With the introduction of its new 72-hour online clipping path service, graphics outsourcing pioneer uClip has lowered the price to less than $2 per image. “Clipping path is the art of masking out an object of interest from a picture,” the comapny explained in a statement. “Once the image has the clipping path, the object outlined can be edited, moved or placed in any publication or web page without any distracting background elements.” uClip’s professional, 24-hour service - which costs $3.89 per image - has been used by major publishing houses worldwide. New users can register for a trial account, and receive one clipping path for free.

Website: uClip

Nikon Australia is poised to launch Nikon School, a series of hands on classes that will guide students through the vital steps in the digital photography process. Sessions will be held at Melbourne’s Marriot Hotel, the Quay West Suites in Brisbane and the Sydney Harbour Marriot Hotel, and will be presented by some of Australia’s most talented and revered photographers. The series will begin with an Introduction to DSLR class on Saturday, 26th June. The course will cover everything from basic layout of the camera through to in-camera post production methods. From August 2010, additional classes will be added to the series alongside the Introduction course. These classes will cost $240 and are scheduled from 10am – 4pm on Saturdays.

Website: Nikon School

AOP Student has announced that the next Careers Talk will be held on Wednesday, 30th June. Hosted by aerial photographer Jason Hawkes, the talk will take place from 3pm to 5pm at the AOP Gallery, 81 Leonard Street, London. You do not need to book a place in advance, but make sure to be there early, as no one will be admitted after 3pm. Entry is free, and everyone is welcome to attend.

Website: AOP Student

Launching during London Fashion Week, Ten Times Rosie is a high-end fashion photography book featuring the bold and contemporary designs of Paula Thomas, founder and head designer of the luxury label Thomas Wylde, as shot by British photographer Rankin. The publication of this glossy coffee-table book will be accompanied by an exhibition at Rankin’s Annroy Gallery, London, and will launch internationally in Los Angeles and Paris. Shot on location in and around LA in April of this year at the Amboy Salt Flats, Joshua Tree National Park, the Château Marmont and downtown streets, Ten Times Rosie “epitomises the creativity and theatrical flair of Rankin, Paula Thomas and stylist Maryam Malakpour”, the publisher says. The book will be available to purchase from Turnaround, while the exhibition will run from 21st September – 29th October at Annroy Gallery, London.

Team Noton has announced a brand new Edinburgh venue for the ‘Chasing the Light’ Road Show. Tickets - priced at £15 - are now on sale for the event, which will take place on 28th September at the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh. The show includes David Nonon’s latest unpublished photographs, video clips from shoots around the world, the stories behind some of his most iconic images and of course, all delivered with David’s unique sense of humour:

Website: David Noton

The official UK launch of the Sony NEX-5 and NEX-3 took place at The Vinyl Factory in London, where collections from up-and-coming designers Bodyamr and Edward Finney were unveiled giving celebrity guests the chance to try out the latest kit. Pop starlet Keisha Buchanan took to the runway in a figure hugging creation from Bodyamr (see picture above), and onlookers were able to capture the moment with the new Sony NEX cameras. Rachel Banin, Category Head – Digital Imaging, at Sony UK said: “The exciting new NEX-3 and NEX-5 cameras from Sony are the first to offer interchangeable lenses, outstanding D-SLR quality images and HD movie recording in a body the size of a compact camera. It was great to be able to launch these cameras with the help of some fantastic up and coming fashion talent and unique circus performers – creating the perfect setting to really put these cameras to the test.”

Pentax has added a vibrant-orange version of the Pentax Optio W90 waterproof camera to its digital compact line-up. Named the Pentax Optio W90 Shiny Orange, this new model has an orange-colour aluminium-alloy front panel that features a fine hairline finish. The 12-megapixel camera, which is equipped with a 5x zoom lens, is sand- and dustproof, waterproof down to a depth of 6 metres and shockproof to approximately 1.5 metres. The recommended retail price of the Pentax Optio W90 Shiny Orange is £269.99 in the UK, and $329.95 in the USA. Availability is slated for July.

Some of the most famous photographs published in LIFE magazine are to going on auction. The photographs are offered for sale in partnership with Lelands.com, where they can be viewed until the auction closing date of 9 July. Interested bidders must submit initial bids by 9 p.m. that day, after registering on the website. The auction continues until bidding has ceased for at least 10 minutes. Photos are shipped to auction winners immediately after funds have cleared.

Stealth Gear is set to launch what they describe as “the very first UK camouflage pattern designed by photographers for photographers”. Craig Derbyshire, managing director of Stealth Gear, said, “the current marketplace is saturated with camouflage patterns specifically for hunting, but these are not UK patterns and most of them are designed in the USA for their countryside”. Developed over a twelve month period, the new pattern that mimics the colours of the UK countryside will be officially launched in July 2010, with gloves and camera covers being the very first products available online.

Website: Stealth Gear

LensFolder.com is a brand new websitethat enables you to join photos of the same event that were taken by different people together into the same folder. Founder Tristan Thomas says the site will hopefully solve “the problem of lots of people taking photos at an event or on holiday and you never seeing or getting any of those photos”. It works like this: one of the people that were present at the event sets up a folder and tells everyone else who has taken photos there to upload their shots to the folder by clicking the “I have the details for a folder somebody else has set up” button. The service is free.

Website: LensFolder

Think Tank Photo has released the free Multimedia DSLR Buyers Guide to aid first time buyers of video enabled DSLR cameras. This online guide compiles information about cameras, lenses, microphones, recording equipment, bags, and accessories. Within each section is a short description of the gear, the price range, and links to more detailed product information. The buyers’ guide is available at the website below.

Website: Think Tank Photo Multimiedia DSLR Buyers Guide

Guardian News & Media is to host a new exhibition by photographer Sally Soames. Soames, who started out as a freelancer for The Observer and the Guardian, and later joined the Sunday Times, donated her photographic archive to the Scott Trust Foundation in 2008. The exhibition takes place in the foyer of Guardian News and Media from Friday 18 June 2010 until Friday 20 August 2010.

Addonics has announced a family of CFast adapters which instantly connects a CFast media to any SATA port inside a desktop PC, rack mounted system or notebook computer. The new adapters include a CFast HDD adapter and a SATA CFast adapter. Additionally, Addonics has also launched its own brand of CFast cards, available in 8GB and 32GB capacities.

Sigma UK has issued a service notice to owners of certain Sigma telezoom lenses. Some of its APO 50-500mm F4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM, APO 120-400mm F4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM (pictured) and APO 150-500mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM lenses, produced recently, may suffer from this autofocus defect, the company says. Sigma has listed the serial numbers of the potentially affected lenses, which you can find in the press release below. If you own one of these lenses, you should contact Sigma on 01707 376 795, and they will arrange to collect your lens at no cost for inspection and modification where necessary. Your lens will be returned to you free of charge.

Half a year after NASA placed an order for eleven Nikon D3S cameras and seven lenses, the general contractor of the Russian Federal Space Agency also ordered top-end Nikon gear for use aboard the International Space Station. The Nikon D3S and Nikon D3X digital-SLR cameras and four long telephoto lenses will be used along with Nikon F5 film SLRs and Nikon D2X DSLRs already employed by Russian cosmonauts working in the Russian segment of the space station.

Lexar has launched a new microsite designed to be a resource for customers and professional photographers. The microsite includes educational videos, customer testimonials, information on how Lexar tests its cards, and other content. Lexar will be adding new videos, testimonials and information to the site, which you can visit by clicking on the link below.

Website: When Memory Matters

RED’s founder, Jim Jannard, has recently made an announcement about a major problem with their Scarlet and EPIC cameras that has been hindering their launch, and will likely continue to do so. “It has held us up now for two months,” Jannard said in the statement made on the REDuser forum. “The fix could be tomorrow. Or not.” Scarlet and EPIC - the two “brains” of the modular RED camera system - were first announced almost two years ago, and Scarlet got a price tag at the end of last year. However, the company that was going to manufacture Scarlet turned out to have “significant issues”, and RED are now trying to find a new partner.

Via 1001 Noisy Cameras

Project AWARE Foundation and SeaWeb’s Marine Photobank are calling for entries for the third “Ocean in Focus” Conservation Photography Contest that feature species in need of protection, the human impacts upon them and their environments, and the importance of conserving biodiversity. The Grand Prize package includes US$500 cash as well as many marine-conservation related gifts. Four additional prize packages will be available: three for honourable mentions and a “Biodiversity Award” package that will be bestowed upon a submission that particularly highlights the need for biodiversity or biodiversity protection. Entrants are asked to submit their most captivating contest photos at the website below before August 31.

Website: Marine Photobank