Rangefinder Magazine
December 2006

Focus  
 

Industry News

• Harry Benson Joins Epson Pros

Epson America announced that acclaimed photojournalist Harry Benson has joined Epson’s celebrated roster of Stylus Pros. Benson’s images have provided the world with a unique visual perspective into the human experience, featuring everything from savage wars and world leaders to Hollywood personalities—all to tell a story that words cannot convey. Benson has won numerous awards and has been featured in magazines such as Architectural Digest, Vogue and Vanity Fair. Benson joins other Epson Stylus Pros, including John Paul Caponigro, Steve McCurry, Walter Iooss, Jay Maisel, Pete Turner, Howard Schatz and Joyce Tenneson. The Epson Stylus Pro program was launched five years ago with the involvement of the best in the photographic world of fine art, portraiture, commercial, nature and photojournalism to provide insight into the needs of the most discerning visual communicators.

• Claudia Kronenberg Workshops Jump-start Your Year

Claudia Kronenberg Photography (Nantucket Island, MA, 508/228-1218, www.claudiakronenberg.com) will host a three-day workshop for professional photographers, January 22–25, 2007. Designed for photographers who want to make big changes in their business, the three-day workshops will cover a variety of topics, including practical marketing skills, learning networking, identifying potential markets and creating an effective workflow. Coaches include Brea McDonald, Gordon McGregor and Claudia Kronenberg, who has been chosen to take part in the First Ladies of Photography forum at the 2007 WPPI Convention and Trade Show.

• Paolo Pellegrin Wins W. Eugene Smith Grant

Italian photographer Paolo Pellegrin received the $30,000 W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography for 2006 for his project MAKTAB—“It Is Written: A Journey Through the Lands of Islam.”

A $5000 Fellowship Grant was also given to Tero Kuwayama of New York City for his work on “No Man’s Land: Survival at the Ends of Empire.” The grants are presented annually by the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund and sponsored by Nikon Inc. in order to recognize photographers who have demonstrated a commitment to documenting the human condition. For more information, visit www.smith fund.org.

• ASPP Mentors Students

The American Society of Picture Professionals (ASPP) (Alexandria, VA, www.aspp.com) recently introduced a Mentoring Program for students through its chapters in Chicago and Washington, D.C. Entitled “Expose Yourself to Careers in the Photo and Visual Media Industry,” the ambitious project is designed to bring together ASPP professionals with students who are pursuing a career as an image professional. Additional program sponsors include Getty Images, Corbis, Discovery Channel, Jupiter Images, Punch Stock and Panoramic Images.

• New Website for Professional Photographers

Egami Lifestyle (Stamford, CT, 203/253-3400, www.egami-lifestyle.com), a web-based company that produces customized photo handbags and accessories, recently introduced www.egami-lifestyle.biz for professional photographers and those in the photo industry. The new website gives professional photographers the ability to register online, access the members-only .biz section of the website, order handbags, cosmetic bags, customized coats and scarves online, and use the company’s wholesale rate. Membership in the Egami Authorized Photographer’s Program (APP) is free.

• John Paul Caponigro Relaunches Website

Internationally known photographer John Paul Caponigro has reorganized his popular website into five sections: workshops; a free, PDF-based instructional library; PDF-based galleries; an online store; and an “about” section with contact information and press releases. Caponigro’s work is featured in public and private collections, including the Estée Lauder Collection and the Smithsonian. His clients include Adobe, Apple Computer and Eastman Kodak.

• Canto Debuts Cumulus 7.1

Canto Software (San Francisco, CA, www.canto.com) is offering the latest version of the popular Cumulus Digital Asset Management software as a download on the company’s website. Available free of charge to Cumulus Workgroup and Cumulus Enterprise customers on Software Maintenance (SM) subscriptions, Cumulus 7.1 includes product fixes and updates across the entire product line. Among its new features, version 7.1 lets Cumulus users personalize Native Client workspace layouts to better suit specific tasks, and it includes trigger notifications that automatically email clients when files are ready for review. The new version also offers Web Access Clients powerful asset relationship management options that were previously available only in the Native Client. Introduced in 1992, Cumulus Digital Asset Management software is installed on more than 13,000 servers worldwide, with over 1,000,000 user licenses.

• Canon Celebrates Elph’s 10th Birthday

Canon (Lake Success, NY, www.powershot. com) is celebrating the 10th birthday of the popular ELPH brand digital cameras. To commemorate this milestone, Canon is sponsoring a series of events that will include a sweepstakes that brings 10 winners and their guests to New York City for a VIP concert experience at the renowned “Z100’s Jingle Ball 2006” in December. Winners will also receive customized, bejeweled PowerShot Digital ELPH cameras. As part of the 10th birthday celebration, Canon will auction off five additional bejeweled cameras, January 9, 2007, in Las Vegas, to benefit the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) (www.missingkids.com).

• Brooks Names Epson Scholarship Recipient

Brooks Institute of Photography (Santa Barbara, CA, www.brooks.edu) named high school senior Danielle Schalesky, from Lakeville, Minnesota, to receive the 2006 Warren King Foundation/ Epson Scholarship. The scholarship, as originally conceived by King, was created to nurture the study of photographic arts in California high schools. It’s now open to high school students throughout the United States. Schalesky is enrolled in a Bachelor’s degree program at Brooks Institute, majoring in professional photography.

• LexJet acquires Sone Systems

LexJet Corp. (Sarasota, FL, www.lexjet.com), a leading manufacturer and provider of materials for digitally printed large- format graphics, has acquired California-based Sone Systems (Orange, CA, www.sone.com).

The combined companies will give their customers one-stop shopping for a wide selection of materials for aqueous, solvent, and UV-curable inkjet printing and digital dye sublimation. LexJet also plans to add a 10th distribution center, in Los Angeles, to its nationwide network for fast order fulfillment.

• Julia Dean Photo Workshops Contest

Julia Dean Photo Workshops (Marina del Rey, CA, 310/821-0909, www.juliadean.com), Samy’s Camera, Universal Art Gallery and Canon USA are once again sponsoring “The Berenice Abbott Prize for an Emerging Photographer.” Known primarily for her documentary work of New York City in the 1930s, Abbott also was a portrait photographer, educator, inventor and writer. Entries for the Berenice Abbott prize will be judged as fine art, commercial photography or photojournalism. Contestants must never have had a one-person show in a prestigious photo or art gallery, and they cannot be represented by a gallery outside of the state where they reside.

The first-prize winner will receive a one-person exhibition at the Julia Dean Gallery, airfare to Los Angeles for the exhibit opening, hotel accommodations for two nights, a rental car for two days and a Canon EOS Digital SLR Camera. Entries must be submitted by 5 p.m., December 9.

• Andy Rouse Wins Wildlife Photography Awards

Professional wildlife photographer Andy Rouse (Wiltshire, UK, www.andyrouse.co.uk) placed highly in the prestigious 2006 Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. This is the fifth time in 10 years that he has received an award in the competition. His entry this year, “Rival Kings,” which was given a Highly Commended award, shows the courtship between king penguins. The female king penguin is on the left doing the pushing, while her “chosen” male fends off the advances of another admirer. Rouse, who took the image December 26, 2005, on the Falkland Islands, is one of the world’s top wildlife photographers.

• Photokina Attracts 162,000 Visitors

The biennial Cologne, Germany-based photokina trade show (www.koelnmesse.de/wEnglisch/photokina) drew 1579 exhibiting companies from 46 countries and over 162,000 visitors from 153 countries. As the largest photokina ever, the sprawling photography trade show had something for both amateur and professional photographers, including numerous new products and the new state-of-the-art Northern Convention Halls. However, unlike previous shows, which treated consumer imaging technology as separate from professional technology, this year’s show emphasized the imaging workflow, from capturing an image to storing it, processing it and presenting it with the appropriate equipment. Photokina’s big-name exhibitors this year included Canon, Fujifilm, Eastman Kodak, Leica, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax and Sony, while more recent exhibitors from the consumer electronics, IT and communications arenas, such as Casio, Epson, Hewlett-Packard, Nokia and Samsung, had considerably larger stands. Major first-time exhibitors included Apple Computer and CeWe Color, Europe’s largest photofinisher. The next photokina Cologne “World of Imaging” trade show will take place from September 23–28, 2008.

New Products:

• Bundled Software From Nik and iView

Nik Software (San Diego, CA, www.niksoftware.com) and iView Multimedia (www.iview-multimedia.com), a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft, are marketing Nik Color Efex Pro 2.0 Select Edition and iView MediaPro 3.0 as a bundled solution. Designed to improve imaging workflows while providing a host of award-winning Photoshop-compatible filters, the Nik-iView software combo gives photographers the professional tools they need to quickly organize, enhance and transform their valuable digital images. Nik Color Efex 2.0 Select and iView MediaPro 3.0 are available online for $229, a $119 savings.

• New Website for Professional Photographers

John Phoenix and Lisa Catera of Phoenix Photography designed SeeYourPhotos. net (Mission, KS, 866/523-6463, www.see yourphotos.net) to meet the needs photographers face when they attempt to post and sell their images online. SeeYourPhotos.net walks photographers through the easy-to-follow signup page and uploading procedures. It includes “real-time” demos that illustrate the many features available on the site, as well as the opportunity to sign up for a free two-week trial.

• TreasureKnit Adds Services

TreasureKnit (Toronto, Ontario, Canada, www.treasureknit.com) has added features not included with its original product line. While still producing machine-washable photo rugs, tote bags, blankets and towels made from 100% hypoallergenic cotton yarn, the company now offers fringes around the edges of photo blankets, as well as specially designed TKTeam and TKClass Picture photo blankets. TreasureKnit also markets TKCollage Photo Blankets and the unique TKCanvas, which uses state-of-the-art technology and digital brush strokes to transform a digital photo into a timeless oil painting. TKCollage, TKTeam and TKClass 50x60-inch Picture Photo Blankets list for $129.95; TKCanvas, available in four sizes, starts at $99.95.

• Imagetogo Photographers’ Websites

Imagetogo.us (www.imagetogo.us) addresses the needs of anyone wanting to create low-cost, disposable websites. The highly customizable, easy-to-use and fast uploading of image files makes imagetogo.us a valuable selling aide for a wide range of businesses. This will enable them to reach a wider customer base, offering better customer service by targeting individual customers or groups. Features of Imagetogo.us websites include no setup or joining fee and no monthly fees, print orders sent to you directly, PayPal for payment, fast uploads, built-in copyright watermarking, and simple and free store setup.

• Quantum Rolls Out New Products

Quantum Instruments (Hauppauge, NY, 631/656-7400, www.qtm.com) is marketing three new products: the Qnexus receiver/decoder, the Qflash 5d-R portable flash and the Turbo Slim Compact battery. The Qnexus receiver/decoder, which attaches to 5d-R flash units, reads wireless TTL signals directly from Canon and Nikon shoe-mount master flashes. It’s designed to integrate multiple 5d-Rs into Canon or Nikon wireless TTL systems, where they act as dedicated, full-function remotes controlled totally from the camera’s flash menu. The new 5d-R Qflash portable flash series includes two models: the Qflash T5d-R, which provides up to 150 watt-seconds of studio quality lighting, and the X5d-R units, which deliver up to 400 watt-seconds. The Turbo Slim Compact (SC) battery line uses state-of-the-art NiHM batteries for lightning-fast recycling times and high capacity. Although compact, it provides up to 225 full-power flashes with Quantum's Qflash units, or 400 shoe-mount flashes on a single 1.5-hour charge.

• Phase One Introduces New Line of Digital Backs

Phase One (Melville, NY, 631/547-8900, www.phaseone.com), a world leader in professional digital imaging solutions, recently debuted the new P+ Series line of digital backs. Designed to support all medium format, large format and technical cameras, P+ backs feature Opticolor+, Dynamic+ and XPose+ for exceptional color accuracy in environments where dust and temperature extremes are a problem. They also have better high-ISO image quality than previous versions, and they now support live previews with a scalable focus window. Exposure times can be up to one hour. P+ Series Backs ship with Capture One 4 RAW workflow software and are available in five configurations, ranging from the 16-megapixel P 20+ ($10,990) to the 39-megapixel P 45+ Classic ($29,990).

• New Helene Glassman Digital Frame Collection From onOne Software

onOne Software (Portland, OR, 888/968-1468, www.ononesoft ware.com) is marketing the newly designed Helene Glassman Digital Frame Collection for users of onOne's Photoshop-compatible PhotoFrame Pro 3 and Photoshop Elements-compatible PhotoFrame 3. The new collection adds to the already extensive library of easy-to-use border and edge effects currently available, including the Jim DiVitale, Vincent Versace, Rick Sammon and the popular Instant Film Digital Frame Collections. Helene Glassman is an award-winning Santa Barbara-based photographer who teaches at seminars internationally, including Photoshop World, the WPPI Convention, and Imaging USA. All Digital Frame Collections are available for $39.95.

• New High-tech Flatbed From Microtek

Microtek (Carson, CA, www. microtek.com), a leading manufacturer of digital imaging products, recently announced that it is developing the ArtixScan M1, a combined flatbed and film scanner that accepts 35mm, 6cm and 4x5 film formats as well as reflective artwork as large as 8.5x14 inches. Unlike other high-end flatbed scanners, the M1 uses E.D.I.T. technology (Emulsion Direct Imaging Technology), which removes the glass platen between the scanner’s CCD sensor and film emulsion. That delivers outstanding, 4800-dpi image files that are free from distortion and Newton Rings. The M1 will include SilverFast software, fully integrated color management based on ICC standards for positive film and prints, and NegaFix technology for negative film. It is expected to be available in February 2007 for $699.