ProPhotoApps Launches the Photography Industry’s First and Only Custom Branded iPhone App for Professional Photographers and their Photography Studios

MILWAUKEE & NASHVILLE (January 10, 2010) – ProPhotoApps, the photography industry’s first and only custom branded iPhone app for professional photographers and their photography studios, today announced the official public launch of their company at the Imaging USA 2010 Conference & Exposition in Nashville, TN.

With an extremely affordable price of just $199 during the Imaging USA 2010 Conference & Exposition (a $50 savings off of the regular $249 price), a photography studio can have their very own custom branded iPhone app with their studio name on it to help build their business and their brand for years to come. Here are just a few of the great benefits:

• MyDailyPic – This is the app’s flagship feature – where a studio can feature their best images by promoting a new image each day for all iPhone app users to see.
• List studio specials and news
• One touch access for iPhone app users to call, email, text, or go right to a photography studio’s website
• Automatically integrated with Facebook & Twitter
• Provide complete info about a photography studio to iPhone app users
• Custom branded – a studio can call the app whatever they want and use their logo – It’s a studio’s very own custom branded iPhone app!
• Built by professional photographers for professional photographers. ProPhotoApps knows professional photography like no one else and the features studios are looking for.
• As a studio owner an iPhone isn’t even needed to maintain and administer the iPhone app. ProPhotoApps has a state of the art web portal for studios to maintain their information and images – ProPhotoApps makes this extremely simple and fast for studios.
• ‘For You’ Feature – Another great feature of a studio’s custom branded app – ProPhotoApps has developed a technology to allow studios to know exactly who has downloaded their app so you can target information, news, images, and specials directly to individuals and groups.

“We are very excited to publicly launch ProPhotoApps at the Imaging USA 2010 Conference & Exposition,” said Tim Vertz, co-founder of ProPhotoApps and vice president of marketing. “We have built a lot of excitement in the photography industry with the industry’s first iPhone app built for professional photography studios to promote and brand their business.”

ProPhotoApps has been in pre-launch mode since mid 2009. The company also worked with many leading photography studios throughout the country to participate in focus groups and product development.

“We have worked very hard to bring about an extremely unique iPhone app that is custom branded for every photography studio,” said Jason Kelley, co-founder and chief technology officer of ProPhotoApps. “Our DailyPic and ‘For You’ features are extremely compelling so photography studios can promote their creativity, uniqueness, and target their client base to grow their photography studios.”

About ProPhotoApps
The founders of ProPhotoApps have a long history of being involved in the photography industry and know what it takes to build a successful photography business.
ProPhotoApps brings together talent from the photography, marketing, and information technology industry with the very first iPhone app geared specifically to help grow photography studios. ProPhotoApps goal is to help photography studios grow their business and promote their creativity. More info can be found at www.ProPhotoApps.com.

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Picapp Integrates in Google Knol to Enable Access to Celeb, Sports, News, Creative Images

Meeting Growing Demand for Premium, Current and Legal Content; Images Will Be Provided at No Cost to Publishers

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - January 25, 2010) - Google Knol publishers searching for photos of newly elected senator Brown, Jennifer Aniston at the Golden Globe Awards, or Peyton Manning, or looking for photos of the Golden Gate Bridge, an image of a human brain or a wildflower, can now use Picapp to add relevant images to their knols.

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced today that it has integrated Picapp's Partner API into the Knol editor, along with other embeddable object features. The Picapp integration will enable Knol publishers to access fresh, premium and free images. Knol has more than 100,000 articles, and is considered one of the most innovative and fastest growing knowledge base platforms.

Picapp hopes to continue working with Google to integrate with additional products.

Unlike other content syndication products that include intrusive advertising, the Picapp solution uses a subtle and user-friendly approach. Each published image is linked to a photo gallery page, displaying additional related images; the photo gallery page, which is fully customizable and can be white labeled, displays unobtrusive display ads.

Picapp enables publishers to easily search and insert images into posts; it has 20 million images covering entertainment, sports, news, travel, fashion, medical, food, and more, with 10,000 images updated daily. Picapp images come fully tagged with metadata and are indexed by image-search engines.

"Implementing our Partner API with a strong partner such as Google, which stands for innovation and excellence and which is committed to reducing online image piracy, represents a major milestone for Picapp with its mission to bring legal, affordable images to online publishers," said Eyal Gura, CEO, Picapp. "Our image distribution solution is the only one to fully respect and credit the content creators while providing the publishers with added values of content and user engagement."

News and photo agencies licensing images via Picapp include, among others, Getty Images, Corbis, Newscom, Fame Pictures, Admedia Photo, Entertainment Press, Zuma Press, Image Source and Pacific Coast News. Displaying ads on image photo gallery page provides a monetization tool for content owners.

About Picapp
Picapp (www.Picapp.com) offers online publishers and bloggers a single source for millions of premium quality and free images to use legally and enhance their sites. News and photo agencies licensing images to Picapp include, among others, Getty Images, Corbis, Zuma Press, and Newscom with new content partners added frequently to meet its global expansion goals. Picapp has over 20 million images with over 10,000 images updated daily; covering all types of editorial and creative image categories. Headquartered in San Francisco, the company has a development and operations center in Herzelia, Israel and is financially backed by Carmel Ventures.

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Microstock Agency PantherMedia introduces New Website with Fresh Ideas

Image buyers and designers can now choose their favorite background design

Munich, January 26, 2010. PantherMedia, the leading and rapidly growing marketplace for Royalty-Free photography with over one million images, illustrations and a vibrant photocommunity, today introduces its new website with innovative design and many new features, creating an
unique shopping experience for image buyers. The innovations are:

• Design:
o An optimized design und harmonized fonts for a higher clearness enabling customers, image buyers and designers to find quickly and easy the images they need.
o New clearly arranged start page showing all price models at a glance.
o Unique in the market: image buyers can now switch between a white-grey and a more dark background design of the website to create their own favored design for their working purposes.

• Improved Navigation:
o The new site navigation supports an optimized usability, reduces the daily workload and saves the valuable time of images buyers and designers. They can now use the new enlarged and centered search box in a separate menu bar for their image searches.
o The new site navigation to further information can be found at the bottom of the website, together with links to Facebook, Twitter, etc.; daily used menu items (shopping cart, lightbox, MyPanther) are right at the top of the website.

• Improved Search:
o Faster Search and page-flipping thanks to cache technology.
o The Extended Search and the Category Search can be displayed according to requirements of image buyers and designers.
o When searching for images customers can select how many information about and around the images will be displayed in search results (thumbnails only/thumbnails together with few information/thumbnails together with all information) for further customizing the design of search results according to their requirements.

• More Display Options:
o The number of images displayed in search results can easily be customized. Flipping through the pages is way faster for a quick overview on images than scrolling up and down.
o The mouse-over-image feature displays all desired image-relevant information and buttons.
o In the preview modus of an image similar images from the same photographer are displayed automatically under the specific image for a full overview on the series of images resp. similar images from other photographers. Image buyers can also start a search for images with similar colors and for images with the same model.

• New Features:
o Image buyers can now distribute their lightboxes for sharing purposes via a link ("public URL") to other recipients which do not need to be logged in for viewing these images. Simply the best way to quickly show their own customers which images were selected for the assignment.

Starting in spring 2010 the new feature Search History will be availabe. Customers will be able to see on which images they have clicked and which they have enlarged during their past searches to find their desired images more easily.

About PantherMedia
PantherMedia is a marketplace for Royalty Free (RF) photography. Suppliers as well as buyers of commercial and editorial imagery meet on one shared platform consisting of a photocommunity for photographers and a stock agency for image buyers.
The photocommunity serves as the creative heart of the image marketplace. Professional photographers and shutterbugs from all over the world can upload, rate and comment on images. They can share their experience, further develop their photographic skills and showcase their artistic potential.
After a legal and qualitative check through PantherMedia, picture editors chose adequate images for the stock agency. Agencies, publishing houses and enterprises which need images can license photographs for their individual purposes - either as single images or through a flexible subscription plan.
The revenues will be shared with photographers. This novel business model allows through so-called „User Generated Content“, provided by over 20,000 photographers worldwide, to keep the offer of RF-images far below the average market price.
PanterMedia.net is an enterprise of PantherMedia GmbH with headquarters in Munich, Germany and was founded in October 2004. At present, PantherMedia offers more than 1 million images worldwide directly and via an international network of over 90 distribution partners in 36 countries. During the FounderChampions competition of the 25th German Days of Founders and Entrepreneurs PantherMedia represented the Federal State of Bavaria as the best Bavarian Start-up.

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Apple Takes Wraps Off iPad

Rex Crum talks to analyst Ross Rubin of NPD Group about the long-awaited touch-screen tablet computer.

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How To Take Cute Baby Pictures

Ready to show the world your pride and joy? Follow these tips to get divine snapshots of your little angel.

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Popular Photography Website Launches Free Online Comprehensive Underwater Photography Tutorials

With The Growth in Popularity of Underwater Photography, A Community of Esteemed Professional Photographers Respond By Developing A Series of Free Online Underwater Photography Tutorials to Help The World Learn About Underwater Photography

New York, NY (PRWEB) January 27, 2010 -- In response to the global demand from photographers, scuba divers, surfers and snorkelers around the world, leading underwater photography website DivePhotoGuide.com has launched a highly anticipated free series of comprehensive underwater photography tutorials and guides to help the world learn underwater photography. Never before has there been such a growing interest in underwater photography. Affordable digital cameras have made underwater photography more accessible, and social media has made it easier than ever to share photos with your friends, family and the world.

The underwater photography guides offer easy-to-read tutorials for photographers of all levels to learn how to take great underwater photos.

The tutorials are written by professional underwater photographer Jason Heller and DivePhotoGuide.com editor Matt Weiss, along with contributions from several world renowned professional and award winning underwater photographers, such as National Geographic photographer David Doubilet, Martin Edge, and Alex Mustard. Each tutorial includes beautiful underwater photos and equipment set-up shots that illustrate each technique.

Underwater photography can be incredibly rewarding, but it does pose unique challenges and requires an understanding of basic principles and techniques. Beginners will find the Getting Started Guide very intuitive, including the top ten basic principles of underwater photography and how to select your first underwater camera system. Other tutorials include macro, wide angle, super-macro, composition, lighting, surf photography and a number of creative techniques. New and advanced techniques and tutorials will be added on a regular basis.

Popular underwater photography website DivePhotoGuide.com has been a valuable resource to a community of over 50,000 underwater photographers around the world since 2005. In addition to the new free techniques guides, the website features underwater photo galleries from the top pros and amateurs in the world, daily underwater photography and ocean related news, in-depth articles, a comprehensive underwater photography equipment guide, travel guide, event calendars and a monthly photo contest with prizes.

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Apple Launches iPad

Magical & Revolutionary Device at an Unbelievable Price

SAN FRANCISCO—January 27, 2010—Apple® today introduced iPad, a revolutionary device for browsing the web, reading and sending email, enjoying photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading e-books and much more. iPad’s responsive high-resolution Multi-Touch™ display lets users physically interact with applications and content. iPad is just 0.5 inches thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds— thinner and lighter than any laptop or netbook. iPad includes 12 new innovative apps designed especially for the iPad, and will run almost all of the over 140,000 apps in the App Store. iPad will be available in late March starting at the breakthrough price of just $499.

“iPad is our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “iPad creates and defines an entirely new category of devices that will connect users with their apps and content in a much more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before.”

iPad features 12 next-generation Multi-Touch applications. Every app works in both portrait and landscape, automatically animating between views as the user rotates iPad in any direction. The precise Multi-Touch interface makes surfing the web on iPad an entirely new experience, dramatically more interactive and intimate than on a computer. Reading and sending email is fun and easy on iPad’s large screen and almost full-size “soft” keyboard. Import photos from a Mac®, PC or digital camera, see them organized as albums, and enjoy and share them using iPad’s elegant slideshows. Watch movies, TV shows and YouTube, all in HD or flip through pages of an e-book you downloaded from Apple’s new iBookstore while listening to your music collection.

iPad runs almost all of the over 140,000 apps on the App Store, including apps already purchased for your iPhone® or iPod touch®. The iTunes® Store gives you access to the world’s most popular online music, TV and movie store with a catalog of over 11 million songs, over 50,000 TV episodes and over 8,000 films including over 2,000 in stunning high definition video. Apple also announced the new iBooks app for iPad, which includes Apple’s new iBookstore, the best way to browse, buy and read books on a mobile device. The iBookstore will feature books from major and independent publishers.

Apple also introduced a new version of iWork® for iPad, the first desktop-class productivity suite designed specifically for Multi-Touch. With Pages®, Keynote® and Numbers® you can create beautifully formatted documents, stunning presentations with animations and transitions, and spreadsheets with charts, functions and formulas. The three apps will be available separately through the App Store for $9.99 each.

iPad syncs with iTunes just like the iPhone and iPod touch, using the standard Apple 30-pin to USB cable, so you can sync all of your contacts, photos, music, movies, TV shows, applications and more from your Mac or PC. All the apps and content you download on iPad from the App Store, iTunes Store and iBookstore will be automatically synced to your iTunes library the next time you connect with your computer.

iPad’s brilliant 9.7-inch, LED-backlit display features IPS technology to deliver crisp, clear images and consistent color with an ultra-wide 178 degree viewing angle. The highly precise, capacitive Multi-Touch display is amazingly accurate and responsive whether scrolling web pages or playing games. The intelligent soft keyboard pioneered on iPhone takes advantage of iPad’s larger display to offer an almost full-size soft keyboard. iPad also connects to the new iPad Keyboard Dock with a full-size traditional keyboard.

iPad is powered by A4, Apple’s next-generation system-on-a-chip. Designed by Apple, the new A4 chip provides exceptional processor and graphics performance along with long battery life of up to 10 hours.* Apple’s advanced chemistry and Adaptive Charging technology deliver up to 1,000 charge cycles without a significant decrease in battery capacity over a typical five year lifespan.**

iPad comes in two versions—one with Wi-Fi and the other with both Wi-Fi and 3G. iPad includes the latest 802.11n Wi-Fi, and the 3G versions support speeds up to 7.2 Mbps on HSDPA networks. Apple and AT&T announced breakthrough 3G pre-paid data plans for iPad with easy, on-device activation and management.

Continuing Apple’s dedication to designing and creating environmentally responsible products, each iPad enclosure is made of highly recyclable aluminum and comes standard with energy-efficient LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass. iPad contains no brominated flame retardants and is completely PVC-free.

Apple today released a new Software Development Kit (SDK) for iPad, so developers can create amazing new applications designed to take advantage of iPad’s capabilities. The SDK includes a simulator that lets developers test and debug their iPad apps on a Mac, and also lets developers create Universal Applications that run on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

Pricing & Availability
iPad will be available in late March worldwide for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) for the 16GB model, $599 (US) for the 32GB model, $699 (US) for the 64GB model. The Wi-Fi + 3G models of iPad will be available in April in the US and selected countries for a suggested retail price of $629 (US) for the 16GB model, $729 (US) for the 32GB model and $829 (US) for the 64GB model. iPad will be sold in the US through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers. International pricing and worldwide availability will be announced at a later date. iBookstore will be available in the US at launch.

*Apple tested wireless battery life by browsing web pages and receiving email over an AirPort® network, never letting the system go to sleep during the test, and keeping the display at half brightness. This is a typical scenario of use on the go, resulting in a battery performance number that is very relevant to mobile users.

**A properly maintained iPad battery is designed to retain 80 percent or more of its original capacity during a lifespan of up to 1,000 recharge cycles. Battery life and charge cycles vary by use and settings.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

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Techmate: Hands on with the iPad

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NLimage Announces Three New Members

In 2010, NLimage has welcomed three new members. Two image libraries and the Dutch collecting society Pictoright.

The two image libraries; Arnd Bronkhorst Fotografie (www.arnd.nl) and Buiten-Beeld (www.buiten-beeld.nl) are a welcome addition to the current members.

www.Arnd.nl is specialised in equestrian Photography. www.Arnd.nl has an archive with 115.000 images covering everything about horses, not only sports images, but all aspects of the subject horse in the last 25 years, and www.buiten-beeld.nl is focussed on nature in a broad sense. Buiten-Beeld is a new and dynamic photo agency specialized in Dutch and European nature photography, where quality and service are of the highest priority. The online archive has tens of thousands of images by established photographers and some new young talents. Buiten-Beeld has unique images of flora and fauna. Besides that it has an extensive collection of images of outdoor recreation, the agricultural sector, natural phenomena, cultural landscapes, natural reserves and environment and nature enjoyment. A speciality are the birds of Europe. Buiten-Beeld also has one of the most extensive collections of insects, local reptiles, fish and amphibians.

In addition NLimage is proud to announce the membership of the Dutch collecting society Pictoright (www.pictoright.nl). Since years there has been a positive and cooperative relation with Pictoright, and since we both deal with the rights of photographers, it is a logical step for Pictoright to become a member of NLimage.

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How the proposed Digital Economy Bill could kill parts of the photography business

BAPLA is calling for proposed clause 116B in the Digital Economy Bill, which could mean photographers and image rights holders losing the right to have a say in how their work is used, by whom and at what price, to be scrapped.

UK - BAPLA (The British Association of Picture Libraries and Agencies) is extremely concerned Extended Licensing schemes will be wholly detrimental to the photography and picture industry as it will enable bodies outside the industry to grant copyright licenses in which copyright is not owned by the body or a person on whose behalf the body acts.

Thousands of companies whose role it is manage and market photography will, under these proposals, see their intellectual property rights as well as their living taken from them.

The Bill is currently going through the House of Lords and these changes are due to be debated imminently. It is imperative that these issues are dealt with in the right way by seeking proper and thorough consultation with the rights holders it will affect and assessing the impact of changes on a system which is already fulfilling the role required in a more efficient way than the new proposals suggest.

The creative industries have been operating against a background of copyright regulations that are growing hopelessly out of date in this new digital era and BAPLA applauds many parts of the Bill that support the longevity of our industry. But we view Clause 116B as economically unviable and would question its ability to work. Linda Royles, senior consultant to BAPLA, commented “There are some instances when photography transactions and relationships should and could be managed between clients and rights holders managed directly.

However, there are 1000’s of instances when photographs must and should not be used due to the associated rights. For example these instances could be determined by the photographer (e.g. not to be sold in the US or in connection with a political ideology), they may be contractually agreed by the person in an image (e.g. all uses of the image of a celebrity must be cleared by their agent) or the object, building or skyline that appears in the image cannot be used without the appropriate permissions being sought (e.g. use of a leading brand logo may be considered an infringement of trade mark and many buildings and landmarks need approval before they may be used in a commercial context). Extended Collective Licensing carelessly assumes that all images can be treated equally.”

Whilst the Bill currently provides for an individual photographer to opt out of a blanket scheme – it doesn’t mean that their work will cease to be used in any extended collective licensing agreement. It just means that when you opt out you lose the right to claim the money that is being collected for the use of your work. This seems hardly fair; if you are against the principle of someone else having control over your work and your business, saying ‘no’ doesn’t mean no.

Many photographers do well from existing schemes that collect revenue, for example when a book is photocopied. So if these schemes are already running and in operation, it is unnecessary to single out one business model in law, in this Bill (116B) if the impact of this may be to the detriment of so many and the financial benefit of so few?

Paul Brown, BAPLA Chairman adds, “This clause could potentially destroy the principle of direct licensing, which is the most efficient means of ensuring that a rights holder is remunerated exactly and properly for the use of their work, and lose creators the right to control their own economic and moral rights. Imagine a photographer losing control of every image they shoot. Imagine not being able to instruct anyone how you want your work marketed or respected. Imagine not being paid directly for an image usage, but having to claim for a random share of an unknown pot of money. This is completely untenable and unacceptable.”

BAPLA also supports calls for changes to clause 116A to find a solution to the licensing of orphan works without prejudicing the copyright of photographers and other rights holders.

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Hasselblad is gearing up for the 2010 Masters Awards competition

26/01/2010 After announcing the 2009 Masters Awards winners last week, Hasselblad is gearing up for the 2010 Masters Awards competition. The prestigious Masters Awards competition, in its tenth year, rewards photographic excellence in the areas of creativity, composition, conceptual strength, and technical skill.

For 2010, Hasselblad has added a new photo specialty category, wildlife. So this year's winners will be chosen in 11 categories, instead of last year's 10 categories - architecture, editorial, fashion/beauty, fine art, general photography, nature/landscape, portrait, product, up and coming, wedding/social - plus wildlife. The up-and-coming photographer category is open to all professional photographers, regardless of length of time in the business or camera format. Submissions for all other categories will be accepted from established professional photographers who use any large-format or medium-format camera.

In 2009, submissions from nearly 3,000 photographers made selecting only 10 winners a daunting task for the international panel of judges. Says Christian Nørgaard, Hasselblad´s Photographer Relations Manager, “The high level of entries in 2009 demonstrates the excellent reputation these coveted awards have developed over the years for celebrating the best established and rising photographic talent.”

The judging process will take place in two stages: an internal jury will perform the first round and a panel of independent, external judges - composed of industry professionals, including leading art directors and editors, and renowned photographers. Once again, the public will have one vote in the selection of the finalists.

Each of the 11 2010 winners - representing the 11 categories - will receive the free use of Hasselblad’s flagship camera system, have their work and Masters’ project marketed and profiled via Hasselblad’s website and marketing materials, and receive a framed diploma certifying their Masters' status. The winners also will use the camera to capture images for a unique, commemorative photography book, with each winner rendering a personal interpretation of a given theme.

Text by Alice B. Miller

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Pentax Unfeils Three New Digital Cameras

OPTIO I-10 AND OPTIO H90 KICK-OFF NEW PRODUCT LINES AND AFFORDABLE OPTIO E90 PRICED UNDER ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS

GOLDEN, CO. (January 25, 2010)…PENTAX Imaging Company announced three new digital cameras with designs so unique that not one can be labeled as “just another silver digital camera.”

Most unique is the slim and stylish PENTAX Optio I-10 with a design inspired by the classic look of film SLR cameras. This head-turning first model in the new Optio I line features a flash unit and speaker in the upper mid-section of the SLR-shaped body while the camera’s front panel is embellished with high quality leatherette texture and the classic PENTAX logo placed front and center. The Optio I-10 features a wide angle, 5X optical zoom lens (28mm-140mm equivalent), a 12.1 megapixel high resolution CCD sensor, a 2.7 inch widescreen LCD, and HD video capture at 720p and 30 FPS. For optimal image capture, the camera features a mechanical sensor shift Shake Reduction system and improved Pixel Track Shake Reduction technology for blur-free images as well as Smile Capture, Blink Detection and improved Face Detection that spots up to 32 faces including dogs and cats. The Optio I-10 is remote control compatible (sold separately) and will ship in February 2010 in a choice of Classic Black and Pearl White for $299.95 USD.

PENTAX also announced the Optio H90 digital camera with a clean, contemporary design that is as in style in a museum of modern art as at a concert or sporting event. Developed with the concept of “functional beauty” in mind, the fashionable and affordable Optio H90 offers a full assortment of features to capture a variety of subjects and scenes. This first model in the new Optio H line features a wide angle 5X optical zoom lens (28mm-140mm equivalent), a 12.1 megapixel high resolution CCD sensor, and widescreen HD video capture at 720p and 30 FPS. Improved Pixel Track Shake Reduction technology captures blur-free images and the Face Detection, Smile Capture, and Blink Detection functions help users create better portraits. The Optio H90 will ship in February 2010 in a choice of Orange-Silver, Matte Black and Ceramic White for $179.95.

Both the PENTAX Optio I-10 and Optio H90 offer Eye-Fi connectivity capability for use with Eye-Fi wireless memory cards.

The latest model in the easy-to-operate, affordable Optio E series is the PENTAX Optio E90. Priced at just $99.95 USD, the Optio E90 features a 10 megapixel CCD, a 3X wide angle zoom (32mm-96mm equivalent) and a large 2.7 inch LCD housed in a luxurious rubber coated body for a sure grip. The Optio E90’s features a travel-friendly design with AA battery compatibility. Auto Picture mode selects the best shooting settings for the scene, and a high 6400 ISO that freezes subject movement in Digital SR (Shake Reduction) mode. The Optio E90 features an intelligent ergonomic design with a sure grip and an easy menu that makes the E series a popular choice. Available in Black and Wine Red, the Optio E90 will ship in February 2010.

Each model is available for pre-order now on the www.pentaxwebstore.com

Complete information including individual product fact sheets is available here: http://www.pentaximaging.com/about-us.aspx?p=press

Product images are available here: http://www.pentaximaging.com/press/pressfiles.html

PENTAX Imaging Company is an innovative leader in the production of a variety of digital cameras including weather resistant digital SLRs and stylish, compact, waterproof cameras, as well as lenses, flash units, binoculars, scopes, and eyepieces. For 90 years, PENTAX has developed durable, reliable products that meet the needs of consumers and businesses. With headquarters in Golden, Colorado, PENTAX Imaging Company is a division of PENTAX of America, Inc.

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Tech: Apple tablet's fight

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Techmate: Tablets: who needs 'em?

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Social Media For Photographers: Photoshelter Releases Free Social Media Guide

A comprehensive guide to help photographers effectively use social media to promote their work, build a following, increase website traffic, and sell more images

New York, NY, January 22, 2010 - PhotoShelter, the leader in photography websites, photo sales and archiving tools for photographers, today released the latest in their series of free downloadable research reports for photographers. PhotoShelter's Social Media for Photographers, a free 55-page e-book, provides essential internet marketing guidance for serious professionals and aspiring hobbyists looking to grow their photography business online. Available at http://www.photoshelter.com/mkt/research/social-media-for-photographers the guide is designed to share insights with photographers who want to get started or optimize their productive use of social media platforms like blogging, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn as part of their overall marketing strategy.

PhotoShelter's Social Media for Photographers includes tips on: the ground rules for social media, choosing where to participate, smart strategies to stand out, generating social sharing and quality links, suggestions for measuring progress, and a listing of tools to save time and make participation more effective. The guide is designed to benefit photographers new to social media as well as those who wish to generate more results from their current efforts. Photographers can immediately start using the guide's actionable strategies and benefit from a healthy dose of real life examples from photographers implementing successful social media strategies across the web. Social Media for Photographers is sponsored by Adorama Camera.

"Many photographers already have a website, photo blog, a Twitter account and a Facebook page, but we don't see many using these tools to effectively market and grow their photography business. By giving photographers the information they need to grow their social media presence, set goals, and measure their efforts, we are providing them with new strategies to promote their work and ultimately generate more revenue from their photography." said PhotoShelter CEO Allen Murabayashi. "When done right, social media enables photographers to build a following, engage in dialogue, and find new opportunities to showcase and share their work."

Beyond offering websites and tools to help photographers succeed online, PhotoShelter consistently delivers photography business insights that help photographers use technology to compete in a quickly changing marketplace. PhotoShelter started releasing free research reports in 2009, and has developed a series of comprehensive resources that make PhotoShelter the go-to source for marketing a photography business online. To date, thousands of photographers have downloaded and benefited from PhotoShelter's previous free reports: Photography Websites: Photo Buyer Survey, the SEO Cookbook for Photographers, and Google Analytics for Photographers. All of PhotoShelter's free reports are available here: http://www.photoshelter.com/mkt/research/.

"With social media, photographers can increase their online presence and multiply the ways their work gets found online. There are instant benefits, as well as ancillary benefits like better SEO," said Murabayashi. "To create this guide, we gathered insights and guidance from some of the world's leading authorities on social media for business marketing and branding. We interviewed successful photographers worldwide to understand who's getting it right and how we can share the secrets of their success with the greater community of photographers."

This guide complements the suite of social media sharing tools that PhotoShelter has developed for photographers who use PhotoShelter websites to display and sell their photography online. Embeddable slideshows for posting images on blogs, seamless sharing on Twitter and Facebook (and hundreds of other social networks) and RSS feeds are all available with all levels of PhotoShelter membership. Photographers can register for a PhotoShelter account at: http://www.photoshelter.com/ PhotoShelter can be found on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/photoshelter) and Facebook (http://bit.ly/PSfacebook).

No technical experience is required to implement the strategies discussed in Social Media for Photographers, and PhotoShelter membership is not necessary.
About PhotoShelter

PhotoShelter is the leader in portfolio websites, photo sales and archiving tools for photographers.

Over 50,000 photographers worldwide use PhotoShelter to power their success online, with customizable website templates, searchable photo galleries, e-commerce capabilities, and bulletproof image storage. Photographers can create a professional PhotoShelter website in under five minutes, or customize PhotoShelter to power their existing photography website. A true solution designed to make the business of photography easier to manage - PhotoShelter offers image security, global accessibility, and advanced marketing tools so photographers can make their images work harder for them. To join our community, visit www.PhotoShelter.com.

All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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How to Photoshop Tilt Shift

Don't forget to join the PhotoGuides Vimeo Channel for all the latest podcast episodes vimeo.com/channels/photoguides

For step by step written instructions go to photoguides.net/photoshopping-tilt-shift
You can also subscribe to the Photo Guides podcast here...
itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=320903005

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Freezing motion in the studio

Even the best studio lights can struggle to capture sharp results on moving subjects. It's got nothing to do with shutter speed and everything to do with flash duration.

For more background information checkout my blog at http://gavtrain.blogspot.com
Larger image at http://www.flickr.com/photos/photogav...

Strobist info:
Camera: Canon 40D
Lens: Canon 24-105L
Aperture: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/200th sec
ISO: 400
File type: RAW
Flash: Canon 580EXII
Flash Mode: E-TTL
Radio Triggers: Pocket Wizard Flex TT5 & Mini TT1

Author: PhotoGavin
Category: Howto & Style
Tags: strobist photograph photography off camera flash pocket wizard ezybox lastolite studio training technique tutorial lifestyle portrait white background canon 580 580exii speedlite speedlight flashgun gavtrain gavin hoey strobe

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Reading the Histogram (Photography in 90 Seconds)

The histogram is a graph which represents the distribution of light or luminance values in your image. Its horizontal axis ranges from black and dark shadows on the left to bright or pure white on the right. Although there is no 'perfect' distribution for a histogram, a well-exposed image will have luminance values that fall within the histogram's range for your camera, with no pixel's luminance values falling on the extreme left (shadows recorded as black) or on the extreme right (highlights recorded as white), unless you are trying to achieve a particular creative result. Fortunately, all modern digital cameras can display an histogram, which you should check early and often to help ensure that you achieve a good exposure. To view the histogram, preview your image on the LCD screen of your camera, and flick through the options until a graph appears (some cameras only show luminance, while others also show the Red, Green, and Blue channel values). If it shows values on either extreme, you may want to adjust your aperture, shutter speed, or ISO, and then retake the image to regain that lost information.

If the brightness values in the scene fall outside of you Histogram's range (i.e., outside of its dynamic range) even after making appropriate exposure adjustments, then you may want to properly expose for the shadows and highlights in separate images, and then combine or blend those exposures in an image-editing software program like Adobe Photoshop or Photomatix; this technique is also called HDR, or High Dynamic Range photography.

Author: ulufilms
Website: www.ethanwilding.com
Special thanks to Wen Zhang: www.flickr.com/photos/transcendent
Category: Education
Tags: histogram digital camera exposure tutorial tips education help photography photo

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DSLR Know-How with Tamron: Episode Two

Andre's 1-minute tip this week is about Autofocus: focus points and focus modes.

Author: TamronVids
Category: Education
Tags: Tamron Episode 2

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World Tech Update #99

WORLD TECH UPDATE #99, Jan. 21, 2010 In this week's World Tech Update rescue efforts continue in Haiti and technology allows donations to pour in, the European Commission grants Oracle approval to take over Sun, Fujitsu unveils a pocket-sized Windows 7 laptop, Sony's TransferJet finally comes to market, Amazon announces and SDK for its Kindle, Bill Gates joins Twitter, Nokia releases a free mapping application to compete with Google, Sony delays the launch of its PS3 motion controller and the world's fastest texters are crowned. Find out what's coming up on each week's show by following us on Twitter (WorldTechUpdate) or check out our Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/worldtechupdate

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How To Take a Family Portrait

Take a family portrait both as a keepsake and as an excuse to get everyone together.

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SNTV - Rihanna's sexy cover shoot

Behind the scenes with Rihanna on her sexy photo shoot with W magazine

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Photoshop CS4 Tutorial Facial Retouching

Simple Photoshop CS4 Tutorial Facial Retouching

Author: derekpeters04
Category: Entertainment
Tags: Photoshop CS4 Tutorial Facial Retouching Make over Face Makeup How to CS3 Zit remove smooth skin makeover tricks beginner advance derek peters rhitownhusla

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Photoshop Tutorial: 5 Methods for Black and White -HD-

In this tutorial, you will learn 5 methods for turning a color image to black and white in Photoshop CS4.

If you do not get the HD option under the video, click here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeT6iv...

Be sure to SUBSCRIBE because there will be a new tutorial every week.

Send Tutorial Suggestions to: rivercitygraphix@yahoo.com

Author: RiverCityGraphix
Website: http://www.rivercitygraphix.com
Category: Education
Tags: Photoshop Effect Tutorial Video Voice Tut Image Picture photo color black and white hue saturation gradient map channel mixer grayscale adjustment layer methods five CS2 CS3 CS4 Elements Creative Suite Premium Flash HD Widescreen Wide Screen Definition How To Easy Beginner Quick Adobe River City Graphix Graphics

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Replace Color - Photoshop Beginner Tutorial

A quick tutorial showing how to use the replace color tool in Adobe Photoshop CS4

More Tutorials: http://www.photoshop-tutorials.tv

License this image: http://www.dreamstime.com/casual-busi...

Author: PhotoshopTutorialTV
Category: Howto & Style
Tags: tutorial beginner 60 seconds quick replace color adobe photoshop cs4

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Proper SLR Camera Lens Cleaning Tutorial (HD)

This video teaches you how to clean the SLR camera lenses to deliver the best image quality as possible. Enjoy!

Download the links in PDF format here: http://files.me.com/j.n.spina/rb8yjz

Download the links in MS Word format here: http://files.me.com/j.n.spina/azktrq

This video is available in High Definition (HD), click on "HD" icon on the video player to view the video in HD. If you are having trouble watching the video smoothly, add this code, &fmt=22 to the end of this video's URL address then press Enter / Return to reload the video, it will play nicely in HD.

Author: Lilkiwiguy87
usic: Summertime by John Coltrane
Category: Education
Tags: Proper Glass Filter Attachments Cleaning Procedure Tutorial Technique Demonstration UV Ultraviolet CPL Circular Polarizer ND GND Graduated Neutral Density Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol Giottos Rocket Blower Synthetic Nylon Fine Brush Microfiber Cloth HD HIgh Definition

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The3dStudio.com Offers 750,000 Royalty-Free 2D and 3D Resources

Mesa, AZ—January 19, 2010: The3dStudio.com, Inc. announces their collection has reached a new growth milestone—750,000 royalty-free 2D and 3D resources are now available on the web site, and more are added each day.

The3dStudio.com is a one-stop shop for a wide range of free and priced resources including 3D models, textures, tutorials, plug-ins, software, and stock photos and images. The large collection of 3D models includes vehicles, weapons, architectural elements and much more, for use by architects, game designers, ad agencies, graphic designers, etc. Expert custom work and free file conversion are available.

President Matt Anderson says: “The3dStudio.com is one of the oldest and largest 2D and 3D resource sites on the Internet. We provide the best customer service around, seven days a week and you will always get a fast personal response from us, not an automatic or canned reply. We strongly believe in operating our business in a fair and ethical manner and we treat all buyers and sellers as we would like to be treated. Our 60-70% royalty rate for 2D and 3D sellers is one of the highest in the industry. There is no cost to become a member or to sell resources at www.The3dStudio.com and there are many benefits—see our Help page.”

The3dStudio.com is changing the way stock photos and images are sold. The category was added in July 2009 and the library is growing fast. Products are available for instant download after payment is made using a major credit card or PayPal—no prepaying for credits or subscriptions.

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AudioMicro Unveils The Platinum Collection - 20,000 New Tracks Added As Its Library Surpasses Two Hundred Thousand Tracks

AudioMicro adds 20,000 production music tracks traditionally only available to high end buyers.

LOS ANGELES, January 19, 2010 - AudioMicro.com, a crowd-sourced marketplace for royalty free music and sound effects licensing, announces that its users can now download more than 20,000 new production music tracks from its online library. AudioMicro users have immediate access to 20,000 fresh tracks spanning a comprehensive range of musical genres and styles. The new offering has been dubbed, “The Platinum Collection”, and features a selection of hand picked, award winning production music.

“When we launched our first high end collection in October, we received overwhelming positive feedback from the community about its unprecedented quality, size, and scope”, said AudioMicro CEO Ryan Born. “We are excited to enhance our archive of premium content with 20,000 new tracks in the Platinum Collection.”

Previously, the 20,000 Platinum Collection tracks were available only for use in broadcast television and feature film productions, in a rights managed licensing format. Today, users can get access to the same content used by major television studios and film producers through a simple, single-use licensing model for personal and small business use. “AudioMicro provides a platform where smaller video makers can license high quality content at an affordable price,” said Born. “We now offer over 200,000 individual downloads for as little as $2 each. With download packages to fit any budget and a simple licensing model, AudioMicro is the go to destination for finding music for use in web videos, iPhone apps, short films, and thousands of other projects on a tight budget.”

About AudioMicro
AudioMicro offers advertisers, music supervisors, creative directors, webmasters, filmmakers, and “YouTubers” an affordable, high-quality solution for obtaining stock music and royalty free sound effects for use in creative projects. With content purchased from AudioMicro, a movie or webisode can be scored at a fraction of the cost of a traditional music library. AudioMicro offers the largest micro stock music library, with over 200,000 tracks from song writers, publishers, composers, record labels, and sound designers worldwide.

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World Tech Update #98

World Tech Update #98, January 14, 2010, CES Special #2 In this week's World Tech Update we're back at the Consumer Electronics Show where Ford debuts new in car technology that incorporates two popular web applications, MSI shows off two dual screen netbooks that could be on the market this year, Klipsch introduces an LED light with built in wireless speaker, a new type of display boasts good readability in direct sunlight and very low power consumption, Greenpeace gives its highs and lows of the show and celebrities help promote products. Find out what's coming up on each week's show by following us on Twitter (WorldTechUpdate) or check out our Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/worldtechupdate

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How To Choose the Right Frame For a Picture

The perfect frame will make your painting, photograph, or piece of artwork stand out on your wall. Here's how to find an ideal match.

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Image Source and PicScout Close Deal to Make New Content Available Through PicScout ImageExchangeTM

World's Leading Independent Producer of Premium Royalty Free Images Soon to Become Available to ImageExchangeTM Users

SILICON VALLEY, CA and LONDON--(Marketwire - January 14, 2010) - PicScout, the market leader in worldwide image services, enabler of client image monetization activities, and standard for image credit, today announces that they have reached agreement with Image Source, the world's leading producer of premium royalty free stock imagery, to add its entire collection of images to the PicScout platform to be visible and available to ImageExchange™ users.

Image Source is among the most creative and prolific producers of stock photography in the world. Underscoring the company's global reach and influence, its founder Christina Vaughan is the current President of the European Photography Trade organization, CEPIC, and Vice President of PACA, the North American Stock Photography Trade body. Of PicScout ImageExchange, Christina Vaughan says, "We laud and support the PicScout goal to credit every image and enlarge the scope of image recognition and rights across the digital marketplace. Image Source looks forward to bringing our renowned and distinguished stock photography through ImageExchange to reach our loyal clients everywhere."

"PicScout is very pleased to have reached this important agreement with Image Source and add them to the twenty plus leading companies partnered in ImageExchange. Image Source is among our industry's most highly respected companies and continues our momentum as we strive to meet the significant challenge that every image get its credit," said Offir Gutelzon, PicScout founder and CEO. "We look forward to making the Image Source content -- some of the world's finest photography -- available to our growing force of ImageExchange users very soon."

Recently, PicScout made a series of announcements based on a powerful new PicScout enabling platform with wide industry support. PicScout developments for the industry point to a new model and technical standard for image credit. With ownership and licensing clarified in an infrastructure that facilitates image rights and use, a pervasive online image marketplace has emerged. Image ownership is clear, and everyone using the PicScout ImageExchange browser tool can connect and use the images they want when they find them.

About PicScout
Founded in 2002, PicScout™ is the worldwide leader in image tracking, enabler of client image monetization services, and the standard for image credit. Through its proprietary and highly scalable image recognition technology, PicScout created the image copyright protection marketplace through its widely used ImageTracker™ product and is now leading the way for image commerce to become a legitimate Internet economy. A financially independent, privately held company, PicScout has offices in the Silicon Valley and Hertzelia, Israel. The company's products ImageTracker™ and ImageExchange™ utilize the company's Image IRC™ service platform which is based on its proprietary image recognition technology for its index, metadata registry and API connection to provide a wide variety of solutions involving image protection, ownership, identification, commerce, as well as business intelligence. PicScout is a member of PACA www.pacaoffice.org, CEPIC www.cepic.org, and BAPLA www.bapla.org.uk.

About Image Source
Image Source http://www.imagesource.com/ is the world's leading independent producer of royalty free stock imagery. Founded in 1999 by Christina Vaughan, Image Source supplies images and now footage to creative professionals around the world, having pioneered the visual industry's first Cross-Media Pack, containing matched still images and motion content. Headquartered in London, UK, with a regional office in New York, the company also supplies imagery through over 200 partners worldwide. This strong international sales network enabled the company to win the Queen's Award for Enterprise in the International Trade Category in 2005. Image Source has also been shortlisted by The Sunday Times Best Employers Guide 2008 as 'One to Watch' and is in The Guardian's 2008 book of Britain's Top Employers. The company is accredited with ISO 9001 and achieved a place on the 2008 Media Momentum Top 50, a list of the fastest growing digital media companies in the UK. Founder & CEO, Christina Vaughan, also recently won Entrepreneur of the Year at the Lloyds TSB sponsored Asian Women of Achievement Awards held in London. Image Source is a member of PACA www.pacaoffice.org, CEPIC www.cepic.org, and BAPLA www.bapla.org.uk.

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Canon U.S.A. Kicks Off Innovative "Story Beyond The Still" Digital Image Contest On Vimeo.Com

Company Works With Vimeo And Grey New York To Launch Collaborative Project Commencing With Interpretive Work By Photographer Vincent Laforet

Lake Success, N.Y., January 15, 2010 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging, today announced the commencement of "The Story Beyond The Still Contest," allowing photographers and videographers to showcase their creativity in a new style of filmmaking that blends still and video images into a continuous cinematic piece begun by Canon Explorer of Light Vincent Laforet. The contest, sponsored by Canon and hosted by Vimeo, the online video sharing site hosting one of the largest collections of HD content on the Web, invites participants to use the HD video capability of their camera to create short, two to four minute videos that tell a story based on the final still frame from Laforet's piece, and then from each successive winning "chapter." Videos can be submitted to and viewed on a dedicated site within the Vimeo online community before they are judged.

The "Story Beyond the Still" contest provides filmmakers with a unique opportunity to showcase their storytelling abilities in a new style of filmmaking utilizing an HD-capable camera to capture moving images while also demonstrating the social appeal of collaborative storytelling. To kick off the contest, Laforet collaborated with Grey New York to bring his interpretation of a still image to life in a short film entitled "The Cabbie," which serves as the first installment of a seven chapter collaborative work in which each participant will be asked to interpret the previous winning photographer/filmmaker's final still image to start their vision for the subsequent chapter.

In "The Cabbie," Laforet's interpretation begins on a still image depicting a teddy bear left on the sidewalk outside of an airport before telling the "Story Beyond The Still" that gives the viewer more to appreciate beyond the original moment the image was captured. Viewable exclusively on Vimeo at http://vimeo.com/groups/beyondthestill/, Laforet shot in stunning 1080p HD image quality utilizing Canon's new EOS 7D Digital SLR camera.

"The concept behind the 'Story Beyond The Still' Contest was to find a way to involve people in the new realm of HD DSLR video," said Laforet. "Working with Canon, Vimeo and Grey NY to bring the contest to light, there is tremendous anticipation to see how the story unfolds in this wonderful social experiment in filmmaking."

Six winners will be chosen (one for each chapter) based on their submissions and will join Laforet on location to collaboratively film the final chapter of the film, In addition, winners will receive a choice of prizes including Canon EOS 7D and 5D Mark II DSLR cameras or select Canon lenses.

"Canon is pleased to participate in the innovative 'Story Beyond The Still' contest which showcases the increasing convergence between still photography and dynamic video capture," said Yuichi Ishizuka, executive vice president and general manager, Consumer Imaging Group, Canon U.S.A. "As consumers demand increasing functionality from their camera and break down traditional barriers, we continue to enhance our products and redefine how consumers can express themselves."

"Canon is pleased to participate in the innovative 'Story Beyond The Still' contest which showcases the increasing convergence between still photography and dynamic video capture," said Yuichi Ishizuka, executive vice president and general manager, Consumer Imaging Group, Canon U.S.A. "As consumers demand increasing functionality from their camera and break down traditional barriers, we continue to enhance our products and redefine how consumers can express themselves."

For complete rules and to submit "The Story Beyond the Still" videos participants can visit http://vimeo.com/groups/beyondthestill/. Projects will be judged based on how well participants execute the four criteria including:

1. Best incorporation of initial still and quality and evocative nature of final still
2. Cinematography
3. Storytelling

Each chapter winner will be selected by a three-step judging/voting process including the initial selection of 50 semi-finalists by a three member panel comprised of Vimeo, Grey NY and/or Canon U.S.A employees. Five (5) finalists will be determined by representatives from Vimeo, Grey NY and/or Canon U.S.A., and a distinguished panel of award-winning photographers and cinematographers (subject to scheduling availability) including:

Vincent Laforet – Director / Canon Explorer of Light Photographer
Russell Carpenter – Cinematographer "Titanic", and "True Lies"
Rodney Charters – Cinematographer/Director of Photography FOX Network's "24"
Shane Hurlbutt – Cinematographer "Terminator: Salvation", and "We Are Marshall"
Stu Maschwitz – Filmmaker/Author of The DV Rebel's Guide: An All-Digital Approach to Making Killer Action Movies on the Cheap
Rick McCallum – Producer "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace", "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones" and "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith"
Philip Bloom – Director / Director of Photography – Co-owner F-Stop Academy
Blake Whitman – Director of Community and Product – Vimeo
Nick Childs – Director/ Director of Content – Grey New York.

Following the selection of the five chapter finalists, their videos will be posted at http://vimeo.com/groups/beyondthestill/ where members of Vimeo will have five days to view the videos and vote to determine the chapter winner.

About Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Canon U.S.A., Inc. is a leading provider of consumer, business-to-business, and industrial digital imaging solutions. Its parent company, Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ), a top patent holder of technology, ranked third overall in the U.S. in 2008†, with global revenues of US $45 billion, is listed as number four in the computer industry on Fortune Magazine's World's Most Admired Companies 2009 list, and is on the 2009 BusinessWeek list of "100 Best Global Brands." Canon is committed to the highest levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty, providing 100 percent U.S.-based consumer service and support for all products. At Canon, we care because caring is essential to living together in harmony. Founded upon a corporate philosophy of Kyosei – "all people, regardless of race, religion or culture, harmoniously living and working together into the future" – Canon U.S.A. supports a number of social, youth, educational and other programs, including environmental and recycling initiatives. Additional information about these programs can be found at www.usa.canon.com/kyosei. To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company's RSS news feed by visiting www.usa.canon.com/rss.

# # #

† Based on weekly patent counts issued by United States Patent and Trademark Office
All referenced product names, and other marks, are trademarks of their respective owners

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Fotolia shares the Top Sellers of 2009

NEW YORK, NY, January 12, 2010 – Sales of $1 images continued to generate six-figure incomes for the world’s top photographers in 2009. The three best selling images on Fotolia.com accounted for nearly 10,000 downloads this past year. Images from the top three sellers range from $1 - $20 per download, depending on the size required.

“The best photographers and artists in the world upload their images to Fotolia because they know we aggressively market to buyers in 12 countries around the world,” says CEO Oleg Tscheltzoff. “Fotolia’s growth has been phenomenal, thanks to the quality and affordability of our stock imagery.”

In alphabetical order, the top three sellers in 2009 on Fotolia were:

Artist: ioannis kounadeas
Artist: Monkey Business
Artist: pressmaster

Over 1.5 million people prefer Fotolia LLC for affordable, royalty-free images, graphics and HD videos. With the introduction of the Infinite Collection, Fotolia became the first worldwide microstock organization to offer both crowd-sourced and professional images on one site. Founded in New York City in 2004, Fotolia spans the globe with websites in 10 languages and offices in 12 countries. With over 8,000,000 images to choose from, find it on Fotolia. www.fotolia.com

Tags : Royalty Free | Stock Photography | Images | Microstock Photography | Fotolia Top Sellers | Fotolia | Vectors | Video Footage |

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Tamron Teachable Moments: Take Just One Youtube-Minute Per Week And Get Lots More From Your DSLR Camera!

Weekly Postings of 1-Minute “DSLR Know How with Tamron” Episodes Starts Monday, January 18th on the TamronVids Channel on YouTube

January 11, 2010, Commack, NY – Tamron USA, Inc. has just announced a free new learning program that’s specifically targeted at first-time Digital SLR owners, but also likely to appeal to a broad spectrum of shooters including experienced enthusiasts, and those who simply want to get a better handle on all the exciting features built into their new Digital SLR cameras. Starting on January 18, 2010, and every Monday for 12 weeks, Tamron will release an entertaining and informative one-minute episode of “DSLR Know How with Tamron” on YouTube that’s designed to bring picture-takers up to speed in getting the most out of their equipment.

"In just one minute per week you can learn the basics of successful photography at no cost,” notes John VanSteenberg, Tamron’s Senior Education Manager. “Each of these one-minute demonstrations is designed to overcome uncertainty, inform, and dramatically raise the success rate of photographers, particularly those who consider themselves to be novices or new to digital SLR cameras.”

The lighthearted, fact-filled video episodes, presented by professional photographer and instructor Andre Costantini, cover essential topics, such as Intro to DSLRs, White Balance, Autofocus, Using Scene Modes, RAW vs. JPEG, and much more. All contain a wealth of solid, useful information, compiled by leading experts and presented in straightforward, easy-to-understand language. The goal is to expand the viewers’ knowledge base as quickly as possible while providing a fun learning experience. We believe that followers who watch the entire series will be able to take their creative DSLR skill sets to a whole new level of picture-taking success.

“Once the ‘DSLR 101’ series is posted, we will follow it up with a ‘202’ and ‘303’ series covering more sophisticated techniques, creating, in effect, a unique easy learning center,” says VanSteenberg. “The release schedule of weekly introductions allows viewers to try out the techniques and build a base of knowledge that creates a foundation for success. Tamron is acclaimed as a manufacturer of innovative high-performance camera lenses, but we also want to position ourselves as a leader in photo education. That helps raise the bar for everyone, including, of course, our valued customers."

The Tamron YouTube videos can be found on the TamronVids Channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/TamronVids, and there will be weekly links posted on the Tamron website (www.tamron.com) as well as on Facebook and Twitter. To access the series, followers can subscribe to the Tamron YouTube Channel and/or follow it on Twitter and Facebook to find out when the videos are posted. The evolving Tamron Teachable Moments video learning series is ultimately targeted at anyone with a passion for DSLR photography. That includes shooters who feel challenged by the awesome capabilities of their new cameras, old hands who want to take a refresher course, and anyone who wants to enhance their skills and have a more rewarding picture-taking experience. Fortunately this is the Digital Era, so empowerment is only a click away!

About Tamron
Tamron is a leading manufacturer of photographic lenses. Among its many optical and mechanical innovations since the founding of the company in 1950, Tamron's development of mass-produced hybrid aspherical elements paved the way for today’s compact high power zoom all-in-one lenses (Megazooms) when, in 1992, this technology was incorporated into the groundbreaking 28-200mm. Tamron continues to lead in this category of lenses with the new world-wide award-winner 18-270mm — a best in class all-in-one zoom lens boasting an unprecedented 15X zoom range and featuring Tamron's proprietary Vibration Compensation (VC) system for blur-free hand-held shooting of photos in low light and at telephoto settings. Tamron has garnered international acclaim for its extensive line-up of professional and consumer lenses.

Where to Find Us
Website: www.tamron.com
Blog: http://tamrontechstips.typepad.com/tamron_blog/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TamronLensesUSA
Twitter: http://twitter.com/StacieErrera
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/TamronVids
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/groups/tamron-usa/

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