2008 National Magazine Award Finalists Announced

This year's National Magazine Award finalists in the photography, photojournalism and photo portfolio categories include many of the usual suspects, as well as a few surprises.

Photography finalists include Gourmet, GQ, Martha Stewart Living, National Geographic, New York Magazine and W. In the photojournalism category, Aperture, Mother Jones, National Geographic, The New Yorker and the literary journal Virginia Quarterly Review received nods. Photo portfolio finalists include New York Magazine, Newsweek, Vanity Fair and T: The New York Times Style Magazine, which received two nominations in the category. To see which specific issues and images earned the mags their nominations, click here.

via Photo District News

Picture of the day:

Scenery and Sights

Sculpture of Abraham Lincoln at one of the thombstones in Calton Cemetery Edinburgh, Scotland

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Canon Powershot G9: Review

The G-series has been at the pinnacle of Canon's digital compact camera range for almost as long as there has been a Canon digital compact camera range. There have been a few autumns where the latest G-model did not surface, fuelling fears that Canon had decided to leave the pro-grade compact user left out in the cold. Each time, Canon answers this with a bigger and better model. Which is why the Canon PowerShot G9 is the best compact camera Canon currently makes. It also makes a very strong case for being the best compact camera anyone currently makes.
Specs
Megapixels 12.1
Screen 3" LCD (230,000 pixels) + OVF
Zoom 6x optical zoom (35-210mm equivalent), 4x digital zoom
Picture Modes
Auto, Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual, Custom user modes (x2), Stitch Assist, Movie mode, 16 scene modes (portrait, landscape, night scene, sports, night snapshot, kids & pets, indoor, foliage, snow, beach, fireworks, aquarium, underwater, ISO3200, colour accent and colour swap)
Stabilisation Yes - lens-based
Sensitivity ISO80-1600
White balance
Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent (x2), Flash, Underwater, Custom (x2)
Storage SD No internal memory
Battery 720mAh Lithium Ion pack NB-2 (CIPA rated 240 shots)
Other / Key features
RAW facilityAuto ISO shift Hot shoe for Canon speedlights and wireless flash systemFace DetectionOptional wide angle and teleconvertersCanon and Pict-Bridge direct printSound memo recording

The full review at thinkcamera.com is a very interesting read.

Picture of the day:

Seasons

Hoar Frost covered Blackberries

(is full)

Samsung snaps at heels of camera giants Canon, Nikon

Japanese camera makers such as Canon and Nikon have long ruled the $22-billion digital camera market, but South Korean upstart Samsung Techwin is making a serious bid to build its brand to take on the big guns.
The market for digital cameras -- particularly high-end models -- is booming as prices have fallen, and as it becomes easier to store large numbers of photos on a computer or upload them to sharing Websites like Flickr and edit images through programms such as Google's Picasa.
Japan's camera makers, including Canon Inc, Sony Corp T and Olympus Corp, control 70 percent of the global digital camera market, which research firm IDC expects to have grown 15 percent in 2007 and expand 11 percent this year.
"Japanese camera makers don't really care much about overseas suppliers. But one company they do care about is Samsung Techwin," Techno Systems Research analyst Akiko Sato said.
Samsung Techwin, a quarter-owned by Samsung Electronics, more than doubled its digital camera market share to 7.8 percent in 2006, making itself the fifth-largest digital camera maker behind Canon, Sony, Eastman Kodak Co and Olympus by sales, according to IDC.
Samsung Techwin aims to boost its digital camera sales by 46 percent to 17.5 million units this year and become the world's No.1 digital camera maker by 2010.
"Samsung Techwin's distribution network is set to increase from 70 retailers in 2007 to 150 networks in 2008. It will get a powerful boost from Samsung Electronics' retail network and brand power," Prudential Investment & Securities analyst Kim Uno said.
Japanese rivals have every reason to take heed, having seen Samsung Electronics zip past then-mighty Japanese memory chip makers in the 1990s and flat TV makers earlier this decade.
"The company's priority now is to establish itself in compact cameras, a sector where pricing is key," said Prudential's Kim. "Then it hopes to move into the DSLR category, where brand power matters more."
Digital single lens reflex (DSLR) cameras -- advanced models with interchangeable lenses -- are all the rage, as what used to be available only to professional photographers is now cheap enough for enthusiasts to buy.
Canon and Nikon Corp held a combined share of 80 percent of this market, which is growing more than twice as fast as the overall digital camera market, according to IDC.
Japanese camera makers virtually monopolised the DSLR camera market in 2006, with Samsung Techwin representing only 0.8 percent of the market, according to IDC.
It does not appear to have made much headway last year as Techno Systems' production data for 2007 shows Samsung Techwin accounts for 0.6 percent of global DSLR camera production.
Limited presence in the high-end market is reflected in Samsung Techwin's profitability. Operating margins at Samsung Techwin's digital camera business are estimated at 4.4 percent in 2008 and 5 percent in 2009, according to Prudential Investment & Securities.
Analysts generally estimate operating margins of around 20 percent at a DSLR camera business, compared with single-digit margins at compact digital camera operations.
COMPACT BATTLE
But where Samsung, in cooperation with Pentax, can really make inroads is by competing on price, firstly in the compact market.
"The battle over rising megapixel count is essentially over," said Kim Do-han, an analyst at Samsung Securities. "Samsung Techwin hopes to move the battle to the pricing arena."
And Japanese makers feel the pressure.
"It is fundamental for us to maintain brand appeal and offer value-added products," said Keiichi Ishizuka, an executive in Sony's digital camera division. "But I'm afraid we would not be able to survive competition if we don't really improve cost competitiveness."
For now Japanese manufacturers still hold a clear technological advantage over Samsung Techwin and other foreign brands in major digital camera technologies, analysts say.
"Digital cameras are not typical digital electronics. You have to have expertise not only in electronics, but in optics and mechatronics, too, to put together competitive products," Mizuho Securities analyst Ryosuke Katsura said.
Analysts say it may take a decade or so before Samsung Techwin becomes a player in the DSLR market. But they also caution that Samsung Techwin is here to stay.
"The problem with DLSR is that the market is intrinsically limited by portability issues," said Samsung Securities' Kim.
"Samsung Techwin is challenging its rivals with cheaper price, while also striving to improve profitability by offering higher-end products within the compact sector. They should be able to raise their sales very rapidly." (Editing by Louise Heavens)

Credit: Kiyoshi Takenaka and Marie-France Han
eetimes.com

Copyright 2008 Reuters. Click for Restrictions

Picture of the day:

Scenery and Sights

Thor's Hammer - Famous Hoodoo in Bryce Canyon, Utah

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PENTAX Announces Optio V20

PENTAX Imaging Company has announced the PENTAX Optio V20 compact digital camera with a 5X zoom lens, 8.0 megapixels, and a generous 3.0 inch LCD monitor.

pentaximaging.com

Ultra-slim and stylish in design, this latest PENTAX compact digital camera makes it easy to capture and to view images.
Three innovative features on the Optio V20 help users optimize portrait photographs. A Face Recognition function automatically detects and focuses on faces, then sets the optimum exposure. Smile Capture detects the key facial expression of happy people and releases the shutter automatically. Blink Detection reports to the user whether any subjects closed their eyes in an image, so that the shot may be recaptured if necessary. Additional features include Auto-tracking AF for continuously focusing on a moving subject, 52MB of built-in memory, and an Auto-Macro mode that allows close-up photography as near as 4 inches (10 cm) without changing the normal focusing mode.
The PENTAX Optio V20 will ship in May 2008 for US $279.95.
PENTAX Imaging Company is an innovative leader in the production of digital SLR and compact cameras, lenses, flash units, binoculars, scopes, eyepieces and mobile printers and scanners. For more than 80 years, PENTAX technology 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.

PENTAX Imaging CompanyMedia Contact: Michelle Martin, 303-728-0224 michelle.martin@pentax.com
or
Consumer Product Information:1-800-877-0155
pentaxinfo@pentax.com
http://www.pentaximaging.com/

Photo of the day:

Domesticated Animals

Portrait of an alert Border Collie

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Adobe Yanks Lightroom 1.4 & Camera Raw 4.4

The Lightroom 1.4 update for Mac and Windows has been temporarily removed from the Adobe.com web site. Those Lightroom users who have installed Lightroom 1.4 should uninstall the update and install Lightroom 1.3.1.(Mac, Win) until a further update can be provided.
For those not in immediate need of the updated camera support available in Camera Raw 4.4 or the DNG 4.4 Converter, it’s recommended that you also continue working with the 4.3.1 versions. (Mac, Win) This decision is based on the following errors that have been discovered with the recent update:
EXIF Time Stamp Error: There is an error in the EXIF time stamp update technology that causes Lightroom to believe that the files are out of sync with the correct time stamp as displayed in Lightroom. Any ensuing metadata update will attempt to incorrectly modify the EXIF time stamp in the original raw file itself. This is the only metadata field that Lightroom will write to an original proprietary raw file. This error will not impact the integrity of your image data. The Camera Raw plug-in also will incorrectly change the EXIF time stamp in files converted by the plug-in. The information written to the XMP sidecar files or XMP metadata in the converted files will remain correct.
DNG Conversion Error(Windows Only): With the latest version of the Lightroom 1.4 and Camera Raw 4.4 applications, Adobe has included technology to verify that the image data in a DNG file is unchanged from when it was originally converted to DNG. Unfortunately, when converting to DNG using Lightroom 1.4 on Windows, the application will write an incorrect verification tag to describe the image data. When Lightroom attempts to work with those files in the Develop module, the application reads that incorrect tag, believes that there is something wrong with the raw data and will present an error. Rest assured, there is nothing wrong with the integrity of your image data or metadata. For those that have already converted their files to DNG using Lightroom 1.4 (Windows only) we recommend using the DNG 4.3.1 converter to convert the DNG files you’ve created with Lightroom 1.4.
Olympus Conversion Error: There is an error in converting Olympus JPEG files to other formats in Lightroom 1.4 and the Camera Raw 4.4 plug-in.To uninstall Lightroom 1.4 please see the instructions per your platform:Mac: Delete the Lightroom application in the Application folder(Mac) and Delete the following file: Library/Receipts/Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.pkgWindows: Choose the Uninstall Lightroom 1.4 menu item from the Windows start menu. The Add/Remove Program utility on Windows will also achieve the same result.
To replace the Camera Raw 4.4 plug-in with the 4.3.1 plug-in, follow the manual installation instructions provided on the download page linked above.
Additional information regarding a further update (expected to be LR 1.4.1 and CR 4.4.1) will be posted to the Lightroom Journal blog when it becomes available.

Source: http://photoshopnews.com/2008/03/16/adobe-yanks-lightroom-14-camera-raw-44/

More information on v1.4 direct from manager of the Adobe Lightroom team.
http://blogs.adobe.com/lightroomjournal/2008/03/important_lightroom_14_and_cam.html

Photo of the day:

Art and Crafts:

Stained Glass Window Saint Giles Cathedral Edinburgh Scotland

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Portsmouth in high-speed

For Tom Clark, the bustling city of Portsmouth is seen best through the eyes of a camera lens.
Snapping frame after frame, the 29-year-old Portsmouth resident captures a variety of moments that become little more than the background noise of everyday life in the Seacoast.

The Route 1 bridge ascending and descending.
The hustle and bustle of passers-by in Market Square.
The destruction and resurrection of local businesses.
Through a process of piecing together hundreds of still-frames, Clark's documentary, "Drop-Frame," uses a time-lapse effect — making the world fly by at dizzying speeds.
Time-lapse photography involves capturing a scene by taking pictures at set intervals, and playing them together so that they give the scene a sense of accelerated motion. The technique is often used to show action in scenes that move imperceptibly slowly, such as the budding of a flower or a sunset.
Using only a digital camera, Clark would find areas of interest and wait for the opportune moment to click the shutter.
"In some cases, I would sit and wait for something interesting to happen," Clark said. "And other times, I would be taking pictures as fast as the camera could go."
For each scene, Clark estimates that he took between 100 and 300 frames.
"The total amount of time I actually spent on the documentary is incalculable," Clark said. "Even when I was on vacation, I'd be thinking and planning what I was going to do next."
After taking the photos, Clark would return to his studio and modify the flow of the frames. Depending on the mood and environment of the location, he would make the decision to slow down or speed up the scene.
While embedded in Portsmouth's hotspots, Clark would sometimes stumble across unexpected photo opportunities.
Clark recalls accidentally discovering a bicycle race, which he only became aware of by being in the right place at the right time.
"Sometimes just taking photos of scenery would lead to other unexpected events, which became completely new sequences in the film," Clark said.
For some scenes, such as the renovation of Portsmouth's North Church, the documentarian would force himself to visit the location every day in the interest of completeness.
In foul weather or fair, Clark would sit outside with his camera, waiting for an interesting shot.
"It takes a lot of discipline to go there every day," Clark said. "I would get up on weekends and just say, 'well, I have to do this again.'

Growing up in the Seacoast area, Clark began to notice that the town he loved was changing rapidly. Businesses he had grown up with, such as Eagle Photo and Yoken's, were being demolished.
Using the degree in film production he received at Keene State College, Clark set out with goal of capturing the town he remembered from his childhood before it changed completely.
Over the course of three years, Clark took thousands of pictures, using time after his day job and utilizing his own equipment.
"I am very pleased with the way it came out," Clark said. "It was always going to bother me if it didn't come out right, so I didn't set any due-date. I could really take my time with it."
Choosing to leave out any voice-over, the film is set entirely to music.
"I chose the absence of dialogue because I wanted to remain unbiased," Clark said. "I didn't accidentally want to include anything negative. The idea was to keep opinions out of it, and let the viewer decide how they felt about it."
Although he is not currently working on any other films, Clark is open to the idea of creating a similar documentary based on another city.
Clark has already received a variety of positive responses from local residents.
"Everyone that has seen it, loves it," Clark said. "People start wondering at the end of a sequence what could be coming next."

credits: Dan Lorenz
seacoastonline.com/

For more about Portsmouth visit

DROP-FRAME
"Drop-Frame: A Documentary of Life in Portsmouth" is available at the Water Monkey, 33 Vaughan Mall, Portsmouth. For information, visit http://www.drop-frame.net/.

ANOTHER DOC
The Portsmouth Historical Society has created a new 13-minute film, titled "Welcome to Historic Portsmouth." Tracing events from Colonial times to today, the film showcases many important historical highlights. The film can be viewed online at www.cityofportsmouth.com/economic/phs.htm

Photo of the day:

Seasons:

Covered with soft rime - Eerie landscape near the Munich, Germany Airport

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