Bogen Imaging has announced a free webinar titled “A Budget Safari – Wildlife Photography at Your Local Zoo: Roundtable with Julie Larsen Maher.” Part of the company’s Bogen Café series of free instructional webinars, the seminar will be held from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EDT, on Friday, June 19th. Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Staff Photographer Julie Larsen Maher, and David Fisher, Bogen Imaging’s Gitzo, Metz, Gossen and Litepanels Product Manager, will discuss the best practices, gear, and times to visit when shooting wildlife at a local zoo. To register for the free Bogen Café webinar and for additional information, please visit http://www.bogenimaging.us/webinar/

Website: Bogen Cafe

Blurb has just announced the release of Blurb BookSmart 2.0, and introduced its new 12x12 Large Square book offering, available immediately. BookSmart 2.0 includes many new features that give creative professionals full control in the customisation of their book layouts, down to the pixel. The introduction of flexible containers allows bookmakers to control the size, location, layers and content type of all elements on the page. Precision tool bars, gridlines for quick visual guidance, and the ability to save designed pages as custom layouts for reuse all elevate the bookmaking experience and offer extended flexibility for advanced users and consumers alike. Blurb BookSmart 2.0 is available for download immediately at www.blurb.com.

The lucky winner of our fantastic May 2009 Newsletter contest has been randomly selected from the PhotographyBLOG Newsletter subscriber list.

Jim Hoff wins a HP StorageWorks RDX Removable Disk Backup System, worth £235.

Shutterfly has announced ideas for honouring the new dad in your life this Father’s Day as well as a new, free photo sharing iPhone application that allows him to upload, view and share photos on the go. After a simple download, he can sign in and view his Shutterfly albums on his iPhone. He can also snap pics of the kids and upload them directly to his Shutterfly account or Share site. Other Shutterfly gift ideas include tribute albums, milestone memory calendars and surprise photo shoots.

Park Cameras have teamed up with Panasonic to provide a free training session dedicated to the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 digital camera. The training will take place on Thursday 18th June between 6-8pm. Advance registration is required.

Tamron have announced that they are about to launch their 10-24mm lens in Pentax and Sony mounts. The full product name is Tamron SP AF10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II LD Aspherical [IF] (Model B001), and the launch date is 12 June 2009 in Japan. A900 owners should take note that the lens is not meant to be used on cameras whose sensor is bigger than 24x16mm. The announcement was made by Mr. Morio Ono of Tamron Co., Ltd.

Website: Tamron News

Anthropics have released the new Portrait Professional 9, a portrait airbrushing program that has actually been “trained” in human appearance, using thousands of example photographs. For any given face, the software creates custom controls specifically to enhance that particular face. For example, if the face has a heavy jaw or double chin, Portrait Professional’s jaw slider control will reduce the fatness of the jaw. On the other hand, if the jaw was rather weak or small, the slider would subtly enlarge it. The software contains over 100 intelligent sliders of this nature, plus an automatic touch-up brush to give the user fine control over the appearance of the face and hair. In addition, Portrait Professional 9 incorporates new patent applied for ClearSkin® skin beautifying technology. The software is available in two versions, Standard and Studio, costing $65.95 and $99.95, respectively.

onOne Software has announced a new application to remotely control Canon EOS DSLR cameras using an iPhone or iPod Touch. The new DSLR Camera Remote for iPhone application allows photographers using a supported Canon EOS DSLR that is connected to a WiFi enabled computer to remotely control the settings of the camera, fire the shutter, review images, and even get a live preview. The software comes in two versions – the Professional edition, which is available for $19.99 with a limited time introductory price of $9.99, and the Lite edition, available for $1.99. The DSLR Camera Remote for iPhone may be purchased immediately from the App Store within Apple iTunes software.

Website: List of supported DSLR cameras

Canon have released the eagerly anticipated new firmware update for the Canon EOS 5D Mark II, which is now available for download. As noted earlier, version 1.1.0 makes it possible to manually control the exposure while recording video. This can be done by selecting an f-stop from the entire aperture range offered by the lens in use, picking a shutter speed from 1/30 to 1/4000 second, and specifying an ISO speed between ISO 100 and H1 (ISO 12,800). Other fixes include disabling the function of the depth-of-field preview button when images are played back or when the menu screen is displayed on the LCD panel, fixing a bug with the peripheral illumination correction feature, fixing the algorithms of the Auto Lighting Optimizer function when Custom Function C.Fn II-3 Highlight tone priority is enabled, correcting incorrect indications on the Arabic, Romanian, Spanish, and Ukrainian menu screens and changing the battery information displayed on the camera when using the optional Battery Grip BG-E6.

Website: Canon EOS 5D Mk II Firmware Update (click the Drivers & Downloads tab)

Issue #16 of the PhotographyBB Magazine Online has just been released. The May 2009 edition explores positive ways to engage law enforcement officials, preparing your gear for rainy day photography, and a brand new “readers questions” column. Additionally there are Photoshop and Lightroom tutorials for photographers to get the most out of their post processing techniques. This month’s Photography Around the World column features the vibrant Isla de Mujeres. PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available for free download through the PhotographyBB Website at: http://www.photographyBB.com/magazine?

The winners of the May 2009 PhotographyBLOG Competition have been selected by a panel of judges. The theme for May was “Rain” - you can view all of the entries in this gallery. Here are the 5 winners:

1st Place
Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, by phototoad

Prize: ShutterPoint.com one-year subscription with 100Mb of storage space
Kindly donated by ShutterPoint.
http://www.shutterpoint.com

Adobe will be raising the UK pricing of its CS4 products from 1st July 2009. Blaming sharp fluctuations between UK and European exchange rates, the price increase will equate to a price rise of up to 10%. Photoshop CS4 will increase from £485 to £534 (ex VAT). To achieve a better balance, Adobe is reducing some Euorpenan prices of CS4 by up to 13%.

The new Lowepro Toploader Pro AW Series of camera bags provides fast access to your DSLR camera. Available in three sizes, 65 AW, 70 AW and 75 AW, and priced at around £70 in the UK, the Lowepro Toploader Pro features a side opening that offers easy-grip access, U-shaped zipper pulls, and Lowepro’s unique 360° All Weather AW Cover. The Toploader Pro Series can be worn in three ways; holster-style over the shoulder, attached to Lowepro’s Street & Field belt system, or with the Topload Chest Harness.

The 2010 Sony World Photography Awards are open for entries from today. The competition for professional photographers incorporates 12 categories across three genres – commercial, fine art and photojournalism/documentary. The overall winner will take the coveted L’Iris D’Or title together with $25,000. From the nine amateur categories, one photographer will be chosen as the Sony World Photography Awards Amateur Photographer of the Year and win a grand prize of $5,000 and Sony camera equipment. New for the 2010 awards, a documentary category has been introduced for amateur photographers.

ILFORD has launched a new and improved version of its GALERIE Smooth Pearl and Smooth Gloss inkjet paper. Including a new optically controlled nanoporous layer and redesigned base, GALERIE Smooth Pearl and Gloss media provides a full tonal scale from deep blacks through to crisp whites. ILFORD GALERIE Smooth Gloss and Pearl is available now in sheets from 4 x 6 up to A3+.

The range of Rollei digital cameras is being extended with 7 new models in the UK. The new Rollei Compactline 50 costs just £49.99, the Compactline 90 is only £79.99, and the Compactline 150, which has a host of features including a 5x optical zoom, panorama function and 19 different shooting modes, is just £129.99. The RCP8330, Flexline 140 and the Swarovski at £79.99, £169.99 and £199.99 each are also stacked with functions and features that belie their prices. The new range of Rollei products put German excellence in technology, design and build quality in your hands, for a very Japanese price.

The Fujifilm Instax Superhero Photo Contest launches today on Facebook. You can submit up to three photos reflective of the superhero theme, which have to be taken using a Fujifilm Instax 200 camera, scanned and posted on the Fujifilm Instax Facebook Page. Fans of Fujifilm Instax on Facebook will be able to cast their votes for their favorite photo until the competition is narrowed down to five finalists. Then, a panel of pro photographer judges will select the winning Instax superhero-themed photo. The contest is open now until June 30th, and the winner will receive one case of Instax 200 Instant Film.

Panasonic has just released a firmware update for its highly successful premium compact, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3. Version 1.3 brings you the following:

  1. Improved auto white balance performance.
  2. Improved auto white balance performance in sunset mode.
  3. Improved recovery operation from unremoved lens cap.
  4. Improved operation of MF ASSIST/AF area selection.
  5. Improved display of Manual Exposure Assistance.

Website: Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 Firmware Update Service
Review: Read our in-depth review of the Panasonic LX3

onOne Software has announced a free, Lite version of PhotoTools 2 Standard Edition. Based on the exact same feature set as PhotoTools 2 Standard Edition, PhotoTools 2 Lite includes 14 of the most popular effects found in both PhotoTools 2 Standard Edition and PhotoTools 2 Professional Edition. The 14 effects available in PhotoTools 2 Lite range from reproducing classic photographic effects like Bleach Bypass and Cross Process, to reproducing film stock such as Kodachrome® and Velvia®, to modern effects, including automatic skin smoothing. PhotoTools 2 Lite is offered at no cost and is only available as an electronic download direct from onOne Software.

Website: Photo Tools 2 Lite