Competition news from the SPA

The Keith Hunt Trophy will be on Saturday, 11 November 2011, at Trinity Methodist Church, Brewery Road, Woking. The judge is still to be confirmed.

The Surrey Advertiser Rosebowl will be on Saturday, 25 February 2012, at Parkview Centre for the Community, Sheerwater, Woking. Judge will be David Eastley, LRPS.

We will be sending entry forms to all those who took part in the competitions last year about 2 months ahead of the competition date. If your club did not take part, please contact me and I will make sure you get one.

Light-field photography has the potential to revolutionize photography. Ren Ng, the founder of Lytro, explains how a camera can capture images that are never out of focus

Lytro has big plans. This week the Mountain View, CA-based startup said it would soon bring to market a new kind of camera that's based on light-field photography. The result: photographs that you can focus after you take them. Simply click your mouse on the spot on the picture you want in focus, and it changes before your eyes 


Article including demo   also see this video from the BBC


YouTube video promo

World Photography Day

World Photography Day?

Many people that have mentioned that they’ve never heard of World Photography Day. Why is that? World Photography Day wasn’t ‘created’ by a big brand as a marketing tool. Rather, it’s a day where photographers had started to come together to celebrate photography, just because they could. Any excuse to throw a party right?

Slowly, groups around the world have started to get on board with the idea of World Photography Day and you will find traces of World Photography Day being celebrated over the last 20 years or so. Each year, World Photography Day has gained momentum and this year, we’re hoping to bring photographers together once again with an even larger audience.

Why August 19th?

World Photography Day originates from the invention of the Daguerreotype, a photographic processes developed by Louis Daguerre.  On January 9, 1839, The French Academy of Sciences announced the daguerreotype process. A few months later, on August 19, 1839, the French government announced the invention as a gift “Free to the World.”

Another photographic processes, the Calotype, was also invented in 1839 by William Fox Talbot (it was announced in 1841). Together, the invention of both the Daguerreotype and Calotype mark 1839 as the year that photography was invented.

If you’re interested in learning more about the history of photography, take a look at the following article on Wikipedia: History of Photography