographyCourses.Biz team will email a downloadable voucher containing a unique user name and password. The one-month offer is available for £4.75 (over 50% off the usual price), the three-month subscription is £29.25, while the one-year service costs £97.50.

A star is Born: Photography and Rock since Elvis is a new book published by Steidl & Partners. Tracing “how stars on both sides of the camera shape the image of musicians and rock bands,” this book contains glamour portraits, journalistic documents of live performances and PR materials from record labels. The 340-page hardcover sells for £26 in the UKm $48 in the USA and €30 in the euro zone.

Kodak has just introduced its Social Photo Album Creator for Facebook which allows consumers to easily combine photos from the popular social networking site with friends and family, easily creating one album together. Users simply create their album from their current Facebook photos, and invite their friends and family to add their own photographs. They can even visit any Kodak Picture Kiosk at participating retailers, and print from their Facebook account right at the kiosk.

Nikon has issued a firmware update for the Nikon Coolpix P7000 digital compact camera. Version 1.1 reduces the total recording time for raw files, and fixes a couple of bugs with lens control and occasional false indication of blown highlights on the LCD screen. You can download this firmware update from the websites below.

Website: Nikon Coolpix P7000 Firmware Update 1.1 - Windows
Website: Nikon Coolpix P7000 Firmware Update 1.1 - Mac

MacPhun has released an update to PhotoPal, their multi-tool photo editing app for iPad. Inspired by regular iPad users, PhotoPal 2.0 features an user interface with big hand-drawn buttons and logically grouped tools, special effects & custom frames. Most of the tools and effects can be adjusted with just a swipe of a finger. To celebrate the launch of the update, MacPhun has temproarily reduced the price for the app to $0.99. The cost will go back to the original $3.99 on Monday, 20th December.

Newpro is now listing the new Cullmann Nanomax 200T tripod, which is the smallest of the 4 models in the Nanomax series. Thanks to the ‘macro’ feature on the legs (a feature shared with the Nanomax 250 and 260 tripods) it can be used as a tabletop or macro tripod when required. The CB5.1 ball and socket head is removable and the centre column is split with a 1/4” screw thread on both pieces allowing the whole column to be reversed and inserted inverted or the head can be attached to either of these extra screw threads.  For extra stability, the 1006 Ground spike can be attached to the bottom of either section of the centre column. With a load capacity of 2kg, the Cullmann Nanomax 200T is available at a recommended retail price of £47.99.

Anton/Bauer, the world’s premier provider of batteries, chargers, lighting and other mobile power systems for the professional broadcast, video and film industries, is now shipping the QR-DSLR (pictured) and DSLR-ADP-ELPZ power solutions for the Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EOS 7D and EOS 60D digital SLR cameras. Utilising the Logic Series batteries, the QR-DSLR has the ability to mount to most third party support rigs, such as those from Red-Rock Micro, Zacuto and Cinevate, and offers a counter balance to the rig.  The DSLR-ADP-ELPZ is based around the ElipZ® battery system and provides the user the ability to power the camera and ElightZ or EledZ on-camera lights.

Shiny Development today announced Explore Flickr 2.0, an update to their popular flickr app for iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. Since its release in May, version 1 of Explore Flickr has been featured as ‘What’s hot’ in 45 countries and has been downloaded over 75,000 times, the company says. Today’s update includes a range of user requested features including text search, exploring images by tag and slideshow viewing. Explore Flickr itself is free, but these premium features cost $4.99.

Ricoh has released an app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices, which enables its users to easily find and view images that were taken with a GR Digital camera and uploaded to Flickr. The GR World app also allows users to specify photo genres and bookmark their favourite photos for viewing them together. GR World can be downloaded from the App Store for free.

DxO Labs have just released DxO Optics Pro v6.5.2 for Mac and Windows that adds raw file support in both its Standard and Elite editions for the Pentax K-5 (pictured), plus the Sony NEX-5 and NEX-3. Further, 50 new DxO Optics Modules are now available to DxO Optics Pro users, covering numerous Canon, Nikon, Pentax and Sony cameras. DxO Optics Pro v6.5.2 for Windows and Mac, Standard and Elite editions are available from both DxO Labs’ e-store and selected resellers at a 30% holiday season discount until 25th December.

Today at 8pm ET, Aperture 3 expert Ron Brinkmann will showcase stunning photographs from a recent trip to Venezuela in a free webcast presented by Peachpit Photo Club. Demonstrating essential techniques for editing and organising photos in Apple Aperture, Ron will provide you with insight and inspiration, and answer your questions. You may sign up for the webcast at the website below.

Website: Peachpit

The updated and newly revised edition of Bruce Barnbaum’s The Art of Photography: An Approach to Personal Expression, published a month ago in the US, is now available in bookshops across the UK. With well over a hundred photographic illustrations in both black-and-white and colour, as well as numerous charts, graphs, and tables, this book presents the world of photography to beginner, intermediate, and advanced photographers seeking to make a personal statement through the medium of photography. The 364-page volume is available at a price of £34.50.

Daemgen has released ProCamera 3.0 for iOS, a major update to their best-selling camera app. Improvements over the previous version include advanced picture optimisation, anti-shake image stabilisation, still/video compatibility, iOS 4 multi-tasking, auto-timer, virtual horizon, multiple compositional grid lines, photo compass, and an Expert Mode that enables the user to set and lock focus, exposure, and white balance to different areas on the display. A complete redesign, the update adds Pro FX Studio to turn photos into art, a new Pro Lab to improve picture quality, and Pro Cut Studio for leveling and cropping. The update is free to existing users.

The results of the TPOTY (Travel Photographer of the Year) 2010 competition have been announced. Canadian humanitarian documentary photographer and optometrist Dr. Larry Louie has been named the overall winner for his black and white images of Mali and China. TPOTY founder Chris Coe said, “So often images fail to make an impact or leave a lasting impression on the viewer. Aside from being beautiful, sumptuous images in their own right, Larry’s photographs linger, inviting you in to explore their intricate detail and fascinating textures. It is great to see the B&W medium used so well to capture scenes which are so obviously rich in colour, leaving the viewer to paint in as much or as little as they wish.”

Sony has expanded its family of premium-quality memory cards. There’s now a choice of three SDHC card ranges by Sony: the affordable ESSENTIAL Series and value-added EXPERIENCE Series are joined by the flagship EXPERT Series that boast “class-leading” capacity and transfer speeds. Available in capacities of 8GB, 16GB and 32GB, the EXPERT Series SDHC memory cards by Sony conform to the Class 10 specifications, achieving transfer speeds of up to 20 megabytes per second. The “value-added” EXPERIENCE Series cards are available in capacities from 2GB to 32GB and support data transer speeds of up to 15 megabytes per second, while the ESSENTIAL range has “entry-level” offerings of 2GB, 4GB and 8GB storage capacity. Customers who purchase an EXPERT or EXPERIENCE card are entitled to download Sony’s File Rescue HD application and x-Pict Story software package at no extra cost.

Fujfilm have released more details about the exciting new X100 camera. Further info has been released about the X100’s focusing capabilities, RAW mode, fixed lens design, and sensor. You can also check out our X100 Hands-On Photos.

Before Color, a new book published by Steidl, contains 152 black-and-white photographs by William Eggleston, all taken before he embraced colour film. These photos, found in the archives of the William Eggleston Artistic Trust, depict suburban Memphis as it was in the 1950s and 1960s. Captured on high-speed 35mm film, the images were printed by Eggleston himself, and recently scanned for this publication. “This book reunites these photos in their entirety, and shows the artistic beginnings of a pioneer of contemporary photography,” the publisher says. The 200-page hardback is available now for £40/$65/€48.

In Rocky Nook’s newest title, Why Photographs Work, author and photographer George Barr analyses 52 striking images by some of the world’s top photographers. Accompanying Barr’s analysis of each image is an explanation by the photographer describing the circumstances of making the image, including not only the how, but also the why. Also included is each photographer’s biography, a reference to his or her websites and publications, and brief technical descriptions of the equipment used in making each image. The 288-page volume is available from O’Reilly for $39.95 /  £30.99 .