APA|NY 2008 Photo Contest Deadline Feb. 29, 2008

I’ve been a member of the APA|NY (Advertising Photographers of America|New York Chapter) for many years and consider it to be a fantastic organization. Over the years, I’ve benefitted greatly from APA sponsored events with photographers, marketing experts and others at places like the Apple Soho store in NYC and the PhotoPlus Expo in NYC. APA currently has nine chapters across the USA. There are discounted insurance options for members, and there are a number of free member-only materials available, including sample business contracts. I think it’s also a great organization for photo assistants to consider because of special events like the Assistants’ Hexathlon, which I’ve attended in the past. Assistants also have the opportunity to be listed in directories such as the APA|NY Assistant’s Directory.

APA|NY has announced the “Tell Us A Story APA|NY Juried Photo Contest.” Below is an overview of the contest from the main contest page on APA’s website:

This February, enter your finest photo story, whether it’s a single image or a series, and get your work seen by our esteemed panel of jurors. One overall prize winner will be chosen from each the Professional and Student categories. Juror’s Selection honors will also be awarded. Winning work will be on display between March 17th and 22nd 2008 at the expansive HP Gallery at Calumet Photographic. On Tuesday March 18th APA|NY will host an opening for the exhibition in conjunction with a fundraiser for the Exposures program: a cross-cultural exchange program that establishes photography as a common language among youth from diverse communities.

The list of prizes and sponsors for the Professional category is below:

-A complete digital package for use on either a studio or location project courtesy of Drive Digital. (value: approx. $3,000)
-1 Full Access Membership to Agency Access – N. America and Europe ($1,725 value)
-An X-rite i1 Photo LT, the ultimate tool for implementing a color managed workflow ($900 value)
-TrueGrain software courtesty of Grubba Software ($300 value)
-Copies of Blinkbid estimating and invoicing software ($159 value)
-Pro Camera Backpack courtesy of Lowepro ($100 value)
-ExpoDisc White Balance Filters courtesy of ExpoImaging (approx $100 value)

For Students, the Grand Prize is a Canon G9 PowerShot Camera – 12.1 megapixels ($460 value), and additional prizes will be awarded from Blinkbid, Lowepro and ExpoImaging.

In addition, the winning work plus jurors’ selection will be printed and displayed at Calumet Photographic for a week in March. The show opening party as well as a fundraiser for the Exposures program will be held Tuesday March 18th. Print sales and silent auction proceeds will benefit the Exposures program.

For more information, visit www.apany.com/contest .

ADIM Conference Coming Soon to San Jose, CA: 4/30-5/3, 2008

The 11th Art Directors Invitational Master Class (ADIM) is coming to San Jose, CA April 30-May 3, 2008. In 2004 I attended ADIM7 in Santa Monica, California, and it was absolutely fantastic. The Host of ADIM is Russell Brown, Senior Art Director at Adobe Systems. Russell Brown is not just an expert in Photoshop and many other Adobe applications, but someone who really knows how to entertain and inspire attendees. The ADIM conference is also a great place to meet and share ideas with many other creative professionals.

The focus of the 2008 event is Photoshop, InDesign and Flash, and in the tradition of ADIM, there is a theme. This year, it’s “Classic Movie Monsters by Design.” During the event, participants will create their own highly personalized designs for a classic horror film. As described on the conference website, “ADIM is the essential three-day, hands on instructional course that brings top art directors, designers, illustrators and photographers together to learn advanced tips and techniques using Adobe products. You will learn from some of the best designers and instructors in the industry. All classes are hosted on Macintosh computers running the latest Apple system software. ADIM’s limited class size offers participants an intimate and inspiring environment to get early instruction on new applications from industry experts, ask questions, and network with others in their field.”

Before the three day ADIM conference begins, participants can take a crash course on Flash for Visual Artists: Creating an Interactive Portfolio with Photoshop and Flash from Chris Orwig, or learn Acrobat and Photoshop for the Creative Designer from Terry White at the One-Day Workshops on Wed., April 30. Participants may choose either seminar or drift between the classes, and recorded versions of both will be available for attendees of the one-day workshops.

One of the major benefits of ADIM 11 is that each attendee of the full 3 day ADIM conference will receive one of three Adobe Creative Suite 3 product editions Free (Production Premium, Web Premium, or Design premium), valued at $1600 – $1800.

The limited class size also means that the conference often fills a month or more in advance. For more information about the one day workshops and three day ADIM conference, visit www.adimconference.com.

A Few Reasons to Subscribe to Imaging-Resource.com’s Excellent Newsletter

For a number of years I’ve been reading “Imaging Resource News” published by the folks at Imaging-Resource.com. It is a fantastic resource filled with photo industry news, reviews, answers to reader questions, special offers and much more. Apart from the excellent content, in the next issue, I’ll be offering two signed copies of my book, 301 Inkjet Tips and Techniques, which will be drawn randomly from the newsletter member list.

The Feb 1, 2008 issue (available in the newsletter archives) has some great info about the Nikon D300, sensor cleaning, and image sharpening. You can read past issues and  subscribe to Imaging Resource’s IR news newsletter at this link.