A new web gallery that is worth checking out, and perhaps getting involved in: Photography & Mash. This web gallery is slightly different to most of them out there:

The Premise is that we ask culturally relevant people inside and outside of the industry to offer the community starting points for new projects. We then give the community 6 weeks to shoot the theme and then we display the shortlisted artists. This changes every 6 weeks.

We are sourcing briefs ( Themes ) as we speak from ethically aware people in hope that we are using photography to bring to the forefront, global issues.

It’s a new site, but it looks like quite a few new features are already in the works. Probably a good idea to keep your eye on this one. Great to see new sites, like these, being launched.

• 15 Tips for Great Candlelight Photography
  Have you ever tried to photograph a candle lit scene with your digital camera? (digital-photography-school.com)
• How to Dodge & Burn in Photoshop
  (twipphoto.com)
• Stop wishing for that Amazing Camera and Appreciate The One You’ve Got
  I know a lot of DPS readers are dreaming of and saving for that perfect digital camera - today Dan Dyer from Automatic Camera has a post for you with a good reminder. (digital-photography-school.com)

Working under the ethos of ‘Your moments. Shared’ LG has a new site, LG Loop, that aims to celebrate photography and give users the opportunity to showcase and share their best photos with a community of like-minded enthusiasts as well as their friends and family.

As an ongoing reward for the Loop community, LG is running regular competitions for the best photographs uploaded, as voted for by users. To add an extra dimension to the competition, members are competing against a Pro Sports Photographer as part of Loop’s ‘Pro V Joe‘ challenge, where the public’s images are voted on alongside pictures taken by professional photographers, such as Nathan Gallagher. The Pro’s shots are submitted anonymously to avoid any favouritism and add excitement to the competition.

(Thanks to Helen for the heads-up on this. It looks like there are some fun competitions already, and some really interesting photos.)

• Follow the Bouncing Ball for Advice on Lighting Glasses
  Quick video today from The Flash Centre on how little movements in your subject can get rid of lighting reflections in glasses. And I totally agree with Chris for “Plan A” as being, “Do you always wear your glasses?” (strobist.blogspot.com)
• How to Photograph Coastlines
  I love heading for the coast and every year I attempt to head there at least once for a little rest and relaxation (which generally involves at least a few hours of photography each day). (Darren Rowse, digital-photography-school.com)
• Five Steps I Took to Drive Photography Customers to My Web Site
  In my last post, I described how I turned my Web site into a business driver by dispensing with my Flash template in favor of an HTML-based site that was more search-engine friendly. Now I’d like to share five other important steps I’ve taken to drive visitors to my site. (rising.blackstar.com)
• RAW Creativity
  An exploration of Adobe’s Camera RAW (ACR) plug-in software. (Kenneth Setzer, digital-photography-school.com)
• 10 ways to break photographer’s block
  As a writer, I know the feeling all too well - with a sense of dread and a deep sense of apathy, I stare at the blinking cursor and the completely blank TextMate document. I have ten thousand thoughts and feelings and stories that are chomping at the bit to get told, but it’s just so difficult to get started… And the exact same thing can happen to me when I’m taking photos. (photocritic.org)

• DIY Lighting Hacks for Digital Photographers
  Lighting can be the difference between a good shot and a great one.
• Kick-Butt New “Fashion Photography Accessory” Discovery!
  The BLOWiT Personal Cooling System
• DNG - Format for the Future
  The Digital Negative file format, or DNG, from Adobe Systems is a universal RAW format file created to address issues facing digital photographers.
• Don’t Delete Your Digital Photography Mistakes Too Quickly

  I couldn’t agree with this article more. I often take hip shots (quite literally) just to see what comes of it. I don’t check the images until I get home and offload them, and sometimes there are some really great surprises.

Some top notch aerial photography of our marvellously photogenic capital by Jason Hawkes has just popped up on the BBC website.

Holler if you can see where you work!

• Freelancing for your Local Newspaper–Tips to Get you Started
  So you have honed your skills to the point where you are confident you can get a good picture in any situation. Have you thought about freelancing for a newspaper?
• 7 Tips from Professional Fashion Photographer Adriana Curcio
  7 Tips from Pro Fashion Photographer Adriana Curcio to help you get started in the Fashion Photography.
• The Inauguration of President Barack Obama
  (from The Big Picture)
• Is That a Soft Box in Your Pocket or Are You Just Happy to See Me?
  The LED lights that come built-in to our cell phone cameras are generally useless. But not so the lights built into the cell phone screens themselves.

The Digital Photography School launched their redesign yesterday and it is very snazzy indeed. If you are a digital photographer and haven’t checked this site out yet, I highly recommend it. Great articles and tips throughout. They have now divided the content into 3 distinct areas/blogs: Digital Photography Tips and Tutorials, Digital Cameras and Equipment, and Post Production Tips. Something for everyone.

• Contact Sheet X
  Contact Sheet X (CSX) is a script-based package for Adobe Photoshop CS2, CS3 and CS4 that provides a full featured contact sheet generator.
• TinEye
  TinEye a reverse image search engine. You can submit an image to TinEye to find out where it came from, how it is being used, if modified versions of the image exist, or to find higher resolution versions.
• Poladroid
  Creating a Polaroid online.
• Creating Adobe Lightroom Presets
  Creating Presets for Adobe Lightroom need not be as hard as many people think it is. In this tutorial Christina from Christina Nichole Photography shows us how to do it.

• Photoshop CS4 for Photographers: Camera Raw

  13 free video tutorials from Lynda.com

• Flickr, Smugmug And Others Bidding To Buy JPG Magazine Says TechCrunch

  Thomas Hawk talks about the recent buzz around JPG Mag.