Friday Happy Hour: Steve McCurry Shot the Pirelli Calendar & More

As we head into the holiday season, it seems like there’s even more news and events floating around. We won’t start with the gift guides (yet), so here are some other heavy hitters from this week – including shots from the new Pirelli calender, a new app from LensProToGo, details on an awesome event in Texas, and more.

Steve McCurry shot the Pirelli calendar

Photojournalist Steve McCurry, who’s most famous for his portrait of the Afghan girl, was commissioned months ago to shot the Pirelli calendar. So what, you say? If you check out previous issues, you’ll note that the calendar notoriously walks the line between art and pornography with models scantily clad and bearing their sexuality. But in the 2013 issue, McCurry takes us through Brazil to showcase supermodels who have dedicated part of their lives to humanitarian projects.

“Some of the women were models, but this is about their charities, and so I wasn’t photographing them naked. It’s not about their bodies. Or their sexuality,” said McCurry. The calendar will also feature its first pregnant model, Adriana Lima.

Rapper Will.i.am launches pricey iPhone camera accessory

What’s an iPhone without a little bling? That’s the question rapper Will.i.am must have been asking himself when he designed the “i.am+” accessory for iPhone 4 and 4s. Price point is a cool £299 (about $480).

The product has interchangeable lenses for standard, fish-eye, and zoom capabilities, with an accompanying app that has on-screen controls to change shooting models and apply filters. Like Instagram on steroids. (via MacRumors)

ICFJ Exchange takes photographers inside Russian media

The International Center for Journalists and Moscow  Unions of Journalists have partnered up to introduced the first Young Media Professionals Exchange Program, which grants 12 journalists and photographers to travel to Russia to work for a variety of news organizations. 12 from Russia will also come to the U.S. “This exchange will help establish professional relationships between the young journalists from two nations, both important in the world, yet once dire enemies,” said Eric Newton, senior adviser to the Knight Foundation, which is awarding the grants.

PhotoShelter member and Boston-based photography M. Scott Brauer was one of the photographers selected for the program – he’ll be working for a Russian photo news service until the end of December.

Texas Photo Roundup February 7-9, 2013

It’s time to start planning for 2013, and one event that should make it on your calendar is Texas Photo Roundup, produced by The Austin Center for Photography and ASMP’s Austin/San Antonio Chapter. The event is February 7-9 in Austin and features a mix of portfolio reviews, panel discussion, workshops, and more.

PhotoShelter Chairman Allen Murabayashi is part of the panel set to discussed how photographers should be negotiating commercial jobs in today’s market. Other highlights include Dan Winters‘s “Icons of Photography” lecture and Andrew Hetherington and Monte Isom‘s “Covers to Billboards” discussion.

Check out ticket prices and more info at texasphotoroundup.com.

8th annual Best of ASMP awards 20 photographers

The Best of ASMP traditionally evaluates photographers’ submitted projects from the past year. “Two-thirds of the submissions we reviewed were assignments that bordered on logistical and creative impossibilities,” said Best of ASMP 2010 finalist Herbert Ascherman, who was one of two judges. “The remaining one-third included personal projects that grew from the experience and interest of the photographer.”

Several PhotoShelter members were selected, including fine art photographer Jimmy Williams, editorial photographer Chuck Cecil, travel photographer Glen Allison, commercial photographer Robert Hart, commercial/editorial photographer Kelly Gorham, and editorial photographer Clark James Mishler. Congrats to all the finalists!

The Press Awards celebrates the best in British journalism

The Press Awards celebrates the best in British national newspaper journalism, and entries for their annual contest open on December 4, 2012. Entries published on all newspaper platforms will be judged by journalists nominated by their papers. Staff and freelance journalists can also submit entries so long as their work has appeared in a British national newspaper or on its related digital platforms during 2012.

The closing date is January 4, 2013. Check out the 2011 winners and more information here.

LensProToGo announced first iPhone app

This week, LensProToGo announced a new iOS app that makes renting gear even easier by allowing you to purchase rentals right on your iPhone. The app also adds two new features: users can mark select gear as a “Favorite” while browsing, and a new “Quick Add” icon lets you add multiple items to your cart.

Download it now and use code “iPhone” while using the app to get 10% off your rental until the end of December!

Photojournalist Paul Jeffrey captures Advent in Tahrir Square – and pays a bit of a price

After traveling extensively in the Middle East, Paul Jeffrey has finally found a spare moment to write an extensive blog post on his experiences capturing Advent in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt. During Advent, Christians observe a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of Christmas. In Cairo, a quarter million people showed up for a massive demonstration against the dictatorial measures announced by President Mohamed Morsi on November 22.

Paul was compelled to get close, and soon found himself caught in the middle of a fight between police and protesters. “…just as I thought I might get out if it alive, some other police, who’d run after the protesters firing tear gas, turned to see these three escorting me, and they yelled ‘camera!’ and ran toward us, pushing the other three out of the way and hitting me with their batons,” write Jeffrey in his account. It’s still a very dangerous time in Egypt, with blurred lines between the good and bad guys. Check out a few of his images from Advert, and Jeffrey’s full blog post here.