The Via Colori street painting festival will take place on November 22-23 and area photographers have the opportunity to photograph the festival before it opens to the public on Sunday morning. During Via Colori more than 175 artists will take over Bagby and Allen Parkway creating works of art in the pastel medium. Artists are free to create art in any style. Past pieces have included versions of the Mona Lisa, a majestic tiger, a mermaid scene, and SpongeBob SquarePants. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, November 22 and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, November 23. You can see photos from past events at the official website: http://www.houstonviacolori.com. If you would like to take part in the photography event you will need to RSVP to tbomar@centerhearingandspeech.org to receive information and a badge. Photographers will be given the opportunity to photograph the exhibit from 9-10 am on Sunday morning before it opens to the public. Coffee and snacks will be provided. After the festival upload your photos to Flickr and tag them "HoustonViaColori". Some of the photos will be selected and shown in an exhibit at Caroline Collective in the Spring of 2009.

Congratulations to Eric Kayne, of the Houston Chronicle, who won top honors for Photo of the Year as awarded by the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association. There is a link to the photo here under the resources heading. At first glance it may not hit you strongly, but the longer you look at it, especially the reflection it definitely has an artistic appeal that is usually not found in straight forward photojournalism. Always happy to see Houston photographers in the news.

October and November are a great time to be in Houston thanks to the numerous festivals in the area. Festivals are one of my favorite things to photograph and a great way to get out of the house and out into the city. There are a few changes to the regular festival line up thanks to Hurricane Ike. The Greek Festival has moved to late November and unfortunately the Ballunar Liftoff Festival has been cancelled. If you know of any other festivals happening in October and November please feel free to leave a comment.

October 10-12
Conroe Cajun Catfish Festival
www.conroecajuncatfishfestival.com/

October 11-12
Festa Italiana
www.houstonitalianfestival.com/

October 11-November 30th
Texas Renaissance Festival
www.texrenfest.com/home.html

October 18
South Shore Dockside Food and Wine Festival
southshorefestival.com/

October 18-19
Bayou City Art Festival
www.bayoucityartfestival.com/BCAF_Downtown.html

October 18-19
Dragon Boat Regatta
www.texasdragonboat.com/

October 18-19
Petfest Old Town Spring
www.petfestoldtownspring.com/

October 18-19 & 25-26
Houston Zoo Boo
www.houstonzoo.org/zooboo/

October 25
Texian Market Days at George Ranch
www.georgeranch.org/annual-events/tmd/

October 25
Fire Fest
www.houstonfiremuseum.org/firefest.html

October 25-26
Wings Over Houston
wingsoverhouston.com/

October 26
Moonlight Bicycle Ramble
www.bikehouston.org/content/blogcategory/14/40/

November 1-2
Dia De Los Muertos
www.meca-houston.org/dotd/index.html

November 20-23
Greek Festival
www.greekfestival.org/about.html

What's New in Bridge CS4
blogs.adobe.com

Podcast: A Review of Photokina 2008
www.photonetcast.com

An Introduction to Stock Photography
www.beyondmegapixels.com

Podcast: Orphan Works Panel Discussion
www.jmg-galleries.com

11 ways to get inspiration for your photography
hyperphocal.com

The return to regular posting took a little longer than I anticipated thanks to Hurricane Ike, but things should ramp up around here again soon. If you are interested in writing for Houston Photobloggers please feel free to send an email to houstonphotoblogs at gmail dot com.

Here is Ike through the eyes of some of the Houston Photobloggers.

Donald Harper: Ike-9
eyesaregood: Days After Ike
Is this Houston?: Hurricane Ike Cleans Up Houston
John Hark Photography: The Calm After the Storm
Mannedspace: Hurricane Ike II
Photine: We Dream Houston
Point: Your Spacetime or Mine?
That was my foot: windiest...birthday...ever
Uninhabited Images: Disease Vector
Wardy: My Back Yard

Regular posting to Houston Photobloggers will resume in September.

25 great photography tutorials and links from around the web
digital-photography-school.com

How to develop black and white film for beginners
prophotolife.com

Be creative with old cameras: Through the Viewfinder
www.tzplanet.com

8 tips to get started with your DSLR
hyperphocal.com

Easy ways to find models
blogs. photopreneur.com

Photoshop is NOT Digital Photography
www.revellphotography.com

What the new iPhone apps brings for photographers
www.scottsphotoblog.com

Filters 101
www.beyondmegapixels.com

Photojojo's Ultimate Guide to Road Trip Photography
photojojo.com

The New Nikon D700: Let the Upgrading and the Buyer's Remorse Begin
www.scottsphotoblog.com

Histogram: What is it?
stopshootingauto.com

10 ways professional photographers can use the iPhone
www.applematters.com

Do high end cameras make you a better photographer?
www.jmg-galleries.com

I want to buy a DSLR, which camera should I buy
www.revellphotography.com

Two Great Weekend Projects - Striplight and Softbox
www.diyphotography.net

8 Photography Myths Debunked
hyperphocal.com

We did some housekeeping this evening on our blog roll, email addresses and Flickr group. Remember that your photoblog must have been updated in the last six months to be listed on the blog roll. Basically that means it has to have been updated some time in the year 2008! If you find that your site has been removed and you are restarting your blog, just send us an email and we will be happy to add you back in.

Videographer Rajesh Thind was filming in London when he was approached by the police. A disagreement ensued about the rights of photographers/videographers to film in public spaces. Rajesh decided to follow up and find out exactly what the rules are as you can see in this very interesting story. This is something that all of us have to be aware of and deal with on an increasing basis.

When is manual focus better than auto focus?
digital-photography-school.com

Understanding Camera Exposure Modes
www.beyondmegapixels.com

My Photography Workflow
thomashawk.com

10 steps to maintain your camera
hyperphocal.com