PhotoWorldManila.com

Olympus is celebrating 90 years of its existence by launching its E-3 DSLR into space. The Olympus Space Project will “photograph the majestic beauty of our planet and raise awareness to protect it.”

The company’s flagship E-3 digital single lens reflex camera and ZUIKO digital lenses will journey to the International Space Station (ISS) on the next Space Shuttle Discovery mission. Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata will take photos of the earth from space with the Olympus E-3 throughout his three-month mission on the ISS. Dr. Kawata will stay in the Kibo (Hope), Japan’s first manned facility in the ISS where astronauts can conduct experiments for long periods of time.

“For 90 years we’ve continued to develop innovative products that help improve peoples’ lives every day – from capturing memories to documenting environmental changes,” said F. Mark Gumz, president, Olympus Imaging America Inc. “Olympus cameras are used by the National Park Service to track air quality at our nation’s parks and by wildlife photographer Mitsuaki Iwago, whose images focus on global environmental issues and nature preservation. We’re taking this commitment to the next level by capturing our planet’s delicate beauty from space.”

[Site: Olympus Space Project]

The Federation of Philippine Photographers Foundation, Inc. (FPPF) is offering a new workshop, Web Design for Photographers, to enable working photographers to make their own websites without depending on a Web administrator or an IT professional for help.

While it’s geared towards photographers, the workshop is designed to teach the fundamentals of website creation that will also be useful to non-photographers. It is for absolute beginners; the workshop requires only that you are comfortable working with your own computer.

The end goal of the workshop is to enable a photographer to create and upload his portfolio of photographs to his own website on the Internet, and how to maintain and update it. For non-photographers, the workshop will also teach them how to create and maintain their own website. The workshop also teaches participants how to take advantage of existing free blogging sites such as WordPress, Blogspot and Multiply and be able to modify and customize them for their own use.

The workshop will be conducted at the FPPF by Chris Malinao, webmaster of PhotoWorldManila.com. Details here.

Olympus America recently provided E-30 and E-620 DSLRs to 10 University of Arts students in Philadelphia to try out the new in-camera creative functions of the new models such as the Art Filters, Multiple Exposure shooting and Multi-aspect ratio shooting. They got to shooting for 3 days and here are sample shots from their photo walk:

Olympus today announced the E-620 digital SLR, positioned in the upper entry-level bracket to offer features targeted at amateurs and professionals alike.

The 12.3-megapixel E-620 carries features from the E-30 but with a body that closely matches that of the E-420 in smallness. Image stabilization, 2.7-inch free-angle LCD, Shadow Adjustment and two autofocus systems are some of its headline features. E-30 technologies that were handed down to the E-620 include in-camera Art Filters, a Multiple Exposure mode and 4 selectable aspect ratios.

With its built-in wireless flash capability, The E-620 can control up to three wireless flash groups independently, with multiple flash units in each group for dramatic flash effects.

The Olympus E-620 DSLR will be available in May 2009 with a body-only price of $700. Add only $100 to get the kit with the ED 14-42mm f3.5/5.6 Zuiko Digital Zoom lens.

DPReview.com has a hands on preview of the new camera.

[Site: Olympus]
[Via: DPReview.com]

Zeitgeist Becomes Form: German Fashion Photography 1945-1955, at the Yuchengco Museum in Makati from Feb 26 to April 25, 2009

“Zeitgeist Becomes Form: German Fashion Photography 1945-1955” is a photo exhibit featuring iconic images by some of Germany’s most renowned photographers including Helmut Newton, Wolfgang Tillmans, Olaf Martens, Jürgen Teller and 35 others. It will run from February 26 to April 25, 2009 at the Yuchengco Museum in Makati.

Zeitgeist Becomes Form is a photo exhibit by the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen e. V. (ifa) / Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations presented by the Goethe-Institut Manila, Yuchengco Museum and Rogue Magazine.

More than fashion history, the exhibit also offers an insight into the pictorial language of the respective photographers, the model, her or his pose as well as the clothing, the background, and the technical quality of the photographs in that 10-year period. The pictures give information on the so-called Zeitgeist (“spirit of the times”), changes in society, codes of morality, and the feelings and longings of people at a certain point in time.

[Site: Goethe-Institut]

Timeless Baguio as an Idyllic Tourist Destination, a photo contest jointly sponsored by The Victory Liner and YKL Color Fujifilm.

The bus company, Victory Liner, and YKL Color Fujifilm have announced a photo contest that offers over P180,000 in total prizes. The contest was announced by YKL marketing services manager Ariel Tresvalles at a meeting Saturday of the PhotoWorld Cup member clubs at the FPPF in Manila.

Ariel said the contest is open to all photographers, amateurs and professionals alike, aged 18 years and above. Theme is “Timeless Baguio as an Idyllic Tourist Destination.” The photographs should depict people, places and events in the summer capital.

First prize is P75,000; second gets P50,000 and third prize is P35,000, plus YKL Color Fujifilm gift packs for the major prizes. You don’t have to put a Victory Liner bus in your photos to win the major prizes, but if your pretty picture happens to have that, there’s a special prize of P20,000 for the best entry showing a Victory Liner bus in a readily recognizable Baguio scenery.

Old photos don’t count. Entries should be no older than those taken January 2009. Winning entries will be required to submit the EXIF files of their photos. Contest rules here.

As for copyright, about which PhotoWorld Cup members are so particular about, Ariel assures that the same remains with the photographer. Victory Liner requests only for a 2-year exclusive use of the Top 100 images, and this is limited only for announcement and exhibit purposes, no commercial use of the images. And the photos, when used, will always be attributed to the photographers.

Deadline for entries to the contest is on April 30, 2009. See the Victory Liner website at www.victoryliner.com for full details. Contest rules and entry forms are available at Victory Liner bus terminals, YKL Color Fujifilm outlets and at the FPPF offices in Intramuros.

If you’re a professional photographer, you should see this. If you’re an amateur photographer, you should see this. Heck, even if you’re not a photographer, you gotta see this.

The video was created by Zack Arias, an editorial music photographer, for his guest blog at ScottKelby.com.

The winning photo by Dr. Diosdado D. Dominado of the Olongapo Camera Club.

Dr. Diosdado Dominado of the Olongapo Camera Club won First Place during the PhotoWorld Asia 2009 On-the-Spot Fashion Photo Contest held recently at the Glorietta Ayala Mall in Makati. Aside from the top prize of P10,000 Dr. Dominado also took 4th, 5th and 7th Places for his outstanding shots of the fashion model. The judges took note of his expert use of available light, the sharpness of his photographs and the way he composed his photos.

The complete list of winners:

1. First Place – Dr. Diosdado D. Dominado (Olongapo) – P10,000
2. Second Place – Ed Enriquez (Likha) – P7,000
3. Third Place – Ferdinand V. Rosales – (Accenture) – P5,000
4. Fourth Place – Diosdado D. Dominado (Olongapo) – P1,000
5. Fifth Place – Diosdado D. Dominado (Olongapo) – P1,000
6. Sixth Place – Roger Tingle (Likha) – P1,000
7. Seventh Place – Diosdado D. Dominado (Olongapo) – P1,000
8. Eighth Place – Raniel Jose Castañeda (Twilight Zone) P1,000
9. Ninth Place – Ed Enriquez (Likha) – P1,000
10. Tenth Place – Rodrigo Belleza Jr. (Quezon) – P1,000

Prizes may be claimed from the FPPF offices in Intramuros, Manila. Please call Karen or Jen at Tel. 524-7576 for more info.

The contest was organized by the Federation of Philippine Photographers Foundation, Inc. (FPPF) and YKL Color Lab. The Board of Judges was composed of officers and instructors of the FPPF: Prof. Joey Tañedo, Toch Arellano, Chris Malinao, Dennis Araneta, Rod Banzon, Maricris Tabañag and Mark Cabrera.

Click here to see all the winning photos.

Thank You! to all our exhibitors, speakers, delegates, friends, and fellow photographers - from the FPPF and PWAsia 2009.

PhotoWorld Asia 2009 is not just a simple trade and photo show that gathers all the major players in the industry together for six days. PWAsia 2009 is a tradition that dates back in 1987. Through the years the annual event has become a happy occasion where photographers from all over the country and even from foreign lands renew old friendships and meet new friends. It is marked as a celebration of photography where those who are involved in the art learn new ideas, adopt innovative techniques, keep in step with technology and end up with a strong determination to succeed and be more prepared to face the challenges of the times.

To you all, our heartfelt thanks for being with us in PWAsia 2009 and we hope that what we learned from the event will give us more reasons to celebrate photography again — in 2010!

From: Ms. Eduviges Y. Huang, Chairperson, FPPF and Ms. Rina G. Falcis, Chairwoman, PWAsia 2009.

Earl Semitara and Ricardo Bautista topped the second batch of the Basic Photography workshop held January 11,18,25, Feb 8 & 15 at the FPPF Art Chamber in Intramuros, Manila. They came out First Place winners: Earl in Environmental Portait and Ric in Still Life, with Yellow and Blue as theme. They both were awarded trophies for their winning photographs.

Here are all the winners in Portrait and Still Life:

Portrait winners all, L-R: 4th Place Lady Buensalida, 3rd Place Jason Calubaquib, First Place Earl Semitara, 2nd Place Jennifer Aguila and 5th Place Orville Zaragoza, Jr.

In the Yellow & Blue competition, the winners are (L-R): 1st Place Ricardo C. Bautista, 2nd Place Carlito David, Jr., 3rd Place Terrence James Garcia, 4th Place Orville Zaragoza Jr. and 5th Place Jonathan Alegria.

The photographs of all winning participants have been posted in the Gallery.

Present during the judging and awarding ceremonies was the legendary photojournalist and sports photographer Ramon Vecina, 2nd from right, who gave away autographed copies of his book, 50 Years of Photojournalism, to the winners and judges. With him in the photo are (L-R) Prof. Joey Tañedo, Chris Malinao, Mrs. Eduviges Y. Huang - FPPF Chairperson, and Toch Arellano, to Mr. Vecina's left.