The Metropolitan Police have issued a photography advice to police officers and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs), to provide a summary of the Metropolitan Police Service’s guidance around photography in public places. The document acknowledges that “members of the public and the media do not need a permit to film or photograph in public places and police have no power to stop them filming or photographing incidents or police personnel”, and that the “Terrorism Act 2000 does not prohibit people from taking photographs or digital images in an area where an authority under section 44 is in place”. Furthermore, it adds that “it should ordinarily be considered inappropriate to use Section 58a to arrest people photographing police officers in the course of normal policing activities, including protests, as without more, there is no link to terrorism”. However, the advice also makes it clear that officers have the power to view digital images contained in cell phones or cameras carried by a person searched under S43 or S44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, if the officers aim to determine whether the photos are of a kind that could be used in connection with terrorism.

Website: Met Photography Advice

Artist Reece Ward has designed “an iconic T-shirt for every notable photographer”. The ‘flasher’ T-shirt is available from redbubble.com for approximately $24.

Website: Flasher T-Shirt

Light & Land is hosting an exclusive photography workshop with the National Trust – with access to the otherwise private areas of the Kingston Lacy Estate. Hosted by Charlie Waite on 8th August 2009, the workshop will begin with a talk from Charlie, covering the finer aspects of landscape photography before heading out to shoot ancient woodlands, farms, rivers, and an estate favourite, the White Mill Bridge. Places are strictly limited and cost £149.

The production of Fujicolor Pro 800Z will cease as of September 2009. Fujifilm’s Product Manager for Professional Film, Russ Gunn, explained the decision: “We have decided to remove all formats of Pro 800Z from our range due to low sales volume. By streamlining our selection of Professional film we can ensure our strong selling lines are protected.”

Topaz Labs have released Aperture-friendly Topaz Fusion Express for Mac, which allows Topaz Photoshop plug-ins to be imported into Aperture, allegedly providing Aperture users with the same image-editing capabilities and features that Photoshop users currently enjoy.“ Previously, Aperture users have not been able to use Topaz plug-ins, or have had to go through the process of exporting images into Photoshop to edit them, then import them back into Aperture,” says Eric Yang, Marketing Manager of Topaz Labs. “With Fusion Express, Aperture users can now run their Topaz plug-ins in Aperture without interrupting their workflow.”

Website: Topaz Labs

Fotoglif today launched a new service that makes it easy for bloggers, social media fans and other Web publishers to add royalty-free images to their written content. The beta version of the Fotoglif image-sharing community and licensing platform is available now at www.Fotoglif.com. The site features more than 3 million images, with thousands of new ones from professional photographers and respected news agencies added each day from global breaking news, entertainment and sports stories. Traditional stock photos and images of everyday life will be added over time. In addition to providing professional images for Web authors, Fotoglif offers photographers a revenue-generating outlet for use of their photos online. Payments to publishers are made through PayPal.

Image Mechanics, a digital capture studio in Santa Monica known for its educational outreach, has announced the first conference to focus on DSLR hybrid photography and cinematography. Image Mechanics, Redrock Micro and the LA Film School will present the two-day conference spotlighting the “collision” - or should we say convergence - of still photography and cinematography. This conference is intended for professional photographers and filmmakers interested in working with DSLRs to create moving and still imagery. The conference will be held at the Los Angeles Film School, located at 6363 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, CA on Saturday and Sunday August 29th and 30th, 2009.  Conference passes are available immediately from http://www.ImageMechanicsExpo.com for $200 per day or $350 for a two day pass.

The Plugin Site (thepluginsite.com) has jsut released version 2 of Plugin Galaxy for MacOS X. Plugin Galaxy 2 is a plugin for creating special effects and enhancing images with the help of more than 160 basic effects. It works in various graphics applications including Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Fireworks, Photoline, GraphicConverter and Illustrator. It is now available as an universal binary that works natively on Intel-Macs. It offers all effects in a new resizable dialog and renders more than two times faster. The new Layers and Blend features lets you apply multiple effects to the image in one session and create sophisticated effect combinations that were not possible before. The new batch processing option applies the same effect to hundreds of images with a few clicks. Plugin Galaxy 2 sells at $69.95 (Regular License) or $39.95 (Academic/Educational License).

Website: Plugin Galaxy

PhotographyBB has released their latest Photoshop Action package, the Pro-Sharpening Action Pack - and if you buy it today, 10 July 2009, until midnight EST, you get 30% off with a special discount code. Pro-Sharpening Actions from PhotographyBB perform advanced sharpening enhancements to digital photos using complex built in functionality within Photoshop. Pro-Sharpening will work with Photoshop versions CS, CS2, CS3, and CS4 on both PC and Mac platforms. First day buyers enjoy a 30% discount on this action pack (and all existing action packs) by using the COUPON CODE: 30SHARP at the website below.

Website: PhotographyBB Actions

Creative Light offers a full range and ever-expanding line of softboxes, reflectors, umbrellas, stands and other accessories, all made with a Swedish design. The equipment is for use in studios and on location and will be distributed by Creative Light distributors worldwide. Equipment currently being shipped to dealers include: recessed and flat-front softboxes, softgrids, speedrings, umbrellas in white, silver, translucent and “softbox” styles, reflectors, both deluxe and regular in a variety of gold and silver surfaces, reflector holders, stands and light sheds.

Website: Creative Light

Hasselblad are inviting a limited number of photographers to join Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin Aldrin and their design team at the Kennedy Space Center for an exclusive, all expenses paid weekend to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first lunar photographs and the launch of the new Hasselblad H3DII-60. In order to be one of them, you need to purchase either a Hasselblad H3DII-50 or a H3DII-60 medium-format camera between 1 July and 21 August 2009. The weekend, taking place from 24-26 September, will consist of seminars, professional training, and “out of this world photography”, Hasselblad says.

Website: Hasselblad promotion

Adobe and Popular Photography have announced a photo contest called Lightroom Through Your Lens. To enter, visit the website below, download your free 30-day trial of Photoshop Lightroom 2 and use the export plug-in to upload 3-5 images to the contest site. The Grand Prize winner will be published in an upcoming issue of Popular Photography magazine, recognised on PopPhoto.com, and receive a 2-night stay in New York City for a photo excursion and tutorial with a Popular Photography editor. The Reader’s Choice winner will be selected by Web site visitors and recognised on PopPhoto.com. Both the Grand Prize and Reader’s Choice winners will receive full copies of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2. Before entering the competition, make sure to read the rules.

Website: Lightroom Through Your Lens

LaCie has announced that its LaCinema Rugged multimedia hard drive is now available in High Definition – LaCinema Rugged HD. Allegedly the LaCinema Rugged HD is the first multimedia player in its class to allow users to store and play High Definition content, on any HDTV in Full-HD 1080p resolution. Compatible with both Windows and Mac environments, the LaCinema Rugged HD requires a single USB 2.0 cable, connected to the computer for bus-powered multimedia loading. Once the media content is transferred to the LaCinema Rugged HD, it is ready to be viewed on any display with an HDMI connection. The HDMI cable is included. The LaCinema Rugged HD is available through the LaCie Online Store at the suggested retail price starting at $349.99USD. The UK price is £259.99, incl. VAT.

Sony have announced two new Full HD digital camcorders, the Sony HDR-CX500V (pictured) and the Sony HDR-CX520V. In addition to capturing full1920x1080 high-definition video, the HDR-CX500V and the HDR-CX520V can also take 12-megapixel still photos. Moreover, both camcorders feature 60p output, which automatically converts content to 60 progressive frames per second when connected to a compatible HDTV. Another notable feature, Optical SteadyShot with Active Mode now offers 3-Way Shake Canceling.  This feature reduces hand shake in three directions – vertical and horizontal shake corrected by optical image stabilisation and the third, by way of electronic image stabilisation, facilitates correction for lateral-roll shake. To effortlessly track your destinations on a map, the camcorder’s built-in GPS antenna and NAVTEQ digital maps geo-tag your videos and photos. Introducing new technology to down-convert from AVCHD™ to MPEG2, Sony eliminates the need for a PC and allows for simple DVD creation with the optional DVDirect Express DVD writer (sold separately for around $150). The HDR-CX500V (with 32GB of internal flash memory) and the HDR-CX520V (with 64GB) will be available in September for about $1,100 and $1,300 respectively.

Canon U.S.A. has announced two new wireless PIXMA Photo all-in-one devices, the Canon PIXMA MP560 and the Canon PIXMA MP490. Both units utilise Canon’s FINE print head technology and offer the Auto Photo Fix II feature which resolves many common photo printing errors. The new PIXMA MP560 Wireless Photo all-in-one device (pictured) is the most compact Canon inkjet printer to have both wireless capabilities and built-in Auto Duplex Printing, and also is the first Canon PIXMA Printer to have the ability to print out pictures directly from a USB Flash Memory device. The MP560 costs $149.99, while the MP490 carries a price tag of $99.99.

Leica Camera has announced the autumn launch of a special, olive green edition of the Leica D-Lux 4 digital compact camera. The metal body of the Leica D-Lux 4 SAFARI is protected by an anodised finish, which is particularly resistant to wear, Leica says. The camera also comes with a water-proof system case with plenty of space for additional D-Lux 4 accessories – such as an optical viewfinder, handgrip or flash unit.  It also comes complete with a rain cape designed for photography out in the elements. Leica D-Lux 4 SAFARI has an RRP of £765 and is available in the UK from September 2009.

Datacolor has announced it is offering a special summer rebate on its Spyder3 Elite (pictured) and Spyder3 Pro monitor calibration systems as well as its SpyderCube colour management and white balance tool. The new rebate, which takes effect immediately, will run through August 31 and offers savings of up to $30 on the purchase of Datacolor’s Spyder calibration products. You need to download a rebate form to participate.

Yozilla.com, a new US website, has announced a pre-launch photographic contest. To enter, you need to register at yozilla.com, download and print out their “Flat Yozilla” pdf, and take a photo with the “Flat Yozilla” in it. The most creative shot will be rewarded with a $1000 cash prize. The competition runs until 25 July, and the winner will be announced on 1 August, the official launch date of yozilla.com. You must be 18 years of age or older and a legal resident of the US to enter. As with every competition, you are advised to read the rules before registering and submitting a photo.