There is a rapidly growing need for professional video photographers as companies look at alternative and more interactive ways of promoting their products and services. You only need to look at the huge popularity of websites like YouTube to see how web video has become such a prominent part of consumers purchasing decisions. Online video is constantly springing up on websites every day as companies see this as an effective and engaging way to aptly demonstrate their offering. The SUN MOTION Awards recognise the importance of this form of photography which is why they have introduced this new category for 2010.

The Awards are now open and the closing date has now been extended to 30 September 2010 with the winning entry selected as SUN MOTION movie of the Year. Judges will base their choice for the winning entry on the editing and directing decisions of the photographer shooting entirely with the video functionality of a still camera. With movies needing to be between 30 seconds to 5 minutes the photographers won’t have much time to truly impress the judges in their quest to have their movie shown at the SUN 22 Premier Night in Leeds held later this year.

The software has been programmed to scan the positions of facial features, and according to the developers it is accurate 9 out of 10 times. Miraculously it will then search the Internet for other images of the same person and in tests it found photos and interactive web video images, which were previously unseen by some of the people in them.

Gill Hirsch, chief executive officer of Face.com, said:

“You can basically search for people in any photo. You could search for family members on Flickr, in newspapers, or on YouTube.”

The software creators added that 5,000 developers had already begun using the program.

Although such software has been used by the UK Border Agency and other Governmental organisations or within social networking platforms before, it could now also be used to pick up photography from all over the internet, which will include personal photos as well as commercial photography.

Those in support of the technology think it could be key in helping families unlock their past or trace friends and relatives lost in humanitarian disasters like the recent floods throughout Pakistan.

Although the Information Commissioner’s Office has said there are no legal restrictions on using of facial recognition software to search through images and web video Simon Davies, of Privacy International, said:

“The regulators have been hugely behind the curve on protecting people’s privacy on the Internet. We need to push for much tighter international rules.”

Fortunately for the private client, the professional commercial photographer has a clear policy on confidentiality and photo sharing and photos will only be put online with their permission.

The SUN awards originally began as a one-off open exhibition, with no judging, for northern members of the Association of Photographers. In subsequent years a judging system was introduced where all members of the Association of Photographers were invited to a viewing day and given the opportunity to select the images in order of preference – the most popular 60 photographs then made up the exhibition.

In 1993 production began on the SUN book, which contained the 50 winners’ photographs from that year’s exhibition. A thousand or so copies were then distributed to agencies and other creative companies across the country. The judging also became increasingly formal with a panel drawn up from leading photographers, art buyers and designers.

This year many a creative photographer from Leeds, Manchester and surrounding northern cities will enter the SUN awards, which are run by photographers for the shared benefit of the industry as a non-profit event. The SUN continues to be an important source of reference for all commissioners of photography, whether they are agencies, creative, or corporate buyers.

It was during the Second World War that Leonard really made his mark, taking black and white portrait photographs of the icons of American Jazz including Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong, in the famous New York jazz clubs.

In 2009 Leonard was asked to be the official photographer for the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal, the world largest jazz festival in Montreal, Canada.

Museum curator, John Edward Hasse, said:

“He used light, shadow and smoke, and he made indelible the faces of many of the greatest American musicians of the 20th century.”

Commercial photographers know that festivals are some of the most thrilling events to photograph, cultural events such as these are a fantastic way to learn about customs, people, local culture and creative photographers are able to capture lively photographs to convey all the excitement. Commercial photographers will find many a worthy subject at such an event including costumes, crafts and merchandise, and like Leonard found at Montreal, there are plenty of colourful participants to be photographed.

No matter what a photographer specialises or loves to focus on with their photography, whether it is lifestyle photographer or interactive web video, they can only hope to have as successful a career as Herman Leonard had, and to leave behind such a great legacy.

Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, an amateur scientist, took the oldest surviving photograph in 1826. The groundwork for this was laid down by him over ten years earlier, during experiments involving copying several drawings using light and etching processes.

The scientist is regarded to have been a major contributor to the work of Louis Daguerre who along with William Henry Fox Talbot, a British inventor, is regarded as a founding father of modern photographic techniques, and both published papers on the subject in 1839.

Getty Conservation Institute scientists will be putting the results of their scientific analysis on show at Bradford’s National Media Museum from 13 – 14 October. It is hoped that many curious creative photographers from Yorkshire’s boundaries and beyond will show their support for the unique event.

The focus will be on several photographic plates transported to England by Niépce in 1827. They have promised that they will be able to examine their history more thoroughly than ever before.

Dusan Stulik, senior scientist within the Getty Conservation Institute, said:

“Through scientific means we are able to see into the darkroom procedures which Niépce was using and we are trying to understand why he selected different photographic processes.

‘What makes the work of Niépce really special is that he was the first photographer. What makes me very excited about this whole experience is that everything we do today is a product of that first photograph.”

A friend of Kates said,

‘Kate has become increasingly frustrated in her work,’

‘She really wants to move and is seriously thinking about a career in photography. She loves cameras and has a great eye. She has already started putting an exhibition of her work together.’

Kate initially set up an online clothing business after she graduated from St Andrew’s with a History of Art degree. Unfortunately the company had financial difficulties before it was fully established, and shortly after it’s demise, Kate moved to Jigsaw and then to work for her family’s business.

In her role as a professional photographer Kate will need to employ a number of key skills. She’ll require creativity and an excellent eye for composition along with exemplary customer service skills and technical know-how. Although, it is understood that Kate prefers abstract images to those of people, she may decide specialise in a specific photography genre, such as catalogue, landscape or lifestyle photography in the future.

The life of a commercial photographer, from Leeds to London and across the country in its entirety, can be hard work, often with irregular and unsociable hours. Kate may attract some attention because of her fame to start with, but she’ll need real talent to turn it into a full-time career.

Since 2004, when it was launched, Flickr, the image and video hosting site has become a popular means of storing, organising and sharing photographs on the Internet. Flickr showcases more than four billion images including, but not limited too, fashion photography, food photography and images taken by lifestyle photographers.

Once users have established their individual photostream, they can comment on photographs, and post pictures from the site onto any blog. They can also sign up to one of the photography discussion groups. For instance, there are thousands of groups that showcase black and white photography. One such group has 85,000 members. In other groups photographers take pictures of their local town or city, helping the creative photographer, from Leeds to Luxembourg, find fellow photography fans in their locality. The groups are hugely popular.

Although Flickr is not primarily used to showcase the work of commercial photographers, it can provide sought after inspiration for their potential clients, who might browse such a site for ideas, before employing a professional commercial photographer to make their thoughts a reality. Such websites can certainly affect the business of commercial photography, by inspiring prospective customers.

Brendan Oliver is credited with creating the technology. The interactive designer developed it with assistance from LAB, a collective based in Nottingham. The team, who especially developed the software for Nottingham Contemporary, also arranged for the camera to take pictures in creative photographer Diane Arbus’ unique style.

Brendan said:

“I had a look around the exhibition and we configured the Canon camera so it replicated the style of Arbus; the same sort of tones and lighting in the exhibition. She started off in the Sixties and the technology is a lot different now.

“We get more control with a digital camera than Diane would have had.”

Within the photo booth, a video camera, a stills camera and additional custom software, written especially, have been installed. The computer prints the captured images in Polaroid-style photos, which are then projected on to a wall. Since the advent of the digital photography, professional commercial photographers, from Leeds, to London, now have all manner of new technologies available to them. Although, James Brouwer, the gallery’s audio-visual and IT technician did say of the booth,

“Technicians here have built everything from scratch. It’s never been done before.”

It is hoped that the World’s largest photo booth will help persuade gallery visitors to take the opportunity to view a Diane Arbus exhibition, which is running until the 3rd October.

Jennifer Aniston is the name of the debut perfume for Jennifer, 41, who’s been wholly involved with it’s development, from creating the fragrance to working with a commercial photographer to come up with the design ideas for the advertising campaign, which resulted in the recent Mexico photo shoot.

The perfume made its debut on Tuesday 21 July 2010 at Harrods in London, and Aniston herself, in Valentino, was present to sign bottles for fans in the famous boutique’s Georgian restaurant.

Aniston said of her perfume;

“’I am not a big perfume-y fragrance fa. ‘I want people to go “what is that?” You smell great!” But most of all, I wanted it to smell natural.”

The creative photographer who captured the stunning images of Aniston on the beach will have worked closely with the actress and colleagues to ensure that the desired pictures were produced. A professional commercial photographer from Leeds is well versed in producing professional, quality photographs to form part of an advertising campaign. Although your goods may not make their debut at Harrods, it’s certainly worth employing the services of a professional commercial photographer to promote your product.

The X Factor Star and Kris both posted a photo of their son Ethan Edward Smith on their respective Twitter accounts only days after his arrival on 5 July 2010 in Melbourne, Australia.

Along with Ethan’s picture, in which she looks resplendent and relaxed, Dannii ‘tweeted’,

“Hey everyone thanks for all your wishes, we are loving baby Ethan and Kris is the best dad in the world. X”

Dannii’s sister and Ethan’s famous Aunty, superstar Kylie, cooed,

“Congratulations to my little Sister danniiminogue and KrisSmith13 on their beautiful little boy, Ethan. He is gorgeous!!!”

While Kris’s mother Elsie said,

“Dannii and Kris are both absolutely over the moon. Ethan’s beautiful, he has fair hair. They are both looking forward to getting him home and starting life as a family”.

No doubt, despite shunning the lucrative magazine deal, there will come a time that Danni and Kris will want to capture a professional portrait of their new baby boy. Luckily for them, the right professional commercial photographer, in Leeds, Melbourne, or somewhere inbetween, will have the equipment, knowledge and skills to capture the joy a young baby brings and the perfect timeless shot of their new family. By employing a professional to take the pictures the famous parents, are assured of discretion and privacy and a beautiful image of their new baby boy.