StumbleUpon top 5 rated websites: smartphone puns, Mario Bros. film trailer

A look at this week's top-rated websites from StumbleUpon, recorded on December 31.- 31/12/2010, Gadgets & Tech

Books of the Year: Picture books

What does it mean to be from this sceptred isle? This delightful portfolio of the English at leisure (photographed over the course of a year in which Roberts travelled the length of the land in a motorhome) is a romantic elegy to national identity Less a coffee-table book than a table in itself, this gargantuan tome traces the history o...- 19/12/2010, Features

Night vision: A new world of wildlife

Martin Dohrn, the acclaimed wildlife photographer, has recently developed a night vision camera that might just change our entire approach to nature photography. Called the Starlight, it allows him to take vividly clear photographs of game on the Masai Mara in the dead of night, effectively capturing the otherwise private lives of these nocturnal animals - 16/11/2010, Environment

Travel Agenda: Pavillon des Lettres; Kendal Mountain Film Festival; Carlisle Bay resort, Antigua

Today: The Pavillon de la Reine in Paris has a new sibling. The Pavillon des Lettres is a new hotel with 26 rooms that each take on a letter of the alphabet. Set a short stroll from foodie-hub, Place de la Madeleine, the hotel features sleek, understated design (pavillondeslettres.com). Kendal Mountain Film Festival, taking place in Cumbria fr...- 13/11/2010, News & Advice

Snap judgements: Seven great photographers talk about their craft

Anybody can take a snapshot – but what makes a truly extraordinary picture? The world's greatest living photographers tell Anne-Celine Jaeger how they craft their genre-defining images... Dijkstra, a Dutch photographer, tends to work in series, concentrating on individual portraits. She focuses on people in a transitional stage of their ...- 06/11/2010, Features

The world in award-winning images: The Insight / IoS Travel Photography Competition

Now in its sixth year, the Insight Guides Travel Photography competition, run in association with The Independent on Sunday, is going from strength to strength. "Places were hotly contested this year, says Insight Guides picture editor, Steven Lawrence. "We particularly liked winner Steve McDonald's use of light, and the way in which he took ...- 31/10/2010, News & Advice

Stars pose with their dogs for charity

Dog-loving celebrities have posed with their pets as part of a special exhibition to raise money for the charity Guide Dogs. Gary Lineker, Felicity Kendal and John Prescott were among the famous faces who were photographed with their dogs to raise funds towards the training and placement of more than 800 guide dogs next year. The pictures, take...- 26/10/2010, News

Image of castle scoops landscape photography prize

An image of Corfe Castle on a frosty morning has scooped the top prize in this year's Landscape Photographer of the Year award, it was announced today. The atmospheric shot of the Dorset castle was selected from thousands of entries portraying urban and rural landscapes and secured the �10,000 overall prize for local photographer Antony Spencer. ...- 25/10/2010, News

Groundbreaking photography: Hereford Photography Festival

The longest running annual photography festival in the UK, the Hereford Photography Festival, celebrates it's 20th anniversary by showcasing groundbreaking and leading photographers such as Martin Parr, Rankin and Wang Qingsong. The festival begins on Friday 29th October with a launch weekend of exhibitions, talks and workshops. This year&r...;- 25/10/2010, Features

Alan Hume: Cinematographer who switched between James Bond and the Carry On films

In 1976, Alan Hume was standing on a snow-covered, 3,000ft-high rock on Baffin Island, north of Canada. As the second-unit director of photography on the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), he had to capture the breathtaking, pre-title, ski-jump sequence. For three weeks, Hume and the crew lived in tents on this freezing, far-flung peninsula whil...- 13/10/2010, Obituaries

'Striking' gull image wins wildlife photography award

An image of a herring gull braving the "power, chaos and intensity" of the sea has won the top prize at this year's British Wildlife Photography Awards, it was announced today. The striking picture by Steve Young, from St Mary's on the Isles of Scilly, scooped the �5,000 prize from among thousands of shots taken by photographers a...- 07/10/2010, Nature

Maurice Broomfield: Photographer who documented British industry from the 1950s to the 1970s

Maurice Broomfield was a photographer whose work documenting the inner landscape of industrial Britain from the 1950s to the 1970s has recently been rediscovered. He succeeded through his striking photographs in revealing both the grit and beauty of the people, factories and processes which manufacture the everyday objects around us. He was born in Draycott,...- 07/10/2010, Obituaries

Camera-less Photography: Arresting developments

It's usually advisable not to forget your camera when setting out to take photographs. But a new exhibition of camera-less photography at the V&A proves this is not always the case. It shines a light on five of the best camera-less photographers in the world, including Garry Fabian Miller, whose vibrantly coloured images are collected by Elton John, a Th...- 05/10/2010, Features

Matilda Battersby: Shadow Catchers: Camera-less photography

[gallery] Next week an exhibition of camera-less photography opens at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Smudgy and beautiful photographs can be captured without a camera using a variety of metho ...- 01/10/2010, Arts & Entertainment

Brighton Photo Biennial 2010 - picture preview

Brighton is well known for being an artistic hub. But next week things are set to get even more creative when the Brighton Photo Biennial arrives in town. feature five exhibitions by guest curator Martin Parr. It is notable for being the world’s first frame-free photography festival. The programme of photo displays, talks and workshops ...- 29/09/2010, Features