The board of trustees of the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund announced that San Francisco-based photographer has been awarded the prestigious 2010 W. Eugene Smith Grant for Humanistic Photography.

Padilla won for her essay "The Julie Project," an in-depth look at AIDS, poverty and drugs in America. The project earned her a $30,000 grant to continue her work. Her essay was chosen out of 182 entries from 32 countries.

The Smith grant is presented annually to a photographer whose past work or proposed project best displays the concern and dedicated compassion of the photography industry.

John Keatley was featured again last year in "The American Photography 26," a collection of the best photographs of 2009. The selected image, a portrait of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, was an outtake from a cover shoot for Palin's memoir, "Going Rogue."

The previous year, American Photography chose Keatley's portrait of Annie Leibovitz to appear in AP25.

At the end of 2010, several images made by celebrity and fashion photographer Michael Grecco were chosen to be part of the New York Photography Festival's show titled "Human Kind." Grecco's portrait of director Martin Scorsese was also selected for an upcoming cover of Dilema magazine.

Upcoming projects for Grecco in 2011 include a major shoot for Porsche in Palm Springs, Calif., entitled "An Appreciation of the New and the Old." He will also present his work during the Photo LA + artLA Project and the Daniel Azoulay gallery later this year.

Lynda.com, a digital media tutorial hub, has again recruited Seattle-based commercial photographer Natalie Fobes to instruct a basic photography class on color, composition and light that will be available in May. As part of her seven-chapter course, Fobes will use photographs from her assignments to explain the elements of two-dimensional design, color theory, light temperature and basic lighting...

Traveling 8,000 miles throughout Washington state in the summer and fall of 2010, Seattle-based location photographer Patrick Bennett shot a series of images to promote tourism and travel in the region.

These photos, which will be used for periodicals such as the Washington Wine Tour Guide,, Washington Scenic Byways and the Washington State Travel Planner, feature images of local and international travelers exploring the state while rock climbing, parasailing, rodeo riding, beachcombing, fishing, hiking and wine tasting.

Images for all three publications will be available in the first part of 2011.

Northwestern landscape photographer Bruce Barnbaum's "The Art of Photography," a 348-page, 150 full-color photobook on photographic composition for both film and digital imagery, hit the art-store shelves in September 2010, selling all 5,000 copies in its first month of publication.

Last year, Barnbaum also taught two photography workshops at a worldwide water policy issues conference in Patagonia, Argentina. Seven of his new destination workshops are scheduled for 2011.

Environmental photojournalist Gary Braasch has teamed up with environmental toxicologist Dr. Joan Rothlein to document the lingering effects of this year's BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

Focusing on the themes of energy consumption and the reduction of fossil fuel use, Braasch's images capture scenes of oil, marsh and beach cleanup, and the impact on those affected by the spill. These images will be available for use by nongovernmental organizations and will appear on newsstands this fall. Braasch's work, which was recently on display in New York, can also be viewed at (braaschphotography.com) and (WorldViewofGlobalWarming.org).

"Photographing Oregon," a guidebook by Eugene, Ore.-based photographer and writer Greg Vaughn, was named best travel book of the year by the Independent Book Publishers Association.

Vaughn's travel guide, published by PhotoTrip USA, describes not only ideal locations from which to photograph Oregon's iconic sites, but also ideal times to be there and what settings to use for shooting each image.

Similar to PhotoTrip USA's "Photographing the Southwest" series, this Oregon photo guide contains more than 240 photos and details on all the major parks and landmarks.