Canon & FN Hunting Series: Feel the Bali Spirit

After Yogyakarta became a destination of gathering and workshop last March, Canon & Fotografer.net Hunting Series I has continued to be establishing on April 13-18 in Bali, with "Feel the Bali Spirit" as the theme.

Gathered at the meeting point at Ngurah Rai airport in Denpasar, participants are taken to several destinations performing different panoramas. They are Uluwatu's sunset, Kecak dance, sunrise on Sanur beach, Tenganan village (Bali Aga), Kintamani, Toyabungkah’s sunrise, Bedugul, Tegal Alang, Beratan lake, Tanah Lot, Alas Kedaton, Sukowati traditional market, etc.

The registration quota was available for only 20 participants charged Rp 2,750,000 each. This fee includes accommodation for transportation and food. So far, the quota was full-booked by FNers from Jakarta, Semarang and Halmahera who are, at this time, must be having their enjoyable hunting session on the Isle of Gods. Dodi Sandradi

Story Arc by Abbas Magnum Photos

Not only taking pictures, a workshop will take the participants to learn how to create a series of story (story arc) - create a dialogue between photos in an inspiring and thoughtful narrative story. It is themed "My Very Own Photo Assignment with ABBAS Magnum Photos" held by Sony, bringing forth Abbas Attas - member of Magnum Photos, who was also the ex-president of that international most prestigious photo agency.

In that workshop held on April 23, 2009, in Bali, participants will be given individual photographing assignments in some locations. They then are taught how to create an essay à la exhibition by focusing themselves on the visual literacy, story formation and personal vision, which will be finally attaining a personal critique by Abbas himself. With US$ 1,999, hotel and food accommodation will be facilitating the participants. For further information and application form, visit support.sony.com.sg. Danu Sagoro

Leica All-White Version M8

After launching the Leica Safari M8 limited edition at US$ 10,000 last January, this German company will produce the special edition rangefinder all-white version M8. The first edition has been released, and the next ones are about to come, which are all produced in a limited edition.

Like the other Leica's rangefinder cameras, every of the cameras body will be manufactured from the finest material available. Pricing has not yet been announced, but you can contact Leica for inquiry. luxist.com

Websites for Photojournalists

LiveBooks, Inc., (http://www.livebooks.com) a provider of customized portfolio websites and marketing software for professional photographers, introduced liveBooks Photojournalism, a cost-effective, pre-designed website offering and community for photojournalists launched in partnership with FiftyCrows and the National Geographic All Roads Photography Program. This partnership will provide photojournalists worldwide with an opportunity to have a professional web presence at an affordable price.

LiveBooks Photojournalism (http://pj.livebooks.com) is designed to help photojournalists and documentary photographers gain visibility for their work, build successful careers and support the use of their images to drive social change worldwide. It also provides professional pre-designed websites. LiveBooks Photojournalism users can choose a website look by selecting from 78 variations of page designs created by the liveBooks creative team. Do note however that these predesigned websites are available to members of the partnering photojournalism organizations only.

Subscription costs US$ 44/month or US$ 444/year. Alternatively, the sites can be purchased for a one-time fee of US$ 1,144. photographyblog.com

GPS-Armed Nikon Coolpix P6000

Have been expecting photos tagged automatically with the location coordinates where they are taken? Nikon USA has recruited GeoSpatial Experts to arm and sell Coolpix P6000 along with GPS system. P6000 is a point-and-shoot camera attaining Nikon USA's highest technology - also the most highly defined digital camera with GPS integrated. It is built into the camera body to acquire the location coordinate being recorded without any single thing you need to do besides photographing.

This 13-MP camera small enough to fit your pocket has not only recreational functionality, but also industrial, commercial and technological activities. For your daily ones, two packages are offered having P6000 utilized with GPS-Photo Link Express software with its mapping ability. Those two packages are offered under US$ 750. While for professional necessity, you could choose the other two packages offering P6000 utilized with GPS-Photo Link GIS (Geographic Information System) Pro Series software; offered under US$ 1,000. geospatialexperts.com

Video Recorder packed with Digital Camera, GPS

Sony has unveiled the Sony Handycam HDR-TG7VE ultracompact HD camcorder, which also takes still photos. The new Handycam HDR-TG7VE boasts 16 Gigabytes of internal memory, enough for 6 hours of Full HD recording, in addition to offering full compatibility with Sony's Memory Stick cards, plus automatic geotagging with GPS and a Map Index View, a stills mode for capturing 4-megapixel digital photos, Intelligent Face Detection and Sony's Smile Shutter technology. Videos and photos are played back on a 2.7" touch-sensitive LCD. Availability is slated for May 2009 at £ 850.

Meanwhile, in the upcoming month, Sony will launch the HDRTG5V camcorder which fits into your pocket. It has a built-in GPS sensor capable of recording and tagging your videos automatically with the location coordinates, along with dates and times. This full-HD camcorder records at 1,920-fps with 1,080 pixel resolution. With its 10x optical zoom and a 3 inches LCD touch screen, you can save your video into the MemoryStick Pro Duo or directly into the 16-GB built-in memory. Weighing 8 ounces, it profiles 5 inches long and 2 inches wide, and is predicted to be offered at a price of $ 1,000. photographyblog.com, nytimes.com

Audrey Hepburn's and Marilyn Monroe's Photo Exhibition

Photos of Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe, two Hollywood icons in the 1950's era, will be exhibited at Proud Central, London, on April 30 to July 26, 2009. This exhibition is to celebrate Audrey's 80th birthday, performed by displaying Sam Shaw's photo collections. He was a photographer for Collier's Magazine in the 1940's era who started his carrier in film industry in 1915 as a special photographer and is known as one of those well-known Hollywood photographers.

Proud Galleries and Sam Shaw Archive collaborates, exposing these two women as the important icons in the photo exhibition to present and reveal what it means to be beautiful, shining a revealing light that every today's girl seeks to emulate. photographyblog.com

Nikon D5000 Head-to-head with Canon 500D

Nikon has unveiled the D5000 upperentry- level DSLR. Sitting between the D60 and D90, the D5000 appears to go head-to-head with Canon's EOS 500D, aiming at upgrading DSLR owners and experienced compact users. It combines many of the features of the D90 in a slightly smaller, simpler body.

The D5000 has inherited the D90's groundbreaking HD movie capability, Nikon's proprietary D-Movie function. It is coupled with 19 scene modes, 12.3MP sensor, highsensitivity between ISO 200 and 3200 (which can be extended to ISO 100 and ISO 6400 equivalent), Live View, and 2.7 inch LCD monitor. The Nikon D5000 is compatible with a wide variety of AF-S and AF-I Nikkor lenses. No further information about the release date and its price yet. dpreview.com

Exploring West Lampung's Heavenly Landscape

The valley behind the house was heaven for landscape hunters. Lumbok (lake) Ranau, traditional houses, traditional market, timber forest in Krui (the capital of Pesisir Tengah sub-district) and Tebakhak beach became the exploration targets of 25 photographers. Luckily, West Lampung province has the finest landscape beauty. Those photographers coming from Jakarta explored the wealth of this district on March 26 to 29; three of them are from Lampung.

Welcomed with traditional foods and information about the local customs given by the Head of West Lampung Tourism Bureau in an ancient rumah panggung (tier-structured traditional ethnic home) inn built in 1933, they visited Batubrak sub-district and enjoyed the delicacy of Liwa's - capital of West Lampung - coffee, before finally going back to Jakarta through a 19.5 hours passage. In their travel, they were amused by the view of tanker vessels sailing on the seashore with Panama flags on it. Setyo Bagyo

Strobist Weekend with D'Blitz

Some members of Kopdar (Komunitas Photographer Sidoarjo) formed a group based on their need to learn more about flash. This group called D'Blitz which originally comes from the words Dolanan Blitz.

D'Blitz wishes to provide a place for photographers in Sidoarjo and its surrounding to improve their skills and knowledge about flash. They have made a group in Facebook which has more than 40 friends who have interest in Strobist as well.

As their first event, they held a discussion packed with photo hunting namely "Strobist Weekend with Lovely Yana." In this event which took place on April 4-5, D'Blitz invited participants to deepen and practice their techniques in utilizing off camera flash or commonly called strobist.

On the first day, they organized a discussion with Prihartono and Teddy Widhi (both members of Fotografer.net live in Surabaya) as the speakers and an outdoor photo session. The discussion was about strobist term, its application and the use of various light shaper/modifier. On the next day, participants applied what they get from the previous day in a strobist photo session with model at Kawasan Kota Lama Surabaya and followed by 18 participants. The first day was followed by 23 participants. Although this event was organized by Kopdar, the participants were not just Kopdar's member. nana

1.5 Billion Kodak Cameras Recycled

One and a half billion One-Time-Use Cameras (OTUCs) have been recycled by Kodak. Those one-time-use cameras, if stretched end to end, will be able to circle the earth five times or halfway to moon: 120,000 miles.

Since 1990, the OTUC users were given feedbacks for giving it back to Kodak, through some outlets. Those cameras were then sent to Kodak's factory in Guadalajara, Mexico, to be recycled and reused. The internal parts in good conditions were made to be new, while the others - including the plastic cases - would be recycled and manufactured for other products materials. This OTUC recycling has the highest rate according to the America's 2008 products recycling rating; 84% (arises from 75%) defeating the rates for items like plastics (25%) and papers (50%). kodak.com | cindy

Portraits of Obama's People on Show

Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery will host an exhibition of 52 photographic portraits of the leading men and women in Barrack Obama's government, shot on the eve of the presidential inauguration. In the heady days of last year's election campaign, worldrenowned photographer Nadav Kander was commissioned to take portraits of the President-elect's new government as it was being assembled.

Now, for the first time, these images will be on show to the public at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. The exhibition takes place between 18 April and 31 August 2009.

Nadav Kander said, he is honoured to be part of this historical moment and very pleased that these portraits will now be on public view. The exhibition was proposed by Rhonda Wilson, Director of Birminghambased photographic development agency, Rhubarb-Rhubarb. She hopes this exhibition can show the power of photography to evidence possibility and political change at this historic moment and the opportunity for thousands of people to see this project. photographyblog.com

Digital and Traditional Collaborating Album

Istego Distribution GmbH (Germany) announced Vosonic DPA4000 launching. This product seems at a glance, like a traditional photo album, but as a matter of fact, it is a digital one which perfectly looks like an ordinary one having a leather-made cover when it is closed. When opened and powered, you can enjoy RAW photos in a conventional album or display them in a slideshow with background music, or enjoy video and film with the Video Mode.

Manufactured by a Taiwan company, Vosonic Technology Corporation, DPA4000 also functions as a 4-GB external hard drive with 8-inches TFT LCD, with a Li-ion battery having enough capacity to power the device for 2.5 hours straight. From April 19, you can start buying it at € 249. photographyblog.com

Sanyo Begins Shipping the New Xacti Dual Cameras

Sanyo announces that shipping has started for their new 2009 Dual Camera Xacti lineup which can record video and shoot still images as well. The first cameras to be available are the VPC-FH1, VPC-WH1, VPCTH1, and VPC-CG10 at select retailers in US and Mexico. These all-HD dual cameras offer a variety of features including 1080p, 60 frames per second HD video with 8MP still images for the VPC-FH1, and 720p HD video, up to 2MP still images and 30x optical zoom for the VPC-TH1. You can shoot 10MP photos and 720p HD video with the VPC-CG10 or even take the VPCWH1 underwater to a depth of 10 feet for an hour. dcviews.com