Psst… The Photo book contest Photography.Book.Now is due July 16!  We all go around thinking about creating a photo book for our best photos. Why not do it now and take the chance to win 25 000 USD? No matter where you live in the world you may submit your contribution.

This is how it works
- Create a photo book using Blurb software
- Order one or more copies of your book
- Submit the order number to Photography.Book.Now (even if you created a book months ago, you may use this books order number)
- Await the praise of the competition jury

Even if you’ve created a self-promotional book with another service you may participate.

The top winners will be invited to attend the awards celebration and meet-up in New York this fall.

Visit pbn.blurb.com

Photo District News is a great resource for professional photographers both online and in print. The offer an array of camera reviews, photography biographies and stock photo galleries, PDNOnline.com is packed with news on everything Photography related.

Now PDN invites all Jalbumers to enter the 2009 PDN Photographers' Self-Promo Awards. Amateurs and professionals are welcome to showcase their online and offline work. Compete for great prices such as digital cameras and the grand prize: a full-page ad in PDN magazine highlighting the winner's photography!

Categories include:
•    Best Overall Campaign
•    Extraordinary Non-Traditional Pieces
•    Digital Self-Promotions
•    Printed Self-Promotions

Be sure to submit your work before July 17, 2009.
Visit www.selfpromoawards.com to read more and add your contribution.
 

"Faces" by Iprevost

"People" by huy

"People" by yumi-la

Album by amirweiz

Enjoy the world under water with these great Jalbums:

Album by timso

Album by jamesmallard

Album by Palantar

Album by RBA

Album by gcolin

When photographers first learn about compositional guidelines, such as the rule of thirds, they are often subconsciously bound by these parameters. One thing to keep in mind is that if an image is symmetrical, or has a triangular appearance to it, a centered composition often works best. For the above image, if the door was placed on the left or right of the picture space (rule of thirds), the photo would lose much of its strength. Indeed, images that have triangular shapes are often associated with power or authority, and to compose off-center will often weaken the photograph.

The best way to find out for yourself what compositions look best is to take three versions of the same scene; one where the center of interest is to the left, one to the right, and one in the center. It won't take long to be able to know in advance of your picture taking what composition will be the most effective.

Thanks to professional photographer Mark Hemmings (www.markhemmings.com) for writing this photo tip.

We recently tried the new search engine from Microsoft called Bing.  It has a neat look with a calming background that seem to change from day to day. As photo enthusiasts, we think that is a nice feature. But wait, what happens when we hit the search button; the search result comes up and the background image moves to the upper left corner and gently fades in.

Haven’t we seen that before? Yes, in the showcase skin! Dare we suggest that this Jalbum skin, when making the search engine, inspired Microsoft? Probably not, but it’s a funny coincidence.

PhotoBox is the latest and greatest skin from our code ninja Kristoffer. The skin has a nice feature where image thumbnails zoom and float gracefully when touched by the mouse pointer. It's a great way to preview images before watching the full blown photo. Have a look at this sample album.

PhotoBox works with Jalbum widgets and runs on any site. Thanks to our friends at Mr Green for sponsoring this skin. Download and try it out here. Enjoy!

Have you submitted your work to the photo book contest Photography.Book.Now by Blurb? It truly is your chance for worldwide recognition and also getting paid for your dedicated work as a photographer. $25,000 is at stake for the one winner with the most impressive work. Also there are several photography related prizes for the runners up and category prizes.

What is interesting about this competition is that it's not necessarily the best photographers that win the prizes. It's the ones creating the most stunning photo books.

Blurb is hosting the Blurb Photography Book Workshop series in June, featuring photographer Dan Milnor, graphic designer Bob Aufuldish, and Lightroom guru Jerry Courvoisier. In these 4-hour workshops you’ll learn about the principals of book design, editing your images in Lightroom for optimum results, and how to use Blurb books to promote your work.
 
You can also participate in a photography book review prior to the workshop. Having your work reviewed is not a requirement to attend the workshops.
 
Photography book reviews begin at 4:00 pm; the workshop kicks off at 6:00 pm (expect it to last until about 10:00 pm). Cost to attend is $49 for the workshop, and $79 including the photography book review.
 
Dates, locations and links to RSVP follow below:
June 16, San Francisco – http://blurbworkshopsf.eventbrite.com
June 18, NYC – http://blurbworkshopnyc.eventbrite.com
June 22, London – http://blurbworkshoplondon.eventbrite.com
June 24, Chicago – http://blurbworkshopchicago.eventbrite.com

Enter before July 16. Go on and create some magic at http://pbn.blurb.com

I bet you’ve heard the quote "Badges?... We don't need no... stinkin' badges!" from The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, even if you never saw the movie. It’s amazing how a quote, a tune or a photo can awaken something inside all of us that is eternally memorable. To get your amazing photo albums to stick, people need to see them, where you are. That is why we built the Jalbum Blog badge for all of you who run a blog.

We silently launched the Jalbum Blog badge in March and told you about it on this blog. Since then, thousands of people have started using it on their blogs!

The Blog Badge is now publicly available as a link on your profile page. If you haven’t added it to you blog yet do it now, just like these guys did:

http://lescroix.blogspot.com

http://andreabrava.blogspot.com

http://dallasurbanblog.blogspot.com

Help us spread the word
If you are a blogger; send an email to carl@jalbum.net when you added the Jalbum Blog badge to your blog. We will upgrade the first 30 Blog badge users with a Jalbum premium account for one year (Worth €19).

jalbum.net/create-badge