Here’s a cool contest with some really cool folks involved.

Nikon is giving away $100,000 for a 140 second video about your day.  The theme is “A Day through Your Lens.”  The above video is Rainn Wilson’s hilarious take on the concept.

Of course, Nikon is promoting the capabilities of its D-Movie function on several of its DSLRs like the D300s, D3s, D5000 and D90; however, the contest is open to anyone shooting with any kind of gear.  Kudos to Nikon on that.

The winner will be chosen by pioneering photographer and filmmaker Chase Jarvis actor Rainn Wilson from NBC’s The Office, internet queen and actress “iJustine” Ezarik.  Chase seems pretty stoked about this.

You can enter at NikonFestival.com.

Check out the press release below for full details.

Nikon Festival Press Release

MELVILLE, N.Y. (Nov. 10, 2009) –Nikon Inc. today announced the launch of a new integrated marketing campaign that includes the first ever “Nikon Festival” to celebrate, inspire and harness the current popularity of content creation shared through social media.

As a progressive social media innovator and D-SLR market leader, Nikon is challenging budding filmmakers to upload 140 second short-form video with the theme “A Day through Your Lens” to www.NikonFestival.com and follow @nikonfestival on Twitter for a chance to win up to $100,000 and Nikon equipment to pursue and chronicle their dreams.

Nikon advertising star, Ashton Kutcher, will contribute to the Nikon Festival by sharing his personally shot video taken with the D5000, which captures his recent visit to Africa. The Festival will be supported by a national TV broadcast and online advertising campaign and will run through the end of the year. The Festival video submission period begins November 10 and will be open for entries for a six-week period.

“The Nikon Festival represents the progressive nature of our brand in merging social media with innovative products as a way to engage and empower aspiring photographers and filmmakers,” said Lisa Baxt, Senior Communications Manager for Nikon Inc. “Nikon is committed to advancing HD video with the D5000 and other products and supporting it with an integrated marketing program that has a strong impact and is viral in nature. As part of this campaign, the Festival presents the opportunity for current and future Nikon customers to tell their story with HD video.”

Nikon has also enlisted influencers from TV, photography and social media to serve as official Festival judges. Each will also share personal videos shot with a Nikon D-SLR camera, including actor/writer Rainn Wilson, Internet personality Justine Ezarik (iJustine), and visionary photographer Chase Jarvis. The Nikon Festival entries will be judged in December and winners will be announced in January.

“As an actor and avid writer, I applaud Nikon’s creation of this Festival to advance the accessibility of thought-sharing and self expression to aspiring filmmakers and photographers,” said Rainn Wilson. “I think this is a unique way for people to initiate dialogue on topics they care about, while gaining exposure for their work. I’m excited to check out the videos people submit and will be tweeting throughout the Festival.”

Upload “A Day through Your Lens” Video

As guided by the video submissions of Ashton Kutcher and Festival judges, entrants are challenged to create videos in 140 seconds or less, capturing the essence of a day in their life, whether funny, profound or inspirational. As videos are uploaded, they can be automatically shared with entrants’ social networks, including Twitter and Facebook, allowing instantaneous campaigning for views and votes. Although entrants are not required to use a specific camera, judges will be providing direction to meet the criteria of image quality, originality and ability to capture a day through their lens in 140 seconds.

Change Your Life in 140 Seconds or Less

Festival entrants will have the opportunity to win one of two awards: an audience award and a judges’ award. The winning video selected by the Festival judges will be awarded $100,000 and Nikon equipment to pursue and chronicle their dreams.  Additionally, the video getting the highest average rating and most audience views will be awarded the $25,000 Audience Award and Nikon equipment.  Entrants of the Festival, found at www.NikonFestival.com, are encouraged to use social media platforms, including Twitter and Facebook, to share submissions and gain views and votes.  Terms and conditions can be found at www.NikonFestival.com.

For more information on the Nikon Festival and other information on products from Nikon, please visit http://www.nikonusa.com.  Follow the Festival on Twitter at the address: @nikonfestival.

About the Nikon Festival Judges

Rainn Wilson is an actor and writer, best known for his role as the endearingly awkward Dwight Shrute on The Office. He has acquired a major online following and strong media presence for his thought-evoking website SoulPancake.com, with more than 1,500,000 followers through his Twitter address: @RainnWilson.

iJustine (Justine Ezarik) is a popular Internet evangelist and online video personality, who is the top video blogger on YouTube and iJustine.com. With more than 850,000 Twitter followers through her Twitter address: @iJustine, she recently served as the official Twitter correspondent for the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.

Chase Jarvis is an acclaimed professional photographer, author and active social media influencer. To see more of his work visit www.chasejarvis.com or follow him at his Twitter address: @chasejarvis.

About Nikon

Nikon, At the Heart of the Image™. Nikon Inc. is the world leader in digital imaging, precision optics and photo imaging technology and is globally recognized for setting new standards in product design and performance for its award-winning consumer and professional photographic equipment. Nikon Inc. distributes consumer and professional digital SLR cameras, NIKKOR optics, Speedlights and system accessories; Nikon COOLPIX® compact digital cameras; COOLSCAN® digital film scanners; 35mm film SLR cameras; Nikon software products and Nikon sports and recreational optics. For the second consecutive year, Nikon D Series digital SLR cameras are recognized as “Highest in Customer Satisfaction with digital SLR cameras, Two Years in a Row, Tied in 2008.” according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 and 2008 Digital Camera Usage and Satisfaction Studies^SM. Nikon Corporation, the parent company of Nikon Inc., recently celebrated its 75th anniversary of NIKKOR optics and announced the production of over 45 million NIKKOR SLR interchangeable lenses. For more information, dial (800) NIKON-UX or visit http://www.nikonusa.com, which links all levels of photographers to the Web’s most comprehensive photo learning and sharing communities.

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I recently reviewed the remarkable Rotation 360 camera backpack from Think Tank Photo. It’s time to unload Photography Bay’s review sample to one of you guys.

Sure, it’s slightly used with a 9 mile hike under its belt and a few photowalks around town in order to put it through the paces for our review, but I assure you that it’s got plenty more miles left in it.  And, I promise it doesn’t smell bad ;-)

You want it?

Show us your best “hiking” themed images by following the directions below and we’ll cover shipping anywhere in the US.

How to Enter:

1. Take your best “hiking” themed photo from 2009.
2. Upload it to your Flickr account. (Don’t have one? Sign up. It’s free.)
3. Tag your photo “hiking” and “pbcontest”.
4. Add your photo to the Photography Bay Group Pool.
5. You may only enter up to three (3) photos for this contest. Any more than three entries will result in disqualification. You may submit as many photos to the Photography Bay Group Pool as you wish; however, you should only tag your entry photos as “hiking” and “pbcontest”. (You may tag other photos as “hiking” – just don’t add the “pbcontest” tag and the photo will not count as an entry.)

The winner will be announced next Sunday, October 25, 2009 and I will get in touch with him or her directly via Flickr Mail to get shipping info.  If I don’t get a response within 3 days, I reserve the right to choose another (more responsive) winner.

You are responsible for complying with any laws of your respective state or country. If your entry in this contest would violate such laws, you may not participate.

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First, I want to give a special thanks to everyone who participated in the Sony Twilight Football Photo Contest.  If you haven’t seen all the great photos, check out the 20 Sony Twilight Photo Contest Finalists.  Additionally, a big thanks to Sony for making Photography Bay a part of the contest and sending a Photography Bay reader on this cool photographic journey.

And the winner is . . .

Not all who wander are lost by _Massimo_

I asked Massimo to share a little about the winning photograph.  In his words:

In the early afternoon of the day I took this photo, a spring storm blew over Raleigh. When I noticed that the sky was opening up, I decided to go and try my luck with the rain at Lake Crabtree County Park.

It’s a location where I go often because the Lake is pretty shallow and the sun sets directly over it. It really yields to very nice sunsets.

I was lucky and the rain clouds finally moved away and I could capture a really nice sunset over the rental boats, ashore for the evening.

Massimo wins a trip for two adults to one country hosting a Twilight Football game that takes place on September 22, 2009, transportation to and from his hotel, and hotel accommodation for 3 consecutive nights including the night of the 23rd of September 2009.

A little more about Massimo . . .

My interest for photography started during my first or second year in school. My older brother began using a Yashica MG-1 to try to imitate some of lighting used in 1920s Germany photography (of course, only black and white film). I was really liking what he was doing so I was tagging along every time he was going to shoot downtown Genova (my home town in Italy).

I think I can say that my love for cityscapes, landscapes and travel photography has a start from these fun experiments. I inherited that camera and I shot throughout high school, until playing in band took precedence (as a student I couldn’t really afford both or have enough time for both).

For several years I was just taking pictures during my trips but nothing really serious…. until 8 years ago I got my hands on my first point-and-shoot digital camera. The creative freedom and the low cost offered by the digital medium really blew my mind.

Soon I got my first serious prosumer camera (a Nikon Coolpix 5700) and soon after that my first DSLR. 7 years after I am now shooting with a Nikon D3 and I love the possibilities that such a camera offers me.

With my tools, I can focus on the atmosphere, the moods and dynamics of everyday life of a city or a landscape.

Capturing them means to capture the essence of the scenery and continuously sparks my imagination and inspiration.

Massimo Strazzeri is an Italian photographer living in North Carolina.  If you spend any time on his flickr photostream, you’ll find many more great images.  Additionally, you can see his inspiring portfolio on his website – www.massimostrazzeri.com.

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I have selected the 20 finalists from the entrants who submitted their photos to the contest.  They are listed below in no particular order.  Sony will now choose one of these images as the winner from Photography Bay’s portion of the contest and the photographer and a guest will be traveling to 1 of 7 awesome locations to shoot with Sony’s new gear at a Twilight football match.

1. Hong Kong at Twilight by zpowderhound

2. Burning Fever by Bchild33

3. One more trick by hungrig4leben

4. Botswana, Chobe River by Bedux2

5. Skyline_8175_F_ by Andrew JK Tan

6. Meters are Free After Sunset by Tom Erickson

7. Little Church by TonyT1970

8. Not all who wander are lost by _Massimo_

9. DSC_0855 by AlanSeideman

10. حي على الصلاة . . . Come to prayer by ABD AL-RAHMAN AL-TERKIT

11. Urban Development by A guy with A camera

12. Morning, Breaking…. by Mark ~ JerseyStyle Photography

13. Chicago Riverfront by johnche

14. Firstlight’s-Ebb-&-Flow by zpowderhound

15. The End is Nigh by Aarthi

16. 18Mar2009_1882 by william leong

17. Football_1859 by David Africa

18. Sun sets over the clouds around Table Mountain by Davridan

19. Untitled by rainypete

20. Birkenhead Lake at Sunset by VKM2F

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As the hour of twilight moves across the world during the course of a day, it ignites a series of 7 games of football (ahem, “soccer” for us Americans) played during twilight set up in the most beautiful and spectacular photographic locations.

One day, 7 global locations, 7 amazing games of twilight football.

Twilight Football is a once in a lifetime opportunity for Photography Bay readers to travel to an incredible location, and capture amazing images of football in the beauty of twilight.

Locations for the games:

• Italy, Venice
• France, Mer de Glace
• Enchanted City, Spain
• UK Tingatel
• Argentina, Iguassu Falls
• Australia, Pinnacle Desert
• South Africa, Soccer City

See more about these locations here: http://www.sony.lv/hub/digital-imaging/block/3

Win a Once in a Lifetime Experience Courtesy of Sony

The dictionary defines ‘twilight’ as “the time of day just after sunset or before dawn, when the sun is below the horizon.” These magical light conditions that occur during the transition between night and day have long fascinated photographers from all over the world and have been hard to capture in photography.

Sony have developed Exmor CMOS technology, which excels at taking beautiful images. To promote this technology Sony is offering you and a friend the chance to attend an event, like no other, comprising of seven football matches taking place in seven amazing locations.

To win a chance to document one of these unique games, submit up to three photographs which you feel best captures the true magic and mystery of twilight.

You and a friend will be flown to one of the seven games to experience the beautiful game in the most unusual locations at the most spectacular time of day!

On the day of the game, you will be invited to join the players, and experience first-hand a game played at twilight, in one of the most beautiful and spectacular photographic locations in the world!

To get a glimpse of what’s to come, see Sony’s Twilight Football website.

Prize Includes:

1. Return flights (economy class) for two adults to one country hosting a Twilight Football game.
2. Return airport transfers to the hotel.
3. Hotel accommodation (full board) for 3 consecutive nights including the night of the 23rd of September 2009. Any extras incurred will need to be settled by each guest individually at check out.
4. Travel insurance. However it is recommended that each winner takes out separate medical insurance.

How to Enter:

1. Take your best “twilight” themed photo from 2009.
2. Upload it to your Flickr account. (Don’t have one?  Sign up.  It’s free.)
3. Tag your photo “twilight” and “pbcontest”.
4. Add your photo to the Photography Bay Group Pool.
5. You may only enter up to three (3) photos for this contest.  Any more than three entries will result in disqualification.  You may submit as many photos to the Photography Bay Group Pool as you wish; however, you should only tag your entry photos as “twilight” and “pbcontest”.  (You may tag other photos as “twilight” – just don’t add the “pbcontest” tag and the photo will not count as an entry.)
6. Entries are further subject to the terms and conditions set forth below.  Note that you must be 18 or older and have a valid passport.

Deadline for Entries

You have until August 19, 2009 at 11:59p.m. Eastern Time to submit your photo for the contest.

Selection of Winners

On August 20, 2009, I will select my top 20 choices as finalists in the Sony Twilight Contest and route those finalists to Sony.  Upon receipt of the 20 finalists from Photography Bay, Sony will then choose one (1) overall winner from the finalists.  The winner gets the to travel to one of the above locations to shoot the Twilight Football game.  If the winner does not respond to correspondence from either Photography Bay or Sony within three days of the message being sent, then Sony may choose an alternate winner to award the prize.

Winner Notification

Since we will be using a Flickr Group Pool for this contest, I will send the winner a notification by Flickr mail requesting their contact information, which I will then forward to Sony for further correspondence regarding the prize.

Additionally, I would like to have the winner produce a guest post on his or her experience and share some of the photos with the Photography Bay community.  I am very excited about this contest and the fact that Photography Bay gets to help send one of our readers on this amazing photographic experience.  I am looking forward to the stunning entries that I know all of you are of producing.  And, yes, I’m a little envious that one of you is going and I’m not.

Sony Twilight Football Contest Official Press Release

Sony’s digital imaging campaign chases twilight across the globe

Seven football games in stunning sunset settings provide perfect backdrop to show benefits of latest Exmor CMOS sensor technology

Sony announced today its plans to stage a world first event, called Twilight Football. As the hour of twilight moves across the world, a series of seven matches will begin. Each match takes place in a location chosen to provide a spectacularly beautiful background for a truly unique activity.

The campaign has been developed to highlight Sony’s digital imaging technology, including the recently unveiled Exmor CMOS sensor. This enables Cyber-shot and Handycam products to capture detailed realistic shots in lowlight settings. Sony’s Alpha range of high-quality yet affordable DSLRs are perfect for more ambitious amateur photographers to capture stunning images from the event, in all conditions.

How many memorable football matches have taken place as the sun sets? Twilight provides a stunning natural ambient light, the ultimate canvas for the one-off, unpredictable moments that a football match always provides. Whether it’s the UEFA Champions League final or a kickabout in the park, something special almost always happens. Sony is celebrating these incredible moments by giving real players and team mates the chance to create their own moments of history, which will be recorded on Sony’s innovative products and not lost into folklore like so many personal football memories.

All seven games will take place on 22^nd September 2009, the Autumnal Equinox (northern hemisphere) and Vernal Equinox (southern hemisphere). The matches will be taking place at stunning, specially chosen locations in: Italy, France, the UK, Spain, Argentina and Australia, with the Twilight Football grand final happening at Soccer City, Johannesburg, the venue for the final of 2010 FIFA World Cup^TM.

Teams of any level from across the world will have the opportunity to take part in this once in a lifetime experience. There will be a number of local competitions run with multiple media partners for potential Twilight Football players to enter, ensuring that the event has a truly international flavour.

A specific Twilight Football team will be sourced using social media channels like Twitter and YouTube^TM, with players given the chance to display the skills they will be showing off in front of the world’s media. FIFA have also very generously agreed to supply the nine referees and refereeing assistants required for the matches. Finally, a specially selected pool of photographers and video makers are also attending each event to record these momentous games.

Photographers will be able to try out Sony’s new range of products featuring its Exmor CMOS sensor. These models excel in capturing exceptional detail in lowlight, with two separate new shooting modes that reduce image noise when you’re shooting in challenging conditions. Anti Motion Blur mode will show its worth at the Twilight Football events, superimposing six frames to produce crisp, composite images with less subject blur. The aptly-named Handheld Twilight mode also grabs a high-speed burst of six frames, combining them to create a single optimised image with dramatically reduced noise levels. Sony’s Alpha range packs powerful specifications into an entry-level DSLR, perfect for people taking their photography habit to the next level.

If your football playing days are behind you, Sony will be making sure that you feel as close to the action as possible, with a whole range of content and spectacular imagery being made available to bloggers, websites and social networks. These will include a live Twitter stream from the events, video diaries, blogs and image galleries from participating teams and attendees as well as interviews with the winners.

“Twilight Football is one of the most ambitious projects we have ever undertaken, with seven amazing games of football taking place in highly unusual locations around the world”, says James Kennedy, Brand Communications Director at Sony Europe. “We wanted to show the world what they have been missing when shooting images in the most picturesque light that nature has to offer. There is no better way to do this than by using the international language of football. This is an event to show real people the benefits of Exmor CMOS technology, giving them the opportunity to capture firsthand some of the most stunning locations in the modern world.”

For further information on the Twilight Football campaign, please visit: www.sony.co.uk/twilightfootball

OFFICIAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1.         The competition is open to all residents from any country worldwide.

2.         All entrants must be aged 18 or over and hold a valid passport.

3.         To enter, you must upload your image(s) via the following website: www.photographybay.com (the “Website” or “Photography Bay”), following the on-screen instructions carefully. Images must be taken in 2009 and entries should be based on the theme around twilight. Full information can be found on the Website.

4.         You may enter up to 3 images.

5.         By entering the competition entrants hereby accept these competition terms and conditions.

6.         Entries must be submitted by 11.59:59pm (GMT) on Wednesday 19th August 2009. No entries will be accepted after this date.

9.         The top 20 images from Photography Bay’s pool of entrants will be selected by the editor(s) of Photography Bay and submitted to an independent panel of Sony’s representatives.  These top 20 entries will then be judged by the independent panel of Sony representatives between 18^th- 21^st August 2009. The prizes will be awarded to the entrants who have, in the opinion of the judges, produced the most apt images relating to the theme of the competition.  At least one entrant from Photography Bay’s pool of applicants will be selected for the prize detailed in paragraph 12 below.

10.       The names and winning images will be announced on the Photography Bay website on Monday 24th August 2009.

11.       Each winner will be notified by email within 5 days.

12.       The prize for each winner consists of:

(a)  Round trip flights (economy class) for two adults to one country hosting a Twilight Football game.

(b)  Return airport transfers to the hotel.

(c)  Hotel accommodation (full board) for 3 consecutive nights including the night of the 23^rd of September 2009.  Any extras incurred will need to be settled by each guest individually at check out.

(d)  Travel insurance. However it is recommended that each winner takes out separate medical insurance.

Further details of the prize will be given to the winners upon notification.

13.       The prize with an approximate value of €2300 will be awarded to the 1 winner and their chosen partner of this competition. The prize trip must be taken between 20^th- 25^th September 2009.

14.       In the event of the prize becoming unavailable, for whatever reason, Sony reserves the right to provide an alternative prize of equivalent value.

15.       If the Promoter (Photography Bay) receives no response from the winners to the notification after 5 working days, the Promoter (Photography Bay) reserves the right to award the prize to an alternate winner.

16.       The decision of the Promoter (Photography Bay) is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

17.       There are no cash or credit alternatives available for prize winners.  Winners shall be solely responsible for any and all taxes associated with the award of the prize.

18.       Winners agree to participate in related publicity and to the use of their names and likenesses for the purposes of advertising, promotion and publicity.

19.       The Promoter (Photography Bay)  and the Website reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to disqualify and remove any entry that does not comply with the following requirements, even after the entry is submitted on the Website or the prize is awarded by the Promoter (Photography Bay). You warrant and represent that, in respect of each entry submitted as follows:

(a)        you are the sole owner and author of each entry;

(b)        you have the right to make your entry available to the competition;

(c)        you confirm that each person depicted in the entry has granted permission to be portrayed as shown.

(d)        each entry does not contain personally identifiable information about you or any other person(s);

(e)        each entry does not contain any infringing, threatening, false, misleading, abusive, harassing, libelous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, scandalous, inflammatory, pornographic or profane content;

(f)        each entry does not infringe upon the copyrights, trademarks, contract rights, or any other intellectual property rights of any third person or entity, or violate any person’s rights of privacy or publicity, and your entry does not include trademarks owned by third parties; copyrighted materials owned by third parties; names, likenesses, voices or other characteristics identifying celebrities or other public figures, living or dead.

20.       You agree to fully indemnify the Promoter (Photography Bay) and the Website in respect of all royalties, fees and any other monies owing to any person by reason of your breaching any of the foregoing.

21.       Entries which contain any commercial content that promotes any product or service other than that of the Promoter (Photography Bay) will be disqualified.

22.       By entering into this competition entrants hereby have the choice in whether to opt in for their work to be used by Sony in a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty free licence to use any pictures submitted in connection with the competition (”Images”).  Entrants hereby represent that they own all rights to Images.

23.       The Promoter (Photography Bay) and the Website assume no responsibility and is not liable for any image misuse. The Promoter (Photography Bay) and the Website assume no responsibility for any incorrect, inaccurate or incomplete information, whether caused by website users or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilised in the competition, and the Promoter (Photography Bay) and the Website assume no responsibility for technical, hardware or software failure of any kind, for lost network connections, garbled computer transmissions, other problems or technical malfunctions with regard to the competition. The Promoter (Photography Bay) and the Website assume no responsibility for any error, omission, corruption, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to or alteration of Entries. The Promoter (Photography Bay) and the Website are not responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer on-line systems, servers, computer equipment, software, failure of any e-mail addressed to the Promoter (Photography Bay) or the Website on account of technical problems, human error or traffic congestion on the internet or any website, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to Your or any other person’s computer related to or resulting from participation or downloading any materials in the competition. If for any reason an entry cannot be viewed or is not capable of running as planned, including infection by computer viruses, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud or technical failures, the Promoter (Photography Bay) and the Website assume no responsibility.

Promoter: Photography Bay (www.photographybay.com)

Prize provided by : Digital Imaging Europe a division of Sony United Kingdom Limited, The Heights, Brooklands, Weybridge, Surrey KT13 0XW, United Kingdom

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Photographers’ Winning Images Showcase Ray Flash Ring Light; Will Be Featured in ExpoImaging Advertisements

Watsonville, CA & Miami, FL (PRWEB) May 26, 2009 — ExpoImaging, Inc. (www.ExpoImaging.net), developer and distributor of innovative camera accessories including the Ray Flash Ring Light Adapter, and One Model Place, the world’s largest online portfolio and talent community, today announced the winners of its contest to find the best photos shot with the Ray Flash. Photographer Hector Perez was awarded first place for his close-up glamour portrait. Second place winner, JD Millazo, was selected for his outdoor fashion shot. In addition to receiving high-end photo gear and Platinum+ membership to One Model Place, the photographers will have their winning images used in highly-visible advertisements in upcoming trade publications.

“We received a number of outstanding entries and were impressed with the diverse effects One Model Place photographers achieved with the Ray Flash,” said Erik Sowder, president of ExpoImaging. “The winning entries clearly demonstrate the professional quality results produced by the Ray Flash. We hope other photographers will be inspired by Hector’s and JD’s award-winning photos.”

The Ray Flash is a lightweight adapter that converts your hot shoe flash into a ring light. Weighing less than a pound, the Ray Flash attaches in seconds by sliding onto the head of the flash. Once installed, you can shoot manually, or use your camera’s TTL functions. The versatility of the Ray Flash makes it ideally suited for use in fashion, portrait and macro photography as either a main, or fill light.

“I am grateful to ExpoImaging and One Model Place for the opportunity to share my work with the world,” said Hector Perez, first place winner of the Ray Flash Photo Contest. “The Ray Flash was absolutely critical in capturing this image. It is an easy to use, cost-effective and versatile adapter that I highly recommend to all professional photographers.”

The contest was open to all members of One Model Place. All entries were judged by a team of professional photographers. To view the winning photos, visit www.ExpoImaging.net.

Hector Perez’s winning image will be published in a full page ad in the June issue of Rangefinder, while JP Millazo’s photo will be included in a half-page ad in the June issue of Shutterbug. In addition to this valuable publishing opportunity, both winning photographers will receive high-end photo gear, and a Platinum+ membership to One Model Place, allowing them access to all of the community’s premier features and functions. Prizes include light modifiers from Honl Photo, ExpoDiscs, a Lensbaby Composer, an 8GB Pro Card from Lexar, and instructional videos from Kelby Training and Software Cinema.

“The Ray Flash contest is just one of many valuable opportunities One Model Place provides photographers,” said Sean Murdock, professional photographer and director of creative marketing at One Model Place. “We were pleased to host the contest in partnership with ExpoImaging, and we congratulate the winners on their exceptional work.”

To learn more about the winners and view collections of their work, find Hector Perez (member #223820) and JD Millazo (member #51116) at www.OneModelPlace.com.

About One Model Place

One Model Place is an online community designed for models, photographers, agencies, publishers, makeup artists, stylists and clothing designers to share their online portfolios with clients. With more than 250,000 members, One Model Place provides an outlet for the photography industry to plan and coordinate events, where photographers book models and find new talent, and models build portfolios and book jobs. For additional information, please visit www.OneModelPlace.com.

About ExpoImaging, Inc.

ExpoImaging Inc. markets and develops innovative camera accessories and is the pioneer in digital white balance filters. Ray Flash: The Ring Light Adapter, Honl Photo Speed System, ExpoDisc Digital White Balance Filters, and the ExpoAperture2 Depth-of-Field Guide are available at select photography dealers worldwide, or online at www.ExpoImaging.net.

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I’m an old Nikon and Kodachrome hand. Love the technical end and used to develope my own slides and make Cibachrome Pro prints. Even mixed my own chemicals. After my kids talked me into a point and shoot, the Nikons were put in the display case, and I never looked back! The timing of this win couldn’t be better-I just got a G1 with the 15-45 and 45-200 lenses, and don’t have anything to put them in.

Thanks to everyone that took time to enter.  Also, a big thanks to Think Tank Photo for sponsoring the contest.

If you read the Streetwalker HardDrive review and are wanting to pick up some gear from Think Tank, remember that you can get extra gear for free if you spend more than $50 and order through this link for Photography Bay readers.

The current freebies include the following choices:

All the Other Stuff ($34.95)

Lens Changer 50 ($27.95)

Lens Drop In ($34.95)

Lightning Fast ($35.00)

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If you haven’t entered to win the Think Tank Photo Streetwalker HardDrive backpack, don’t forget to do so by March 31.  Get the full details here.

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Photography Bay has one (1) Streetwalker HardDrive to give away courtesy of our friends at Think Tank Photo. I gave two thumbs up to this bag in my review earlier this week (read Think Tank Photo Streetwalker HardDrive Review).

What do I have to do to enter?

1. Be a Photography Bay Newsletter Subscriber (use the form at the top right to sign up if you aren’t subscribed already); and
2. Leave a comment on this post saying you want to win (or something to that effect).  Be sure to use the same email to subscribe to the newsletter as you do to fill in the comment form (so I know you are a subscriber).

When is the contest over?

A random winner will be chosen from eligible entries on March 31, 2009.

When will I get my bag?

I will contact the winner via email upon selection and obtain his or her shipping information.  I will then pass that along to Think Tank Photo to ship the backpack directly to the winner.

Can I unsubscribe from your newsletter?

Sure, anytime you want.  There’s an unsubscribe link in every newsletter that goes out.  But only current subscribers as of March 31, 2009 will be eligible to win.  So, if you don’t like the newsletter, you might wait until April 1 to hit unsubscribe.

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Sarah Ahmad, a photographer from Rawalpindi in Pakistan, is the winner of the Campaign Award. Introduced this year, as part of the Sony World Photography Awards, the competition created a brief for amateur photographers to answer and it sought out one image which unites a global obsession with football and a passion for photography.

The winning image of a woman preparing a meal, with one foot placed on a football, is simply titled: ‘The Love of the Game: a cook, cleaner, mother….and an attacking midfielder.’

Delly Carr, one of the world’s leading sports photographers, and chair of the judging panel commented: “This photograph is so simple, yet it speaks volumes about the sport. The image exemplifies the fact that football is indeed the World Game, a sport built on passion and fanaticism. It also attempts to express that passion makes no discrimination against gender, age, nationality, or social class.”

On hearing the news, Sarah Ahmad, who only discovered her love of photography in 2006, said: “I pinched myself several times to see whether I was dreaming. When I realized it was not a dream I ran around and screamed. I think I scared the neighbours! I had imagined great things happening for me but nothing I imagined came close to something as amazing as winning this award.”

“The Campaign Award aims to seek out a single original image which captures the spirit of football in places where you might least expect it. This year’s winner has succeeded beautifully through her interpretation by taking us beyond the traditional boundaries of the sport,” commented Yoshiyuki Nogami, Vice President of Digital Imaging at Sony Europe. “We were delighted by the enthusiastic response from talented individuals across the globe who submitted their inspiring images which reflect their passion for the game and it makes us proud to be able to nurture such wonderful talent in this competition.”

The judging panel, chaired by Delly Carr, included Shigeki Ishizuka,  President of Digital Imaging Group at Sony Corporation; Yoshiyuki Nogami, Vice President of Digital Imaging at Sony Europe; and James Kennedy, Brand Communications Director at Sony Europe.

In winning the award, Sarah received two VIP tickets to the Sony World Photography Awards gala ceremony in Cannes, France (including flights and two nights’ accommodation in a luxury hotel on the famous Croisette); a Sony α350 DSLR camera and lens and will have the opportunity to be one of the photographers used in Sony’s forthcoming digital imaging FY09 campaign work, as well as receive two tickets to a South Africa World Cup game in 2010 (travel and accommodation included).

The winning photograph, along with the top 50 images entered to the competition, will be exhibited at Festival @ The Sony World Photography Awards in Cannes, April 2009

Further information about the Sony World Photography Awards can be found at www.worldphotographyawards.org

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