Haiti is in desperate need of help in the wake of the devastating earthquake recently. To try and raise some funds for a worthy cause, Andy has put together this Flickr group: Charity Print Auctions.

Photographers will pay for all printing and postage costs. The highest bidder for the photo will donate their winning bid to the Red Cross. A screenshot of the donation confirmation will be used as proof of payment.

Add an image to be part of the auction, or bid on some of the photos and help raise some much needed funds to benefit Haiti.

Not London specific, but this could be a fun project from the Museu Picasso. Below is the information sent from the Museum:

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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.

From June 21 - 22 Magnum photographers will be at The Photographers’ Gallery to review portfolios as part of First Impressions. The deadline for registration is this Friday, May 29th (and it is first come, first serve), so if you are keen to have your work reviewed by 3 Magnum photographers, get in there and good luck!

(Thanks to Billy Macrae for the heads-up on this).

The DK Eyewitness Travel Photo Britain competition has just opened, inviting all amateurs, professionals and Under 16s alike to submit photos showcasing the best of what Britain has to offer.

Running in association with PhotoBox, the competition encourages everyone to step out in the sun this spring to explore the different faces of Britain, from iconic landmarks to amazing architecture.

The competition runs from 30 March – 31 May 2009 and spans the following four categories:

• Iconic
• Heritage
• Wild
• My Britain

The winner will be awarded with the money-can’t-buy prize of having their image published on the front cover of DK Eyewitness Great Britain 2010. In addition, the winning photographer will be awarded a £1,500 Landmark Trust holiday voucher, £100 PhotoBox vouchers and a PhotoBox canvas of the winning image. The 11 runners up will also receive vouchers and books from DK Eyewitness and the competition partners.

A shortlist of 100 entries will be judged by a panel, including the world renowned photographer Tom Ang, with a selection of outstanding entries exhibited at Waterstone’s flagship store in Piccadilly, London, throughout July/August 2009. What’s more, for every image submitted, DK Eyewitness will donate 10p to the Landmark Trust charity, so you’ll also be giving to charity by entering the free competition!

Please visit www.traveldk.com/photobritain for info on how to enter and full competition details.

(Thanks to Gerel for the heads-up on this competition).

The new Prevention of Terrorism law contains poorly defined restrictions on photography which pretty much gives the police carte blanche to hassle any one with a camera. You can sign the petition at http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Photorestrict/.

Some additional information from the petition:

On the 16th of February, the Government passed a law (in the Counter Terrorism Act) making it illegal to take a photograph of a police office, military personnel or member of the intelligence services - or a photograph which “may be of use for terrorism”. This definition is vague at best, and open to interpretation by the police - who under Home Secretary guidelines can “restrict photography in public places”.

We call for these vague restrictions to be lifted, as they can easily be mis-used by the police.

Thanks to Paul for submitting this information for us to post.

• 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.