Color Confidence has launched ProfileWriter, a profiling solution developed specifically for the Epson Stylus Pro 7900S and 9900S large format printers. Color Confidence ProfileWriter communicates directly with the built-in Epson SpectroProofer and makes the process of producing ICC profiles fast, accurate and affordable, the company claims. ProfileWriter is available now from all Epson large format printer resellers.

There are just a few days left to enter our fantastic competition.

Manfrotto Distribution have kindly donated THREE of their superb new Manfrotto Joystick Heads - in fact we are giving away ONE 327RC2 Joystick Head and TWO 324RC2 Joystick Heads worth £385 in total!

The new joystick heads offer a uniquely ergonomic way of quickly unlocking, moving and locking the camera, so you can frame and reposition freely to get the perfect photo.

To have a chance of winning one of these great prizes, simply subscribe to the Photography Blog Newsletter and answer a simple question.

The contest closes at the end of Monday 7th June 2010 – good luck!

ZeissImages.com, the recently launched online photo gallery of images captured with Zeiss lenses, has just announced its first photo contest. The theme is “As seen through your eyes”, and there are five categories - Landscape, Glamor, People, Nature and City/Architecture. ZeissImages.com members can submit up to 3 photographs per category.There are no fees or exchange of services required to participate in the contest, but it is mandatory that photographs submitted be taken with a Zeiss lens. The deadline for submissions is 1 August 2010.

Website: ZeissImages.com

GoingPro has hit the quarter million mark in page views just two months after start-up of its new blog. “The response from the photographic community has been incredible. Feedback from the public has been so positive. We’re working hard to keep expanding content, podcasts and even sponsorship,” commented Scott Bourne, GoingPro Co-Founder. Created by MEI’s Skip Cohen and BMG’s Scott Bourne, GoingPro is a year-long annual programme dedicated to educating professional and aspiring professional photographers through a GoingPro book, educational workshops, national conferences, free webinars and podcasts, blog and training

Nik Software announced today a new academic programme designed to make its digital imaging software products accessible to more students and faculty located in the U.S. and Canada at more affordable prices. The discounted price for Academic versions of Dfine 2.0, Viveza 2, Silver Efex Pro and Sharpener Pro 3.0 is $99.99. Color Efex Pro 3.0 Complete and the Complete Collection for Lightroom and Aperture cost $149.99, while the Complete Collection Ultimate Edition for Photoshop, Lightroom, and Aperture is $299.99. These figures represent discounts of up to 50% versus the standard retail prices. Eligible customers include all students and educators at any accredited educational institution.

Jacky Parker has won the People’s Choice Plant Portraits award with her image entitled ‘Soft tones of Autumn’ (see above). Jacky says, “the IGPOTY competition provides me with a treasure trove of inspirational ideas and encouragement. This year I am enjoying the challenges of the ‘4 Seasons’ competitions, bringing myself out of my comfort zone and looking at new aspects of garden photography.”

CEWE Photobook, Europe’s largest wholesale photo-finisher, has launched a new continent-wide photography competition. The Europe is Beautiful competition invites photographers to upload their eye-catching shots to a dedicated microsite for the chance to win one of 500 prizes, including a two-week luxury cruise, trips to London and Paris, and more. The winning images will also be displayed at photokina, and incorporated into a commemorative CEWE Photobook presented to the winners. There are four categories including “my home and family”, “my town and everyday life”, “my country and its culture” and “moving towards Europe’s future”.

Website: CEWE on Facebook

The Leica S-system has been chosen by fashion photographer Yves de Contades to create a unique set of photographs of some of the UK’s leading creative directors. Yves de Contades, who is also creative director of luxury brand magazine, International Life, approached forty leading creative gurus from the UK’s advertising and design industry with the question ‘What is your ultimate Fantasy Portrait?’ The results were an intoxicating mix of the quirky, the clever and the downright bizarre, from a digital robot, a spaceman bouncing through Piccadilly Circus to a dragon slaying ninja. Fantasy Portraits will be showcased at an invitation-only event at The Worx Studios in London on Thursday 10 June from 6pm - 9pm. Further venues are under consideration for display, due to popular demand. A selection of images will be available to view online from Tuesday 15 June at the website below.

Website: Fantasy Portraits

Black & Blue is the title of an exhibition of Gianni Galassi’s architectural “photo visions”. The exhibition title is inspired by the wide black colour-fields created by the shadows – the true subject of the showcased photographs – and by the cut-outs of sky, in a highly saturated blue, marking the compositional voids. Curated by Laura Ginapri, the exhibition will take place in the recently renovated La Piscina space, on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice. It features 68 colour photographs in the 180x180 cm (70x70 inch), 120x120 cm (47x47 inch) and 60x60 cm (23x23 inch) sizes, along with 3 site specific installations. The exhibit will be on show from 26 August to 3 October 2010.

The Mamiya RZ33, featuring a high performance 33 megapixel CCD sensor, brings the legendary Mamiya RZ system into the large-sensor digital arena. Featuring cable-free integrated operation, the Mamiya RZ33 is fully compatible with all Mamiya RZ system lenses, viewfinders and most accessories. Of course, the RZ’s trademark Vertical-Horizontal rotation is built-in so there is no need to ever turn the camera. Capturing 16-bit-per-channel raw files, the Mamiya RZ33 incorporates a 48x36mm sensor with a sensitivity range of ISO 50-800, and a large, 6x7cm LCD touchscreen for intuitive operation. The Mamiya RZ33 will be available for $17,990 including Capture One and Leaf Capture software, and will begin shipping in July 2010.

Burrard-Lucas Photography has launched a Landscape Photography Contest. The competition is open to participants worldwide, aged 18 or over on the closing date, which is 1 August 2010. The winner will be awarded with a Canon EOS 7D camera (pictured), a Lensbaby Composer and a SmugMug Pro account. Two runners-up will receive SmugMug standard accounts. Entry is free for up to three entries per photographer.

Website: Burrard-Lucas Photography

Digital Anarchy has just announced its new Beauty Box Photo skin retouching Photoshop plug-in. Providing an automatic way of smoothing skin and removing blemishes in photographs, Beauty Box Photo 1.0 is fully compatible with Adobe Photoshop CS5 and earlier versions of Photoshop and Elements. The software automatically identifies skin tones and creates an intelligent mask that limits the smoothing effect to skin areas while keeping facial details sharp. Beauty Box is regularly priced at USD $99, but you can get it for $79 through 21 June 2010.

Website: Digital Anarchy

The AC3 ZoneController is part of Pocket Wizard’s Control TL product line that gives Mini TT1 and Flex TT5 users three zones of flash control. Three clearly labelled dials allow you to increase or decrease power to three zones of flash in 1/3-stop increments, with a range of up to six stops. Three switches allow you to change zones between Manual, Auto or Off. The device currently works with Canon Speedlites, and - when matched with the new Power ST4 or AC9 AlienBees Adapter - you can also use it to control ElinchromRX, White Lightning and AlienBees flashes. The Pocket Wizard AC3 Zone Controller is available priced at £59.99 including VAT.

The Black Rapid FastenR-3 is the point of contact between your camera and your R-Strap. The R-Strap is worn diagonally across the torso from shoulder to hip and is secured to the camera via the FastenR-3 - successor to the FastenR and FastenR-2 -, which in turn screws into the tripod socket. In The UK, the Black Rapid FastenR-3 is sold by JP Distribution, at an SRP of £14.

Adobe has released version 6.1 of Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) for Photoshop CS5 users. This final version comes a little more than two weeks after the announcement of the ACR 6.1 Release Candidate. The update adds support for the Canon EOS 550D, the Kodak Z981, the Leaf Aptus-II 8, the Leaf Aptus-II 10R, the Mamiya DM40, the Olympus E-PL1, the Olympus E-600, the Panasonic G2, the Panasonic G10 and the Sony A450. Note that the Camera Raw 6.1 plug-in is not compatible with versions of Photoshop earlier than Photoshop CS5.

Four photographic archives of previously unseen images of U2, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones are to go under the hammer at the Entertainment Memorabilia auction on 23 June 2010 at Bonhams, Knightsbridge. These include thirteen - mostly unpublished - photos of U2 from 1978, fifty-six shots of Led Zeppelin from 1973, a collection of informal Polaroids of The Rolling Stones and Andy Warhol, and eighteen black-and-white negatives showing The Beatles at a reception in 1964.

Samsung Germany has quietly announced the Samsung NX5 mirrorless interchangeable-lens system camera. The German-language press release - which calls the NX5 an entry-level model - says precious little about the actual specifications of the camera. The biggest differences between the NX5 and the NX10 appear to concern the rear display and the EVF - where the NX10 had an AMOLED screen, the NX5 makes do with a more traditional TFT LCD; while the electronic viewfinder has a lot less resolution than that of the older model. In exchange, the NX5 is a bit more affordable, with a suggested retail price of €699. The pixel count of the sensor is unchanged at 14.6 million, and of course the Samsung NX5 takes the same NX lenses as the NX10.

The winners of the May 2010 Photography Blog Competition have been announced. The theme for May was “After Dark” - you can view all of the entries in this gallery. Here are the 5 winners:

1st Place
Double trouble by desertpea

Prize: X-Rite ColourChecker Passport
Kindly donated by X-Rite
http://www.xritephoto.com/

Kingston today launched the next-generation Kingston SDXC UHS-1 Class 10 memory card, claimed to be one of the fastest cards available in the market today. The Kingston SDXC card is compliant with the SDA Memory Card Standard Version 3.01, UHS-1. UHS-1 stands for Ultra-High Speed Bus 1, which is the new architecture of SDXC cards. It is designed to reach speeds of up to a maximum transfer rate of 104MB/sec. and 300MB/sec. in the future. Kingston’s offering has read speeds of up to 60MB/sec. and write speeds of up to 35MB/sec. The Kingston SDXC UHS-1 Class 10 64GB card will be available worldwide at the end of June and has a suggested retail price of £342.