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The New York Photo Festival's annual for 2009 is now available. The book features  the highlights from the festival last May, including the photo contest's runners up in each category.

You can preview and purchase the book on Blurb.

Trained at FIT in NYC and a former photo editor at Guitar World and Revolver, Justin Borucki combines passion with a skilled eye to create some awesome music photographs.

Photographers are using their flash bulbs to help those in need this holiday season.

Help-Portrait is a group that seeks to create a community between photographers and people who are struggling or down on their luck.

In their promotional video, one man exclaims that it was the first portrait ever taken of him outside of a mug shot. Another woman is in tears after seeing herself with her hair and makeup neatly arranged.

Allen Frame captures unguarded moments of introspection lurking deep within the shadows of his photographs. Rarely showing a clear face, his photographs tell of stories that we may never fully comprehend.

The deep sigh of a darkened lover, a voyeur glimpsing into another life — his photographs dawdle on the body, the scene and the light but not the model's own intentions. 

PDN had so much fun at the PhotoPlus Expo they decided to throw a mini-expo online for free. That's right, keynote speakers and all - for free!

Complete with virtual booths where experts can answer your questions, six webcast panel discussions, and two keynote speakers, there is no excuse not to attend. All you have to do is point and click.

The event runs on December 2nd and 3rd from this site.

To register, click here.

PDN's own tech editor is billed as the first speaker, and the second is yet to be announced.

Emile Benjamin's photography celebrates portraiture. He has an editorial eye, an interesting portfolio site design, and a clear enthusiasm for what he does. Currently a student at the Center for Digital Imaging Arts in Washington DC, he has potential. Not to be limited to portraiture, Benjamin has interesting animal and landscape shots as well.

Here are a few photos of his that caught my eye.

Here's a wholesome family shot.

This week in free wine and cheese, new photography exhibits abound.

Tonight, Mark Sink & Kristen Hatgi's exhibit debuts at the Robin Rice Gallery. The reception runs form 5:30-8:30 tonight and the exhibit is on display until December 20th. The photographs stand apart from many of those included in my normal roundup. At once beautiful and mysterious, these black and white photographs pull you into a dreamscape of 1920s inspired theatricality.

Here's a nice camera duo from the Nikon COOLPIX line. But you may want to be wary of telling your folks about these gadgets until you've weighed the benefits. Do you really want to make it easier for them to show you all their vacation photographs?

Water is everywhere, with the exception of Australia. Capturing water in a new or interesting way without it looking like your father's screensaver can be a challenge. Here is a Flickr collection that would make that his desktop groan with envy.

Tela de Araña from Arbego's photostream

Lay Flat is a newish nonprofit (founded by photographer Shane Lavalette) seeking to help artists create awesome photo books.  Founded in January of 2009, they are still getting their feet wet.

They work with both up-and-coming and more established artists to "create books that express a vision and exist as artful objects in themselves."  Lay Flat also publishes a magazine.

Their books are Lay Flat 01: Remain in Light (out now) and Lay Flat 02: META (coming soon).

Young places like this are a great way to gain a lot of experience quickly. If you are in the Boston area and in school, check out their internship.

Olympus recently released their new Micro Four Thirds Pen EP-1 camera. It's bragging rights include being the world's smallest 12.3-megapixel camera with interchangeable lenses. It can record HD video and audio, create slideshows, and, of course, take quality stills. The full specs can be found here.

New exhibits are the perfect ammo to inspire your own work. Here are a few that caught my eye this week.

The controversial Jill Greenberg's new exhibit New Bears just kicked off at the Clamp Art gallery in New York. Greenberg broke into the industry with her celebrity portraiture and continues to interest audiences with her animal portraits. Capturing individuality amongst her subjects, Greenberg constructed an outdoor studio in Canada and focused her lens on large bears. The exhibit runs from November 5th to December 19th and features a book signing November 13th from 6-8pm.

Check out tomorrow's photography show opening at Brooklyn's Farmani Gallery, featuring the work of Photo League photographers Fred Stein and Erika Stone. And while you're there, take a look at the many other galleries at 111 Front Street. Happy hopping!

Brimming with interesting tidbits about everything from manipulation software to lenses, Photography 24/7 is a site that inspires people to take their pictures further. Most of the content seems geared towards young photographers looking to break into the industry and photo-fledglings.

Recent features include a spotlight on photographer Tony Sweet, affordable photo editing software, and tricks to handle bad weather on assignment.

What separates this site from many others is that you can feel how excited the writer is about photography. The tone is downright giddy when a new product goes for a test drive and the Tony Sweet interview sounded nearly awestruck.  I say passion and quality content make this site certifiably awesome.

During the PhotoPlus Expo, I had time to catch up with Jeremy Yokota from Lowepro. He gave me the rundown on their newest bags. With hidden pockets full of all weather covers, detachable hard cases, hideaway straps, and ultra-durable pockets, these bags are as useful as they are stylish. With a lifetime guarantee, how can you go wrong?

There were a few bags in particular that caught my eye.

1. Versapack 200 AW

It looks like a stylish backpack, with the normal features to store pens and stray articles of clothing or water bottles. However, the bottom is a compartment made specifically to protect your DSLR and lenses. You can even access them without taking it off.

Don't just take my word for it — here, Jeremy gives us a demonstration.

Hahnemuhle USA created a new type of paper. It uses bagasse and cotton fiber.  Bagasse is a by-product from sugar cane refining, and the cotton fibers come from recycling paper mill waste. It's green and it works well. Recommended for use with inkjet printers, the paper is naturally white, textured, and it resists aging.

The paper is part of Hahnemule's Green Initiative Program.

The paper is the choice of Daniel Beltrá. His newest exhibit about tropical deforestation and it's impact on climate change, is printed on the green  paper. The exhibit, part of an awareness effort of The Prince's Rainforests Project, runs October 26th until November 22nd at the National Geographic Store in London.

This blog was contributed by Frances Cirenza, ZIO Photography Channel Assistant.

Fotolia's new plug-in, created for Microsoft Word 2007 and Microsoft PowerPoint 2007, lets users directly log in to their image gallery to purchase pictures. The application is free and gives you access to Fotolia's high resolution images.

One you buy an image, you can use it without any restrictions on locations or number of times used or period of time. The images are royalty-free.

This blog was contributed by Frances Cirenza, ZIO Photography Channel Assistant.

The Minox DSC, a point and shoot, is 2.560x1.920 pixels, takes AVI video, and is super discreet. While no professional photographer should ditch his current camera for the Minox DSC, it's perfect addition to an arsenal of kitschy and cool gear.

A dash of this, a lens from that, and Abby Normal for a brain Linux for an operating system creates the prototype for Frankencamera.

Stanford Professor Marc Levoy believes his monster will create a surge in camera innovation. I agree.

Want to hob-nob in LA? HobNob Wines wants to send you to LA to hang out in a swanky hotel and party. Sounds too good, right?

The winner and a friend fly to LA  to stay at The Standard Downtown LA Hotel and get VIP access to a nightclub. Runners up get a Flip Mino HD personal camcorder. All you have to do is snap a few photographs of you with your friends out living it up.

You have until 1/10/10 to get your entries in. The catch is that photos have to be taken within October, November, or December of this year. Good luck!

This blog was contributed by Frances Cirenza, ZIO Photography Channel Assistant.