My Blog

March 11, 2014 /Photography News/ Professional Women Photographers (PWP) announces its SPRING 2014 INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S PHOTOGRAPHY CALL FOR ENTRY. Andrea Meislin, Owner and Director of Chelsea’s Andrea Meislin Gallery, will award $5,000 in cash, an article in IMPRINTS Magazine, a one-year online exhibition, and valuable prizes from Datacolor, global leader in color calibration technology. 

Winners will be selected in each of the following four categories:

• Portraiture
• Black and White
• The Environment (Nature, Cityscapes, Street Photography, etc.)
• IPhonography (any image created on an IPhone or other mobile device)

Awards:

• Grand Prize: One photographer will receive $1,000, plus a Datacolor Spyder4PRO color calibration system and SpyderCube raw calibration tool ($225 value.) Her image will appear in the 2014 IMPRINTS Magazine and the online exhibition.
• First Prizes: 4 photographers (one in each category) will receive $500, plus a Datacolor SpyderCHECKR PRO camera calibration system ($139 value.) Their selected images will appear in the 2014 IMPRINTS Magazine and the online exhibition.
• Second Prizes: 4 photographers (one in each category) will receive $300. Their selected images will appear in the 2014 IMPRINTS Magazine and the online exhibition.
• Third Prizes: 4 photographers (one in each category) will receive $200. Their selected images will appear in the 2014 IMPRINTS Magazine and the online exhibition.
• Jurors’ Selections: These12 images will appear in the IMPRINTS Magazine and online exhibition.
• Honorable Mention: 50 additional images will appear in the online exhibition.

Eligibility:

This Call for Entry is open worldwide to ALL WOMEN PHOTOGRAPHERS; NON-MEMBERS AND MEMBERS OF PWP, AMATEUR AND PROFESSIONAL., working in any photography medium or style.

Entry fee:

PWP Members: $25 for the first 3 images.  

Non-Members: $35 for the first 3 images. 

Additional images may be submitted for $10 each. 

Important dates:

• Entries due: April 15, 2014
• Notice of Acceptance: May 5, 2014
• Online Exhibition: October 1, 2014 - September 30, 2015

Juror:

Andrea Meislin opened the Andrea Meislin Gallery, one of New York’s premier photography galleries, in March 2004. She is an art historian, writer, and independent curator. Meislin was formerly the associate curator of photography at the Israel Museum (Jerusalem), and an independent research associate at the Phoenix Art Museum. 

For a complete prospectus, and to submit images, please go to: 

http://www.pwponline.org/open-call/upcoming#openCallType_2

To view all current call for entries listed at Photography News, visit http://www.photography-news.com/2009/12/photography-competitions.html

March 10, 2014 /Photography News/ Born on March 10, 1907, Toni Frissell (or Antoinette Frissell Bacon) was an American photographer, known for her fashion photography, World War II photographs, portraits of famous Americans and Europeans, children, and women from all walks of life.

Frissell worked with many famous photographers of the day, as an apprentice to Cecil Beaton, and with advice from Edward Steichen. She initially worked for Vogue in 1931 as a fashion photographer for Vogue in 1931, and later took photographs for Harper's Bazaar. Her fashion photos, even of evening gowns and such, were often notable for their outdoor settings, emphasizing active women.

In 1941, Frissell volunteered her photographic services to the American Red Cross. Later she worked for the Eighth Army Air Force and became the official photographer of the Women's Army Corps. On their behalf, she took thousands of images of nurses, front-line soldiers, WACs, African-American airmen, and orphaned children. She traveled to the European front twice. Her moving photographs of military women and African American fighter pilots in the elite 332d Fighter Group (the "Tuskegee Airmen") were used to encourage public support for women and African Americans in the military.

In the 1950s, she took informal portraits of the famous and powerful in the United States and Europe, including Winston Churchill, Eleanor Roosevelt, and John F. and Jacqueline Kennedy, and worked for Sports Illustrated and Life magazines. Continuing her interest in active women and sports, she was the first woman on the staff of Sports Illustrated in 1953, and continued to be one of very few female sport photographers for several decades.

In later work she concentrated on photographing women from all walks of life, often as a commentary on the human condition.

Her photographs illustrated the following books:

• A Child's Garden of Verses (1944)
• Bermuda:The Happy Island (1946)
• Mother Goose (1948)
• The King Ranch, 1939-1944 (1965)
• Tethered, by Amy MacKinnon (August 2008)

March 7, 2014 /Photography News/ Born 249 years ago on March 7, 1765, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce was a French inventor, most noted for producing the world's first known photograph in 1825.

By the age of thirty, Niépce had been a professor at an Oratorian college, a staff officer in the French army, and the Administrator of the district of Nice, France. In 1795, Niepce resigned from his position as administrator of Nice to returned to Chalon-sur-Saône --his birthplace-- and pursue research with his brother Claude.

Never one to stick with one pursuit for too long, he had become fascinated with popular art of lithography by 1813. Since Niepce himself had no artistic talent, his son Isadore would make the designs for his lithographs. Niepce would place engravings (which he made transparent) on plates coated with light-sensitive varnishes and expose them to sunlight through a process he called heliography, which literally means "sun writing".

Niépce took what is believed to be the world’s first photogravure etching, in 1822, of an engraving of Pope Pius VII, but the original was later destroyed when he attempted to duplicate it. The earliest surviving photogravure etchings by Niépce are of a 17th century engraving of a man with a horse and of an engraving of a woman with a spinning wheel.

When his son Isadore was called up for military service, Niépce decided to find a way to produce images directly from nature.

Niépce sterted experimenting with silver chloride, which darkens when exposed to light, but eventually looked to bitumen, which he used in his first successful attempt at capturing nature photographically. He dissolved bitumen in lavender oil, a solvent often used in varnishes, and coated the sheet of pewter with this light capturing mixture. He placed the sheet inside a camera obscura to capture the picture, and eight hours later removed it and washed it with lavender oil to remove the unexposed bitumen. He began experimenting to set optical images in 1793. Some of his early experiments made images, but they faded very fast. The earliest known, surviving example of a Niépce photograph was created in 1825.

Starting in 1829 he began collaborating on improved photographic processes with Louis Daguerre, and together they developed the physautotype, a process that used lavender oil. The partnership lasted until Niépce’s death in 1833. Daguerre continued with experimentation, eventually developing a process that little resembled that of Niépce and naming it  the "Daguerréotype".

The Niépce Prize has been awarded annually since 1955 to a professional photographer who has lived and worked in France for over 3 years. It was introduced in honour of Nièpce by Albert Plécy of the l'Association Gens d'Images.

March 6, 2014 /Photography News/ Born 94 years ago today, on March 6, 1920, Marion A. Carpenter was the first female National Press Photographer to cover Washington, D.C., the White House and to travel with a US President.

After studying photography in St. Paul when was in her 20s, she moved to Washington to take a job at the Times-Herald before setting her sights on the White House job. Soon she became one of President Harry S. Truman's favorite photographers, being the only woman among a handful of photographers who traveled with Truman.

Her unique status made critics of some of her male colleagues, such as Washington Times-Herald columnist Tris Coffin, who complained in print that she used her feminine charms -- "smiled and teased" -- to persuade politicians to pose for her. Later, when Carpenter saw Coffin in the Senate restaurant, she sloshed a bowl of navy bean soup over his face, then stalked out. A photograph of the incident was published with the headline "Carpenter Nails Coffin."

An undated photo from Acme Telephoto: "Free-lance photographer Marion Carpenter demonstrates how she threw a bowl of Senate bean soup at columnist Tris Coffin in the Senate Dining room today. She objected to some remarks he made about her in his copyright column. Her aim was good and she scored a direct hit."

According to what she told her friends late in life, a love affair with a married man may have helped end her career prematurely.

Carpenter's marriage to a Navy officer who abused her ended in divorce. In Washington, she fell in love with a Capitol journalist. When the affair ended, Carpenter remarried. Her new husband, a radio announcer, took her to Denver, where they had a son. By 1951, the marriage -- and her career -- were over. She was 31.

Back in St. Paul, Carpenter ran a wedding photo business and worked as a nurse to support her mother and child. Her later life is not well known.

Marion Carpenter died on October 29, 2002, at the age of 82 in the house on Margaret Street, nearly destitute, and alone except for her Rottweiler, Karl.

Among Carpenter's prized belongings is a book about Harry Truman, marked at a page where a photograph shows the president smelling a cherry blossom. Also in her belongings when she died were photos she took of Truman, which the president inscribed to "Miss Carpenter." One of those photos, which showed Truman striding uphill toward the Washington Monument, bears the message: "It's good exercise if you keep it up, but not for high-heeled shoes, Miss Carpenter." Even when she climbed a ladder to the top of the Capitol dome to take a picture almost 300 feet above ground in a skirt, newsmen found it hard to just be nice. A front-page photo of her, high on the ladder, was captioned: "This picture ought to prove you never can tell what a woman photographer will do next."

Detail of a Christmas card (Photograph 58-649) sent to President Truman in 1949 from Marion Carpenter

The White House Correspondents' Association which Carpenter belonged to, has a picture of her with other members of the WHCA who covered President Truman taken at the White House. Even though she was a member of the Association, because she was a woman she was not allowed to attend the annual WHCA dinners, which 14 Presidents had attended since 1924. It was not until 1962, when President John F. Kennedy stated he would not attend the annual dinner, that the ban on women members was lifted.

Several of Carpenter's cameras auctioned with her estate are now considered historic items. Her first camera was a Seneca Competitor View. Other cameras were the 'Rolleicord III' produced in late 1949 by the Rollei-Werke Franke and Heidecke Corporation, and the Iloca Rapid B, a German rangefinder camera from the 1950s.

A book first published in 2003 by Ramona Rush, Seeking Equity for Women in Journalism and Mass Communication Education: A 30-Year Update, describes Carpenter in the preface as a "newly found pioneer White House news photographer" and provides several pages on her life. A book published in 2007 by Anne Commire, Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages, has an article on Marion Carpenter. The St. Paul Camera Club issues an annual "Marion Carpenter Award" in her honor for the best monochrome photojournalism print, also known as the "Annual Monochrome Photojournalism Print Award."

 

March 5, 2014 /Photography News/ Born on March 5, 1817, Louis Jules Dubosq was a French instrument maker, inventor, and pioneering photographer.

In 1844 David Brewster invented the stereoscope, a new invention that could take photographic images in 3D. Later, Louis Jules Duboscq took Brewster's invention, improved on it, began to manufacture the apparatus as well as to produce stereoscopic images. 

In 1851, Dubosq dispayed his pictures in London where the stereoscope attracted the attention of Queen Victoria during one of her visits at Crystal Palace. As a consequence several British and continental makers started to produce stereoscopes and stereoscopic images, and within a few years hundreds of thousands of stereoscopes were sold. 

In 1855, together with the chemist Henri Edme Robiquet, Dubosq improved the method of preserving dry collodion plates, and in 1861, he proposed the polyconograph, a camera attachment with a series of movable plateholders, which made it possible to produce a large number of small pictures on a single plate. 

In the 1860s the famous microphotographs of Rene Dagron were produced with Dubosq's equipment, and in the same years Dubosq presented an arc-light apparatus for enlarging photographic images. 

Dubosq also made several pioneering experiments on moving image technology. 

Among other instruments he built were a colorimeter, a polarimeter, and a heliostat.

Duboscq won medals at the World's Fair  in London in 1851, and in Paris in 1855 and 1856. In 1853 he published Practical Rules For Photography which discussed his apparatus. He was also an Officer of the Legion of Honour.

Dubosq died on September 24, 1886.

Photo: Jonathan Brooks

March 5, 2014 /Photography News/ After the sun sets an entirely different world arises. The natural light is replaced with man-made illumination and all new shadows are cast. The world at night can be a very different place from the day time world. While the work may be ending for some, it is only beginning for others. Moreover, the night often calls for celebrations and other activities. TBM invites you to submit your interpretations and visions of the nocturnal world.

Awards:

• First Place: $400 (USD)
• Second Place: $200 (USD)
• Third Place: $100 (USD)
• Three (3) honorable mentions will also be chosen.

Copyright: All submitted images remain sole property of artist/photographer.

Entry Fee(s):

$20 (USD) for first 4 images

(Up to 8 image entries may be submitted for additional fees)

Both color and/or black and white images will be accepted.

Eligibility:

Open to all individuals 18 years and older, worldwide.

Entry Deadline:

March 27, 2014 (11:59PM CST)

Submit your entry: http://terabellamedia.com/photo-contest 

All finalists are announced in the TBMPN newsletter and on Photography News. Finalists will also receive recognition in on line gallery display and social media exposure via Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

To view all current call for entries listed at Photography News, visit http://www.photography-news.com/2009/12/photography-competitions.html

March 4, 2014 /Photography News/ Born on March 4, 1886, Margrethe Mather was a photographer who --through her exploration of light and form-- helped to transform photography into a modern art.

Despite her amazing body of work, Margrethe Mather remains an enigmatic figure, being best known for her association with Edward Weston, widely renowned as one of the twentieth century's most important photographers. However, many consider Mather to have been Weston's mentor and teacher. She shared with him her intuitive eye for composition and her innate sense of artistic style, teaching him how to edit an image to its very essence. Being a part of the growing bohemian cultural scene in Los Angeles, she also introduced him to her circle of bohemian friends, who taught him to view life from a variety of perspectives. In turn, Weston encouraged Mather to exhibit her work and compete for recognition.

Margrethe Mather was very outgoing and artistic in a flamboyant way, and her permissive sexual morals were far different from the conservative Weston at the time - Mather had been a prostitute and was bisexual with a preference for women.

Since Mather and Weston met in 1913 they worked together until he departed for Mexico in 1923 with Tina Modotti.

The photographs Mather made, both alone and in collaboration with Weston, helped set the stage for the shift from pictorialism to modernity. Many of her photographs were more experimental than those being produced by her contemporaries.

Mather died on December 25, 1952.

Her work is featured in the book, Margrethe Mather & Edward Weston: A Passionate Collaboration (W.W. Norton & Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 2001).

February 27, 2014 /Photography News/ Born 200 years ago on February 27, 1814, Robert Turnbull Macpherson was a Scottish artist and photographer who worked in Rome, Italy in the 19th century.

During his initial years in Rome, Macpherson practiced his art as a painter. While records exist of several works between 1840 and 1845, his only known surviving work is a large oil painting of the Roman Campagna, dated 1842. In addition to painting, he worked as an art dealer.

In 1851, having failed to achieve notice as a painter, Macpherson turned to the new art of photography, using albumin on glass negatives. By 1856 he had transitioned to collodio-albumin, allowing the easier transport of dry plates. He typically utilized large-format negatives and long exposure times to attain exceptional detail of Roman architecture, monuments, ruins, landscapes, and sculptures. His work emphasized careful composure of scenes to capture three-dimensional architectural relationships on the two-dimensional photographic medium. Macpherson emphasized the artistic aspects of his photography, stating in 1863 that "I remain a photographer to this day, without any feeling that by doing so I have abandoned art, or have in any way forfeited my claim to the title of artist."

By the early 1860s, Macpherson's photographic career was near its zenith, with exhibitions in Edinburgh and London. His work received critical acclaim, with "subjects chosen with fine taste and the pictures executed with skill and delicacy."

Macpherson was the first photographer permitted to photograph inside the Vatican, and in 1863 published Vatican Sculptures, Selected and Arranged in the Order in which they are Found in the Galleries, a guide book to 125 Vatican sculptures featuring woodcut illustrations carved by his wife from his photographs.

By the late 1860s Macpherson's fortunes were in decline. His health had deteriorated due to malaria, and the increasing political instability in Rome reduced the stream of British tourists that made up much of his customer base. At the same time, technical advances in photography moved the medium from the realm of artists to that of a commodity.

Robert Macpherson died on 17 November 1872, and was buried at San Lorenzo fuori le Mura in Rome, though his grave has since been lost.

Over the course of his photography career, Macpherson cataloged 1,019 photographs. Today, a significant number of Macpherson works are held at the George Eastman House, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Courtauld Institute of Art, and the British School at Rome. Smaller collections are found worldwide.

February 26, 2014 /Photography News/  Born in Leobschütz in Prussia on February 26, 1855 (or 1853 -- his exact birth year is unclear), Carl Oswald Bulla was a prominent Russian photographer, often referred as the "father of photo-reporting in Russia".

In 1865 Bulla ran away from his family in Russia, to St. Petersburg, where 10 years later he opened his first photographic studio, and in 1886 he received the permit from the St. Petersburg Police allowing him to take pictures anywhere outside his studio and to become more involved into photography of city life.

At the end of the 19th century newspaper printing technology allowed the publishing of photographs. In 1894 Russian Department of Post and Telegraphs also allowed use of postcards. Both events significantly increased the demand for Bulla's images. At that time, his advertisment read: "The oldest photographer-illustrator Karl Bulla photographs for the illustrated magazines anything and anywhere without limits from the landscape or the building, indoor or outdoor day or night at the artificial light".

In 1916 Bulla passed the management of his firm "Bulla and sons" to his sons Alexander and Victor and moved to Ösel Island (currently Saaremaa, Estonia). He lived a quiet life there, photographing the local ethnographic material and teaching Estonian boys the basics of photography until his death in 1929.

In 1935 the son of Karl, Victor Bulla donated to the State Archive of Leningrad District 132,683 negatives of Bulla's photographs. The archive grew and now consists of more than 200,000 negatives of works by Karl Bulla and his sons. 

February 26, 2014 /Photography News/ PictureCompete presents “Abandoned.” There is something terribly intriguing with deserted structures. Perhaps we are drawn to the mystery of the past purpose and function of these buildings. Perhaps we wonder about the individuals who once occupied these dwellings. Possibly, as photographers, we are drawn to capturing the “bare bones” and the essence of a subject and allowing our viewers to use their imaginations. PictureCompete invites you to submit your best representations of what “Abandoned” means to you.

Polaroid Land Camera Model 95. Photo: Eugene Ilchenko

February 18, 2014 /Photography News/ TBM Photography Network is very pleased to announce its popular segment: "Photographer Spotlight.” In this part of their newsletter they will be interviewing various fellow photographers and learning more about what motivates them, what their goals are and what direction they wish to take with their art. 

TBMPN is very pleased to announce this week's interview is with the very talented photographer Seth Hancock.

TBMPN: Was photography always your first choice as a profession?

S.H: Actually, photography was not my first choice. I took the advice of my parents and went to college to get another degree besides photography. After graduating I began working for the McCann-Erickson Advertising agency. I worked on accounts for Coca-Cola, Kmart, Sega and Buick. I then began working for the Doe-Anderson Advertising agency on the account for Valvoline. Soon after, Valvoline invited me to work for them. I became one of the youngest brand managers in their history. Though I was making “great” money, I wasn’t completely satisfied. I wanted something more. So, on February 9, 2004 I threw away every necktie I ever owned and walked away from a successful career to pursue my dream of being a photographer.

TBMPN: From where do you draw your inspiration for your works?

S.H: I admire the works of many of the current portrait photographers. Though I have a tremendous amount of respect for the works of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Paul Strand and Edward Weston, I now receive inspiration from artists like Gregory Heisler, Brian Smith and Dan Winters.

The images created by both Brian Smith and Dan Winters make me smile. When I “grow up” I want to be just like them! (Not a bad thing to hear from a guy in his late 30’s, right?) Seriously, though, their work is amazing. I hope to be able to compete on the same level as Heisler, Smith and Winters someday very soon.

TBMPN: How would you classify or categorize your style?

S.H: There is no question that I am a “portrait photographer.” When I first started out I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I photographed everything from landscapes to seniors to boudoir scenes to families. As time passed and my skills progressed, I realized that more than anything else I am a portrait photographer. I enjoy getting to know people and capturing their images. It intrigues me, motivates me and inspires me.

TBMPN: “10 Minutes with a Stranger” is an amazing piece. From where did this idea arise?

S.H: Thank you so much for saying that. The idea came from my belief that everyone has a story, and we just don’t take the time to talk with one another anymore. I had always wanted to drive across America and do a project like this. When my wife and I decided to move to New York City from Los Angeles I knew that this was my opportunity. I wanted to see if I could travel across the States and meet as many people as possible and create something special. When I first started out on this journey I had no idea who I would meet or what would happen. I just knew I had to do my best and to not “suck” at what I was attempting. I only hoped that something great would come from this project.

TBMPN: Why 10 minutes? What is the significance with that particular amount of time?

S.H: The idea of “10 Minutes with a Stranger” is something that evolved over the course of 47 days on the road. Though I liked the idea of not giving myself any limitations while on this journey, I did find that ten minutes seemed to be the right amount of time that it took to get to know someone or to connect with them before I asked them their personal question. In all one hundred and fifty people were photographed, interviewed, and each one was asked a completely different question.

TBMPN: Your video documentary, “Leftovers,” deals with the hunger issue in older Americans. How did you become interested in this problem?

S.H: That’s a really long story, but one I still find interesting. While working in the Midwest in television and commercial video production I came in contact with a couple of people who were heavily involved in the “Meals on Wheels” program in America. They were interested in making an authentic documentary and not a publicity piece. They wanted this film to be from the perspective of someone who never thought about or cared about the hunger in the senior citizens in America.

When I first started working on “Leftovers” I was thinking that this project was pointless and boring and not going to mean anything. After a couple of weeks of filming my attitude completely changed, and I started realizing that this documentary can really change the way we look at seniors and hunger. What prompted the change was when I said to myself, “If this can happen to these people then this can happen to me!” I then realized that we had a chance to make a great documentary and to show that what’s happening to our senior citizens can happen to any one of us in America.

TBMPN: What does the future hold for you? What other projects are on the horizon?

S.H: I am planning to do another version of “10 Minutes with a Stranger”. This time I would be going from New York City back to Los Angeles and taking the southern route. I truly believe this is such a great project and gets people talking with one another regardless of race, religion, political views, or orientations. It allows us to connect, once again, as human beings and I relish the idea of being able to do it again. I am excited about it because I can show people the previous series with the hopes they open up much easier than the people did the first time around. This project has so much potential, and I cannot wait until this spring to get back out on the road and work on part 2 of this great series!

We invite you to visit Mr. Hancock’s website for more on his story and to also visit the FaceBook page dedicated to “10 Minutes with a Stranger.”

Website: www.sethhancock.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com/10MinuteswithaStranger 

                   http://facebook.com/thesethhancock 

Twitter: @thesethhancock

Wish to be considered for the next Spotlight interview?

Please contact TBMPN's staff: info@tbmpn.com

February 17, 2014 /Photography News/ "This Miniature Series was born December 2013 and is a work in progress. 

When I sprained my left ankle and broke my right ankle and needed surgery in June 2013 from falling into a drainage ditch on a photo trip to Spokane Washington (farm land), I was laid up for 4-5 months. During that time, I gained weight because I was unable to walk. 

A few months after my ankles healed, I headed straight to a weight loss program to try to shed the extra pounds that I had gained during my healing process. 

While I was preparing my meals, I came up with the idea of using my life long miniature collection with the various foods I was eating; mostly but not limited to fruits and vegetables. Over the next 4-5 weeks I created over 25 images in this brand new Series; MINIATURE APPETITE".

Photos and text: Laurie McCormick, Los Angeles, CA, USA. All rights reserved.

Laurie McCormick - Burning Calories

Laurie McCormick - Scuptor

Laurie McCormick - Shooting Hoops

Laurie McCormick - Pepper Mountain

Laurie McCormick - Lost

Laurie McCormick - Bear Country

Laurie McCormick - Fueling the Fire

Laurie McCormick - Mellon Boarding

Laurie McCormick - USA Grade Eggs

Laurie McCormick - Papaya Trap

Brief Bio:

Laurie McCormick, an award winning Fine Art and Travel Photographer, is particularly known for her masterful photography work with miniatures and dramatic landscapes both domestically and internationally. Laurie's images have been published in the U.S. and abroad in numerous Photography Magazines, Photography Blogs, Online Fine Art Galleries and dozens of Fine Art Galleries all across the United States.

To learn more about her work, visit her website: www.lauriemccormickphoto.com

Would you like to see more photo essays? Visit http://www.photography-news.com/2009/12/photo-essays.html

Stunning image by photographer Hafiz Ismail is Peak Design’s 1MP Shot of the Month

February 15, 2014 /Photography News/ onemillionphotographers - the global gallery project and competition - is delighted to announce the latest monthly prize-winner from the January prizes awarded last month.  Photographer Hafiz Ismail’s incredible image of children splashing around  on the Tukad Unda Dam in Bali was chosen as the Peak Design Shot of the Month for January. Hafiz’s prize is Peak Design’s game -changing Capture ® Camera Clip - an ingenious holstering solution that rigidly secures your camera to any strap, belt or bag whilst keeping it instantly accessible.

Each month, onemillionphotographers serves up a menu of great photography prizes - from photography business cards and portfolio websites, to prints on glass and holster camera bags. Any photographer with an image in the Gallery is automatically in the running, as all image submissions are eligible for all prizes, all the time.

For their monthly award, the Peak Design team scour the 1MP Gallery for an image that reflects shooting in distant, hostile or precarious locations - conditions which echo the Peak Design mantra that wherever you go you should be able to take your camera with you. The winning photographer receives an awesome prize from the Peak Design range. For January’s award , the Peak Design team singled out Hafiz’s spectacular wet and wild shot. In picking the image, Peak Design Judge Adam Saraceno praised Hafiz’s artful capturing of a wonderful childhood moment: “When I look at this photo I can't help but smile and remember the absolute bliss of playing in fountains when I was a kid”. You can see more from winning photographer Hafiz on his website and on his Facebook page.

To view all current call for entries listed at Photography News, visit http://www.photography-news.com/2009/12/photography-competitions.html