The Sony World Photography Awards

A global competition which honours both professional and amateur photographers - is inviting all budding sport photographers to submit their work for the 2009 SWPA Sport amateur category. Sport has long provided us with some of the most arresting photographic opportunities, and this is your chance to get your work seen by some of the world’s leading photographers including Tom Stoddart and Elliott Erwitt.

The competition is free to enter and the submission deadline is 31^st December 2008. The winner will be announced on 17^th March 2009. There are eight amateur categories in total. The SWPA Amateur Fashion Photographer of the Year will be showcased as part of the official 2009 Finalists exhibition in Cannes and be part of the annual SWPA Global Tour.

One grand prize winner will be selected from the eight category winners by the 2009 Judging Committee and will be awarded The Sony World Photography Awards Amateur Photographer of the Year. The overall winner and a guest will be flown to Cannes, receive two nights’ accommodation in a luxury hotel on the famous Croisette, receive VIP tickets to attend the evening gala awards ceremony on 16^th April 2009, and will receive $5000 and a Sony prize.

Find out more at http://www.worldphotographyawards.org/

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The first match at Cyber Golf

As some of you may know Distinction has entered the indoor golf league at Cyber Golf in Nottingham.

Last night saw the first league match which you'll all be glad to know we won!

Below are a few snaps from the evening.

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Canon EOS 5D MKII - Video Capability

Check out this great video by Vincent Laforet shot completely using the Canon 5D MKII.

http://www.vincentlaforet.com

These are some of the amazing stills from the same camera.

Lens: TS-E 45mm f/2.8
Exposure: 1/20 sec @ f/2.8
ISO: 1600

Lens: EF 50mm f/1.2L II
Exposure: 1/50 sec @ f/2.0
ISO: 1600

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A few snaps from One Night Only - Rock City Nottingham

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Time and Billing for Graphic Designers, Web Designers and maybe Photographers?

I was browsing the web the other day for a product that would manage my time and help me bill clients more accurately.

I came accross the site - timr.co.uk. It looks like its going to be quite a useful piece of software that will make time tracking and billing a doddle.

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Black and White images made easy with Photoshop CS3

The answer to black and white photos without loosing all the colour information.

The days of converting images to grey scale and using gradient maps is over. CS3 has all the functionality to handle black and white and still keep all your colour channel information.

Simply open up the photo you want to convert to black and white.

Then in the layer palette select the adjustment layer and you'll see black and white as an option.



If you select black and white you are greeted by a black and white options pop-up. You now have the ability to either select a preset. Or you can manually tweak the settings to get the result you want.





It's as easy as that.

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Greg Bloor Re-Design

The re-design has pretty much been completed. What do you think?

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Awsome bus! or is it a car?

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Taking photos of kids. The easy way!

The secret to taking photos of children is to get them in the environment they are comfortable in. In this case playing in the garden on a slide.

Don't make them pose for the camera - it never works - just make sure your ready with your finger on the button for that great shot.

Try is out next time and you'll be surprised by the results.

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A great joke for all you photographers out there

The Smiths were unable to conceive children and decided to use a surrogate father to start their family. On the day the proxy father was to arrive, Mr. Smith kissed his wife goodbye and said, 'Well, I'm off now. The man should be here soon.'

Half an hour later, just by chance, a door-to-door baby photographer happened to ring the doorbell, hoping to make a sale. 'Good morning, Ma'am', he said, 'I've come to...'

'Oh, no need to explain,' Mrs. Smith cut in, embarrassed, 'I've been expecting you.'

'Have you really?' said the photographer. 'Well, that's good. Did you know babies are my specialty?'

'Well that's what my husband and I had hoped. Please come in and have a seat'.

After a moment she asked, blushing, 'Well, where do we start?'

'Leave everything to me. I usually try two in the bathtub, one on the couch, and perhaps a couple on the bed. And sometimes the living room floor is fun. You can really spread out there.'

'Bathtub, living room floor? No wonder it didn't work out for Harry and me!'

'Well, Ma'am, none of us can guarantee a good one every time. But if we try several different positions and I shoot from six or seven angles, I'm sure you'll be pleased with the results.'

'My, that's a lot!', gasped Mrs. Smith.

'Ma'am, in my line of work a man has to take his time. I'd love to be In and out in five minutes, but I'm sure you'd be disappointed with that.'

'Don't I know it,' said Mrs. Smith quietly.

The photographer opened his briefcase and pulled out a portfolio of his baby pictures. 'This was done on the top of a bus,' he said.

'Oh, my word!' Mrs. Smith exclaimed, grasping at her throat.

'And these twins turned out exceptionally well - when you consider their mother was so difficult to work with.'

'She was difficult?' asked Mrs. Smith.

'Yes, I'm afraid so. I finally had to take her to the park to get the job done right. People were crowding around four and five deep to get a good look'

'Four and five deep?' said Mrs. Smith, her eyes wide with amazement.

'Yes', the photographer replied. 'And for more than three hours, too. The mother was constantly squealing and yelling - I could hardly concentrate, and when darkness approached I had to rush my shots. Finally, when the squirrels began nibbling on my equipment, I just had to pack it all in.'

Mrs. Smith leaned forward. 'Do you mean they actually chewed on your, uh...equipment?'

'It's true, Ma'am, yes.. Well, if you're ready, I'll set-up my tripod and we can get to work right away.'

'Tripod?'

'Oh yes, Ma'am. I need to use a tripod to rest my Canon on. It's much too big to be held in the hand very long.'

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