ViewSonic Digital Photo Frames

ViewSonic Expands Digital Photo Frame Line

Many suspected that the digital photo frame market would begin to slow down, but judging from the neat, new models coming to fruition as of late, this certainly isn’t the case. ViewSonic, which just entered the category earlier this year, is debuting a line of digital photo frames, some widescreen, and all boasting interchangeable frame design options for further personalization.
There are 10 interchangeable frame designs in all, starting in price from $139, and available in 7, 8, and 10” sizes, and in wood, black, silver, or black & white designs.

“The digital age has become ubiquitous, but people still want a way to display their content in the ‘old fashioned’ way,” said Colleen Browne, General Manager, ViewSonic Canada.

Most of the new digital frames come with 256 MB of on-board memory (a few models have 128 MB), along with a USB port and memory card slots accommodating the most popular formats. Built-in batteries are a nice touch as well, making wireless operation possible.
At the top of the new line is the widescreen 10” DPX1002, which can support motion JPEG and MPEG1/4 video files, and MP3 music in addition to JPEG and BMP photos. The screen itself boasts 1,024 x 600 pixel resolution, 400 cd/m2 brightness, and 400:1 contrast. Additionally, it can operate as a calendar and alarm clock, and ships with a remote and several language options for operation.

Featuring a 4:3 screen are the 8” DPX802WD, DPX802WD-BW and DPX802BSL-BW, each of which offers 800 x 600 resolution, 250 brightness, and 500:1 contrast. With built-in speakers, these models can also play back MP3 audio files to accompany a slideshow of images.

The widescreen 7” DPX702BSL-BW, DPX702WD-BW and DPX702WD provide 800 x 480 resolution, 220 cd/m2 brightness, and 400:1 contrast. This model excels with various slideshow options, like different speeds, effects, languages, and rotation adjustment.

Entry-level users might appreciate the 7” widescreen DPX704WH, 8” 4:3 DPX804WH, or 10” widescreen DPX1004WH, each of which comes with 128 MB of internal memory, and is compatible with a multitude of video, audio, and photo formats. They also provide alarm, clock, and calendar functions.

ViewSonic’s new line of digital photo frames, each with a unique frame design, range in price from $139 to $179, and each comes backed with a one-year limited warranty.

For more information, visit http://www.viewsonic.com/.

Credits: marketnews.ca/

Picture of the day:

Seasons

Seasons: Frost Covered Leaves at Christmas

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Adobe Releases Lightroom 1.4.1 and Camera Raw 4.4.1 Updates

Adobe has released new updates for their applications Lightroom and Camera Raw. The Lightroom 1.4.1 and Camera Raw 4.4.1 fixes problems found in Lightroom 1.4 and Camera Raw 4.4.

Lightroom

• Lightroom 1.4 incorrectly modified the EXIF time date field of images that had a metadata update applied. This incorrect modification does not appear in Lightroom or Bridge and is only viewable through third party EXIF tools. This error has been corrected in Lightroom 1.4.1 and all files in a Lightroom catalog that have been incorrectly modified will be corrected on their next metadata update. (Metadata can be updated by selecting the files in the Library grid view and choosing Command or Control+S to save and update the metadata.)

• Olympus JPEG files could render incorrectly in Lightroom 1.4, displaying an artifact in the exported file.

• Any conversion to DNG in Lightroom 1.4 (Windows Only) would cause the DNG file to become unreadable by Lightroom's Develop Module or Camera Raw 4.4 in Photoshop. The issue has been corrected and files can be converted to DNG again in order to resolve the issue for existing files. Returning to the original native raw files is not necessary. The affected DNG files can be selected and converted again using the DNG Converter 4.4.1 available at www.adobe.com/dng/. This process is not required but recommended to ensure that a correct validation value is stored within the DNG files.

• Lightroom 1.4 provided degraded import performance relative to Lightroom 1.3.Camera Raw

• Camera Raw 4.4 incorrectly modified the EXIF time date field of images that were saved as TIFF or JPEG files from the Camera Raw dialog. This has been corrected in Camera Raw 4.4.1

• Olympus JPEG files could render incorrectly in Camera Raw 4.4, displaying an artifact in the exported file.

Downloads
The Lightroom 1.4.1 and Camera Raw 4.4.1 updates are available at http://www.adobe.com/downloads

Credits: Tanya Palta at digitalcamerainfo.com

Photo of the day:

Domestic Animals and Pets

Border Collies The perfect Babysitter

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Photographers Denied the Freedom To Choose What They Photograph

Elaine Huguenin co-owns Elane Photography with her husband. The bulk of Elane's work is done by Elaine, though she subcontracts some of the work some of the time. Elane refused to photograph Vanessa Willock's same-sex commitment ceremonies, and just today the New Mexico Human Rights Commission held that this violated state antidiscrimination law. Elane has been ordered to pay over $6600 in attorney's fees and costs.

I haven't seen any written statement of reasons, but the order must implicitly rest on two interpretations of state law: (1) This sort of photography company constitutes a "public accommodation," defined by state law "any establishment that provides or offers its services, facilities, accommodations or goods to the public, but does not include a bona fide private club or other place or establishment that is by its nature and use distinctly private." (2) A refusal to photograph a same-sex commitment ceremony constitutes sexual orientation discrimination, which New Mexico law forbids. These may or may not be sensible interpretations of the statutory text. But the result seems to me to likely violate the First Amendment (though there's no precedent precisely on point).

Photography is an art, and Huguenin is an artist. It may not be high art, but it embodies a wide range of artistic choices (especially since she says she takes a "photojournalist" approach, rather than just doing normal staged photos). And though she sells the art to its subjects, that is of course part of a long and continuing tradition in the arts, including painting and sculpture, as well as photography. Certainly many of the works protected by the First Amendment (books, newspapers, movies, and the like) were created for money and distributed for money.

Yet the New Mexico government is now telling Huguenin that she must create art works that she does not choose to create. There's no First Amendment case squarely on point, but this does seem pretty close to the cases in which the Court held that the government may not compel people to express views that they do not endorse (the flag salute case, West Va. Bd. of Ed. v. Barnette, and the license plate slogan case, Wooley v. Maynard).

For whatever it's worth, Huguenin also says she exercises political judgment in deciding what to photograph (for instance, she reports that she refuses to make photographs that put horror films in a positive light, or to take photographs that positively portray abortion, pornography, or nudity, as well as same-sex marriage). I don't think that sort of political selectivity should be required for photographers to be protected as artists, but it seems to me to highlight the scope of the artist's judgment, and the artist's constitutional right to exercise such judgment (just as a bookstore has the right to choose which books to stock).

Consider also a hypothetical analogy: Say that instead of Willock's trying to hire a photographer, Willock was trying to hire a solo freelance writer (or a writer in a two-person freelancing partnership) to write materials for Willock's (hypothetical) same-sex marriage planning company. The writer refused on the grounds that she didn't want to promote such a company.
I take it the law would cover the writer as much as it would cover the photographer (why wouldn't it?). Yet wouldn't requiring writers -- even writers of press releases and Web sites -- to write words that express views they reject violate the First Amendment? And if not, what's the difference between that and requiring photographers to take photographs that implicitly but strongly express views they reject? (Wedding photographs, of course, express views celebrating the event being photographed.)

More about the issue at: volokh.com

and Related Posts (on one page):
Right To Choose Which Photographs You Create:
The ACLU and the Elane Photography Case:
Religious Exemptions and the Elane Photography Case:
Legal Requirements That You Write Things or Create Photographs:
First Amendment and Photography/Writing/Publishing/Book Distribution for Money:
Religious Accommodations and the Elane Photography Case:

Photo of the day:

Colorado Wildflowers

Blooming Globe Flower

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Review - Canon Digital Ixus 960 IS

This article appeared in the May, 2008 issue of PC Authority.

A superbly easy-to-use and feature-laden compact camera that’s well worth the price. Same titanium shell as before, with a lowlight ability.It doesn’t look much different to its illustrious predecessor, but the gorgeous 960 IS, which replaces our former A-List favourite the Ixus 900 is an improvement. It’s just as gorgeous, is clad in the same, super-tough titanium shell and has image stabilisation among its armoury of features, allowing you to take handheld shots in far lower light than you’d normally be able to manage.The playback controls for both stills and video are intuitive and easy to use. Video is superb, giving 30fps at 640 x 480 (with audio). The 960 IS has an enormous 12.1 megapixels, which is pointless but reassuring. You can choose 8-megapixel capture instead, which will still let you enlarge up to A3 prints before you start seeing any pixellation.

“It doesn’t look much different to its illustrious predecessor, but the gorgeous 960 IS, which replaces our former A-List favourite the Ixus 900 is an improvement. It’s just as gorgeous, is clad in the same, super-tough titanium shell and has image stabilisation among its armoury of features, allowing you to take handheld shots in far lower light than you’d normally be able to manage.” - David Fearon

Source and Read More: pcauthority.com.au and at the Canon website.

RRP: $378 (time of review)
Check the latest prices.

Picture of the day:

Seasons: Winter

Frozen Dogrose

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photographer Preston Gannaway has won 2008 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography

Concord Monitor photographer Preston Gannaway has won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography.
The award, announced this afternoon at Columbia University in New York, honored Gannaway's work on a project called "Remember Me," which chronicled the death of Carolynne St. Pierre of Concord and its impact on her family.
The Pulitzers are the premier awards in American journalism. This is the first Pulitzer Prize ever awarded to the Monitor or any New Hampshire newspaper. The Monitor was, by far, the smallest newspaper to win a Pulitzer Prize this year.
Gannaway was part of a two-person team on the St. Pierre project, which also included reporter Chelsea Conaboy. They were invited by St. Pierre and her husband, Rich, to report on matters both medical and personal, in part to provide their children with a documentary of their mother's final days. "Both the written and multimedia stories will provide information and immeasurable comfort, later on in life, when Melissa, Brian, and Elijah begin to search for answers about their mother, Carolynne," Rich St. Pierre wrote last December.
Together, Gannaway and Conaboy spent two years reporting on St. Pierre's death and its aftermath. Gannaway's winning Pulitzer entry included 19 of the photographs she shot, and the Monitor published, last year.
Monitor editor Mike Pride was co-chairman of the Pulitzer Prize board. But because Gannaway was a finalist, he did not participate in the decision on the feature photography award.
Gannaway spent nearly five years as a Monitor photographer, where her assignments ranged from high school sports to presidential politics. Her work won numerous awards. In 2005, for example, she was named New England Photographer of the Year by the National Press Photographers Association. This year, the St. Pierre project won two awards in the prestigious Pictures of the Year International competition.
Before working for the Monitor, Gannaway was a photo intern at newspapers in New Mexico and Maine. She began her career at the Coalfield Progress in Virginia after earning a bachelor's degree in fine art photography at Virginia Intermont College.
Gannaway left the Monitor last month and - after a celebration in Concord today - starts a new job at the Rocky Mountain News in Denver this week.

Prize-winning entry:Multimedia presentation of the series.
Slideshow of the Pulitzer photos.

PDFs of the photos and stories as they appeared in the Concord Monitor:
Part One: Our history being built (Oct. 5, 2006)
Part Two: A sea of grief is coming (Jan. 13, 2007)
Part Three: In the blue room (Feb. 13, 2007)
Part Four: Now we're four (Dec. 8, 2007)
Part Five: Surviving Together (Dec. 9, 2007)

Online versions of the stories as printed in the Concord Monitor:
Part One: Sick with cancer, a mother fights for time (Oct. 5, 2006)
Part Two: 'The sea of grief is coming' (Jan. 13, 2007)
Part Three: She died as she wished -- surrounded by loved ones (Feb. 13, 2007)
Part Four: 'Now, we're four' (Dec. 8, 2007)
Part Five: Surviving together (Dec. 9, 2007)

Read more at cmonitor.com

Picture of the day:

Famous Buildings

24-Karat Gold plated Capitol in Denver, Colorado

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Ten Years in Focus: The Artist and the Camera

J. Paul Getty Museum presents 'Ten Years in Focus: The Artist and the Camera'

LOS ANGELES, CA - The J. Paul Getty Museum opened the exhibit Ten Years in Focus: The Artist and the Camera through August 10. Since the beginning of photography in the 1830s, painters and sculptors took up the new medium as a tool. The theme of the artist and the camera has been an important aspect of the Getty's photographs collection since its inception in 1984 and continues to shape its holdings. This can be seen in the selection for this exhibition of acquisitions made in the last decade, which explores the interconnectedness of art and photography.
The Museum collects photographs to complement strengths of the existing collection, or to fill a gap—an area lacking work from a time period or by a specific maker. We strongly favor collecting many examples by important photographers to enable exhibitions and publications inspired by the collection. We feel a special duty to hold work by the best photographers with roots in California and the West. As part of his Pictures of Junk series, Vik Muniz uses domestic and industrial detritus to reinterpret old master paintings of Greek and Roman mythological subjects. This photograph on the cover is a re-creation of a painting by Goya that depicts the Roman myth of the god Saturn. Fearing his children would overthrow him, Saturn ate each child as it was born.
Muniz collects and arranges "junk" to create these tableaux, enlisting inner-city youth involved in the Centro Espacial to help him. (Muniz created the charity in Rio de Janeiro to bring art projects to life for underprivileged young people.) A warehouse floor serves as his canvas, and he photographs from an elevated height, so that individual objects are reduced to brushstroke-like gestures. Since the beginning of photography in the 1830s, painters and sculptors took up the new medium as a tool. The theme of the artist and the camera has been an important aspect of the Getty's photographs collection since its inception in 1984 and continues to shape its holdings. This can be seen in the selection for this exhibition of acquisitions made in the last decade, which explores the interconnectedness of art and photography.
Visiting the Getty Center: The Getty Center is open Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. It is closed Mondays and major holidays. Admission to the Getty Center is always free. Parking is $8; no reservations required. Reservations are required for event seating and groups of 15 or more. For more information, call 310-440-7300 (English or Spanish); 310-440-7305 (TTY line for the deaf or hearing impaired).
Additional information is available at http://www.getty.edu/
and
artknowledgenews.com

Picture of the day:

Famous Architecture

Organ in St Giles Cathedral Edinburgh Scotland

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Dream Job Anyone?

Kodak Appoints Chief Blogger

While many corporations have blogs, most of them are run by either passionate employees or the marketing departments trying to score some SEO points.
Kodak on the other hand has decided to place its two blogs (A Thousand Words and A Thousand Nerds) into the hands of Jennifer Cisney, who will be its first “Chief Blogger.”

(Fox
Business) Eastman Kodak Company […] today announced that it has named
Jennifer Cisney as the company’s first Chief Blogger. Cisney will provide daily
oversight and creative guidance for Kodak’s two blogs - “A Thousand Words” and
“A Thousand Nerds” - and will boost the company’s social media presence. In
addition, Cisney will serve as the company’s eyes and ears online, listening to
customer feedback and sharing ideas and tips related to Kodak’s products and
services.
“Just over ten percent of Fortune 500 companies have public blogs.
Fewer still have Chief Bloggers, and Kodak is among the first to name a female
Chief Blogger,” said Jeffrey Hayzlett, Chief Business Development Officer and
Vice President, Eastman Kodak Company. “As Kodak continues to break new ground
in the imaging industry with our innovative products and services, we are
committed to staying on the cutting-edge of social media by utilizing the
talents of our people.”

Before any bloggers go out scouring the net for “Chief Blogger” vacancies, this article does mention that Jennifer was an employee with Kodak for well over a decade before she was recently promoted. She had also very active in posting her thoughts on “A Thousands Words,” which may have aided the blogs success.
Whether or not more jobs in the corporate world will appoint a “Chief Blogger” are yet to be seen, although if one is already blogging part time at a medium sized company, it may not hurt to ask the boss to start a corporate weblog (if they do not have one already) and work your way into the position a few years later.

Credits: Darnell Clayton at blogherald.com

Picture of the day:

Sports and Recreation

Family Winter Fun - Ice-Skating on the Nymphenburg Canal, Munich, Germany

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A Prime Tool For Image Editing

Wacom’s Bamboo Tablets; A Prime Tool For Image Editing

Most serious digital photographers know that using a graphic tablet is the best way by far when it comes to editing and making selections in Photoshop and other imaging applications. There is a learning curve when switching from a mouse to a pen, but after using one I don’t know of any photographers who would go back to the old method. Along with the finer control you have by holding a pen, and the more natural feeling of drawing compared to moving a mouse around (a method I compare to drawing with a bar of soap), you also gain functionality.

The most popular brand of tablet has long been the Wacom line, with the Intuos3 being the serious user’s choice, and the Graphire Bluetooth a good option for those needing a wireless device. The drawback for more casual users, however, has been price. At $229.95 for the smallest (4x6) version of the Intuos3, justifying a tablet is difficult for the casual user. In response to that, Wacom has introduced the Bamboo and Bamboo Fun tablets.For digital photography, the Bamboo Fun is the better choice.

DetailsBamboo: $79 (4x6 only)Bamboo Fun: $99 (4x6), $199 (6x8)Requirements: Windows 2000, XP, or Vista, or Macintosh OS X 10.3.9 or later, available USB port.For more information, contact Wacom Technology Corporation, 1311 SE Cardinal Court, Vancouver, WA 98683; (360) 896-9833; wacom.com/.

read Jon Canfield's full article at shutterbug.com/

Jon Canfield is the author of several books on digital imaging and printing. A popular instructor at BetterPhoto.com, Canfield also teaches workshops for the Panasonic Digital Photo Academy (digitalphotoacademy.com). You can reach Canfield via e-mail at: jon@joncanfield.com.

Photo of the day:

Plants and Flowers

Mariposa Lily Desert Wildflower

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Conscience The Ultimate Weapon

ROCHESTER, NY - The George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film opened the exhibit Conscience The Ultimate Weapon through June 1. A new interpretation of the 1968 Eastman House exhibition featuring civil rights and Vietnam-era photography by Benedict J. Fernandez. More than 800 photographs are part of Conscience The Ultimate Weapon, being presented during the 40th anniversary of the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy.
Originally presented as a slideshow, the images will be displayed via multi-media projection accompanied by a music soundtrack featuring songs from the era. The intent of the recreated exhibition is to show the parallel between a turbulent America 40 years ago and today, including issues of race and our country at war. The innovative piece was intended to address the social issues of its day. Today it stands as an important historical document in both medium and message.
In a series of exhibitions opening throughout winter and spring 2008, George Eastman House focuses on the photograph’s unique ability to take its viewers to parts of the world they might not otherwise know or care about. From the slums of 19th-century London, to the Depression dust bowl, to the variety of contemporary lives in black America and the Middle East, the series LOSS/ HOPE informs us and asks for our engagement by considering the notion of loss, both personally and as a result of industrialization and poverty. George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film combines the world’s leading collections of photography and film with the stately pleasures of the landmark Colonial Revival mansion and gardens that George Eastman called home from 1905 to 1932. The Museum is a National Historic Landmark. Mr. Eastman, the founder of Eastman Kodak Company, is heralded as the father of modern photography and the inventor of motion picture film.
The Eastman House, the world’s oldest photography museum and one of the world’s oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949. World-renowned for its photograph and motion picture archives, the Museum is also a leader in film preservation and photograph conservation, educating the top archivists and conservators from around the world. Visit the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film at : http://www.eastmanhouse.org/

Credits: artknowledgenews.com - Benedict J Fernandez

Photo of the day:

Wildlife

Canadian Mountian Goat with Baby

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Early Photo Pulled from Auction - Origin Scrutinized

A few days ago I reported about an Image could be of historic importance in world of photography

This primitive image believed to be taken decades before what is widely considered to be the dawn of photography has now been pulled from an upcoming auction to allow further research as to its authorship.

The image of a leaf at was scheduled to be sold at Sotheby's next Monday, and was listed in the auction catalog as "Photographer Unknown." But Sotheby's said research by a leading photo expert had suggested that several early photo experimenters could have made the image, including Thomas Wedgwood, James Watt and Humphry Davy, who worked in the medium decades before what is believed to be the birth of photography in 1839.

On Wednesday, Sotheby's said it decided to pull the lot because the upcoming auction had generated "a spirited and lively dialogue'' among photo scholars "about the possible origins for the 'Leaf."

This conversation has revealed new areas of research, which will be explored in the coming months,'' the auctioneer said."Leaf'' is a photogenic drawing - a cameraless process in which an object is placed on silver nitrate-coated paper or leather to form a negative image.

It had previously been attributed to William Henry Fox Talbot, considered the father of photography along with Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre. "Leaf'' was among six similar anonymous works that were sold individually at Sotheby's London in 1984. It was purchased by a dealer for $776, and only later attributed to Talbot.

Two of the other six works are now in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles and one is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan.

Sotheby's said the hypothesis that the work could predate Talbot was made by Larry J. Schaaf, a leading photo historian and Talbot expert.

It said Schaaf based his theory on the "W'' inscription in the lower corner of the image and the fact that it doesn't resemble a Talbot, among other things.

Credits: Wcbs880.com.

Photo of the day:

Scenery and Sights

Edinburgh Skyline in the Morning Sun

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Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 Beta

Adobe Delivers Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 Beta

Adobe Systems Incorporated today announced Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 beta, a public preview of new and improved functionality to be delivered in the next major release. Lightroom is the professional photographer’s essential toolbox, providing one application for managing, adjusting, presenting large volumes of digital photographs. Lightroom 2.0 beta will feature enhancements such as dual-monitor support, localized dodge and burn correction and will be the first Adobe application to support 64-bit for Mac OS X 10.5 Intel Macs and Microsoft Vista 64-bit operating systems.
“Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 beta provides early access to requested improvements over version 1.3 and continues our ongoing dialogue and open communication with the photography community,” said Tom Hogarty, senior product manager for Photoshop Lightroom and Camera Raw. “We’re excited not only for our existing customers, but also for the general public who will have an opportunity to take Lightroom 2.0 beta on a test run.”
New in Lightroom 2.0 betaAn improved layout in the Library module allows for a more intuitive approach to image organization by simplifying the location of the features needed to find and filter photographs. A new feature called Smart Collections automatically updates collections with images that match desired criteria such as star-rating, keyword or other metadata. “The Suggested Keywords feature eases the task of keywording by making recommendations based upon keyword associations across a catalog as well as the use of keywords in neighboring images.”
Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 beta includes improved memory handling through 64-bit support for OS X 10.5 Intel Macs and Vista 64-bit operating systems. Additional enhancements in Lightroom 2.0 beta include support for a dual monitor configuration that maximizes a photographer’s workspace and can be easily adjusted to meet a particular workflow. Additionally, the Develop module has been updated to provide the ability to correct specific parts of an image without affecting other areas. Now, fundamental photographic techniques such as dodge and burn can be performed using the same non-destructive approach, allowing unprecedented control within the Lightroom program.

Beta Availability
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 beta is available as a 30-day trial for free download on Macintosh and Windows platforms at adobe.com. Existing Lightroom 1.0 customers will be able to test the beta for an extended period until Aug. 31, 2008 and can invite friends to take part in this trial period. Recommended system requirements are Macintosh OSX 10.4, 10.5 1 GHz PowerPC G4 or G5 or Intel-based processor, or Microsoft Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise, Intel Pentium 4 processor, 1 GBRAM and a 1024×768 resolution screen.

credits: photoshopnews.com

Picture of the day:

Wildlife

The sharp eyes of a mountain cougar

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Multimedia stories in a fresh, engaging way

Lessons from the NPPA Web contest

The future that online journalists predicted is beginning to take shape: News organizations are using video, photos and audio to tell stories in fresh, engaging ways. They are bringing videographers and Web producers into stories early rather than calling them just before the publication of a months-long project. And even news operations that lack anyone skilled in Flash are producing audio slideshows, thanks to Soundslides.

But the 700 or so entries in the online categories of the National Press Photographers Association awards showed that multimedia journalism is still in its adolescence: Many projects lacked mastery of fundamentals and didn't live up to their potential. Judges said they want to see higher production quality, tighter editing, and a clearer understanding of how to use various media most effectively.

Here are some thoughts from the online judges on what's working and what needs work in multimedia journalism today.

What's working

Multimedia isn't the orphan it once was. Entries reflected a consideration of what medium would best tell each part of the story -- video for some parts, graphics for others, audio slideshows elsewhere. "You could tell news organizations are starting to plan stories from the ground up," Angelotti said. This audio slideshow from The Washington Post's "Fixing D.C.'s Schools" project is a good example.

Audio makes the difference. "Other than storytelling -- and let's assume good photography -- the audio, that's what puts one person above everyone else," Breite said. That means well-placed, meaningful natural sound, as well as effective voiceovers. Angelotti said the best voiceovers were those done by the subjects, which enabled them to tell their stories directly. Here's a presentation with great natural sound.

News organizations are using audio slideshows to tell stories. This hasn't always been true; in the past, slideshows have been used as containers for photo galleries. But Angelotti said she observed narrative arcs in most of the slideshows entered in the competition. Judges said there's still work to be done: eliminating redundant photos, coordinating visuals with audio and incorporating transitional, environmental and close-up shots. This Chicago Tribune slideshow demonstrates the power of this method of storytelling.

You don't need a Flash expert on staff to create a great multimedia package. Clear navigation that directs users to the most important content is more important than a fancy interface. And you don't need to know any Flash to produce a great audio slideshow (such as this one) with Soundslides, which has become the dominant tool for those presentations.

What needs work

Don't sacrifice ease of use for something that looks cool. Judges said too many multimedia presentations are hard to figure out. Consider the downside of breaking conventions, such as a back button in the upper left corner. And whatever navigation system you choose, keep it consistent. (As Gitner put it, don't keep moving the car door handles.)

The best interfaces preview the content and show users how to navigate through it, Jenkins said. The navigation on "Soul of Athens" was one of the reasons it was named "Best Multimedia Package" -- its design made it easy to find great content.

Too many presentations lack a unifying narrative thread. In the best presentations, the individual videos, slideshows or graphics told their own stories, and they also connected with the other parts to move the overall story forward. (This sounds a lot like Roy Peter Clark's "umbrella" narrative structure.) Some presentations contained disparate elements with nothing except a common subject to hold them all together. This St. Louis Post-Dispatch package has a strong narrative throughout.

Still photographers should incorporate broadcast storytelling fundamentals. Still photographers are practiced at creating multilayered images and capturing "the moment." But judges said many slideshows and videos lacked broadcast fundamentals such as proper framing of subjects and transitioning from wide, to medium, to close and detail shots.

Gitner said he would like to see still photographers and videographers learn from one other. some innovative online storytelling. "Then we're going to be applying what we think is good visual storytelling to video, and take video to that next level," he said. Notice how this video from The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer captures the best elements of video and still photography.

Don't take control away from the user. Judges complained about autoplays and the absence of stop and back buttons. Sometimes they couldn't figure out how to get back to the home page, so they resorted to refreshing the browser window. Several criticized introductory sequences that "hold the user hostage." And "skip intro" buttons didn't allay their irritation.

This presentation from The (Cleveland) Plain-Dealer won an award, although the judges thought the introduction delayed them from digging into the content.

Don't pack too much in. When the judges reviewed some entries, one would cry out, "Too much!" Don't overload the user. Pick out the best stuff and use it to tell the story. Don't feel compelled to use a lot of material to justify a project. And keep in mind that the user interface can easily become confusing when there is a lot of content.

Just because space is infinite online, don't stop editing yourself. Judges said some audio slideshows contained redundant shots that didn't add to the story. In fact, they said pretty much every entry -- even the winners -- could have used some cutting. Judges suggested some of the redundancy stemmed from photographers not getting enough environmental and detail photographs, so they compensated by adding more of the same stuff.

This year, said Jenkins, "it was the 25-picture gallery. It's hard to tell a story in 25 pictures. It's probably easier to do it in eight or nine." What's called for, he said, is "rethinking the role of editing in an environment where everyone thinks that's the one role they can get rid of."

Credits: Steve Myers (more by author) Contributors: Ellyn Angelotti

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Ashton Kutcher Stars in New Advertising Campaign for Nikon

Hollywood's A-list actor and producer, Ashton Kutcher, is lending his photogenic qualities to Nikon to promote the manufacturer's new COOLPIX Style series cameras. The campaign will debut nationally on March 25th with a television commercial, which precedes the print advertisements and an interactive online component. Nikon selected Kutcher for the campaign to bring brand relevance to a broader and more youthful audience. Taking place in trendy locales such as boutique hotels and upscale shopping destinations, the campaign highlights the exquisite styling, fashionable colors, simplicity and great performance of Nikon's Style series compact digital cameras.
"Ashton is the perfect choice for this campaign as he embodies both the stylish and fun attributes of Nikon's COOLPIX Style series cameras," said Lisa Baxt, senior communications manager for Nikon Inc. "Ashton's collaborative spirit, creativity and approachable personality enhanced our campaign which showcases the great style, sleek colorful design and ease of use of Nikon's newest COOLPIX Style series cameras."
"I am thrilled to work with Nikon on this campaign," said Kutcher. "I think technology today represents so much more than just function -- it represents personal style and sophistication. I'm enjoying the opportunity to work with such a well respected brand and a group of highly creative individuals on a campaign that showcases the style, design and simplicity of the new COOLPIX cameras."
The television campaign spots, directed by Emmy award winner Brian Buckley, have Kutcher's COOLPIX camera being discretely taken and passed around by numerous adoring fans who take several pictures with it before slipping it back into Ashton's pocket. Ashton then notices some surprising pictures when he reviews the photos on his camera's LCD screen. The print campaign, shot by legendary photographer Norman Jean Roy, truly captures the sophisticated yet playful essence of Ashton and the aesthetics of the camera. Following the television and print advertisements, the campaign will come full circle with a uniquely engaging internet component, details of which will be revealed shortly.
For more information on the Nikon COOLPIX Style series cameras and other products from Nikon, please visit http://www.nikonusa.com/.
About Nikon
Nikon, At the Heart of the Image(TM). Nikon Inc. is the world leader in digital imaging, precision optics and photo imaging technology and is globally recognized for setting new standards in product design and performance for its award-winning consumer and professional photographic equipment. Nikon Inc. distributes consumer and professional digital SLR cameras, NIKKOR optics, Speedlights and system accessories; Nikon COOLPIX(R) compact digital cameras; COOLSCAN(R) digital film scanners; 35mm film SLR cameras; Nikon software products and Nikon sports and recreational optics. Nikon D Series digital SLR cameras are recognized as "Highest in Customer Satisfaction with Digital SLR cameras," according to the latest J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Digital Camera Satisfaction Study. Nikon Corporation, the parent company of Nikon Inc., recently celebrated its 90th anniversary and announced the production of over 40 million NIKKOR SLR interchangeable lenses. For more information, dial (800) NIKON-US or visit http://www.nikonusa.com/, which links all levels of photographers to the Web's most comprehensive photo learning and sharing communities.
For J.D. Power and Associates award information go to jdpower.com.
Web site: www.nikonusa.com/

Credits: KVOA News

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