Now's your chance to move the world. Nikon Photo Contest International 2008-2009

One of the world's most renowned photo contests, entries to the 32nd Nikon Photo Contest International will be accepted from September 1 to November 30, 2008.

A contest with an impressive history

The Nikon Photo Contest International has been held by Nikon Corporation since 1969 to provide an opportunity for photographers around the world to communicate and to enrich photographic culture for professionals and amateurs alike. Renowned among photo enthusiasts worldwide, the contest has so far attracted more than 1,270,000 images from a total of 306,000 photographers. In fact, so popular has the contest become among photographers that a total of over 47,000 images were received from more than 16,000 entrants in 135 different countries for the 31st contest alone.

This year's theme: "At the heart of the image"

"At the heart of the image" is not only the brand statement of Nikon Imaging Company, but it is also the theme of the 32nd contest. We have carefully selected categories as stated below and we look forward to receiving images expressing the emotions that are true to your heart.

This year's categories

A Free subject:
Express yourself freely, as it moves you.
B My Planet:
Express your world, whether that involves the environment, scenes from your daily life, or the people and things that stir your passions.

With these categories, Nikon welcomes and embraces photographic creativity and encourages images of human happiness from all over the world.

54 prizes awarded by a panel of international photographers

All works will be judged by professional photographers working internationally and a combined total of 54 prizes will be awarded. The Grand Prize will be awarded for the most outstanding photograph out of all the entries, regardless of category. 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes will be awarded to 16 winners in each category. The Emerging Talent award will recognize 4 winners and 16 runners-up from both categories to commend those aged under 30 for work that possess outstanding expressive power and conveys the energy of youth. Additionally, this year marks the 75th anniversary of the NIKKOR brand of lenses. To properly commemorate this event, a special prize will be awarded to the outstanding work that places second after the Grand Prize winner.

Prize winners are planned to be announced in July 2009.

An open opportunity

A competition that truly traverses borders, the Nikon Photo Contest International embodies an unrivalled opportunity – providing photographers everywhere with a chance to showcase their talents and giving us all a valuable insight into the lives of those around us. An exhibition of the winning photographs is also planned, so please take advantage of this opportunity to submit your work. learn more...

Nikon Capture NX 2, Powerful Tools for Quick and Easy Photo Editing

TOKYO – Nikon Corporation is pleased to announce the introduction of the exciting new Capture NX 2 photo editing software. An evolution of the original award-winning Capture NX software released in 2006, Capture NX 2 makes it even easier to make quick and powerful photographic edits so you can spend more time making photographs and less time editing them on the computer.

The original Capture NX software introduced the world to direct on-image editing. This revolutionary new development was the basis of the Color Control Point tool which enabled photographers of all levels to easily adjust brightness, contrast, saturation, color and warmth on specific elements of a picture such as sky, skin, grass, etc. This made it possible to choose any area of a photograph for editing without the need for complicated selections or masking techniques.

Capture NX 2 introduces the all-new Selection Control Point tool, which allows users to carry out nearly any image adjustment to a specific area with just a point-and-click to make the selection. Whether applying an Unsharp Mask to just the eyes in a portrait, a Gaussian Blur to only the background of a photograph or D-Lighting to open up the shadows, the Selection Control Point makes it easy to do. What once was a complex and tedious task now takes just a fraction of the time.

The newly developed Auto Retouch Brush allows you to simply apply a few mouse strokes to clear away spots, blemishes or other unwanted distractions that appear in a picture. Photographers can quickly and effectively achieve the results they are looking for without having to learn all new methods and skills.

The Capture NX 2 interface has been updated by adding "Workspaces" to optimize the screen layout. Four preset Workspaces such as "Browser" and "Edit" can be selected as well as a number of user-defined workspaces that optimize single or multiple monitors for the ideal screen layout. The Edit List has been reorganized to allow easier access to most settings. Further, it maximizes the picture display area while simplifying the editing process by allowing multiple edits to be viewed simultaneously.

With this range of impressive tools many shooters will find Capture NX 2 to be a great stand-alone photo editing solution, while others will discover that it’s a remarkably effective addition to their existing photographic editing workflow and process. more...

download Capture NX 2