Photojournalist Jim Hubbard, creative director of Venice Arts in Venice, Calif., has been honored by the National Child Labor Committee with a 2007 Lewis Hine Distinguished Service Award. Hubbard is the first photographer to receive the award, which recognizes those who have made a positive impact on the welfare of the nation's youth.

During his 40-year career, Hubbard's work has called attention to the plight of...

Gary Shenk has been promoted from senior vice president of images at Corbis to the organization's top position.

In his role as president, Shenk will be responsible for a realignment of the company's marketing strategies, and will supervise sales and creative resources.

In addition, Shenk will continue to direct the...

Michelle Bates, a photographer living in Seattle, has chronicled her experiences working with and teaching about Holga cameras in her new book, "Plastic Cameras: Toying with Creativity," published by Focal Press.

Her work and the book were featured in an article on www.imaginginfo.com. Bates also presented an exhibition and lecture at the Creative Center for Photography in Los Angeles in February.

Canon has introduced its new 5-megapixel DC50 DVD camcorder. The slim design comes with Canon's Advanced Video Technology and top-tier photo features. The camcorder offers direct-to-DVD recording and accepts 3-inch DVD-R/-RW discs, which store up to 60 minutes of video on a single layer of disc or up to 108 minutes on dual-layer discs.

The camcorder has a 5.39-megapixel CCD image sensor with an RGB primary color filter that provides...

David M. Ritz, chairman and CEO of Ritz Camera Centers, recently received the annual Hall of Fame Award for 2007 from the International Photographic Council, a nongovernmental organization of the United Nations. The award honors legendary contributors to the photographic industry. Information about the council is available at ipc-un-ngo.org.

Sony has introduced its new DVD and Mini DV tape Handycam camcorders. The new DVD models allow the user to record directly to disc, play back on DVD players and instantly archive video footage. With a -R/-RW/+RW disc usability, all DVD models are newly compatible with 3-inch +R discs that have 2.66GB dual-layer capacity, nearly double the camcorder's...

Harbor Digital Design recently announced its new Ultimate Light Box flash diffuser system. Designed for quality and accessibility, the Light Box diffuser can be used as a bounced, reflective or direct light source, or a combination, to provide control over the softness of light.

The innovative new design, with multiple levels of diffusion that can be added or removed, also comes equipped with a versatile flash diffuser system that is easily adjustable. The Light Box diffuser's accessories allow for the system to be used as...

Leonard Freed, whose photographs documented the civil rights movement and other scenes of human struggle, died from cancer in New York City last November at the age of 77.

Freed was born Oct. 23, 1929, in Brooklyn, N.Y. He studied art at the New School under Alexey Brodovitch, the art director of Harper's Bazaar, an experience that turned his attention toward photography. After graduation he traveled extensively in Europe and...

Former Life magazine photographer Yale Joel recently died of cardiac arrest in New York City at the age of 87.

Joel began his photographic career in 1938, when he was 19 years old, going on to serve as a combat photographer for the Army Signal Corps in World War II. He joined the original Life staff in 1947, working at various times through the magazine's Paris, Washington, Boston and New York offices.

During the next decade, he twice won the...

Kennan Ward, a photographer based in Santa Cruz, Calif., earned one of three 2007 NANPA Fellow Awards, for photographers who have made significant contributions to the field of nature photography for at least 20 years.

Additional awards presented at the NANPA 13th Annual Summit included the NANPA Outstanding Service Award to Alice Robertson of Las Vegas, for her work developing the NANPA College Student Program.