In 2011, Marrakech’s Riad El Fenn will host a series of short creative workshops, including a five-day travel photography course.. Former Travel Photographer of the Year, Karoki Lewis, whose photographs have appeared in Harpers & Queen, Conde Nast Traveller and The Independent, will take guests to the hidden corners of the city as well as the Atlas Mountains and a number of Berber villages to practice their skills. The workshop takes place from 31st January to 4th February. The cost is £1,065 per person including board and lodging. For further information contact Riad El Fenn in Morocco on 00212 524 44 1210.

Barely Exposed is a new book by photographer Latana, who has photographed and surveyed 60 ethnically diverse young adults around the world. “I asked them to be half-dressed because I did not want them to hide behind their clothing,” says Latana. “It was important for me to capture the vulnerability in their faces. Half-dressed, they were all the same…half child, half adult, and yet completely different individuals.” Signed copies of the book are available via the author’s website for $40.

ACD Systems International has launched the beta test version of ACDSee Pro 4. The company expects thousands of professional photographers to participate in the ACDSee Pro 4 beta period and provide feedback in the development process, similar to the 10,000 testers who helped shape the current version. Specifically, user feedback is needed on Metadata Working Group compliance, the workflow-accelerating tools,geotagging and map viewing features, vignette and chromatic aberration correction and so on. ACDSee Pro 4 beta testing is available at the website below.

Kata has launched a winter cashback offer. Starting tomorrow, the offer is available on all Kata bags and accessories including the very latest Kata Owl, Beetle and Bumblebee backpacks and the Grip range of holsters. Running until 31 January 2011, the promotion allows UK photographers to save up to £35 on individual products.

The Environmental Photographer of the Year 2010 exhibition will open on 25th October, just a month before the Cancún climate-change conference. The overall winner of the 2010 competition is an aerial photograph titled “Flight of the Rays” by Florian Schulz, which shows a congregation of Munkiana devil rays in Baja California Sur. Bulgarian Radoslav Radoslavov Valkov has gained the title of the Young Environmental Photographer of the Year with his macro photograph of a fly. Hungary’s Bence Máté has been announced winner of The Natural World category for his image, “Fly to Eye” (see above). The winning images will be exhibited at The Air Gallery, Dover Street, Mayfair, W1S 4NE on 25th - 30th October 2010. Admission is free. A Blurb photo book of the winning images from the 2010 competition is available for purchase.

Apple has unveiled an all-new MacBook Air. Measuring 0.11-inches at its thinnest point and 0.68-inches at its thickest, and weighing in at 2.3 pounds for the 11-inch model and 2.9 pounds for the 13-inch version, the new MacBook Air is Apple’s lightest notebook to date. Featuring solid state storage and offering up to seven hours of battery life, the new Apple MacBook Air sports a full-sized keyboard for typing comfort. Other highlights include a built-in FaceTime camera with a microphone and stereo speakers, Intel Core 2 Duo processors, NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics, 802.11n Wi-Fi connectivity as well as a Mini DisplayPort and two USB ports (plus an SD card reader in the 13” model). The 1.4 GHz 11-inch MacBook Air with 2GB of memory and 64GB of flash storage starts at an SRP of £849 with a 128GB model for £999. The 1.86 GHz 13-inch MacBook Air with 2GB of memory and 128GB of flash storage starts at £1,099 with a 256GB model for £1,349 including VAT.

Apple has introduced iLife ’11, a major upgrade that includes a whole new version of iPhoto. Apple iPhoto ’11 features new full screen modes as well as easier-than-ever photo sharing and slideshow creation. iMovie has also been updated to offer a set of new tools including selective audio level adjustment and sophisticated visual efffects. iLife ’11 - which includes both iPhoto and iMovie as well as GarageBand ‘11 - is available immediately for a suggested retail price of £45 including VAT.

Along with the release of DxO Optics Pro 6.5, DxO Labs will introduce an HDR plug-in that will enable photographers to blend several exposures effortlessly. This allows them to produce images that accurately reflect the luminosity range of a scene even if it exceeds the dynamic range of their sensor. Specially designed multi-shot HDR presets will let photographers render these new images effortlessly with a broad range of intents from the most natural looking image to extreme creative styles. Another use for this plug-in is that you can merge several raw files shot in a burst at the same exposure in order to get a clean (low-noise or noise free) image even when having to work at high ISO settings. DxO HDR plug-in for DxO Optics Pro 6.5 for Windows and Mac is scheduled for release late November 2010 from DxO Labs’ e-store. Final pricing is not available.

DxO Labs have announced that DxO Optics Pro 6.5 will be released in early November. This newest version of the program will include DxO Labs’ Single Shot HDR technology that promises to bring out the most from a single raw image file. Additionally, DxO Optics Pro 6.5 further reduces low frequency colour and luminance noise at any ISO setting. Support for raw files produced by the Canon EOS 60D, Powershot S95 and G12, Pentax K-x and Sony A290 has also been added. The Standard edition of DxO Optics Pro 6.5 will be available for €149 / $169 / £135, whereas the Elite edition will cost €299 / $299 / £269. All customers who purchased DxO Optics Pro since 1st June 2009 are entitled to a free upgrade to version 6.5.

The Digital Photography Workflow Handbook is a new book by Uwe Steinmüller and Jürgen Gulbins. Having a good digital workflow is key to avoiding disappointment caused by weak images and poorly managed image collections. The Digital Photography Workflow Handbook is an all-inclusive resource that will teach readers how to master the craft of photographic post-processing. Providing a step-by-step guide through the photographic workflow, the 552-page book is available for $49.95.

Twenty London-based Lomographers have created a stop-motion movie using several Lomo LC-A+ cameras (pictured) and a variety of 35m films. The nearly 3-minute movie is made up of almosty 2,000 separate images shot on redscale, X-Pro Chrome and Lomography colour negative films plus two reels of 8mm black-and-white film. You can view the Lomography stop-motion movie after the break.

Panther Software Publishing has launched MediaCMS – a media content management system which is targeted at large photo, video and/or audio libraries. Files can be tagged, categorised, thumb-nailed, watermarked, previewed as part of an automated workflow. MediaCMS also allows media libraries to offer a web presence for their photographers with profiles, blogs, news etc via a set of optional modules.

Website: MediaCMS

Zenfolio has partnered up with ShootDotEdit, a digital media post production service, to provide photographers with an integrated workflow to go from shooting straight to selling. Through this partnership, files processed by ShootDotEdit will be uploaded directly to subscribing Zenfolio accounts making photos available for sale immediately. Zenfolio users can subscribe to this new add-on service for $50 per year.

Magix has released Movie Edit Pro 17 Classic, a video editing application featuring a Full HD workflow, and Movie Edit Pro 17 Plus, which is marketed as the world’s first consumer 3D video editing program. Movie Edit Pro 17 supportsr all conventional (H) DV camcorders, webcams and other video sources, burns video with interactive menus onto DVDs and Blu-ray discs, allows users to import videos directly from their iPhones and includes over 1,000 effects and fades to let videographers transform their movies into works of art. Movie Edit Pro 17 Plus allows users to edit their videos as usual in 2D, then turn theim into 3D movies. The Classic and Plus versions are available from Amazon and PC World for £59.99 and £79.99 respectively, including VAT.

The new Westcott 43” collapsible umbrellas are now available in a kit comprising the umbrella itself, a shoe mount bracket and a stand. Distributed in the UK by JP Distribution, the Westcott 43“ Collapsible Umbrella Flash Kit retails for £65 inc, saving 20% on component pricing.

Spider Holster has announced its new Spider Holster Black Widow Camera Holster, which offers entry-level DSLR camera users comfort and security combined with quick-draw access. The Black Widow allows great freedom of movement and positions the camera where it’s always poised for action with a degree of comfort unattainable with traditional straps and bags. Attendees of the PhotoPlus Expo, (Oct. 28-30; New York, NY) can stop by the Spider Holster booth (# 965) throughout the show to try the new Spider Holster Black Widow for themselves. The product will be available for an MSRP of $55.

A2Z Keywording, specialists in the practice of professional image keywording, today announced the launch of Keyword Perfect 2.0. Enabling photographers, stock photo agencies, archivists and other imaging professionals to tag their photo libraries using a comprehensive dictionary of searchable keywords, Keyword Perfect 2.0 imports digital images into its workspace and displays them in a convenient filmstrip pane. Users can then keyword each image by selecting any number of pre-defined and/or user-generated tags, representing not only the image’s physical contents, but also its less tangible elements such as photo style, concept, emotion and activity. Starting today, Keyword Perfect is available for purchase at a list price of $249.

Olympus Japan has announced the release date of the new Olympus E-5 digital single-lens reflex camera. The weather sealed 12-megapixel DSLR, which sports a large optical viewfinder, fully articulated LCD screen, in-body image stabilisation, dust reduction system, 5fps burst shooting and a video mode will go on sale on 29th October. The press release does not quote a price, but the product announcement made last month said the European price would be €1,699. Olympus also announced that the M.Zuiko 40-150mm lens - which is a Micro four Thirds lens and thus not compatible with the Olympus E-5 - will also be released on the same day.

Website: Our First Olympus E-5 Sample Images

Blurb today launched Blurb Bookify, an online bookmaking tool designed to streamline the creation of high-quality photo books. Within Bookify, users will find a curated collection of the most popular layouts, fonts, and design elements for book creation. Additionally, users will be able to drag and drop images directly onto a page and the page will “design itself”, the company says. Being an online tool, Bookify alleviates the need to download a client-side application, and allows users to work on their book from more than one computer. To begin a Blurb Bookify project, visit the website below.