Zoom-in Online

Billed as the world’s leading event for photography, Paris Photo 2009 began yesterday, and runs through the weekend.

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.

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?

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.