Photography Roundup - 4/14

Weekly News and Photography Updates

By K David in Columns on Apr 14, 2015

Soldier by Day, Pentaxian by Night | Heie

April is always an exciting month in photography. The TIPA awards recognize great innovation and quality in cameras, spring and autumn offer great opportunities to take photos in high-quality light, and the flood of new gear on the market makes it exciting to see what manufacturers are releasing ahead of vacation season. This week we look at some exciting gear and photography news and some exceptional resources.

Featured Deals

This month has some exciting deals, including a PF member-exlusive offer for a Cactus Flash and Sirui tripod. Pentax Forums does a good job on finding quality gear to help members obtain at a discount. The best way to encourage retailers to offer great deals for us is to take advantage of them when we can.

• Pentax Forums Exclusive Cactus Flash and Sirui Tripod Coupons (exp 4/14)
• Pentax K-50, 18-55WR and 55-200 WR lenses, and AF 200FG Flash for $500
• SSD Deals - Up to 50% off
• Pentax K-50 body plus extras for $419
• DA 50mm for $19 in Pentax K-3 bundle

2015 Pentax Forums T-shirts

The community's favorite shirt designs are now available for order, and each shirt purchase helps support the forum!  You can reserve your shirt via Teespring through April 20th.  All shirts will ship shortly thereafter for delivery within two weeks.  The shirts ship worldwide.

• Reserve your PF t-shirt today

Official Monthly Contest Update

Fill the Frame Sample Image| Ole

Official Monthly Photo Contest #104: Fill the Frame is taking submissions right now. I submitted my entry. Now it's your turn to help fill the submission list!

Official Monthly Photo Contest #103: Mirror Image is in the nominations phase. Nominate the best images and prepare to vote on your favorites soon.

Post-processing Challenge #142: Last Light on Delicate Arch

Last Light on Delicate Arch Edit | atupdate

Post-processing challenge #142 just wrapped yesterday. The photo by Arizona Dave was a real stunner out of the camera, and many of the entries spiced it up considerably. Challenge #143 features a nighttime image and should be another stunner!

Weekly Challenge #321: Something's Wrong Here

Theme Sample Photo | Hattifnatt

Hattifnatt is leading this week's weekly challenge. The theme "Something's Wrong Here" leaves a lot of room for interpretation. The entries so far have been creative, unexpected, funny, and saddening.

Gear News

The K-S2 had a big week. First, Pentax Forums shared our initial thoughts on the camera. Second, the K-S2 was one of two Pentax DSLRs to win a TIPA award. Congratulations to Pentax for the fantastic cameras that exhibit the extensive thought and development that went into them.

Pentax K-S2 First Impressions

Pentax K-S2 Sample Image | K David

As one of the writers testing it and taking sample images, let me say that it's a fantastic camera and may be the best APS-C overall camera that Pentax has released, even though it lacks some of the processing beefiness of the K-3. Read about our first impressions of the Pentax K-S2 here.

Pentax 645Z and K-S2 win TIPA 2015 Awards

After that, the K-S2 and 645Z earned TIPA 2015 awards for best medium format and best advanced cameras of 2015, respectively. This places the K-S2 among the ranks of previous winners like the 645D, K-3, K-x, and K10D, all of which are known as remarkable cameras.

Samyang 100mm F2.8 1:1 Macro Lens in Pentax K

Samyang announced a new 100mm f2.8 1:1 macro lens and it will be available in K mount. It could be an even more affordable alternative to the Pentax D-FA 100mm macro lens. It is good to see continued K-mount support from third parties.

Photography News

Melting Away by Camille Seaman

During a ten-year span, photographer Camille Seaman visited the artic to take portraits of icebergs. A natural wonder that may be unknown to the next generation of photographers and people, icebergs contain a beauty that can only come from water and light mixing with water and light.

Seaman's work combines color, texture, composition, and natural beauty to create poignant images of one of the planet's greatest natural products. Seaman's work is on exhibit in New York and also available in her book Melting Away, available at Amazon.

So You've used Alex's Photos

Photographer Alex Wild posted a recent blog-ish type article responding to a semi-fictional person addressing a legal copyright infringement notice. As photographers, this is a poignant issue for us because the Internet has made image theft very easy. Wild uses Image Rights International, a firm that submits, on photographers' behalf, infringement notices to companies and pursues legal action, if needed. Wild's approach is assertive, appropriate, and admirable. As photographers, we owe Wild a debt of gratitude for standing up for his rights and, by proxy, ours.

Featured Online Photography Resource 

Ever wanted to get your start in selling or publishing your photography in magazines and journals? Every year North Light Books publishes The Photographer's Market. When I was in school, The Writer's Market helped me find journals and zines that published my poetry and short fiction. Photographer's Market is a great resource to find journals and publications for imagery. The journal list also provide a key to indicate if the journal accepts work from new, mid-career, or experienced photographers as well as if the journal pays.

In addition to listing journals, The Photographer's Market has annual articles designed to help photographers improve their ability to be a working photographer. The articles are, in fact, the most beneficial aspect of The Photographer's Market. If you don't want a thick paperback lying around your house, there's also a Kindle edition that's a few fewer dollars.

Featured Photography Journal

Shabby Doll House

Photographic inspiration does not always come from photography. Shabby Doll House is an online zine that focuses on part poetry, and literature. Shabby Doll House is a quarterly publication with art that delivers great aesthetic and intellectual value, both visual and written. 

Specializes in: Prose, poetry, and visual art

Publication Frequency: Quarterly

Submission Fee: Free, except for written works which are $4