YYC4Haiti – a Silent Auction and Fundraiser in support of Canadian Red Cross Haiti Relief is being held today at Calgary Flames Central at 5:30 MT and you can catch the event live by tuning into its Video & Blog Coverage. Vistek Calgary is pleased to be donating still and video cameras for use in this coverage.

Entertainment, door prizes and LOTS of fund raising are on the agenda. A $15,000 Grand Prize – donated by the Strategic Group of Calgary – includes a destination package to beautiful Kelowna, B.C., this spring. The prize includes return flight for two (courtesy WestJet) to Kelowna along with 4 days and 4 nights at the Okanagan Delta Grand Royal Private Residence Club. WestJet has also donated a Second Prize of round-trip airfare to any of their destinations. Not too shabby. Other prizes include:

• Autographed Calgary Flames Jerseys
• Calgary Flames tickets
• Lift tickets for Resorts of the Canadian Rockies
• Prints and artwork
• Fitness memberships
• Electronics
• Event tickets
• Photography sessions

Check out the Live Video & Blog coverage HERE.
Read full event details HERE & HERE.
You can can also keep up-to-date on Twitter at #YYC4Haiti

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This incredibly cool stop-motion film tells the story of the Olympus PEN on the 50th anniversary of it’s initial launch. Have a look at what a shoot of over 60,000 photos can accomplish!

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Wildlife and landscape photographer Jim Zuckerman spends a snowy day in Central Park talking about photography and tripod support tips.

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Okay, seriously… the Canon EOS 7D does some magical stuff in low light. Check out this video — The Cabbie — that kicked off  The Story Beyond the Still, an HD Video Contest by Canon and Vimeo.

“Introducing the first user-generated HD Video Contest where photographers become filmmakers, and we all see beyond the still. To kick off the contest, Canon asked me to interpret what story I saw beyond the still, and to tell that story with the new Canon EOS 7D. My short film (The Cabbie) will be the first chapter of seven, each ending with a still photograph for the next aspiring filmmaker to interpret. Posing the question to everyone, what do you see beyond the still?”

-Vincent Laforet

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Looking for a way to let the industry know just how talented you are? Want to have your name instantly recognized by potential clients,  senior creative staff as well as your peers?
Applied Arts Magazine is looking for submissions to their 2010 Applied Arts Photography & Illustration Awards. With dozens of categories in both Photgraphy & Illustration, the show is an incredibly economical means of marketing yourself & your work. Some of the new categories for 2010 include: Limited Editions/Gallery Prints (Photography & Illustration), Retail Applications (Photography & Illustration), and CD/DVD Illustration.

Winners and their work receive extensive media exposure in the annual Applied Arts Photography & Illustration Awards issue (published in June), at the online Photography & Illustration Awards Winners Gallery & at the Winners’ Exhibit in Toronto (which features an exclusive invitation-only opening reception for senior design and advertising creatives & winners alike.)  You’ll also nab a suitable-for-framing Applied Arts Winners Certificate (not just bragging rights – tangible proof!)

Last year, 95% of entries were submitted digitally. And, as a result, this year’s awards has gone entirely digital – including both submissions and judging, allowing for a broader range of judges from across North America & abroad.

Deadline for submissions is Jan. 29 and winners will be notified (via email) in early March.

Oh, one thing, though – there is a fee to submit an entry that can range from $50 to $75 per submission. Think of it as a small price to pay for big time self-promotion.

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Don’t miss Garbage, a film by Andrew Nisker, next Wednesday (Feb. 3) at 7pm.

Presented at the Design Exchange, admission is PWYC with a separate donations box for Haiti relief. A special bake sale – with proceeds going to Haiti relief – is also being held that night.

When:
Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010 – 7pm

Where:
Design Exchange
Patty Watt Room – 3rd Floor
234 Bay Street

Admission:
Pay what you can

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If all else fails during the calendar year, most of us tend to think of Christmas Day (regardless of faith or religious belief) as the one day we spend with family & friends – those nearest and dearest to us – for food, fun and good cheer. And it’s a day spent in the comfort of our own home (or someone’s home). But we expect that it’s always indoors: warm, dry and comfortable.

In our busy day to day we tend to take these things, all too easily, for granted. So much so that we, sadly, find it easy to walk past our fellow human beings – who don’t have the luxury of a warm bed, a hot meal, or even a roof over their heads – and not bat an eye. Vistek’s Derek Shanks spent his Christmas, this year, in the company of some Toronto residents who have found themselves in exactly this situation. The Forgotten – An Urban Christmas 2009 is an incredibly eye-opening photo essay that shines a light on the unfortunate plight of those without benefit of  income, a room to call their own, or even daily sustenance.

It’s far too easy to dismiss those nameless people we pass every day on our way to work and to take for granted all of the riches (both material and otherwise) we possess in our own personal lives. And, despite the bitter cold & unrelenting rain this past Dec. 25, Shanks spent hours giving both a name & a voice to many of them. Visit his blog and meet them for yourselves.

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Congratulations to David Goorevitch & Anice Wong – whose talent has earned them free gallery space at Vistek Toronto and Vistek Mississauga, respectively, during this year’s Contact Photography Festival.  Their work will be on display from May 1 to June 15.

CONTACT runs from May 1 – 31 across the GTA at exhibition venues and  non-traditional exhibition spaces such as community centres, studios, cafes, shops, and restaurants.

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Michael Reichmann at Luminous Landscape has just finished a hands-on review of both Hahnemuhle Baryta FB and Canson Infinity Baryta Photographique. Pitting inket industry stalwart Hahnemuhle against newcomers (to inkjet paper, that is… not the industry at large) Canson Infinity, Reichmann set out to test the mettle of both papers.

About Canson Infinity Baryta Photographique:
“There is a brilliance to the paper – depth of saturation, apparent dMax (though this is of course a function of the ink, not the paper) and a “three dimensionality” that can only be appreciated in person. Describing papers is like describing wine. Words simply can’t do it, and in this case there is nothing that can be shown online. One simply has to try a pack for oneself.”

About Hahnemuhle Baryta FB:
“…the reason for the apparent base paper colour was the high levels of OBAs in the paper, and that apparently “Europeans like this look”. It was further explained that once profiled the magenta cast would “profile out” and that the advantage of the paper’s brighter whites would be apparent.”

Which of these paper giants came out on top? Check out the full review here and see for yourself.

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Have a quick look at some of the key features on the new Sony NXCAM!

NXCAM Highlights – Click to View

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