Jessops today launched the Spring edition of its Image magazine, available free at Jessops stores across the United Kingdom. This edition showcases new products and latest technologies that are stocked by Jessops and includes some handy guides and in-depth features on the latest products from leading manufacturers. Sean Emmett, Marketing & E-commerce Director at Jessops commented “We feel that the new magazine is a valuable asset for our customers because as well as being packed full of the latest technology and photographic innovation it also offers lots of advice and useful features to help our customers get even more from their photography.”

Manchester-based Eposure is a new business which has been set up to support professional photographers by promoting its members to photography buyers, and raising the profile of commercial photography. The business will be supported by a website, launching at the end of April. “We are very aware of the challenges that professional photographers face these days, such as competition from amateurs and a general devaluing of the profession,” says co-founder and director Gabrielle O’Haare. “With a senior level background in photography and marketing at blue chip client level, we’ve valuable experience of many clients, and the problem often stems from the fact that many brand/ad agencies and clients, don’t understand photography and therefore don’t get the best out of it.” To tackle this issue the directors will be working with and providing content for the buying community. An example of this approach can be found on their blog.

Metro Imaging has become one of 159 companies to receive a warrant from HRH Prince of Wales, in recognition of its close relationship as a supplier to the Duchy of Cornwall. This highly prized status is only granted on consistent demonstration of quality and excellence. “We are really proud of this prestigious acknowledgement,” says Steve Macleod, Creative Director at Metro Imaging. “We love our work and always strive to give our best to every customer.”

New consumer data recently released by online purchase agent Sortable shows that 22 percent of potential camera buyers are interested in compact system cameras (CSCs). The study, which surveyed more than 275,000 people over a 6-month period, also found that the rest are split between point-and-shoot cameras and DSLRs with 36 percent looking for each type of camera (the remaining 6% make up the “Other” category). In terms of brand preference, Canon leads the pack with 33%, followed by Nikon (26%), Sony (15%), Panasonic (7%), Fujifilm (5%), Olympus (4%) and Pentax (3%).

The second issue of the bi-monthly Photographer’s i Magazine, which is billed as “the world’s first interactive, multimedia tablet magazine for photographers,” is out now. This edition - available for $5.99 after downloading the free Android/iOS app - serves up over 150 full “pages” of text, photography, audio and video from internationally acclaimed professional shooters such as: Michael Yamashita, Douglas Dubler, Gregory Heisler, Lucas Gilman, Michael Freeman, Heather Angel and more. To download the magazine app, click one of the links below. (Note that this is strictly a tablet-only app - it won’t work on a smartphone.)

Wall Pepper is a new photo printing service that also offers a novel way of displaying your photos in your home. Essentially a self-stick canvas fabric imaged with your photos to create murals for walls, windows or doors, Wall Pepper allows users to upload their photos to pepperyourplace.com, choose from 7 different templates and order the prints online. After receiving their Wall Pepper prints, they can apply them to almost any smooth or lightly textured surface in their home. “The idea is to take your digital photos that are trapped and building up on your computer and put them on display,”  says Robert Travis of InkWork Printing, the company behind Wall Pepper. “While the digital world provides great opportunity it also means large masses of photos stuck on the computer and never seen. Wall Pepper provides a convenient, easy, and inexpensive way to print and display your photos without the hassle of framing or putting holes in the wall.”

Website: Pepper Your Place

The 13th issue of the online Landscape Photography Magazine is out now. This edition offers inspirational articles by Mike Bell, David Hay, Jon Gibbs, Guy Tal, Dimitri Vasileiou and Tim O’Neil. The magazine also features some exceptional landscape photography sent in by the readers. Note that the full contents of Landscape Photography Magazine are available to subscribers only. The annual subscription is £6.00/$9.50.

PhotographyBB has announced the release of the 49th edition of the downloadable, free PhotographyBB Magazine. The 49th edition marks the 4 Year Anniversary for PhotographyBB, and to celebrate, there are several prizes for readers to win. This edition explores the topics of how photographers can discover and define their own artistic style, techniques for shooting at dawn, how to build a solid file-backup strategy, and more. PhotographyBB Magazine is available for free download through the PhotographyBB website.

PhotoShelter has just released a new free educational guide, How to Grow a Wedding Photography Business. This guide coaches photographers on both basic and advanced approaches to grow a thriving wedding photography business including the secrets of building a unique brand, establishing competitive pricing tiers, improving search engine rankings, and more. How to Grow a Wedding Photography Business is the latest in PhotoShelter’s ongoing series of free business guides for photographers and marketing professionals. All can be downloaded from the website below.

The sixth issue of Adore Noir magazine is now out. Adore Noir is a fine art photography magazine available exclusively in digital format. Featuring exquisite musician portraits by Jim McGuire, world-class wedding photography by Jeff Ascough, a selection of pictures from the series “Transfigurations” by Norman Lerner, “neo-vintage” images by Adrian Davis, dramatic photographs of bullfighters by Michael Crouser, fine art landscapes by Rafal Maleszyk, an essay by Dominic Rouse and a richly illustrated behind-the-scenes story on the making of the documentary, The Silver Footprint; this issue reinforces the magazine’s commitment to high-quality black-and-white imagery. Adore Noir magazine is available for $2.95 from the website below.

Website: Adore Noir

The 12th issue of the online Landscape Photography Magazine is out now. This edition offers inspirational articles by Jack Graham, Mike Bell, Simon Watkinson, Jan Herremans, John Clark, Dimitri Vasiliou and David Hay. The magazine also features an interview with John Chapple and some exceptional landscape photography sent in by the readers. Note that the full contents of Landscape Photography Magazine are available to subscribers only. The annual subscription is £6.00/$9.50.

Hole Park Gardens in Rolvenden, Kent, are among the best places to photograph bluebells in England. The Gardens now have a new section on their website that informs visitors about which flowers are currently in bloom, including a special bluebell watch feature. In spring, the gardens will be open daily between 8 April and 31 May 2012 from 11am to 6pm followed by Wednesday and Thursday opening from June to the end of October with additional openings on Sundays in October. Admission is £6 for adults and £1 for children. For more information, visit the website below.

Sigma has announced the passing of Sigma Corporation’s founder and CEO Michihiro Yamaki. He died of liver cancer on 18th January at the age of 78. In 1961, Yamaki developed the first-ever rear attached lens converter and founded Sigma to commercialise the product. At that time, most photo enthusiasts believed that a lens converter could only be attached to the front of a camera lens and the 27-year-old optical engineer turned conventional optical theory on its head. In the next five decades, Yamaki grew the family-owned organisation into a leading researcher, developer, manufacturer and service provider of lenses, cameras and flashes. The company is now known as the largest, independent SLR lens manufacturer in the world, producing more than 50 current lens models. Sigma Corporation celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2011 with Yamaki still at the company’s helm.

In a statement released today, Olympus has reaffirmed its commitment to developing new products for both Four Thirds and Micro Four Thirds (MFT). Welcoming the newly announced support of the latter by three new companies, including Astrodesign, Kenko Tokina and Tamron, Olympus declared that “[a]s the originator of the Four Thirds System and Micro Four Thirds System standards, Olympus Imaging Corp. will continue to develop and enhance the product lineup for both standards” to meet the “diverse needs” of their customers. N.B.: while Olympus has been busy expanding its range of MFT product offerings throughout the last couple of years, the last major addition to the “regular” Four Thirds system was the launch of the Olympus E-5 digital SLR camera (read review) back in 2010.

The 11th edition of the online Landscape Photography Magazine is out now. This issue offers inspirational articles by Slawek Stazczuk, Andy Hemingway, Tom Grubbe, Dan Andre Knutsen-Oey, Dimitri Vasiliou, David Hay, Mike Bell and others. The magazine also features an interview with Lee Pengelly and some stunning images of Saddleworth moor in England. Note that the full contents of Landscape Photography Magazine are available to subscribers only. The annual subscription is £6.00/$9.50.

Ilex has released the first issue of Photographer’s i Magazine for the Apple iPad.  Editor Marti Saltzman said “Photographer’s i is not like any other photography magazine because it starts from a different premise; our concern is with the art of image making.” Articles come to life with videos, audio recordings, and interactive tutorials. The free taster issue, available now on iTunes, includes richly illustrated thoughtful, practical advice from the likes of Magnum’s Abbas, Steve Simon, and other professional photographers.

The tenth edition of the online Landscape Photography Magazine is now available. This issue includes thought-provoking articles by Miles Morgan, Dimitri Vasiliou, David Hay, Mike Bell and more. The magazine also showcases stunning images of Corfe castle in England and superb black-and-white photographs by Martin Henson. Note that the full contents of Landscape Photography Magazine are available to subscribers only. The annual subscription is £6.00/$9.50.

Website: Landscape Photography Magazine

The fifth issue of Adore Noir Magazine is now out. Adore Noir is a fine art photography magazine available exclusively in digital format. Featuring artistic portraits by William Ropp, a selection of pictures from the series “An Enduring Grace” by Michael Kirchoff, fascinating wildlife and people photos by Christopher Rimmer, landscapes by Giedrius Varnas, an essay by Kathleen Hay, and more, this issue reinforces the magazine’s commitment to high-quality black-and-white imagery.Adore Noir magazine is available for $2.95 from the website below.

Website: Adore Noir

The 46th issue of the free PhotographyBB Online Magazine is now available for download. This edition explores some of the new ways in which photographers are thinking about composition. It also includes an illustrated article on underwater photography and a number of important safety tips and techniques for shooting during the cold winter months. Additionally, PhotographyBB is offering a free e-book entitled “11 Ways You Can Improve Your Photography”, published by Craft and Vision. You can download the e-book and magazine (free registration required) from the websites below.

Jessops has joined the Tesco Clubcard reward scheme. This gives Tesco customers the opportunity to convert every £5 in Clubcard vouchers into £10 worth of Jessops reward tokens. Sean Emmett, Marketing Director, Jessops said “We’re delighted to be working with Tesco Clubcard. It is an excellent reward scheme and it is a great way of making sure our customers are saving even more by shopping at Jessops.”