Snapseed says hello to Android

Snapseed editing awesomeness now available for Android

When Google snapped up Snapseed, which is undoubtedly my favourite editing app for mobile photography, earlier this year there was a lot of groaning and sighing around the Intergoogles. There's been a nasty tendancy to acquire successful companies for their talent, but shutter the product itself. Snapseed, however, might have been a trend-bucker. When Google bought out Nik Software, Snapseed's owners, it was an iOS-only app. But not from today. Now it's all hunky-dory and Android-ified.

Phones and tablets that are running Ice Cream Sandwich or later are able to make use of Snapseed's comprehensive and intuitive editing package. Sure you can do fun things with your photos using Snapseed, for example adding grunge effects or a vintage look, but it offers you the ability to adjust and control the fundamentals–such as the white balance, the contrast, and the sharpening–and make selective adjustments easily, too. Snapseed lets you edit 'properly'; it isn't just about fun filters.

It's this solid base that's made Snapseed so popular, and allowed Dan Chung to live blog from Olympics with his iPhone. 

Snapseed, whether on iOS or Android supports nine different languages, and as of today is now free, too.

You can download Snapseed from the App Store or Google Play.

Review: Pentax K-30

I spent two weeks with a white-bodied Pentax K-30 and its 18-55mm ƒ/3.5-5.6 kit lens. I took it around and about the villages where I'm currently living, into Cambridge for a day, to a craft evening, to my aunt's birthday dinner, and I conducted the necessary 'general fiddling' at home. 

Basic spec

The Pentax K-30 has a 16.3 megapixel sensor coupled with a PRIME M engine. Sensitivity ranges from ISO 100 to 12,800, but this can be extended to 25,600. It has a maximum frames-per-second rate of six, if switch out of Raw and into JPEG mode. There's also full HD video with a choice of 24, 25, or 30 frames-per-second. It's also unusual amongst its fellow mid-range cameras with its weather sealing, allowing you to take it out in the cold, the wet, and the dusty.

At the moment you can pick up a K-30 with an 18-55mm kit lens for around £470 or just under $1,000. With the added seasonal cashback offer Pentax UK is running, this certainly makes the K-30 better value in the UK.

Build and handling

When I took the K-30 out of its box, my first impressions were of a solidily built camera with an interesting design. No, I wasn't quite convinced by the white body, but it does come in more sedate black as well as a bit more racy blue. The large, blocky, handgrip might not be to everyone's liking, but I found it very comfortable to hold. It is worth bearing in mind, however, that I'm not a big person at all and my hands are very small.

There were a few quirks of ergonomics that I did find irritating, however. The direction of the on/off switch felt counter-intuitive. It's a very minor thing and one that I'm sure I'd not think about twice with a little more use. The placement of the aperture control dial is a different matter, though. It was too far to the left for me to be able to use comfortably. Granted, this is something that's dependent on me and my anatomy, but it's still worthy of consideration.

I also found the shutter release button uncommonly sensitive. On more than a few occasions I took a photo when I was still adjusting the exposure or focusing. It's not a terrible fault, but something that I noticed.

As a general rule the menus were sensible and well laid-out. Every now and again, however, I'd be confronted with a situation where I simply couldn't find what I was looking for. Of course that's frustrating, but the more that you get to use something, the more familiar it becomes.

Performance

My first outing with K-30 was to my aunt's birthday dinner, held in a dimly-lit restaurant. I was very impressed with the colour reproduction and thought that it handled higher ISOs well, but I noticed what I think is probably the K-30's biggest downfall: its pitifully slow auto-focusing capability. I was disappointed when a good proportion of the photos weren't as crisp as I would have wanted them.

In good light, however, I had no complaints about the auto-focusing, and the auto white balance was pleasing, too. I'd be inclined to leave it on auto white balance, rather than fiddle about with the pre-sets.

I did notice a touch of under-exposure in images where there were particularly bright areas. (The photos taken at the river in Cambridge being a good example.) There is the Highlight and Shadow Correction option to help out here, and in these instances, the photos were easily corrected.

When it comes to ISO, you can use the K-30 comfortably up until ISO 1,600. You begin to notice degredation at ISO 3,200, but you could still get away with things here. I wouldn't push the ISO to the maximum 12,800 (expandable to 25,600) unless really necessary.

The K-30 comes with both Custom Image modes and digital filters. Having the two different settings to achieve a range of effects such as monochrome, toy camera, or bleach by-pass seems a bit kooky to me. Surely one function for these types of features is enough? However, I discovered to my cost that digital filters can't be applied to Raw images; there's no automatic 'Save Raw + JPEG' function. Yes, this is an oversight, but all of the effects can be achieved in post-processing if you really want them. So if you screw up, like I did, it isn't the end of the world!

The slow auto-focusing came back to haunt me when I tried to take some photos at a craft evening with my WI group (I took turning 30 very seriously, mmkay?). We meet in a hall with horrible lighting and the K-30 really struggled to pin-point its subject. It feels such a shame when it performs so well in other areas.

The verdict?

I really enjoyed using the K-30. I used it to take some great photos and thought it had some terrific features, especially that weather-proofing. I did feel let down by the slow auto-focusing, which really doesn't allow the camera to capitalise on its fantastic ISO performance. (I'm reliably informed that it does improve with the 18-135mm lens, but that adds to the price considerably when you're starting out.)

Would I buy it? Well, no. But that's because I'm already invested in another system and this isn't the camera I'm looking for.

Would I recommend it? At the moment, in the UK, the K-30 is cracking value for a mid-range dSLR with weather sealing. If you're looking for a decent SLR that will provide you with the opportunity to produce high quality pictures and a lot of fun, you should take a look.

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There are more photos on my Flickr stream. You can take a look here.

The Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2012

Margarita Teichroeb by Jordi Ruiz Cirera. 1st Prize (Copyright Jordi Ruiz Cirera).

This year the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize, hosted at the National Portrait Gallery in London, had 5,340 entries from from 2,350 photographers, some professional, some student, some amateur. Of those entries, 60 are exhibited at the gallery. One picture is judged the winner, and then there are second, third, and fourth placed prizes to be had, too.

I popped along and took a look early in November and Gareth went this week. My immediate reaction to the overall exhibition was that it felt very muted and subdued, with relatively few bold colours. Just like everything, photography has fashions and right now, that's in vogue. Gareth, however, goes into this trend more deeply in his analysis, so I'll hand you over to him, and his impressions of the winning entry and the runners up.

This year's winning entry was Margarita Teichroeb by Jordi Ruiz Cirera. What I have noticed is that, every single year, people react angrily to the winning entry and indeed to many of the shortlisted images. Because I hate being happy, I decided to trawl some comments underneath online articles announcing the winners. Thankfully, it wasn't all bad, but the main complaint was the somewhat reductive argument that it was 'just a woman sat down, looking worried.'

This attitude baffles me. I feel like these comments are the result of a combination of bitterness and laziness, or a reluctance to make an effort to interpret the image. Saying that Margarita Teichroeb is 'just a woman sat down looking worried,' is like saying The Exorcist is 'just a scary film about a little girl.'

Margarita is a woman living in a Mennonite community in Bolivia. Mennonite communities often frown upon and do not allow photography, believing it is a form of graven image. This is reflected in Margarita's deeply worried expression. She is attempting to obscure her face, possibly partly subconsciously, and it is clearly a uncomfortable experience for her.

In print, it is a breathtaking image. The sense of connection between the viewer and the subject as you look into her eyes is really quite powerful: the emotion captured is so raw and real. In being so very nervous, Margarita has laid her honest feelings completely bare in front of us. People often speak of a person looking 'natural' in an image, which they always translate as looking relaxed, essentially. However, I think a 'natural' portrait comes in many flavours, the key being the genuineness of the expression, regardless of what emotion is being expressed. Margarita has a genuine, natural expression of concern on her face.

The deeper level to the image is what it says about the Mennonite community. The beliefs held by these people are clearly strong religious beliefs: Margarita's concern and conviction tell a story of the wider community and give us a telling insight into the isolation and strict rules which typify this community.

For those reasons, I agree with the judges' decision to award it first prize: Margarita Teichroeb is an image that captures genuine, raw emotion whilst simultaneously telling a much wider story. It is not 'just a woman sat down looking worried.' I would recommend you take a moment to visit www.jordiruizcirera.com and have a look at the series that the image came from. They are excellent. I particularly like the contrast between the children's portraits and those of the adults. The children have not yet been moulded by the strict rules of the community the way the adults have, and this is clear to see in their significantly more relaxed and confident expressions.

Addressing the other winning entries, I mostly agree with the judges' decisions here, also, Spencer Murphy's Mark Rylance being my personal favourite. One image that doesn't grab me, however is The Ventriloquist by Alma Haser.

Like any art form, photography often goes through fashion spells. At present, there seems to be a penchant for low contrast images, sometimes with no true blacks, sporting very neutral, window light tones. As it happens, this style really appeals to me, as there is often a feeling of truth to the final shot: a feeling of the image not hiding anything.

With The Ventriloquist, however, it feels as if the photographer is a little too aware of the current trend and has processed it in that style for no real reason other than it being currently popular. I also feel that it has been processed quite clumsily. The story behind the image of two friends is that the photographer 'wanted to turn their verbal banter into a visual image.' I appreciate that interpretation can be a very personal thing, but to me, 'banter' conjures up images of fun and affectionate jibing, a key element of a close friendship. Her decision to capture them both with neutral, blank expressions is at odds with this idea.

I feel that all the visual decisions made in the image were to tick the boxes, so to speak, of what is currently appetising in photography. The clumsy processing and attempts at distant, emotionless expressions leave me cold and feel incongruous to the message and I feel like it doesn't belong in the winning entries. A better replacement for a posed, conceptual portrait would have been Nadia Lee Cohen's absolutely stunning American Nightmare, for example. If the judges were more interested in the sense of companionship and the relationship between the two subjects, a better fit would've been the delightfully simple yet beautiful Rosa and Adoney by Sarah Booker.

Nevertheless, I felt that the entire selection of 60 images were varied and a fair final decision, even if I disagreed with some of the entries.

Should you have the opportunity to pay a visit, do go. It costs £2, and we'd be very interested to hear what you have to say about the entries. The Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2012 exhibition is at the National Portrait Gallery, London, from 8 November 2012 to 17 February 2013.

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Gareth Dutton is a portrait and editorial photographer based in London. You can see his work here.

Metroprint, you've a slight problem with your Instagram print service

Pretty-looking prints, but...

I've just received one of 'those' press releases. One where everything seems so promising until you reach a key detail that makes you raise your palm to your forehead and start muttering 'Why?'

Metroprint, a British-based print provider has just unveiled its Instagram print service. It's online or you can walk in to its London store, prints are 35p a pop, and you have a choice of matt or gloss finish. So far, so good. Until you reach the all-important point where you upload your images to their servers. This vital stage in the production of your photos, photos taken on your Intergoogle-enabled smartphone, has to be done from your desktop. There's no mobile app and if you try to upload from your iPhone (as I did) you're told 'Very sorry no-can-do, because we rather need Flash.'

Really, Metroprint? You've set up a print service for a mobileography phenomenon that can't be accessed directly from a smartphone? And isn't ever likely to be accessible from a smartphone as HTML5 has won the war, leaving Flash to slink away and lick its wounds. Did you actually think this one through? Doesn't it strike you as maybe inefficient? Or perhaps counterintuitive? How about entirely contrary to the spirit of Instagram? What about really embarrassing?

If you were the only print service providing Instagram-specific photos, it might, possibly, swing in your favour. You'd be filling a gap in the market and people would probably be prepared to forgive your inconvenience because of your unique service. But you see, you're not. PostalPix is a free app, with reasonably priced paper prints and even aluminium prints. Printstagram isn't app based, but it's simple enough to upload your images straight from your phone or your desktop. It connects directly with your Instagram account, meaning there's no tiresome downloading and re-uploading, a key factor that you seem to have overlooked.

Like anything in life, people love Instagram for a heap of different reasons, but I'm certain that one of those is that it's simple to use and another is that it's verging on instantaneous. When you're setting up a print service for Instagram, no matter how high quality your prints, you have to mirror those attributes or you'll not appeal to your customer base. The workflow that you've implemented for your Instagram prints is clunky and unappealing, if I'm going to be polite about it. If I'm going to be brutally honest, by using obsolete technology for one of the hottest trends around you've made yourself look more out-of-touch than Miss Havisham stepping foot into a Soho club. 

I suggest that you re-think this one, Metroprint.

As for the Metroprint Instagram service, it's available here.

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Update! Metroprint got in touch with me to inform me that there is Flash-free upload option that functions from both Android and iOS devices. At the time of the press launch it was down, however. I'm prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt that they had covered this option, but I'm far from impressed that functionality hadn't been assured when the news was announced.

Adobe updates Photoshop Touch

For anyone who uses Adobe's Photoshop Touch on their tablet, there are a few updates waiting for you with version 1.4. For anyone who was thinking about installing it on their baby-tablets, then the latest version is optimised for your iPad Minis and Nexus 7s.

In addition, there's now support for three iPad-compatible styli, the Pogo Connect, the Jot Touch, and the Jaja Stylus. You can share your completed images with Facebook and Twitter direct from the app in new ways. Some new effects have been added, including lens flare and stamp patterns. And there have been some enhancements to performance and workflow: brush strokes should be smootherand there's a new colour selection workflow.

If you're already using Photoshop Touch, the update is free. If you'd like to download it and give its tablet-ised image editing magic a whirl, it's £6.99 ($9.99) from the Apple App Store or Google Play.

'Make it memorable' - looking for the Sony World Photography Awards' winning image

Tobias Brauning's winning image for the 'Split Second' category in the Open division - 'Dancing Queen'

Entering any type of competition, from a photography contest to a tennis match, can be nerve-wracking: you're making yourself vulnerable by subjecting yourself to judgement, which can leave you feeling incredibly proud or terribly humiliated at the end of the process. If you overcome that frisson of tension or the butterflies in your tummy, though, you're in with a shout of winning a fabulous prize and having your name up in lights (sometimes literally and sometimes metaphorically) for a bit. That's rather awesome. Not to mention that there is usually something that can be learned from entering a competition, whether that's the betterment of your skills or personal experience.

All of this is true for the annual Sony World Photography Awards, which is one of the most prestigious, and valuable, photography competitions around. It's top prize in the Professional category, L'Iris d'Or, is worth $25,000 to the winner; the Open category winner gets $5,000, a trip to London to the awards ceremony, and a bundle of equipment from Sony. I don't think any of that can be sniffed at, so maybe you'd like to enter? It's open to both amateur and professional photographers and there is sure to be a division that suits you, from architecture to low light to contemporary issues to portraiture.

Of course, getting a feel for the competition and knowing what the judges might be looking for can be helpful in over-coming the nerves and feeling a smidge of confidence in the work that you're submitting.

I've been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to pick the brains of three of the Sony World Photography Awards' Honorary Judges–Caroline Metcalfe, Macduff Everton, and Tim Paton–and ask them precisely what they're looking for in a competition-winning image.

Caroline Metcalfe is the Director of Photography at Condé Nast Traveller (UK) and is responsible for commissioning and overseeing all of the publication's photographic content, with the exception of its fashion stories. She'll be lending her judging expertise to the Professional Travel, Landscape, and Nature & Wildlife categories.

Macduff Everton is a contributing editor at National Geographic Traveler and has works included in the collections at the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, the British Museum in London, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He'll be on the panels judging the Professional Travel, Landscape, and Nature & Wildlife categories.

Tim Paton started the photo agency Balcony Jump in 1995, which is now regarded as one of the best and most-respected agencies in London, but if you've ever picked up a copy of the NME, you're likely to have seen his work there. Tim will help to judge the Professional Sport, Campaign, Fashion & Beauty, and Lifestyle categories.

Unsurprisingly, all of them have brought their individual experiences and preferences to the panel and as Tim Paton puts it: 'A picture that I love, the judge next to me might hate.' But to start with, they are all united in one sentiment: it's all about the content.

Whatever the picture or series of pictures that you submit, the story in the image and the connection that it evokes with the audience is the driving feature. For Macduff Everton, the key difference between a snapshot and an award winning image is the narrative and the emotion that it conveys. 'The caption can't read: "Well, you should have been there."' The image has to speak clearly. Caroline Metcalfe points out that great images are ones that viewers will want to linger over, to absorb, and to return to over and over again; they fascinate and they intrigue.

All of the judges return to the same point: a photo needs to be memorable and surprising. You might be photographing something that has been captured a million times before, but if you can do it in a way that is unusual, that demonstrates your vision and your talent, that capitalises on the conditions–for example light or weather–and sticks in the viewers' minds, then you are on to a winner. 

It doesn't matter if you're in the most stunning location imaginable for your travel photography or photographing a well-known landmark, whatever the image, it needs to be original. That can arise from a visual twist or a new interpretation, and it relies on your own endeavours. You have to create the shot. Everton probably puts this best: 'We've all seen [a picture of] an elephant. Create an image so that when we next think of an elephant, we think of your image.'

Both Metcalfe and Paton are clear that it isn't about the kit: 'I don't care what lens, filter, or camera you used. I am only interested in the content of the image,' says Paton. Metcalfe is maybe a little more subtle: '… it is not technical expertise or sophisticated hardware, it is always about the individual creative eye, skill, and talent.'

Metcalfe has some practical advice, too. She reminds people entering a series of images to ensure that each image is as strong as the others. 'I often see entries where one image in a series lets the whole portfolio down,' they need to work together, as a coherent story. And of course, check the rules and make sure that you submit by the deadline!

Everton suggests that you look to the techniques of other creative disciplines to ensure that you nail your images. For example, the corners of a picture are just as important to a painter as the centre of the image is, so do not forget about those. They shouldn't be dead space and they shouldn't be overlooked. And if you're photographing a building, think about how the architect envisaged it and bring some drama to your image. Finally, there's the key to photography: light. You need to understand light to get a good photograph.

Every year, Paton is sent thousands of images for his consideration; only about two of those will stop him in his tracks, but that's precisely what he wants when he's judging the WPO. He wants to be able to see that a photographer has gone the extra mile and made a real effort.

If this has inspired you, or maybe given you the insight you need to submit an entry, remember that it's free to enter both the Professional and Open divisions of the Sony World Photography Awards 2013, and the deadline for entries, which must have been shot or first published in 2012, is Wednesday 9 January at 23:59:59. There are of course terms and conditions governing what you must submit and where you are permitted to submit entries. These are all available on the WPO website.

Good luck!

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Headline image: Copyright Tobias Brauning, Germany, Split Second, Open Winner, Sony World Photography Awards 2012

Triggertrap Mobile's free! Whee!

Just for the holidays, the Triggertrap Mobile premium application is going to be available for free for both Android and iOS.

There's always been a free version of Triggertrap Mobile, offering a selection of the premium application's camera triggering options, but now anyone with an Android or Apple phone has access to all of Triggertrap's capabilities. These include multiple time-lapse features; sensor controls to trigger your camera using sound, motion, vibration, or metal; facial recognition; and star trail and HDR modes.

To make the most of Triggertrap with your SLR, rather than with your smartphone camera alone, you will need a dongle. This can be purchased for $24.99 from the Triggertrap store. But with the new wireless function, you won't necessarily need a cable. And don't forget to download the app from the App Store, or Google Play.

That's just made one Christmas present a bit cheaper!

Gift-giving to photographers

Photojojo's nifty ring flash adapter

Earlier this week I put together a list of sub-£25 ($40) gift ideas for photographers. If you've a little bit more to spend, these suggestions should keep you going. They start at $40, take you up to $550, and there should be something for everyone!

Ring Flash Adapter

Ring flashes don't necessarily come cheap, but a ring flash adapter–which makes use of your existing external flash–is a handy alternative. Of course it was the clever people at Photojojo that thought of this one!

$40 from the Photojojo Store

A compact camera for kiddies

If you've a budding photographer in the house there's no better way to encourage her or him on the path to becoming their generation's Ansel Adams than with a 'proper' camera. It doesn't need to be fancy, but it does need to be suitable for little fingers. I've been consistently impressed with Fujifilm's entry-level compacts, and this year is no different.

Take a look at the Fujifilm AX500. With 14 megapixels of resolution, movie-making capability, digital image stabilisation, and running off of two AA batteries, it's ideal.

£50 from John Lewis or $73 from Amazon US

Lensbaby Spark

Buying lenses for other people is very rarely a good idea, unless you know precisely what they want or need. A Lensbaby Spark, however, is a fun fixed aperture selective-focus option that should get the creative juices flowing.

$80 from Lensbaby

Dropbox subscription

Earlier this year I wrote about the perils of not having a proper back-up protocol in place. If your photographer friend is living dangerously with their digital storage solutions, why not treat her or him to a Dropbox subscription.

$99 for 100GB annual subscription

Adobe Lightroom 4

Adobe's Lightroom 4 is a superb piece of kit. No, it doesn't have the bells and whistles of Photoshop, but then that's Photoshop. Instead it offers brilliant straight-up editing and photo management. If you know someone who has been uhming and ahhing over it, help them out!

£106 from Adobe UK or $149 from Adobe US

A 'serious' compact camera

My dSLR is my camera of choice and I love my iPhone, but it's very rare that I go anywhere without a pocket-sized compact with full manual control in my handbag. I love my Canon S95 and the reviews of the S110 have been very good. Many people have waxed lyrical over Sony's RX100, too. But the one that's really catching my eye right now is the Olympus XZ-2.

£425 from Amazon UK or $550 from Amazon US

And of course, don't forget to check out last year's slightly-more-expensive gift suggestions.

Seasonal gifts and goodies

It might not take pictures, but it looks the part. £5

If you're looking for a little-ish gift for a photographically inclined loved one, these are eight favourite suggestions coming in at £25 or under (so that's around $40). Some are quirky, some are practical, but with luck, any of them should bring a smile to someone's face. Better yet, they are all available online so you don't need to brave the thronging hordes on the high street.

Camera necklace

In-keeping with my search for a piece of camera-oriented jewellery, this year I went in search of necklaces. I've found a heap of them. Who knew that they'd be so popular? But here are two of my favourites:

Antique-looking silver for $15

Or chunky acrylic for £5

Tiltpod

When I road-tested tiltpods for mobile and compact cameras earlier this year, I said that I thought they'd make great presents, but I wouldn't necessarily buy one for myself. Seeing as this is the season to be giving gifts...

Tiltpods for mobile or compact camera are $14.95

Cookie Cutters

Cookie dough + camera-shaped cookie cutter = An edible Nikon D800. What's not to love?

All of $17.95

Bokeh Masters kit

More than anything I think that adding cute shaped bokeh to the background of your pictures is good fun. This kit gives you 25 pre-cut shapes to play with and an opportunity to craft eight of your own.

$25 from DIY Photography

Triggertrap mobile

Wirelessly control your SLR from your mobile phone (Android or iOS) to make time-lapses or distance-lapses; trigger the shutter using sound, vibration, or facial recognition; chase stars, and generally have far too much fun with a camera.

The app costs $4.99 from Apple or Google Play, the all-important dongle is $29.99

Multi-tool

Having a multi-tool stashed in your kit-bag can be Very Useful Indeed. You never know when you might need a screw driver or a pair of scissors. There are hundreds to choose from, but right now this Leatherman is great value.

$35 on Amazon US

Or £36 on Amazon UK

Book

If someone were to ask me which photography book I'd most like this year, it would be one that's beautiful and inspires me. So I'm going to suggest National Geographic's Life in Color.

$40 from the National Geographic store

Fracture gift certificate

The wonderful people at Fracture sponsor our monthly photo contest here and supply the winner with a gorgeous 12" Fracture. They also offer gift certificates so your beloved photographer can turn their own images into stunning glass prints.

As much as you want to spend

Of course, last year's suggestions are just as valid this year. So do take a look at that list, which includes practical cleaning kits and grey cards as well as adorable camera-shaped rubber stamps.

Triggertrap goes wireless

When Team Triggertrap headed to Photokina in September with their universal camera triggering device and app, one of the questions most frequently asked of them was 'Will there be a cable-free option for the app soon?' Being able to use your mobile phone to remotely control your camera is awesome, but having to use a connection cable can be a bit of a bind.

Without trying to give away too much, Matt and Haje would smile and nod and say that it was something that they were thinking about. They've been thinking about it very hard, in fact, and developing, and testing, and testing some more, and finally some updating. From today you can update your Triggertrap Mobile app, either Android or iOS, so that it can trigger your dSLR or EVIL camera wirelessly.

And it's all down to Wi-Fi.

Your mobile acts at the master device whilst the Triggertrap dongle interfaces with your camera as the slave. If you'd like to control several slave devices from one master, that's possible, too.

Of course, this is all hunky-dory if you happen to be shooting somewhere with a Wi-Fi network, but what if you're in the middle of Nowheresville without one? You can create a personal hotspot using your master device's data network, assuming of course that you have one of those. Ta-dah! You can go forth and wirelessly create time-lapses and distance lapses, or trigger your camera using sound, vibration, or the correct number of faces in the scene.

The update is available for free for existing Triggertrap Premium app users and included in new downloads (Android is here; iOS is here). Don't forget, you will still need the dongle, though. (And yes, I'm still inclined to snigger every time that I hear the word 'dongle'. I don't expect that to change any time soon.)

October's round winner

Crikey! You made it hard for us this month. We almost came to blows trying to settle on a winner for October's round-themed competition. To be fair, it would have been difficult, as none of us is currently in the same city, and we don't really go in for violence, but you get the idea that we struggled to agree.

Eventually, though, it was concluded that Martin's untitled picture should take the spoils of a 12" Fracture. Well done!

Congratulations everyone, you did a sterling job.

If you fancy having a go at November's competition, we're looking for images of wood. All the details are here.

Philip Bloom's fantastic Movember giveaway

It's November. Have you noticed an unsually high number of men sporting the fuzzy beginnings of a moustache? You have? Well, the chances are that they're doing it in aid of Movember: the campaign to raise awareness of and funds for research into prostate cancer. And the chances of a man being diagnosed with prostate cancer? About one in nine.

Prostate cancer is something with which film maker Philip Bloom has a far-too-personal relationship: his grandfather died from it and his uncle is fighting it. The likelihood of him developing it are scarily high. Every November, then, he sprouts a moustache and encourages people to donate to the Movember cause. Last year he raised £18,000 towards prostate cancer research; this year he'd like to do better, and this is where you get involved. Better still, you don't even have to grow a moustache.

He's tapped up members of the film making and photographic community the world over to contribute awesome prizes for his insane Movember Giveaway.

This giveaway comes in two parts. To be eligible for either half you must donate at least $20 to 'Team Bloom Tache' (and let Philip know by emailing him a copy of the receipt), but whilst one half needs just your charity, the other demands your creativity, too.

Get growing mos and making films

As Philip is a film maker, it's hardly surprising that one half of the giveaway involves making films. You've two options: a film that celebrates the moustache or a film that raises awareness of prostate cancer. Whichever you pick, there're super prizes up for grabs for the best film in either category, such as a Compass 12 tripod, thanks to Miller Tripods, or a rig of your choice from the team at Shape, or some goodies from Kessler Crane. Those are just a few examples.

Fun or serious, it doesn't matter, but the films should be short and tight–ideally no longer than two minutes in length–and need to be submitted to the Vimeo group before 20 November 2012.

And don't forget your $20 donation, either!

Just donate

If you're not able to make a film, for whatever reason, you can put yourself into the draw to win all manner of wonderful prizes. All you need to do is donate $20 to Philip's Movember team and then email a copy of the receipt to the designated address. That will put you in with a shout to win a licence for Creative Suite 6 Premium Production, courtesy of Adobe; or a $1,000 voucher for Zacuto; or a Sony RX100 thanks to hireacamera.com; or a GoPro Hero2 and a bundle of accessories from GoPro or... or... or... The list of prizes is huge, and growing!

All the details

To keep an eye on the ever-growing list of prizes, to check out all the terms and conditions, and to make sure you send your donation receipts to the correct email address, check out the giveaway page on Philip's website.

November's photo competition is here!

There's a lot of wood in Kew Gardens

We'll keep this simple. The theme for November's photo contest is wood, from trees coming into bud in the southern hemisphere, to bonfires piled high in the UK, or log cabins in mountainous retreats.

Yes, I might've been inspired by the terrible threat of ash dieback to UK woodlands, especially in East Anglia where my family home is.

You have from today (Friday 2 November) to Friday 30 November to submit your entries to the Small Aperture Flickr pool. It's one submission per person, and the picture that we like the most will win a 12" Fracture.

I've reproduced The Rules for you, and if you're in the UK, I'm adding a small reminder to be careful and avoid spreading the horrible fungus.

The Rules

• If you decide to enter, you agree to The Rules.
• You can’t be related to either me or Haje to enter.
• One entry per person – so choose your best!
• Entries need to be submitted to the right place, which is the Small Aperture Flickr group.
• There’s a closing date for entries, so make sure you’ve submitted before then.
• You have to own the copyright to your entry and be at liberty to submit it to a competition. Using other people’s photos is most uncool.
• It probably goes without saying, but entries do need to be photographs. It’d be a bit of strange photo competition otherwise.
• Don’t do anything icky – you know, be obscene or defame someone or sell your granny to get the photo.
• We (that being me and Haje) get to choose the winner and we’ll do our best to do so within a week of the competition closing.
• You get to keep all the rights to your images. We just want to be able to show off the winners (and maybe some honourable mentions) here on Pixiq.
• Entry is at your own risk. I can’t see us eating you or anything, but we can’t be responsible for anything that happens to you because you submit a photo to our competition.
• We are allowed to change The Rules, or even suspend or end the competition, if we want or need to. Obviously we’ll try not to, but just so that you know.

If you've any questions, please just ask!

Call your phone to trigger your camera

One of the most awesome things about working on the Triggertrap is the community we've built up already. And, like any great community, we keep getting fantastic ideas via our Get Satisfaction forums.

As soon as Triggertrap Mobile launched, we had a fantastic idea from Travis, who wished he could trigger his camera by calling his iPhones... The big dirty secret, however, is that this is already possible, if you have a Triggertrap Mobile Dongle! The little trick is to choose the top secret special triggering sound we use in the Triggertrap App as your ring tone, and then to turn the ring tone sound to maximum. Here's how

WARNING - It's worth pointing out that if you're planning to do this, make sure you keep your Triggertrap dongle plugged in the whole time, and switch the special Triggertrap tone for another ring tone before you unplug it. The tone is meant to be listened to by the Triggertrap Mobile Dongle only; It isn't great for human consumption (For exterior use only; do not swallow; consult a doctor if you spill this sound in your eye socket, etc). Anyway.

How to trigger your SLR by calling your telephone

To be able to call your iPhone or Android phone to trigger your camera:

1. Plug your Triggertrap Mobile Dongle into the headphone socket of your iPhone.
2. Download the Triggertrap Mobile Ringtone for your iPhone as a .zip file.
3. Unzip the tone (it's a .m4r file; Apple's special m4r ringtone format.)
4. Install the tone to your phone²
5. Choose the Triggertrap Tone as your ring-tone³
6. Set up your camera using Single Shot¹ and preferably manual focus, too
7. Call your iPhone from another phone to take a photo.
8. When you're done, choose your old ring tone³ again, before un-plugging your Triggertrap Mobile Dongle from your iPhone

Brilliant, eh? 1) You could also set it to Continuous mode, but we'll be sending a very long shutter signal to your camera (5 seconds in total), so it would be like pressing and holding your shutter button for 5 seconds. Try it now; press and hold your shutter button. If it takes 30 photos in quick succession, that's what'll happen when you use this trick to trigger your camera. If you'd prefer to just take one photo, use single shot mode!

Additional help and assistance

2) How do you install a custom ring tone to your phone?

1. Set your computer's sound to mute.
2. Drag the .m4r ringtone file to your iTunes. If you forgot to set your computer to mute, you'll now get a horrible sound playing through your speakers. Trust me; you don't want this sound: It's bad for your computer and for your ears.
3. Plug your iPhone into your computer with the USB lead
4. Click on your iPhone within iTunes
5. Select 'Tones' from the bar across the top (this is also where you select what music, movies, and apps you want to sync to your phone)
6. Either choose 'all tones' or just 'Selected Tones' and then tick the Trigger Tone box.
7. Click 'Apply'
8. Click 'Sync'.

3) How do you choose a ring tone on your phone?

1. Go into the Settings app on your iPhone
2. Choose Sounds
3. Click Ring Tone
4. Choose the ring tone you want as your ring tone. In this case, Trigger Tone. If you've only just uploaded it to your phone, it'll show up right at the top.

Montblanc photographs the entire world at the same time

Now how's this for a brilliant idea - Montblanc have come up with a PR stunt that has participants around the world to take photos at exactly the same time. In “The Montblanc Worldsecond”, the company launches their ambitious photo project that invites everyone to capture moments of beauty photographically. A specially developed mobile photo app (for iPhone and Android) features a countdown function, ensuring that all cameras of will take a picture at the very same instant.

The photos are then uploaded to the worldsecond.montblanc.com Web site, creating a stunning mosaic of globally shared moments, of “Worldseconds”.

The Montblanc Worldsecond mobile app will be available for Apple iPhone and Android phones in November 2012. For further information, visit the website.

Beware the fake Gorillapod

An actual real genuine Gorillapod, in Joby packaging

If you thought that Photokina was a buzz-fest of new cameras, lenses, and pick-pocketing, you can add brand-protection confrontations to the list, too. Joby, manufacturers of the bendy-legged Gorillapod, marched up to two manufacturers of fake Gorillapods and confiscated their imitation products and promotional materials.

To be in the safe side, they did do it with Photokina organisers and security staff. It's possibly not a great idea to do that sort of thing without some kind of official back up. Hoo-hahs and ruckuses aren't great for customer relations.

Now, though, Joby's UK marketing team has told customers to be on the look out for fake Gorillapods, especially in the run-up to Christmas. A real Gorillapod should carry the Joby logo, and whilst it might be more expensive than the fake, you get what you pay for. As Loraine Morgan, Joby's Senior Marketing Manager in the UK said: 'The quality of these products is poor and ultimately it is the consumer who suffers when they buy a product that does not deliver the function and reliability of a genuine Joby product.'

The fakes probably won't be made to such high standards, either in terms of quality or meeting safety standards. If you're thinking of buying a Gorillapod, you can always go direct to Joby.

Get your boots on! It's the Burrard-Lucas travel photo contest!

You might associate Will and Matt Burrard-Lucas with breathtaking wildlife photography, but they also run a super annual photo competition. The final quarter's contest is now open for submissions and the theme is travel.

You have between now and 31 December 2012 to submit your travel-themed images. Will and Matt are looking for striking and original pictures that convey the wonder of the world, from its people and their culture, to its history or the environment.

This quarter's winner will be awarded a 16×24 framed print of her or his winning shot, provided by Committed Photography. The two runners up will be eligible for unframed 16×24 prints. The winner will then go up against the previous quarters' winners from 2012, as well as the winner of the Burrard-Lucas Facebook photo contest, to bag a Canon 60D.

The contest is free to enter and you retain your copyright. There are, however, some basic requirements regarding size and eligibility, so you should be sure to check the rules.

You can also check out previous years' winners for inspiration, as you won't be able to check out the competition this time around! (2011; 2010; 2009.)

Otherwise, I reckon you should crack on and submit something!

#payphoneography - the ironic art of photographing public telephones with your mobile phone

Did you know that in 2000, there were about 2.2 million payphones across the United States? Or that there are still about 500,000 operational ones? Or that they handle roughly 1.7 billion calls a year? I didn't know that until about five minutes ago, and neither was I likely to before Dan Marker-Moore dropped me a note about #payphoneography, his ironically inspired project to photograph public telephones with the very device that has contributed to their demise.

#payphoneography started in December 2011, as a personal piece of fun in Dan's corner of California. See a payphone, snap it, share it. Before long, people as far away as Australia had been photographing and sharing images of public telephones using #payphoneography on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Dan says it's been fascinating watching the idea catch on, both spontaneously and as the result of his carefully crafted stickers.

'I made stickers that fit perfectly on the handsets that say #payphoneography. Without any instructions people see the sticker and know how to share. They pull out their mobile phones take a picture and include the hash tag #payphoneography when they share it.'

At the moment over 4,000 images have been contributed to the cause from countries including South Africa, Russia, Italy, and Japan. But Dan says that his favourite phones are from São Paulo: 'Their phones are surrounded by a suspended dome booth and feature bright yellows and blues. Recently these phones were featured in art project where they were transformed into sculptures and paintings.'

And yes, Dan says that a phone has started to ring just after he'd photographed it. He checked very carefully for a lurking Kiefer Sutherland before he answered it, only to be met by the screeching of a fax machine on the other end!

With a 4,000-strong international portfolio, where do you go next? Well, Dan would definitely like to start photographing overseas phones for himself. But he'd like to get the project into print, too.

Want to take part? You know what to do! Want to look at payphones from across the globe? Head the #payphoneography website: blog.payphoneography.com

The winner of Self-portrait September is...

Coo-ee you made it tough for us to settle on a self-portraitastic winner for September! We saw so many different elements that we liked, finding a picture that we could agree on was an exercise in endurance!

Eventually, though, we came to a decision. It was Milo Sees who walked away with the spoils for his Training in the Dark. Haje and I were both captivated by the lighting, and there was something about the juxtaposition of the sleek, smooth skin, the poise of the body, and oppressive darkness that made it my winner.

Congratulations, Milo! You've won a 12" Fracture!

Our runner up was Bubble Blastage by Kathleen Cassidy. Gareth thought that the idea was neat and he loved the high contrast look. It was the sassy attitude that blasted straight through my screen that I adored. Great stuff, Kathleen!

Thank you to everyone who entered. The theme for this month's competition is round. You can check out the details here. We're looking forward to seeing your pictures!

Is stock imagery getting too specific?

As a stock photographer, you have to make your money any way you can. I suppose there are only so many saleable photos of 'businessman on mobile phone', but when you look at stock sites, you'll often find photos that are just a little bit ludicrously specific. The funny-guys over at CollegeHumour spotted that as well, and created this rather fabulous video about it:

So, the question - dear readers - is stock photography getting way too specific, or is this the only way that stock photographers can still carve themselves out a niche?