As part of the 40^th Anniversary celebrations of the Juno awards, Vistek is proud to sponsor the Photography Exhibition, featuring Juno award winning performances and behind-the-scenes photos of Canada’s top singers and musicians. The exhibition features work from Canada’s foremost rock’n roll photographers including Barry Roden, Bruce Cole, Grant Martin, Tom Sandler and photographers from iPhoto.

Admission is free, weekdays between 11am to 3pm, March 1-25.  Juno Coffee House  (FCP Gallery), street level east of the Adelaide Entrance.

Continue reading...

Once again this year, Vistek is a proud sponsor of EXPOSURE – the Calgary, Banff and Canmore Photography Festival – a month long celebration of photographic excellence. A perk of being a sponsor is being called on to support photography events during the festival, including the EXPOSURE Vistek Emerging Photographer Showcase.

The finals take place Friday, February 25, 7-9 pm at the Art Gallery of Calgary. It’s a free vote. So if you’re in the area, drop by, enjoy the amazing photographs, and cast a vote for your favourite.

Vistek congratulates the top ten finalists: Logan Facette, Jeremy Fokkens, Ryan Hellard, Ryan Kostel, Opal Retzer, Rajvinder Sandhu, Amy Victoria Wakefield, Kyle Whitehead, Jennifer Tellier and Jamie Tilston. Below, a few samples from the finalists.

Continue reading...

Once again, CONTACT will be playing host to the Magnum Photo Workshops during this year’s festival during the month of May.

The Magnum Workshop Toronto is a five day practice-oriented workshop that seeks to provide personal photographic growth in an intimate and intensive environment.

During the workshop, students will participate in an intimate shooting workshop with their choice of one of seven Magnum Photographers: Bruno Barbey, Chien-Chi Chang, Bruce Gilden, David Alan Harvey, Eli Reed, Larry Towell and Donovan Wylie. In addition to the dynamic within each workshop, there will also be ample informal time for cross pollination of viewpoints and commentary with the other teachers as well as the other students.

Participants will produce individual projects over the course of five days with daily review and editing sessions within their groups. Focusing on story formation, visual literacy, and personal vision, these intimate, intensive masterclasses form the center of the Magnum Workshop Toronto. Prior to the workshop, each accepted applicant will be sent specific directives from their selected workshop leader.

Registration is now open & you can get full requirement details here.

May 9 – May 13, 2011
Ryerson University

Magnum Workshops Presentation
May 14, 8 – 10PM
The Drake Hotel
1150 Queen St W

Magnum Photos Lectures
Ryerson University
May 10 – May 13, 7- 9PM

Continue reading...

Meryl McMaster will proudly be displaying her solo exhibition, Second Self, beginning tomorrow – Saturday, Feb. 19 in downtown Toronto’s garment district.

McMaster is a former winner of the OCAD Gold Medal (and $1,500 Vistek scholarship)- given each year to the Most Outstanding Photographer.

From the Leo Kamen Gallery website:
In considering the complex nature of identity, Meryl McMaster combines drawing and sculpture with photography. She asks various untrained individuals to draw “blind contour” self-portraits that are subsequently recreated as wire sculpture. She then photographs her subjects holding the wire contour. The end result is a multiple reinterpretation — in effect, a second self.

Don’t miss McMaster’s exhibit – running through to March 19 at the Leo Kamen Gallery in Toronto, Ontario.

What: Second Self – solo exhibit
Where: Leo Kamen Gallery | 80 Spadina Ave. Suite 406
When: February 19 – March 19, 2011.
Opening Saturday, February 19
Artist present 2 – 5pm

Continue reading...

The book signing event being held this Sunday with photographer Sylvia Plachy has been moved up to start at 7pm (instead of the previously mentioned 8:30pm.) Location remains the same

When: Sunday, February 20 (7pm)
Where: Canmore Collegiate High School | 1800 8 Ave, Canmore, AB

See previous post.

Continue reading...

Here’s the deal: Right now, when you buy an Epson Stylus Pro 4900, 7890 or 9890 you’ll get a $500 Golden Ticket on top of any other existing sales or rebates.

Act fast, though, because there are a limited number of Golden Tickets available… and when they’re gone – they’re gone! They’re first-come, first-served – so don’t miss out!

Purchase an Epson Stylus Pro 4900 Standard Edition (SP4900HDR), Epson Stylus Pro 7890 (SP7890K3) or Epson Stylus Pro 9890 (SP9890K3) from Vistek by February 28, 2011, and receive $500 back by mail. Offer ends Feb. 28, 2011 or when the Golden Tickets run out – whichever comes first.

Continue reading...

Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to experience the latest in Digital Back technology from Phase One. This is your chance to check out the new Phase One IQ180 Digital Back – and try it out for yourself!

On Friday, Feb. 18, Vistek will hold three 1-hour seminars (at 10am, 1pm& 4pm) to showcase the revolutionary new Phase One IQ180!

Be on hand to see this incredible new digital back and witness its amazing new features:

• The highest resolution screen (1.15MP) available today
• Touch screen capabilities with multi-touch features
• On-screen instant focus verification
• Universal connectivity
• The HIGHEST resolution (80 megapixels) of any digital back in the world!

Bring your CF memory card with you, as you’ll have a chance to get hands-on with the IQ180, then view your sample photo with a free trial download of Capture One Pro 6.1!

You’ll also a get brief tour of Capture One Pro 6.1’s new features & highlights – including the exciting Capture Pilot feature that allows you to use your iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch to wirelessly view, zoom & pan high res. images – direct from your shoot!

Register online (10am, 1pm or 4pm) or in-store for your chance to check out this unprecedented new product!

Where: Vistek Toronto (496 Queen Street E.)
When: Friday, Feb. 18 | 10am, 1pm & 4pm
Cost: FREE

Continue reading...

Canon announced, today, a whole slew of new consumer-level cameras & accessories – including two new additions to the Rebel family: the EOS Rebel T3i and the EOS Rebel T3.

New EOS REBEL Cameras

The T3i offers fun and easy-to-use features for beginning photographers, and the EOS Rebel T3 provides a more attractively priced option for those looking to experience the pleasure of shooting with a DSLR camera. For the young enthusiast learning photography or the adult looking to learn more, Canon’s new Feature Guide instruction will walk Rebel T3i users through functions and provide recommendations for various settings, a great hands-on learning tool.

Point-and-Shoot users looking to step-up to a DSLR will enjoy the T3i camera’s Scene Intelligent Auto mode, the most intuitive automatic camera mode available in a Canon Rebel camera to date, providing complete scene analysis and optimized settings.

One of the most sought-after and requested features for a DSLR camera is now part of the new EOS Rebel T3i, Canon’s three-inch Vari-Angle Clear View LCD screen, ideal for properly composing those difficult overhead shots.

Rebel T3i – Key Features:

• High Resolution 18MP CMOS Sensor with DiG!C 4 Processor.
• 3.0″ Vari-Angle LCD – A Rebel first.
• Full 1080P High Definition Video with New Movie Digital Zoom.

Rebel T3 – Key Features:

• High Resolution 12.2MP CMOS Sensor with DiG!C 4 Processor.
• 4 New Colours- A Rebel First .
• New On-Screen feature guide displays simple explanations of Shooting Modes & Features.

New PowerShot Digital Cameras
Also set for release are two new models (the SX230 HS & SX220 HS) in the PowerShot SX lineup & three new models (the ELPH 500 HS, ELPH 300 HS & ELPH 100 HS) in the PowerShot ELPH lineup.

PowerShot SX

• Featuring Canon’s exclusive High Sensitivity HS System
• New GPS functionality (SX230 HS)
• Full 1080p High Definition Videos
• 14X Optical Zoom
• New Creative Filters

PowerShot ELPH

• Featuring Canon’s exclusive High Sensitivity HS System
• World’s Slimmest Wide Angle 24mm, 5x Zoom Model (ELPH 300 HS)
• Full 1080p High Definition Videos
• New Movie Digest

Lenses & Speedlights
As well, Canon has announced two new Speedlites – the 320 EX &  270 EX II – a new EF-S 18-55/3.5-5.6 IS II kit lens and two new super-telephotos: the EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM for wildlife and photojournalism & EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM for sports and nature.

Read Canon’s Official Press Releases for more info:

New EOS REBEL Cameras
New PowerShot Digital Cameras
New Telephoto Lenses

Continue reading...

Canon recently announced that there’s a new telephoto lens in the works for its lineup of EOS DSLR cameras. Currently in development is the EF200-400mm f/4L IS USM EXTENDER 1.4x zoom – that features an integrated focal length extender to take its zoom range to 280-560mm.

The lens will be showcased Feb. 9 – 12 at the CP+ event in Yokohama, Japan and is being developed as part of Canon’s acclaimed L-series of professional lenses. The new lens – featuring an enhanced weatherproof construction – will be an ideal addition for sports and wildlife photographers who require high performance, fast aperture and a flexible telephoto range. It will also enable photographers to shoot a greater breadth of subjects using a single lens, delivering the best possible image quality at all focal lengths.

The EF200-400mm f/4L IS USM EXTENDER 1.4x is scheduled for launch later this year.

Continue reading...

Part photography, part sculpture, and part collage – FOLD, SPINDLE, MANIPULATE showcases three related bodies of work by artist Karina Kraenzle beginning tonight at The Red Wall Gallery in Ottawa’s Byward Market.

The collection spans three years of production beginning in 2008 and shows Kraenzle’s formal and conceptual evolution of this line of inquiry. Each successive body of work conveys a different aspect of the artist’s critique of the relentless use and manipulation of images of women in popular culture and its ensuing psychic cost.

Using advertising as their source material, the techniques employed (a scanner for some images and a scalpel for others) operate at both physical and metaphorical levels to underline the powerful qualities of propaganda inherent in the carefully constructed image of “female”.

These re-presented pictures examine the fragile nature of both the subject and the viewer from their vantage point at the crossroads between photography and sculpture.

Vernissage: Friday,  Feb. 4 | 6 – 9pm
On View: February 4 – 28
Monday – Friday: 10am – 6pm, Saturdays: 10am – 3pm

The Red Wall Gallery is located in SPAO at 168 Dalhousie, at the corner of Bruyère, in the Byward Market.

Continue reading...