From the CameraArts—B+H Photo Store...

Among the latest additions to the CameraArts B+H storefront, a special deal on the Sony DCR-SR300 Digital Handycam, a cutting-edge handheld digital camcorder that comes packing with its own 40GB hard drive and built-in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound features. Other features include a 10x optical zoom, an Optical Image Stabilization system to prevent the effects of hand-shake, 16:9 widescreen capability, and a USB 2.0 interface. Now it is simpler than ever to download files straight to your computer's video editing software.

Special Price- $659.95 + Shipping. Click here to navigate to this product.

CALL FOR ENTRIES: Photography(book)now

An international symposium and celebration of fine art photography books, Photography(book)now is inviting photographers to submit their own books for a chance to be recognized at related events all over the world, as well as a $25,000 grand prize, bestowed to assist a chosen photographer in the competition and self-publishing of his or her book. A panel of recognized experts in the field are on board to give the winners added prestige and recognition in the fine art photography world. What's more, the seven top winners will be invited to attend the competition awards ceremony in San Francisco, CA, on September 12, 2008.

Confirmed jurors include Head Judge Darius Himes of Radius Books; Jen Bekman of Jen Bekman Gallery; Elisabeth Biondi of The New Yorker; Frish Brandt of Fraenkel Gallery; Charlotte Cotton, of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Photographer Stephen Gill; Lesley A. Martin of Aperture Books; Alan Rapp of Chronicle Books; Kathy Ryan of The New York Times; Photographer Brian Ulrich; and Denise Wolff of Phaidon Press. Entries will be judged in two seperrate categories: General and Thematic Photography Books.

From Eileen Gittins, Founder and CEO of Blurb:

“Any photographer would kill to have their work reviewed by this prestigious group. Our jurors are all excited to see the range and creativity of books that will be submitted, now that it is so simple and affordable to compose a book of great beauty and quality.”

All winners will have their work showcased and recognized at Photography.Book.Now salon events worldwide. Deadline for submissions is July 14, 2008. Click here to visit their website.

AUCTION: Tamarind Auction to open for bidding

Starting May 2, 2008, the Tamarind Auction will be open for online bidding. Lots include lithographs and contemporary art, not to mention a 4-night shopping spree at Saks Fifth Avenue, Chicago. Additonally, of particular interest to all photographers (who else but fashion photographers could have a use for all of those shoes?) is a workshop on Digital Meanderings in Albuquerque's East Mountains, hosted by Tamarind curator Becky Schnelker. The workshop will take two participants through beautiful and historic places near Schnelker's own backyard, and all will walk away with useful digitial photography techniques for work in nature. This lot has an estimated value of $400, and is limited to one slot for the lucky bidder and a lucky companion. Many other art expeditions are available.

The Tamarind Auction closes bidding on May 18, 2008, so be sure to take advantage of this offer! You must be registered to bid online. Go to their website to sign up.

The Center for Creative Photography: May Exclusives

The Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona presents for the month of May a bevy of photography events, including exhibitions, gallery walks, lectures and tours. The two major exhibitions for May include "Lee Friedlander: American Monuments," in which famous American landmarks are interposed with the undeniable evidence of everyday life; and "Human Nature: The Photographs of Barbara Bosworth," exhibiting at the Phoenix Art Museum's Doris and John Norton Gallery, explores the concept of "inhabited nature," in which natural places in America can unexpectedly become human playgrounds.

Gallery walks include "An Architect's Perspective" on June 5, hosted by University of Arizona Professor of Architecture Corky Poster, and "The Curator's Point of View" on June 29, with Britt Salveson, the Center for Creative Photography's Chief Curator. Also, on June 24, Norton Family Assistant Curator of Photography Becky Senf will examine Barbara Bosworth's exhibition in detail. Meanwhile, a new selection of New Mexico-themed images will be premiering at the Ansel Adams Gallery at the Center, so be sure to drop by.

Doris and John Norton are University of Arizona alumni (1950) who have contributed millions to the school. The Center for Creative Photography provides support, produces material, and provides valuable educational opportunities for photographers.

Remember, this is also the last week in which "Debating Modern Photography: The Triumph of Group f/64" can be viewed. Exhibition closes May 4, 2008. Click here for details.

CALL FOR ENTRIES: Blow-Up

Blow-Up, a national competition for photography and photo-based media, is seeking submissions for its juried exhibition to be held from July 10 to August 23, 2008, at Bromfield Gallery in Boston, MA. Juried by New York-based photographer and educator Harvey Stein, the competition invites fresh, original interpretations of the theme: literal explosions, photographic enlargement, temper tantrums, inflatables, and any other play on words one can, and should, imagine. Even the movie with the same title, Blow Up (see below comment for clarification; even I make mistakes—ed) is ripe for reinterpretation. Entry fee is $30 for five jpg-format images.

Deadline for submissions is June 1, 2008. Click here to upload your images online. Only digital jpg-format images will be considered.

Image: Untitled, from "Mexico: Between Life and Death" © Harvey Stein

FESTIVAL: LOOK3 Festival of the Photograph

Back for its second year, the LOOK3 Festival of the Photograph is set to take place June 12-14 in Charlottesville, VA. During the festival, the downtown area will be transformed into a "living image," with exhibitions, outdoor projected presentations, film screenings, live interviews with photographers, and more. Photography of all kinds will be displayed everywhere: in the trees, in storefront windows, on the sides of buildings, and in numerous gallery spaces. The festival also marks the return of the popular and ground-breaking "Yourspace" exhibition, in which anyone can participate by printing and hanging original works.

Three photographers will also be honored for their long-standing contributions to the medium. Documentary photographer Mary Ellen Mark, surrealist boundary- pusher Joel-Peter Witkin, and Time Magazine veteran James Nachtwey will create individual exhibitions and be interviewed by NPR's Alex Chadwick at the historic Paramount Theater.

From LOOK3 Festival of the Photograph:

"New in 2008 are the LOOK3 Workshops and Project Critique Sessions. Photographers of all skill levels will find invaluable instruction and experience by enrolling in classes taught by renowned photographers David Alan Harvey, William Albert Allard, Eugene Richards and Lynn Johnson. Also, Maggie Steber and MaryAnne Golon will lead Project Critique Sessions to help students edit and develop working photography projects. Last year LOOK3 sold out early so we encourage you to start planning now."

Two major outdoor screening presentations, "Shots" and "Works," will present a dizzying variety of work from officially participating artists. Please visit www.look3.org for full details about the festival.

Education Based Series of Exhibitions continues at MoPA

The Museum of Photographic Art (MoPA) in San Diego, CA will present its second installment in a series of education-related exhibitions titled "Picturing the Process: Landscape Through Time and Space." Lasting from July 12, 2008 to February 1, 2009, the Museum will present 40 works from its collection, arranged in chronological fashion from the earliest landscape photographers of the 19th Century to the contemporary photographic artists seeking to define the Landscape as medium. Featured photographers include (to name a few) Industrial Revolution photographer Carlton Watkins, 20th Century legend Ansel Adams, and contemporary photographer of the Atlantic Joan Myers.

From MoPA's press release:

"The exhibition will present a selection of discrete approaches to landscape photography from the landscape as a representation of beauty, as a means of artistic expressions, and as a forum for political and environmental issues. Each of the photographers represented in the exhibition has attempted to define the landscape while presenting discoveries concerning its structure, beauty, meaning, and future preservation."

Also running at MoPA are "Flesh: Portraits by Gary Schneider," until September 14, 2008; and "Humanitas: Images of India by Fredric Roberts," from May 3 to September 7, 2008. Click here to visit the museum's website.

CALL FOR ENTRIES: The Canon Photography in the Parks Photo Contest

Canon U.S.A. has done more than pay lip service to Earth Day, evidenced by its new recycling programs and outreach incentives, as well as its third annual Canon Photography in the Parks competition. Established to encourage American photographers of every stripe to take an active creative interest in the nation's parks, this call for entries can be entered at the Canon Digital Learning Center. Prizes include Canon EOS series SLRs, earth-friendly Pixma Pro9500 Photo printers, and a Grand Prize trip for two to any participating national or state park.
The deadline for submissions is September 30, 2008.

To enter, one must be 13 years or older (the minimum age range has been extended), and an amateur photographer. According to Canon, Professionals include those who received more than 51 percent income from photography sales in the last three years, and are not eligible for submission. Registration and uploading can be completed at the Canon Digital Learning Center web site here. There are no entry fees.

Keep in mind for Earth Day: The Canon Forest Program

In association with the American Park Network, Canon U.S.A. has announced The Canon Forest Program, a national campaign starting in May and lasting through August, 2008, to promote green products. During the campaign, a tree will be planted for every ten Canon Generation Green products registered, and volunteer consumers will get the opportunity to help take care of parks and public land. Approved products include PIXMA Professional Inkjet Printers and imageCLASS scanners. To be included in the Generation Green family, products are be designed with Canon's standards of energy-saving, waste-reducing features.

From Canon U.S.A.'s Yuichi Ishizuka, senior vice president and general manager, Consumer Imaging Group:

"Canon's commitment to the environment and helping to make it more sustainable is an inherent part of our corporate philosophy and product offerings. Through the Canon Forest Program, we want our customers to feel a connection with their Canon Generation Green products, knowing their purchases will contribute to planting trees and revitalization programs, which will help offset our collective carbon footprint."

Among other imaging companies, Sony has led the charge in establishing a national Take Back Recycling program for broken cameras, irritable printers, and useless electronics. All products are accepted, and you can find a list of locations here. Read the original blog article here.

You can keep track of the campaign's progress at the official site, when the program begins in May. Registration of Generation Green Products can also be be processed at the site.

Presenting Humanitas: Images of India by Fredric Roberts

The Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego, CA has announced a special exhibition of the work of Fredric Roberts (CameraArts September/October 2006). Titled "Humanitas: Images of India," the exhibition comprises scenes of everyday life in India, photographed by Roberts over five years. Roberts' photographic catalogue spans countries as diverse as India, Cambodia, Bhutan, Thailand, Myanmar, and China. The two books that have been released under the name of the series have received many honors, including Honorable Mentions in the Fine Art and People categories of the 2007 Lucie Awards.

Though Roberts' photographs are mostly simple portraits, the photographer's eye captures in these images the subtelties of human interaction, its cultural undertones, and real-life implications of globalization, with the small societies that still exist in resistance of the greater tide. The photographs possess a real sense of worldliness, most likely a benefit of Roberts' 30-year career as an investment banker (and one-time member of the Nasdaq Board of Directors), followed by a long list of contributions and service to various cultural organizations, such as President of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and Founding Chairman of the Spotlight Awards Scholarship Program.

The exhibition takes place from May 3 to September 7, 2008. Click here to visit the Museum of Photographic Arts' website.

Image ©Fredric Roberts.

REMINDER: Only a few spots left for Dreamscapes!

There are a few spots left for the DreamScapes May 25-27 workshop!

Click here for new model images. Our own Tim Anderson is hosting along with Pat Berrett (www.OneModelPlace.com, #97260 and www.modelmayhem.com, #484). The workshop will begin on Friday night with a meet and greet dinner at a great local hotel, and on Saturday the hacienda will again be the location for the first shoot, with afternoon shooting at a variety of local wilderness areas.

For more information, go to Rio Grande Workshops' website here.

The Center For Fine Art Photography announces two juried exhibitions

The Center for Fine Art Photography has announced two new Calls for Entry for photographers looking to submit in the summer season of 2008. The first, the 2008 International Exhibition of Fine Art Photography, will be juried by Hossein Farmani, Founder of the Lucie Awards, and will accept traditional, contemporary, avant-garde, experimental and mixed-media works. The second, Our Environment, the Good, Bad and the Ugly, has as its theme the footprint of human expansion and development on our earth. Both competitions are open to all mediums, techniques, and levels of experience.

Entries for the International Exhibition of Fine Art Photography are due July 15, 2008. Entries for Our Environment, the Good, Bad and the Ugly, are due August 18, 2008.

From the Center for Fine Art Photography, concerning both competitions:

"With selection for this exhibition, artists and their work will be seen by an international audience of collectors, curators, art consultants and others who appreciate the fine art of photography.
Feature presentation in CameraArts magazine: Artists’s ShowCase
Juror’s Selection award: $500
Director's Selection award: $200
Gallery Visitor’s Choice Award: $100
Two Artists’ ShowCase Online subscriptions – the Center’s new online image marketing website (preview here)
All exhibitors are included in the Center's online gallery
Inclusion in the Center's 2008 Exhibition Collection CD which is distributed to selected galleries, collectors, design houses and corporations world wide."

Go to the Center for Fine Art Photography's calls for entry section to submit.

Images: Overlooked (top) © Ingrid Saaliste

Crossings at Monroe, Monroe, NJ, 2006 © Justin Reed

From the CameraArts—B+H Photo Store...

Among the latest additions to the CameraArts B+H storefront, a special deal on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 Digital Camera gives photographers an opportunity to own a quality EVF point-and-shoot camera. This model combines 7.2-megapixel resolution with a 12x optical zoom, and features an excellent Leica DC lens with MEGA O.I.S. to prevent shaky photos. Though it is designed to be a point-and-shoot, the FZ8 provides many SLR features, such as thumbstick-adjustable manual settings.

From the CameraArts Photo Store:

"The DMC-FZ8 Digital Camera also has a large, 2.5-inch LCD that uses a pixel-mixed readout method, improving brightness over typical LCD displays, and allows you to enjoy comfortable shooting even in low-lit situations. The display is also extremely easy to view from a low angle (e.g. when taking photos raising a hand upward to shoot the subject over the crowd) with the High Angle LCD function. The Power LCD function also supports clear view even in sunny outdoor by offering a brightness boost of up to 40%. The DMC-FZ8 is powered by a high capacity Lithium-ion battery; combined with the efficient power usage of the Venus Engine III processor, you'll get an impressive 380 shots on a full charge."

Special Price- $229.95 + Shipping. Click here to navigate to this product.

April 27 is Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day!

MeetMeAtTheCorner.org, a New York organization that offers educational videos and online information for kids, will celebrate Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day (WPPD) on April 27, 2008. Kids are being encouraged to participate, thanks to an educational program, or "virtual field-trip," made to spread awareness to those far too young to remember a time when cameras lacked batteries, memory cards, and even lenses. Taking place on the last Sunday every April, WPPD is an all-inclusive event. Photographers around the world can participate by sending photos made by their pinhole cameras, and pictures of the custom-made cameras themselves.

From MeetMeAtThe Corner.org:

"Today, children of all ages can create their own pinhole camera with common household items. All that is needed is a light-tight container (such as an oatmeal box or can), a sewing needle to make the pinhole, a piece of film or photographic paper, scissors, tape, a piece of cardboard, and an active imagination."

For more information (and an excellent video) about how your kids can make their own pinhole camera, visit MeetMeAtThe Corner.org. To participate in WPPD, click here to go to their official website and view selections from last year.

The New Orleans Darkroom opens online gallery

The New Orleans Darkroom, the source for contemporary fine art photography in the Big Easy, has announced a new online gallery. The gallery offers browsing criteria in searching for books and photographs, either by artist, by genre, theme, and price, among many others. This latest feature is a part of the Darkroom's efforts to achieve wider recognition of its artists on a national scale. A section is also given over to entry fees for juried competitions and other events, with easy online payment options.

Says New Orleans Darkroom owner Charles Magnin:

"New Orleans is replete with outstanding photographic talent who suffer from the scarcity of venues that focus on their promotion. The purpose of the online gallery is to offer Southern artists a truly broad audience."

Featured photographers include Jackie Brenner (whose book, Friday Night Grind, was released by Shine Media Group, and is available to order here), Richard Sexton, and Joséphine Sacabo (CameraArts August/September 2003), to name only a few. The online gallery can be viewed at gallery.neworleansdarkroom.com.

Image ©Harold Gee

A tribute to Burt Glinn

This week Magnum Photos announced that long-time member Burt Glinn has passed away. The photographer and his legacy have been honored with a special exhibition in Seattle's SAM Gallery. The show will run until May 3, 2008, and will present much of Glinn's work from the 50s and 60s, while the photographer documented The Seattle Tubing Society (see below). As counterpoint, Glinn's dramatic photographs of the Cuban Revolution will also be included. Glinn is also the photographer behind the world-famous image of Khrushchev viewing the Lincoln Memorial.

Glinn has also served as a president of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), during the organization's 35th Anniversary. Click here for excerpts from the photographer, collected for the 60th Anniversary celelbration of the ASMP.

From Magnum Photos Blog:

"Glinn became an associate member of Magnum in 1951, along with Eve Arnold and Dennis Stock—the first Americans to join the young photo agency—and a full member in 1954. He made his mark with spectacular color series on the South Seas, Japan, Russia, Mexico and California. In 1959 he received the Mathew Brady Award for Magazine Photographer of the Year from the University of Missouri.

"In collaboration with the writer Laurens van der Post, Glinn published A Portrait of All the Russians and A Portrait of Japan. His reportages appeared in magazines including Esquire, Geo, Travel + Leisure, Fortune, Life and Paris-Match. He covered the Sinai War as well as the U.S. Marine invasion of Lebanon."

If the sound of "The Seattle Tubing Society" has you scratching your head, click here for a slide-show obit at Magnum Photos. Preview the exhibition here.

Image ©Burt Glinn.

WORKSHOP: Precision Digital Negatives

A workshop aimed at advanced photographers, taught by Platinum/Palladium specialist and CameraArts contributor Mark Nelson (December 04/January 05; November/December 2006), will run for four days at Ed Carey Photography in San Francisco, CA, May 5-8, 2008. Mark Nelson will not only guide students in advanced printing techniques, but also will teach techniques of fabricating digital negatives from platinum originals. Precision Digital Negatives is the title of Mark Nelson's e-book and guide to maximizing tonality and smoothness in the final print. Students will learn Nelson's workflow system intimately, and apply it to creating more beautiful prints.

The workshop fee is $750 plus the cost of a student kit.

From Mark Nelson:
All the methods you will learn are part of my basic workflow—each is designed to maximize the tonality in the final print—in some cases these methods will have richer tonality or tonal values than you would get with an inkjet print.

For more details click here. Spaces are going fast!

CALL FOR ENTRIES: Focal Press Monthly Photography Contest

The March winners of the Focal Press Monthly Photography contest have just been announced, and are currently accepting entries for the April Competition, "Photojournalism: Photos that Inspire." Entry is free and available to any photographer. The April competition is sponsored by Kenneth Kobre, author of Photojournalism: The Professionals' Approach, 6th Edition. All entries are juried by website visitors, and newly uploaded photos can be voted on right away. If you enter, don't forget to forward the competition to your friends so they can vote and enter!

American Express Gift Cards are available to the top three chosen photographers, as well as a book published by Focal Press of the photographer's choice. Additionally, the monthly winners from February, March, April, May and June will have their photographs entered to win the Grand Prize, to be awarded in July: the Epson RX680 Ultra Hi-Definition Photo All-in-One Printer. The final contest of the series, opening May 2008, will focus on "Food," and will be sponsored by Authors Linda Bellingham and Jean Ann Bybee.

To enter, visit Focal Press' website and upload your entry.

Palm Springs Photo Festival: Complete portfolio!

Our own Publisher/Managing Editor here at CameraArts, Tim Anderson, has taken an impressive number of photographs during the Palm Springs Photo Festival in March 2008. Tim has dished non-stop about the beautiful weather and endless opportunities for photographers to share images and attend courses.

From Tim Anderson:

"Relatively new in the photo festival world, Jeff Dunas (right) and his absolutely incredible crew have done a fantastic job of attracting world-class workshop leaders and top-of-the-line photo pros to do portfolio reviews, not to mention the sun. Ah, the sun. For the short time I was there, the weather was very agreeable, blue skies all the way, every day!"

Click here to download the full .pdf file on our website.

Winners announced for The Singular Image and Project Competition

Center, the partner organization of Santa Fe Workshops, has announced the winners for their annual Project Competition and The Singular Image Awards. Hiroshi Watanabe's photographic project, "Ideology in Paradise," took top honors in the Project Competition, as did color photographer Dorthe Alstrup and black-and-white artist Joseph Guerriero in the Singular Image Awards' two categories. Congratulations also to the Juror's Choice recipients in the Project Competition, Walter Astrada, Dean Hollowood, and Marvi Lacar; selected Singular Image color entrants Kathryn Parker and Brad Moore (Second and Third Place, respectively); and entrants of Singular Image's Black and White category, Anna Boyiazis and Bob Gates.

The winning projects were chosen by a jury comprising Charlotte Cotton, Curator of Photography, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA); Chris Pichler, Publisher at Nazraeli Press; and Susan Scandrett, Creative Director of Mother Jones magazine.

From Charlotte Cotton, Chris Pichler and Susan Scandrett:

"We unanimously selected work that demonstrated active choices made by the photographer to represent what was of genuine interest to them. This is reflected in the range of our selections and the range of contemporary concerns. We saw many portfolios that referred to the rich heritage of photography: for instance social documentary; ecological projects; the photographic journey; and investigations of families and small communities. The most inspiring projects that we saw were natural yet innovative departures from these genres."

Click here to view all of the winning images at visitcenter.org.

Image © Hiroshi Watanabe.