Legendary 70s and 80s fashion photographer Willie Christie has been announced as the Executive Director of Britain's first reality show for style photography. Christie's portfolio includes award winning advertising campaigns, fashion and portrait work for international icons, notably Cary Grant, Grace Jones, Douglas Fairbanks Jnr, Sir John Mills and Catherine Deneuve; and Rock 'n' Roll album covers and portraits for Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Bryan Ferry and Lou Reed. The 9-episode series developed by Christie and Back to Front TV is a first for Britain and will celebrate the essential relationship between style and photography. Casting for the series will be conducted through a call for contestants later this month when Back to Front TV will invite anyone with a keen interest in photography to submit their best images and describe their motivation for participating in this exclusive series.

Alien Skin Software has announced Snap Art 4, the new version of its artistic natural media application for photographers. Snap Art 4 features a redesigned user interface and improved speed of operation. In addition, the new visual preset browser shows how each preset will look when applied to an image.Snap Art 4 integrates with many popular photography programs including Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom and Apple Aperture, and can now also be launched as a standalone app. The software will be available in November 2013. Owners of earlier versions of Snap Art may upgrade for $69. Free upgrades will be automatically sent to everyone who purchased Snap Art 3 directly from Alien Skin Software in August 2013 or later.

Red Bull have released a new stop motion film, made up of thousands of photos taken by the UK’s top Instagramers at their recent Cliff Diving event. On 14th September Red Bull Cliff Diving returned to Wales - the 6th stop of the World Series which sees ten athletes performing unbelievable dives from a 27m high platform. Red Bull collaborated with leading instagramers @danrubin, @jeera and @chaiwalla with support from @Finn to take on the ambitious challenge of creating a stop motion film, capturing all of the breathtaking views and action from the day. Click through to see the film.

The Societies have launched a new competition for photography students. Phil Jones, The Societies CEO says “We are looking forward to seeing the talented work of student photographers. Open to all full-time students with no preference on genre, we are eager to see a broad range of topics entered in to this competition, from images captured on high-end cameras to images showing the capabilities of smaller cameras or even mobile phones. We are simply looking for creativity and imagination." The submission date is 31 December 2013. For details and to enter, visit the website below.

FotoDC has announced the 2013 FotoWeekEDU line-up, FotoWeekDC’s second year of educational programming at the Goethe Institut. From 2-7 November, FotoWeekEDU will present eight half-day workshops that will range in areas of focus, from industry knowledge and photojournalism to fine art and marketing, as well as various other topics relevant to photographers. Additionally, FotoWeekEDU will offer a full day of Portfolio Reviews on Sunday, 3 November from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Click through / scroll down for the detailed programme.

Tiffen today announced newly available updates to its award-winning apps for iOS devices. Tiffen Photo fx version 5.03 and Tiffen Photo fx Ultra version 5.02 are now compatible with and fully optimised for Apple iOS 7. The updated apps also benefit from a number of improved Help menu functions, including new icon images. Tiffen Photo fx costs $2.99, whilst Tiffen Photo fx Ultra sells for $4.99.

PhotoVoice has teamed up with the National Working Group network for Sexually Exploited Children and Young People to run participatory photography projects across the UK on a two- year project. All projects have run in partnership with specialist support providers who work directly with young people, who have experienced sexual exploitation or who have been identified to be at risk. The ‘Having Our Say Too’ exhibition, which features work from the project, will launch at The Photographers Gallery, London from 6-8pm on Thursday 17th October.

Brian Griffith has released Iridient Developer 2.3, an update to his photo editing software for Mac OS X. This release includes support for the Sony NEX-5T and ILCE-3000, the Samsung Galaxy NX, the Olympus OM-D E-M1, the Nikon Coolpix P7800, the Fujifilm: X-A1, the Canon PowerShot G16 and the PowerShot S120. The automatic chromatic aberration correction algorithm has also been greatly improved to give better, more consistent results under difficult image conditions. This release is a paid upgrade for users who originally purchased a license prior to 1 April 2012.

Fujifilm UK is launching an exclusive range of functional, weatherproof camera bags for its X-Series cameras in collaboration with Millican. Christopher the Camera Bag and Robert the Camera Bag are designed for outdoor use, travel and everyday adventure. Both bags are made from 100% organic cotton canvas with 100% organic cotton lining and each features a hoodedlid for added security and weatherproofing. multiple pockets, a comfortable shoulder strap and removable protective inserts. Christopher the Camera Bag additionally offers a fold-away rain cover in the back pocket, while Robert the Camera Bag has a special compartment for a tablet or netbook up to 10" in size.Both bags are available to buy on the John Lewis website, and in the following John Lewis stores: Oxford Street, London; Peter Jones, Sloane Square; Stratford city; Cheadle and Southampton.

British photographer Mark French has been named as the  winner of CBRE’s 2013 Urban Photographer of the Year competition. The annual competition run by CBRE, the world’s largest property advisor, is now in its sixth year and is the largest global photography competition of its kind. The theme for the contest was ‘Cities at Work’, challenging entrants to capture the essence of urban life. French’s winning entry, Looking Good at Work (above) depicts a solitary tram driver amongst a crowd of advertising, taken at 9am during Hong Kong’s rush hour.

SLR Magic has announced an upgraded version of its HyperPrime CINE 12mm T1.6 lens. The new variant offers a refined design that is better suited to the needs of professional cinematographers. specifically, the lens now has built-in gears around the aperture and focus rings to facilitate the use of the lens with a follow-focus device. The optical formula,  which comprises 12 elements in 10 groups including 3 'Tantalum' glass elements and an iris diaphragm with a dozen rounded aperture blades, is unchanged from the previous version. The SLR Magic HyperPrime CINE 12mm T1.6 Lens with Gears will be available from late November 2013. Pricing has yet to be confirmed.

Scarab Labs have released version 2.0 of Scarab Darkroom, a fast and easy-to-use raw converter for Windows. Unlike the previous edition, this is a paid app that retails for $49, but it comes with expanded functionality courtesy of a number of new features such as noise filtering, chromatic aberration correction, split toning, Adobe RGB colour space support and more. The free variant, now renamed Scarab Darkroom Lite, remains available alongside the paid version.

The Samsung NX300M is a modified version of the Samsung NX300, featuring a rear screen that tilts upwards by 180 degrees. In all other respects, the NX300M is identical to the NX300, with features like a 20-megapixel imager with on-sensor phase detection AF sensors, an articulated OLED touchscreen and Wi-Fi connectivity. As of this writing, the Samsung NX300M is available in South Korea only.

ArcSoft has announced that its digital photo makeover app, Perfect365, has reached 10 million downloads. Perfect365 is free to download, and lets people easily apply a natural touchup or a trendy makeover on digital self-portrait photos with a single tap. The app is available for Android, iOS and Windows platforms. A premium version is also available for Mac and Windows users.

Lightricks has released a dedicated iPad edition of its Facetune app. “Facetune for iPad is a game changer,” says Zeev Farbman, Lightricks’ CEO. “Facetune’s revolution was offering every user the ability to achieve magazine-level portraits on the go. Facetune for iPad provides a whole new experience, by stretching the limits of technology with a product that’s both powerful and approachable.” Facetune for iPad is available now, priced at $3.99. Lightricks simultaneously released a new iPhone version that costs $2.99.

Essentia Water has announced its Create A Better You photo competition, which is hosted on Essentia’s Facebook page. Running through 2nd November, the 4-week online contest invites US residents over the age of 18 to share photos that illustrate what inspires them to be happier and healthier. Essentia’s Facebook community will have the chance to vote for their favorite images and select the weekly People’s Choice winner. The company will also select one photo each week. Both winners will receive a case of Essentia Water, and their images will be used as the brand’s weekly inspirational post on its Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. 

Calumet UK is launching an exclusive six city in-store ‘Autumn Open Day’ programme starting in Edinburgh on Wednesday, 9th October and finishing at the company’s flagship London branch at Drummond Street, Euston on 7th November. Imaging specialists from leading brands including Canon, Nikon, Epson, Manfrotto, Bowens, Lowepro and Profoto will be on hand each day to demonstrate latest products and discuss workflow challenges with photographers. Click through / scroll down for the exact locations and dates.