I've been trying to focus this blog more on the photographic content and fewer articles. Mainly as a result of not enough time, too many other areas vying for my attention, and often by the time I get round to posting a news item, most of the other photography blogs have already beaten me to it. Today though, I'm going to break from that as I've a few new news articles to post.

I've just had some photographs in print. Manchester United Supporters Trust have used 9 of the images I shot outside Old Trafford on the night of the Champions League final in May.  They've used a selection of these images.

Calumet have announced a new service via their website whereby you can order online and collect in-store. Thus saving yourself delivery costs, and waiting around for the delivery van (that never arrives when you need it to). www.calumetphoto.co.uk

Magnum have gathered together some "advice" for some of their members for new and aspiring photographers. Quite an interesting read. Thoughts from Martin Parr, Alex Soth and many others. Read it here

A new forum has launched for film and darkroom enthusiasts. www.fadu.co.uk already has a great many informed posters detailing thoughts on everything from darkroom process to gear reviews.

The Royal Photographic Society has announced a new competition based on Rejlander's "Two ways of life". When this work appeared in Victorian times, the 32 negative "debauched" composite caused a scandal. One of it's few alleged admirers was Queen Victoria herself. The RPS's competition asks entrants to combine and alter images to create a modern interpretation of this masterpiece. www.rps.org

I meant to post this over the weekend, but what with family commitments and post processing a couple of shoots I did towards the end of last week, its been somewhat delayed. Better late than never anyway....

1) David Ziser's turns out some really insightful articles amid his relentless posting and here's another discussing 9 important business strategies for quoting for that big job you're just dying to get. Read it here

2) Dean at Photopreneur provides a quality article discussing why its really worth taking the plunge into professional shooting. Read it here

3) Another interesting article from Photopreneur on why using Flickr is really quite a good idea. Read it here

4) Mike Johnston from the  online photographer runs through the top 10 digital cameras of 2008, from the D3 to the new PhaseOne digital back, to the latest entry level DSLRs. Read it here

5) An interesting article from Lee Torrens over at the Microstock Diaries showing how some of the Pros really do earn some big money from shooting specifically for stock agencies. Read it here

This article was originally published by Martin Parr in the Sunday Times and details Martin's favourite photography books of the last year. Click here to read it.

An interesting and insightful article by American portrait and wedding photographer, David Ziser, on how to build your photography business. Click here to read it.

A brief article by Damien Franco over at yourphototips.com on "Does shooting film make you a better photographer?". The simple answer, I believe is "yes". And which kinda photographers shoot more film than digi? Just check out the real pro landscape photographers - They all use film! Click here to read it .

I continually strive to expand my creative talents, and flowers, although a tad cliched, are an area that I would like to pursue, even if only briefly. I was looking for inspiration, but a guest poster over at DPS has already done some groundwork for me! I love the internet!! ;-) Click here to read it.

I want one, but can I really justify yet another camera bag??? Click here to read Matt Kloskowski's review of his Boda bag.

Most importantly, are we all going to be arrested as terrorists??  & - WTF??? -  - How can I t-shirt possibly be a security threat??? The world's gone mad!

Harlan Ellison - Prolific American writer of short stories & screenplays. He wrote for the original series of Star Trek and has won many acclaimed literary awards. Check this video rant out. Good point, well made!

I've been reading some really great articles on portrait photography lately, and I thought I'd share them here.

First up, Atlanta based editorial music photographer, Zack Arias has published a superb series of articles on using seamless white backgrounds for studio based portrait shots. Zack goes into great detail not only describing what materials to use and how to set them up, but he also goes into the minutiae of lighting and a whole host of difference scenarios and set ups. A really well written series of articles, and if like me you're thinking of getting into portrait photography and you want a perfect white background a la Richard Avedon, then this is where to go.

Secondly, Philip Greenspun, who is the Editor in Chief over at photo.net has written a very informative article on how to get the best out of your portraits. Like Zack's article, it is quite long and goes into quite a bit of detail on lenses and depth of field. Read it here.

Finally here's a well written article on "Upselling for Portrait Photographers". If like me, you're not really sure what this is all about, its quite simple. The theory is charge your clients a small or reduced fee, and then offer them additional, related products that the client hadn't considered when he or she made the booking. This can be anything from Photoshopping out wrinkles and spots to providing CDs containing high resolution from the shoot to providing large glossy framed prints.

I read a whole stack of other blogs and assorted RSS feeds, so every now and then I thought I'd publish a short list of those I have found most interesting, or that I think would be relevant to other photographers.

1. Those guys over at the Digital Photography School have compiled a really useful on blog building titled: "10 things to consider when building your rockin' photoblog". It's a follow up to their enlightening article "Why you should consider setting up a photoblog" which was one of the reasons that I set up this blog. Check it out here

2. "10 ways to make Google love your photography site" from photocritic.org is a particularly insightful article detailing the how's and why's to get Google to index your photography site. One of the points I am toying with implementing are html galleries. I totally understand that Google just doesn't like flash, but for me it serves a purpose, and I much prefer the look and feel that can be obtained using flash "out of the box" so to speak. Though I guess what I really need to do is to spend some time creating a DHTML / CSS series of galleries, though I'm afraid that this is one for a rainy day! Click here to read the article

3. Photoproneur.com have compiled an excellent article on how to make some money from holiday snaps - Here it is.

4. Dan Heller has provided an invaluable insight on new legislation pending in the US. If you are not a US based photographer, then you may think that this of no consequence to you - think again! If your stuff is on the Internet, its worth a read. The article is here.

5. Another interesting article from DPS titled: "Microstock for Digital Photography Students - Make money from your photography." See it here. The article was originally written by Lee Torrens who writes a particularly insightful blog over at the Microstock Diaries. Essentially he's a "hobbyist photographer" who has successfully managed to make several hundred dollars a month from putting his images on Microstock sites to supplement his main income as a web developer. His blog is well worth a read.