The Securities and Exchange Commission has initiated an inquiry into Getty Images' stock option grants. In a statement released toward the end of last year, the company said that the commission had requested information and that Getty was cooperating, including establishing a committee to conduct an internal investigation with the assistance of outside attorneys.

In late November 2006, Getty announced its decision to delay the filing of its report for the third quarter of 2006 until the resolution of the inquiry into its stock option grant practices.

On Jan. 5, 2007, the company released a statement saying that it did not consider itself...

This image of a northern pygmy owl calling to its mate from a woodpecker hole in a quaking aspen tree took just a fraction of a second to make.

For wildlife photographer Paul Bannick, however, it took days of careful tracking, observation of avian behavior and infinite patience to capture the moment. After traipsing through the still-snowy woods last spring in the south-central Washington Cascades, he heard an owl call, so he gave a response. Then a second owl joined in.

"After that, I listened and watched, not wanting to disturb the couple," he recalls.

After observing the pair for a few days, Bannick saw a fist-size female fly into a hole made by a hairy woodpecker, indicating acceptance of the cavity as a new nest...

PhotoDex has announced an update to the ProShow product line of photo slideshow software.

Version 3.1 showcases an updated user interface and creative features and effects in the Creative Toolbar. The toolbar allows users to manage and edit slide layers, add motion effects to still photos, add captions and sound, and more.

Up to 15 different file formats are available for output, including Flash and QuickTime. ProShow 3.1 is...

Delkin has released a new card reader, the ImageRouter, a four-slot, USB 2.0 CompactFlash reader with a built-in powered hub. When users combine it with the BackupandBurn file management software, they can utilize all four slots at transfer rates of 19MB per second for reading and 18MB per second for writing.
The ImageRouter reader can be purchased alone or with the BackupandBurn software, which can automatically rename files based on user-set parameters and copy to CD or DVD...

A look at a professional who reached the top of his industry before switching gears to lead a new life behind a camera lens.

Rob Kurtzman, a forensic pathologist living in Grand Junction, Colo., has been practicing for more than 20 years. But in college, "it was tough deciding between photography or going to medical school," he says.

He was introduced to photography by his cousin, and received his first camera when he was 8 years old. "It was a Kodak Hawkeye, and it used 127 rollfilm," Kurtzman remembers. "I developed my first roll of film in our basement at home using an FR developing kit. It came with a daylight developing tank, three 5x7 developing trays, a contact print box, a few chemicals, a safelight and some paper tongs for the trays. I was hooked.

From then on, it seemed that I always had a camera...

Award-winning photographer Burt Glinn, whose images of Fidel Castro's takeover of Cuba won him international renown, died April 9 at age 82 in Southampton, N.Y., after suffering from kidney failure and pneumonia.

Glinn was born Burton Samuel Glinn in Pittsburgh in 1925 and later served in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1946. He earned degrees in history and literature from Harvard University in 1949 and went on to work for Life magazine as a photo assistant from 1949 to 1950.

He became one of the first American members of Magnum Photo in 1951, along with...

A look at a professional who reached the top of his industry before switching gears to lead a new life behind a camera lens.

When he was first introduced to photography, taking a picture was something just short of miraculous to Jim Dines. "As a child, I was fascinated that I could reproduce an image," he says. This philosophy made him see each photograph as a one-of-a-kind slice of life.

Dines grew up in picturesque San Francisco and started out thinking of photography as his first career choice. "I had a hard time making money at it, so I had to develop a new career," he says. "If there were enough money in it, I would have been a full-time photographer."

Instead, he developed a very successful career as a financial analyst. He still publishes a financial newsletter, The Dines Letter, but his love...

A look at a professional who reached the top of his industry before switching gears to lead a new life behind a camera lens.

Stuart Green is not ready to give up his day job as an orthopedic surgeon just yet. In the meantime, however, he's content to have dual careers as a surgeon and a photographer. After all, his interest in photography preceded his career as a physician.

"My father had a darkroom in our house when I was growing up," says Green. "I started developing pictures when I was six years old." He even processed his own film for many years, starting with Anscochrome, a transparency film from the 1950s. He later used E-6 processing and now works with digital photography.

In his medical practice, Green has authored or contributed to 15 books and more than a hundred...

Komamura Corp. has unleashed the Horseman SW-D II Pro, the second generation of the SW-D super-wide-angle camera. The large-format camera contains design improvements that give users the freedom to shift on the tripod head and additional mount capabilities for its interchangeable digital back system. The SW-D II Pro is now compatible with the Hasselblad V and Hasselblad H mounts, as well as the Mamiya 645.

The front of the camera can be mounted on...

A look at a professional who reached the top of his industry before switching gears to lead a new life behind a camera lens.

Photography opened a whole new avenue of learning and excitement for me," says Hal Eastman, a prominent businessman who divides his time between Boise, Idaho, and Carmel, Calif.

Eastman graduated from Stanford Business School and enjoyed a long, diverse career as an executive in various industries before retiring to devote most of his time to photography. "Eighty percent of what I do now is photography," he says. "I'm doing projects that I really care about."

After working hard as an executive through his mid-40s, Eastman says, he decided that he wanted to do and be something different. "I had in mind that I wanted to explore the artistic part of life instead of business at that point," he says. "At first I didn't think of photography as an art...