Friday Happy Hour: Photokina Wrap-Up & More

I’ll admit right off that bat that we were not at Photokina this year (we definitely needed a week back in the office after Luminance), but fortunately there have been many blog posts that have kept us in the loop. So this week we point to a few of those, as well as a few notable photo series and other industry news.

Photokina 2012 wrap-up

Since 1950, Photokina has been the place for manufacturers to launch new products and give us all a glimpse of what they’ve got planned for the year ahead. This year appears not to have disappointed – Pop Photo called it the “Disney World for photo nuts,” and Michael Zhang from PetaPixel gave us an inside look into what appears to be a pretty glitzy party by Leica. All and all, looks like there were a lot of photographers photographing with their now perhaps “outdated” cameras of other newer cameras – but hey, what’s wrong with that?

From what our fellow bloggers have reported, here are just a few of the highlights:

• Leica M TYP 240: Gorilla Class 3-inch 920K pixel LCD screen with 1080p HD video
• Canon EOS 6D: WiFi-based iPad app lets you control the camera using your tablet
• Nikon D600: The smallest and least expensive full frame DSLR on the market
• Hasselblad Lunar: Space-age design with carbon fiber and wood options available

Check out more detailed wrap-up posts as they come in from PetaPixel, Engadget, Digital Photography Review, and Pop Photo.

Amazing manipulated photos from the pre-Photoshop era

Remember life before Photoshop? If you’re one to cringe over HDR skylines, enhanced skin tones, or contrast tweaks then it might please (hurt?) you to see these vintage photos tweaked via multiple exposures, combination printing, and retouching of negatives. Starting October 11, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is featuring their first major exhibition devoted to the history of manipulated photos taken between 1840-1990. Here’s a sneak preview, via Flavorpill.

Newly released FourMatch authenticates images instantly

We’ve been following photo forensics software company Fourandsix for some time now, and we were really excited to have CEO and co-founder Kevin Connor speak at Luminance last week. Now they’ve released their first product, FourMatch, which promises to instantly analyze any JPEG image to determine whether the file has been manipulated. How does it work?

“FourMatch leverages the fact that there is nearly endless variety to exactly how hardware and software products can choose to store a JPEG file. This variety results in a distinctive set of “signatures” from each hardware and software product. Once an image has been edited and resaved from a software product, this signature is changed to match the software rather than the original capture device. Thus, when a file signature correctly matches a known signature from the device that captured the photo, you can be confident that the photo has not been edited.”

FourMatch works as an extension for Adobe Photoshop, and a green light will appear on its panel when a file is an untouched original. The software can also tell you which components of the image don’t match with the original.

You can get your copy for $890 here.

ASMP symposium on issues facing visual artists

We’re thrilled to be a part of ASMP’s upcoming symposium on “Sustainable Business Models: Issues and Trends Facing Visual Artists” taking place next Thursday, September 27th, in New York. Leaders from a variety of different organizations are coming together to discuss how image professionals have had to adopt their businesses to shifts in the industry, including new technologies and a crowded visual arts marketplace. Join PhotoShelter Chairman Allen Murabayashi and the other panels for this free event to learn more about how to build a sustainable business in today’s new world.

Learn how to optimize your color managed, digital workflow

Printing is still a major cause of frustration for many photographers, but photographer Martin Bailey is setting out to teach techniques that will remove the guesswork and frustration, and lead to stress-free printing. This weekend in New York Martin is teaching an exclusive 2-day workshop at Calumet, complete with giveaways from Nik Software and X-Rite. Photographers who attend will learn how to calibrate their entire workflow, select ideal papers, and make great prints every time.

Check out the details – and register here before it’s too late!

Photojournalist documents Afghan refugees living in Greece

“In 2010, three out of ten refugees worldwide originated from Afghanistan. Greece receives the largest numbers of Afghan migrants and asylum-seekers,” writes photojournalist Zalmai,  whose work has been supported by the Magnum Foundation Emergency Fund. Zalmai’s stills and videos showcase refugees that are “trapped in a bureaucratic nightmare…often aware of laws and procedures, families with children walk miles to get to the next city, sleep in parks and public squares, often chased away by locals.” Still, the Afghan refugee situation goes largely unnoticed even as they’re the attack of racist violence in Greece.

Zalmai’s images are riveting and distressing – be sure to view his full visual essay here.

Society of American Travel Writers announces its photo competition winners

The Society of American Travel Writers – a group focused on the professional development of its 1,000 journalist members – holds an annual convention where they also honor travel photographers worldwide. This year, their Bill Muster Photo Competition winners included several PhotoShelter members, including Chad Case, Greg Vaughn, and Blaine Harrington. Congrats!