This September, Seattle-based nature photographer Art Wolfe will be releasing 3 new books: California (Sasquatch Books), The High Himalaya (Mountaineers Books), and Africa (Wildlands Press).

California is the fourth book in a series showing the natural wonders (landscapes and wildlife) of the West, and follows Pacific Northwest, Alaska, and Colorado.

The High Himalaya will include photographs taken over more than 17 years of association with the Himalayas, from the 1984 Seattle expedition to Mt. Everest through March 2001. It will feature the landscapes and the cultures of Nepal, Tibet, Pakistan, and Western China, with a foreword by Tenzing Norbu, an introduction by Peter Potterfield, and interviews with such notable climbers and outdoorsmen...

Seattle photographer Gary Benson recently traveled to Romania to photograph a service project in the town of Lugoj for Young Life International. As part of the project, he photographed international students involved in the projects, along with portraits of the children at the orphanage.

The University of California Riverside/California Museum of Photography has announced the recipients of its 2000 Roy McJunkin Fellowship and 2000 Roy McJunkin Award. UCR art history graduate student Karen Barber received the McJunkin fellowship for her work curating both "Joy Before the Object: Expressions of Modernism from UCR/CMP Collections" and "Independent Visions: Woman Photographers in the UCR/CMP Collections."

UCR/CMP volunteer Virginia S. Fesunoff received the 2000 Roy McJunkin Award for her efforts in compiling museum material and transforming the material into an inventive web site project that contains visual collections of such historical events as the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the building of California railways.

Commercial photographer Doug Walker, of Walker Photography in Olympia, Wash., was honored with five awards at the 2001 Professional Photographers of Washington Pacific Northwest Educational Conference and Print Competition. Held in Spokane, Wash., in March, Walker received his second prestigious Kodak Gallery award for an Exceptional Photographic Image; the Best Architectural award; the Roger Dudley Trophy for the Top Commercial Image; the C.C. Yang Trophy for the Highest Aggregate Commercial Score; and the Top Image or Best of Show award from all divisions for the second time in four years.

The image was produced for Cleveland-based Edward Howard & Co., a public relations firm, for their client, The Vinyl Institute of America, and was featured recently in Architectural Record. Walker's online portfolio is viewable at walkerphoto.com.

Dave Siegel, of Phoenix-based Siegel Photographic, has caused a stir in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area by using advertising space that he normally would have committed to growing his business and tackling such community issues as child abuse, domestic violence and animal adoption.

Using graphic photos–some digitally enhanced–of unwanted animals and abused children, Siegel chose to use the paid and donated ad pages for public service announcements rather than standard marketing and advertising purposes. "I have grown weary of self-promotion with studio ads and decided to use the opportunity to donate the space," said Siegel. "Not everybody agrees with my approach, and I don't like to beat around the bush...

The Photo Review National Photography Competition for 2000 garnered almost 3,300 images from 812 domestic and international entrants, leaving juror and noted photographer William Wegman the task of selecting 96 images as competition winners.

Seattle photographer and color photography teacher Carla Fraga was juried with her "Badlands, South Dakota" entry. Mercer Island photographer and instructor Nancy LeVine won fourth prize with her photo titled "They Have Not Entirely Put Away Their Wildness, Their Animal Desire to Let Wind Flow Through Them." Seattle photographer and instructor David D. Johnson also was recognized for his "Can't See The Forest" entry.

Summerland, Calif., photographer Alison M. Jones was awarded an Honorary Master of Science in Photography by the Brooks Institute of Photography. Commended as "a respected member of the photographic industry," she was honored for a "dedication and loyalty shown to our profession." Examples of Jones' work can be found online at alisonjonesphoto.com.

Seattle-based photographer, Kevin Schafer, recently returned from the Falkland Islands, where he produced original photography for Falklands Conservation, a group working to protect these remote wildlife islands. He has also been asked to be one of the artistic contributors to Watershed Art, a 2001 project to document the Wenatchee River watershed in Eastern Washington.

Seattle-based photographer Wolfgang Kaehler recently returned from a six-day photo shoot in Yellowstone National Park, where he documented the use of snowmobiles in the park, including a new, environmentally friendly four-cynlinder model. Kaehler also has an upcoming trip through Asia planned and will be visiting Esfahan, Shiraz, and Persepolis, Iran; Rangoon and Pagan, Burma; Borobudur, Indonesia; Angkor, Cambodia; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; the Silk Road of Turfan, China; Jerash, Jordan; and Damascus and Palmyra, Syria.

Dave Montizambert and Sylvianne St.Onge of Montizambert Photography inVancouver, B.C., were part of an international 200-speaker delegation at this year's Irish Professional Photographers Association annual congress. The event was held in Dublin, Ireland, in April. Their presentations included technology and marketing tips, with an emphasis on making digital photography profitable, new streams of revenues from digital, and PhotoShop techniques. Their program was voted best seminar of the entire congress. Montizambert and St. Onge are also scheduled to appear in Austria for the Gmunden Days, another European federation conference.