HP, or Hewlett-Packard, has launched Hype, a web site to celebrate street photography. Very cool

If you are in Europe, check out Photo Espana, an international photo festival out of Madrid. If you are in the US, there is the Festival of the Photograph, a three-day festival that kicks of on June 7th in Charlottesville, Virginia. And if you are old-school [just kidding] and still shoot black & white film or just love the genre so much, you can attend Silver, the second-annual international conference and print competition of black & white photography sponsored by Ilford Photo and Calumet Photographic. But you better hurry as it runs from today through April 1.

How to Make a Killer Photo using 8 Simple Composition Rules

I am fascinated and somewhat terrified of photo booths. I love the instant gratification, but what tweaks me out is the timing and the pressure of looking my best (or not dorky) when the flash goes off. I'll have to find a strip of images from a photo booth in London to post here, meanwhile check out Photobooth.net, “the most comprehensive photobooth resource on the internet.” Want to rent one? Check out Usnaps. And do check out Amelie, the movie, which uses the photobooth as a hook in its narrative.

Need Magazine “is an artistic hope-filled publication focusing on life changing humanitarian efforts at home and abroad.” It “creates exposure for Humanitarian Aid via an informative, artistic, visual narrative of human stories, both around the world and domestically. This exposure offers an innovative and dynamic approach to building awareness and increasing support for Relief Organizations and Humanitarian Aid.” Here is a list of contributing photographers. Ready to pitch an idea? Get involved as a writer or photographer. Need Magazine also has a blog.

Prashant Panjiar documents The Kumbh Mela [via Ultrabrown]

Kiruba has a post about Manoj, a professional photographer based in Chennai, India whose portrait work is truly inspirational. Why? As Kiruba puts it: “What I liked about him was his ‘intrusion-less' style.” Ah … now that's the ticket! If only Manoj can be cloned, we would soon be rid of those silly grip-n-grin images that are so ubiquitous in Indian circles.

Yoga At Home [via Turbanhead]

Photography Promotion Trust: “An earnest amalgamation of a group of like-minded photographers, committed to using photography as a binding medium, to promote awareness and knowledge, and empower the lives of the underprivileged children/youth by understanding, identifying and collectively addressing their problems against their respective social and natural environments, is what comprises the PPT.”

Creative Capital, “a New York City-based nonprofit organization, acts as a catalyst for the development of adventurous and imaginative ideas by supporting artists who pursue innovation in form and/or content in the performing and visual arts, film and video, and in emerging fields.”

Two Kashmiri photojournalists: Yasin Dar, Rafiq Maqbool were mentioned in Ross Taylor‘s blog. [Via Melissa Lyttle]

Sean Flanigan, a Tacoma, Washington-based photographer just returned from a quick eight-day trip to India. “The people are gorgeous,” he says. Check out his work [more to come, he promises].

Tips For Using Images In Blogs

International Registry of Children's Photographers and Children's Photography Today magazine deserve a look-see. Don't forget their blog. Then there is the International Guild of Children's Photographers.

Neil Turner has revamped his “absolutely-must-bookmark” website for photographers

Umesh Gopinath and Susheel Chandradhas publish Photography Tip [very impressive!]

Luminous Landscape is offering an Adobe Lightroom tutorial as a high-resolution download for $14.95. This is a steal folks (if you are into learning new technology)

Rob Galbraith reports on his site that Adobe will have two versions of the new Photoshop – CS3 and CS3 Extended – on March 27, 2007

Be The Last Photographer Standing – this is a photo contest along the lines of American Idol. No singing required (phew!) [Via ShutterSeek]

Photographers – 50 of them, from 50 states (the US, that is)

Honest Answers About Wedding Photography – a terrific resource for those planning their wedding or for photographers in the wedding business

Flak Photo – some very fine photography. Also check out the “Recommended Reading” in the right column

Being “Kind” To Your [photo] Subjects