Let's talk about adding "noise" to your prints and a few other things!

For this installment, I offer a tip for getting a more "film-like" look in your prints, an overview of a new series of shows at ICP in New York, some Photoshop CS4 tutorial links, and some links to info about the photokina trade show now happening in Germany. First, I've decided to share a tip that I included in my book, "301 Inkjet Tips and Techniques," primarily because so many of the people who have attended my recent workshops can't believe that I actually do this. So without further ado, here's the tip: Add Noise to Make Your Prints Look Even Better.

The International Photography Awards (IPA) announced the Nominees for the International Photographer of the Year, The Discovery of the Year and the Deeper Perspective Award for 2008. The winners will be announced at the Lucie Awards on Monday evening, October 20, 2008 at the Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center. Tickets for the Lucie Awards are available at http://www.lincolncenter.org. The Lucie Awards, presented by Pilsner Urquell, celebrate their 6th year anniversary. In addition to the winners of this competition, honorees will be recognized at the ceremony. The Lucie Awards, produced by the Lucie Foundation, (a non-profit, charitable foundation), salute the achievements of the world's finest photographers, discover emerging talent through the International Photography Awards and promote the appreciation of photography worldwide.

powerHouse Books has implemented a brand new "Submissions Programme," which allows applicants to obtain a well-crafted and personalized assessment of the their projects as well as the opportunity for them to be professionally designed for portfolio presentations. From the entries received through the Programme, they have announced the publication of two new titles for 2009: The Invisible Empire: Ku Klux Klan by Anthony S. Karen (Spring 2009) and Brooklyn Navy Yard by John Bartlestone (Fall 2009).

It may seem like the most unexpected marriage of future technology: a new cutting-edge imaging satellite launched on a rocket bearing the Google logo. The launch was not sponsored by Google, but the world's most popular search engine will gain exclusive rights to use the images produced by the new satellite. The satellite was, in fact, built by General Dynamics and launched by Boeing. Additional funding came from Geoeye and the US Defense Department's National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. The use of Google's logo is the product of an undisclosed agreement.

Nikon Inc. today proudly continued its legacy of NIKKOR high quality optics with the introduction of the AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G lens. A staple in any photographer's kit, the new AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G prime lens is a significant offering from Nikon as it captures stunning images in a perspective similar to the human eye. This year Nikon Inc. also celebrates 75 years of NIKKOR precision lenses and a milestone of 45 million lenses produced. Available as a great addition to a photographer's current lens collection, the AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G prime lens offers photographers remarkable clarity, vivid color reproduction and the benefit of Silent Wave Motor (SWM) technology. Available in December 2008 for an estimated selling price of $439.95.

From the newest digital cameras hitting the market to imaging software, printers, accessories and more, PDN PhotoPlus Expo is your #1 source for the latest technologies and hottest products. Exhibitors have posted new products online so you can get familiar with them before the show. Register today to see these products live at the Most Important Event in the Photo Industry. PDN PhotoPlus is the most important photography trade show in the country - come and explore an inspiring array of photography and imaging products and services - all from the industry's leading manufacturers.

SHOTS Magazine announces an international call for photographic work to be considered for publication in the ANNUAL PORTFOLIO ISSUE. Subject matter is open. Please visit the SHOTS website for complete details and guidelines. Selected photographers will be interviewed and have their work featured on at least four pages in this issue. An established independent photography journal in its 22nd year of publication, SHOTS Magazine reaches an international audience of photographers, collectors, galleries, museums, educators and other fine art photography enthusiasts. Don't miss this chance to have your work seen! Submittals are due by November 3.

Canon U.S.A., recently introduced the EOS 5D Mark II Digital SLR camera, the long-awaited successor to Canon's highly popular EOS 5D, introduced in 2005. Building upon the qualities that made the EOS 5D camera so successful, Canon has coupled the creative power of a full-frame CMOS sensor in a relatively compact and affordable camera body, together with groundbreaking HD video capture that opens the door to a much wider range of imaging possibilities for photographers. Along with the ability to capture full HD video clips at 1920 x 1080 resolution, Canon's EOS 5D Mark II Digital SLR camera features a 21.1-megapixel full frame 24 x 36mm CMOS sensor, DIGIC 4 imaging processor and significantly lower noise, with an expanded sensitivity range from ISO 50 to ISO 25,600.

Throckmorton Fine Art is pleased to present an exhibit of the iconic images of Graciela Iturbide (September 18th - November 1st, 2008), who has won the 2008 Hasselblad Award in Photography. This award, granted by the Hasselblad Foundation in Göteborg, Sweden, is widely held to be the most prestigious award in photography. This award follows on the heels of another honor for the acclaimed Mexican photographer: a major exhibit of her work-featuring 140 images-at the J. Paul Getty Museum (December 18, 2007-April 13, 2008). Graciela Iturbide was born in Mexico City in 1942, 1 of 13 children. She grew up in comfort, married early, and had three children. However, after the tragic death of a daughter, she turned to photography-and particularly to photographing women.

The 2008 Fine Print Collection has been a huge success, and we are grateful to our many supporters! We are writing to remind you that we have only a few prints left of many editions-act now! Membership to SF Camerawork is tax-deductible to the full extent permitted by law, and the prints make fantastic holiday gifts for loved ones. Please contact Gallery Manager Chelsea Morse at info@sfcamerawork.org to make your selection. Don't miss your chance - these prints are going fast!

Catering to consumers-on-the-go with the world's most popular portable storage offerings, Western Digital today introduced its new 500 GB capacity My Passport Portable USB Drives which are designed to make it easy to store a half a terabyte of music, videos or photos and carry them in the palm of your hand. Available now at WD's online store (www.shopwd.com), the new 500 GB capacity is offered on the My Passport Elite and My Passport Essential portable drive models. A recent consumer study conducted by WD of 1,559 external hard drive users revealed that 54 percent of survey respondents wished that there was an automatic way to back up their computer without having to think about it. My Passport Elite portable drives are equipped with software to automatically back up consumers' ever-growing collection of personal media and digital files.

Brahn Awards and Events is proud to announce the Create Awards 2008 Winners Showcase and Gallery will take place at Create Chaos 2008 at the Orlando World Center Marriott on Oct. 14-16. The highly anticipated Winners Showcase goes live on the web the same week. "The quality of entries we received this year was phenomenal...the wide range of talent and diversity in this year's submissions from across the globe made the 2008 Create Awards highly competitive," said Jerry Brown, President of Brahn Communications, producer of Create Chaos 2008 and the 2008 Create Awards, and Founder of Create Magazine. The Create Awards Gallery kicks off on Oct. 14, 2008 with a cocktail reception at the Orlando World Center Marriott from 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m. Winning pieces will be on display, along with winners and judges mixing and mingling.

Delkin Devices, Inc. has just released several new Pop-Up Shades, expanding its line of protective camera accessories. The latest shades are for the Nikon D3, Nikon D300 and more recently, the Nikon D60 and Canon Rebel XSi. Also introduced was a 2.8" Universal model that fits compact cameras with either 2.7" or 2.8" LCDs. Pop-Up Shade LCD covers are available in several models which easily attach to digital cameras. The two part design closes to provide rugged protection for LCD screens, and lifts up to shade the LCD for improved visibility when the camera is used in bright light. Go to the link below to see what shades are available for your camera. Even in the "Pop-Up" position, an optically clear plastic shield covers the LCD screen, providing the protection users need while ensuring a crystal clear view of the images. Unlike other "one size fits all" LCD hoods out on the market, our Pop-Up Shades are designed for specific DSLR camera models. Also, aUniversal Pop-Up Shades fit hundreds of Point-and Shoot models, allowing the best option for finding a shade that works perfectly for your camera.

France Scully Osterman is one of the leading artists working in wet-plate collodion, salted paper and albumen printing today. She resides in Rochester, NY and is a guest scholar at the George Eastman House. Osterman will present a lecture at the Center (www.creativephotography.org/information/), October 1, 2008, 5:30pm, about historic photographic processes and how she and other contemporary artists use process artifacts as tools for expression in their work. This program is being held in collaboration with an exhibition of Osterman's work at the Tilt Gallery in Phoenix. For additional information about this process, please go to Osterman's website.

Since her childhood in Louisiana, Debbie Fleming Caffery has been moved by the struggles and injustices facing her African American neighbors who toiled in sugar cane fields and mills. Using the traditionalist's tools of medium-format cameras, black and white film and silver gelatin prints, Caffery has tenaciously and intimately documented the daily life and the passing culture of the bayou communities for the past thirty-five years.

Beth Dow, a professional photographer from Minneapolis, MN, was awarded the $25,000 grand prize in the first-ever Photography.Book.Now competition for her photography book, "In the Garden," a 78-page portfolio of large platinum-palladium prints that examine tensions of mass, light, and perspective in highly cultivated landscapes. Ms. Dow's work was chosen as the most creative, most innovative and finest self-published photography book by an esteemed panel of judges led by Darius Himes, a co-founder of Radius Books. "We were truly blown away by the range and quality of work we saw," said Himes, lead judge, Photography.Book.Now. "It wasn't easy to whittle close to 2,000 submissions down to a single Grand Prize winner; in fact it was brutal. The group of winners is both diverse and of exceptional quality. Ms. Dow's photography is truly outstanding."

With the release (November, 2008) of Misty Dawn: Portrait of a Muse, photographer Jock Sturges continues the long-term engagement with his subjects that has been a cornerstone of his work. Misty Dawn, one of his primary and most popular muses, is one such subject; he has photographed her for twenty-five of her twenty-eight years. Lithe, beautiful, classically proportioned, she is the personification of the photographer's philosophy of being at home in one's body. This work follows her growth from a shy, tomboyish child to a gorgeous, confident young woman. Taken as a whole, this series of images presents a unique, fully realized portrait of a blossoming individual and explores a rare and beautiful relationship between photographer and subject. Misty Dawn: Portrait of a Muse presents iconic Jock Sturges images, as well as previously unpublished material mined from older contact sheets and newest work.

With the "Composer," Lensbaby introduces a completely new lens, based on a ball and socket configuration that delivers smooth selective focus photography with unparalleled ease. The new Composer retains its position after being bent and is easy to use even with one hand. Photographers no longer have to squeeze the lens to focus, but can simply tilt the lens to a desired angle and then focus with a traditional barrel focusing ring. The Composer stays in the desired bent position without requiring a locking mechanism and features the new Lensbaby Optic Swap System. The Composer features a unique manual focus design which requires more rotation to move the optic as you approach infinity. This makes it easier to focus on objects at intermediate and distant depths than regular manual focus lenses.

For visually-creative folks of all stripes, the wait is over! Digital shooters are buzzing with the announcement of Adobe's Creative Suite 4. And day and date with Adobe's news, electronic publishing pioneer Deke McClelland is providing a third-party, impartial, and highly opinionated five-minute review of the new software. His latest dekePod episode, Photoshop CS4: Buy or Die, shows you all facets of the program-complete with commentary-without interrupting your busy day. According to Deke, "Come September 23, there's going to be a fair amount of early training and demos available on Photoshop and the other CS4 apps. But without the software, is that helpful? It struck me, what's really needed is a product review: A sassy, no-holds-barred, is-this-thing-worth-buying-or-not review, which is exactly what this episode of dekePod is."

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