’We will use the same approach with bron as we have with the new-look Hasselblad UK’ – Chris Russell-Fish, Hasselblad UK MD and Global Sales and Marketing Director

Chris Russell-Fish, Hasselblad UK MD and global sales and marketing director, announced the move following months of negotiation with the Swiss-based lighting manufacturer.

Hasselblad will take over from JP Distribution on July 1st and promises ‘a dynamic array of new ideas and solutions‘ for bron customers nationwide in coming months.

Said Russell-Fish: “I believe we can do a great job for bron users in the UK. Like Hasselblad products, bron equipment sits at the top end of the market. We plan to make a great deal of noise in coming weeks and months around this excellent lighting range.”

Russell-Fish has appointed photo-lighting expert Chris Burfoot as the new broncolor UK manager.

Burfoot, who first started ‘working with light’ in the Eighties said: “Our objective is to create far more awareness around the award-winning bron brand and focus hard on customer service and support for existing users. We also plan a programme of ‘hands-on’ open days with broncolor partners in a non-selling environment – mirroring the success of the popular ‘Hasselblad Studiodays’ programme, and under the name of ‘The beauty of broncolor’.

This premium lighting brand has been built on a rock solid foundation of quality, consistency and reliability. The new-look bron customer care programme will work in exactly the same way as Hasselblad’s renowned ‘Hasselbuddy’ customer care support.”

Hasselblad UK owns the London-based Pro Centre, the photo-equipment rental company, but Russell-Fish insists the bron distribution deal will be no threat to any other brand they work with.

He said: “The Pro Centre acts completely independently as a rental centre. This will simply be an additional line. Bron will be a completely separate entity for us in the same way as our new Hasselblad studio and Didgeridoo services. And just as we have developed energetic new programmes for Hasselblad customers in the UK, we will do the same with bron over time. There will be a separate bron customer care and maintenance team in place in the near future.”

Hasselblad is currently in talks with broncolor with a view to new product launches.

A new website is to go live from the 1st July 2011 at www.ukbroncolor.com, with links to and from the Hasselblad (www.hasselblad.co.uk) website.

Jennifer entered her favourite photograph of the family’s twins, Darcy and Noah White, into the ‘Cherub of The Year’ Competition, run by the Master Photographers Association (MPA).

The Cherub programme is designed to capture a baby’s first year via three different photoshoots and Jennifer’s photograph was shortlisted from thousands of entries from all over the UK.

The win is even more poignant as the twins’ parents Julie & Phil, also from Halifax, didn’t think they could even have children after several traumatic miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies and IVF.

Mum Julie says: “We used to walk past Kyte’s studio windows to look at the amazing photographs of cute babies. We knew if ever the day came along when we were lucky enough to have children of our own there was only one place to go!

“I cried when I first saw the photographs. Jennifer had captured the twins’ personalities in a magical way. We will have these wonderful memories of their first year forever – they have stopped time for us. To win £10,000 on top of all this is just the icing on the cake!”

This latest accolade for Jennifer comes just 6 months after being voted the ‘Cherubs Photographer of the Year 2010′ at the prestigious Master Photography Awards last October.

Since Jennifer launched Kyte Photography 10 years ago – with business partner Lynne Fletcher – their studio has built a strong reputation for producing contemporary lifestyle portraiture and cutting edge wedding photography. Her background in newspapers and advertising has seen her photograph dozens of well known celebrities from the Beckhams and Kylie Minogue to Paul McCartney.

Says Jennifer: “Kyte is already well known in the region for the quality of our baby photography, but to be recognised at a national level is a great honour. And to win £10,000 for a family who have been through so much is even more rewarding.”

The Cherubs bay photography programme is open to all professional photographers in the UK. For details on how to become involved please email cherubs@wpsmedia.co.uk

See:

http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/cssubscription.html

A new version of the suite, CS5.5, has just been launched with additional modules for converting or creating content to use on mobile platforms such as Android phones or iOS.

18 trophies will be awarded in March 2011, during a ceremony which will gather the 48 finalists (three per subject) of the sixteen categories awarded, plus the photograph of the year and a trophy of honour. For this third edition of the competition, there will be sixteen categories : that is to say four more than in 2010.

The first of the new categories will be reserved for photography students and the theme will be free. The second will reward humanistic photography, a way of honouring our distinguished elders. The third will distinguish the best digital creation, limited only by the imagination of photographers. Finally, a returning category, still life.

Once the winners are known, the winning photographs will be compiled into a traveling exhibition. It will criss-cross France, initially among the sponsors, and then in the biggest French festivals of photographs. “Photographs of the Year” will also be compiled in a book as in previous years. The 48 winning photos plus a portfolio of some pages on the photographer will be honored at this event.

For each category, the winner will receive a statuette worth 150 to 200 € and royalties on books, postcards, posters published by the APPPF, whose terms will be determined by contract with the APPPF, or the equivalent in books and postcards. The winner of the  Photograph of the Year will receive € 10 000 of Nikon equipment. Other sponsors will offer prizes or material benefits.

Selection of winners of “Photographs of the Year” is made by a jury of experienced professional photographers, festival directors and journalists, only recognized professionals.

The photograph of the year in each category is the work of professional photographers during  the calendar year. The photographs must be taken between January 1 and December 31, 2010. Photographs must be submitted no later than January 15, 2011. All professional photographers are invited to participate in this unique competition in Europe.

For further information or to download the complete contest rules, see: http://www.photographiesdelannee.com

The competition, ‘Capturing the Spirit of Modern Manufacturing’ is being launched with the support of Manufacturing Insight, the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills and The Digital Asset Lab.

It is aimed at professionals and amateurs from within manufacturing companies and elsewhere, as well as young people aged 14-19. It is intended to showcase the excellence of UK industry, through high end visually striking technology, processes and people.

The competition will culminate in awards for the winning entry in each of the three categories of professional, amateur and young people aged 14-19. They will be presented at the prestigious EEF Future Manufacturing Awards in January 2011 and used to promote EEF’s Manufacturing Week in Spring 2011.

Commenting, EEF Chief Executive, Terry Scuoler, said: “For too long there has been a stereotypical image of our sector which is way out of line with reality. Modern manufacturing is a vibrant arena in which to operate with the potential for striking imagery of technology, processes and people. This is the chance for manufacturing companies and their workforce to help do something about this image and change way people think by capturing its spirit.“

Giving his support to the competition, Business Minister, Mark Prisk MP, said: “Many people have an outdated image of manufacturing, which means that too many people don’t realise how modern industry works. This Government is committed to promoting manufacturing so that we can attract the talent which will make us more competitive on the world stage and generate growth.  I fully support this competition which will encourage young people to discover and capture the true innovative spirit of manufacturing in this country.”

Entry is via the EEF website www.eef.org.uk/photo with entries closing at the end of this year.

The International Photography Award rewards the best photography worldwide, in any genre or subject. Now in its sixth year, it boasts two categories – a body of work prize and the single image prize. Both winners see their work printed by Spectrum Photographic pro lab and exhibited for a week in London. In addition, the body of work prize-winner will also pick up a Nikon D700 plus a 50mm 1.4G lens, while the single image prize winner claims a Sigma DP2s. www.bjp-online.com/ipa

Last year’s body of work winner, Edmund Clark, submitted a project exploring everyday life for the detainees and ex-detainees of the Guantanamo Bay detention centre. Clark’s previous project, Still Life Killing Time was published by Dewi Lewis and a finalist at the inaugural New York Photo Awards.

Shoot the Street picks out the best in street photography, shot anywhere in the world. The best photographer will see his or her work printed by MX Display and exhibited in a solo show at Format, the UK’s leading international contemporary photography biennale. The closing date for this prize is 30 June so enter now! www.bjp-online.com/street

Unveiled is a brand new competition for wedding photographers. Open to UK wedding photographers, Unveiled offers one photographer the chance to publish his or her work in Wedding magazine – one of the UK’s leading bridal titles, read by thousands of prospective customers. The winner will also get the chance to try out their dream piece of kit, courtesy of Hasselblad and the Pro Centre. www.bjp-online.com/unveiled .

Adobe encourages photographers to try out the newly added raw file support in this update and provide the product team with feedback on the Adobe User to User forum (http://forums.adobe.com).

In addition, photographers can also participate in the Lightroom 3 beta program and try out the new features in Lightroom 3 beta 2 for free. To learn more and download Lightroom 3 beta 2 visit: http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom3/.

The Skillset Courses Database also helps users to find the best, industry endorsed media training available by indicating which courses and institutions have been awarded the Skillset Tick kite mark. The Skillset Tick indicates to students and employers that a course or institution has undergone a rigorous, industry-approved assessment and has been designated a centre of excellence in creative media disciplines. The database contains information on a total of more than 8,000 creative media courses at all levels – from undergraduate degrees to CPD short courses.

The database, which builds on work undertaken jointly with the BFI, allows users to perform customised searches and to create their own profiles so that they can save their preferences and searches for future use. It also contains dedicated sections on the Skillset Tick and Skillset-funded courses. These sections allow you to quickly find the courses and institutions that have been assessed by industry as offering the most practical and up-to-date training, as well as providing a comprehensive guide to courses that are being funded by Skillset.

Skillset’s chief executive, Dinah Caine, said: “Skillset’s new courses database is an invaluable tool for anybody who wishes to access creative media training in the UK. With more than 8,000 courses listed, this database allows media professionals and those wishing to enter the media industry to navigate the crowded, and often confusing, education and professional training landscape with ease.”

The database can be found at www.skillset.org/courses.

The tour will also take in the MPA’s Induction Day and Cherubs Partners Day, April 12/13th 2010, at the Hilton Hotel, Coventry, where a full working studio and a team of Hasselblad staff will be on hand for demonstrations.

Hasselblad is also holding evening sessions after each student day event – and these are open to all professional photographers. More details on www.handsonahasselblad.com.

In a two month-long, twelve venue tour stretching from Portsmouth to Edinburgh, a team of Hasselblad imaging experts will demonstrate the new H4D cameras and the company’s world-acclaimed Phocus software.

UCA Farnham – 2nd March 2010
Wiltshire College – 4th March 2010
University of Portsmouth – 9th March 2010
UCA Rochester – 11th March 2010
University of Westminster – 16th March 2010
Thames Valley University – 18th March 2010
Northampton University – 22nd March 2010
De Montford University – 24th March 2010
University of Wales – 14th April 2010
University of Gloucestershire – 16th April 2010
Edinburgh College of Art – 20th April 2010

Chris Russell-Fish, Hasselblad UK MD explained: “Students are the future of the imaging business so we decided to plan  a completely free of charge, nationwide educational roadshow to enable them to get some real hands-on experience with the  40 megapixel medium format H4D-40, which offers ultimate image quality and is as easy to use as any 35mm camera.

“We are using the roadshows to increase awareness and dispel any previous misconceptions about Hasselblad pricing and service. This is about winning hearts and minds – and there’s nowhere better to start than with students – tomorrow’s professional photographers.

“We want young photographers to engage with Hasselblad quality solutions from the very earliest opportunity.”

He added: “It’s the first event of its kind where students and tutors at leading educational institutions can work with all our latest H4D equipment within their own environment.”

David Summerfield, Hasselblad’s Roadshow manager said: “Reaction has been outstanding. We’re not hard-selling anything.  We are just giving students and tutors the chance to play with and test-drive this amazing camera in real time on real shoots. The later courses are really filling up too after students use Twitter to tell friends and colleagues to register for one of these events”.

It is free for all to read.