The Photo Feed 11.06.07

National Geographic Expands Web-Based Photo Offerings (National Geographic via GISUser.com / Washington Post)
Now that its mag, book publishing, TV, film, music, radio, digital and map units have been consolidated into a global media group, National Geographic Digital Media has seized the opportunity to offer more photographic features at photography.nationalgeographic.com, including downloadable wallpaper and screensavers featuring iconic National Geographic pix. Visitors can also get the inside scoop on some of the mag’s most iconic images and check out original videos, including a “Photo Tips” series featuring National Geographic photog Mark Thiessen. Also: Beginning Thursday, National Geographic photog Paul Nicklen’s pix supporting Arctic animal life will be exhibited at Meridian International Center in Northwest Washington, D.C.

Photo Groups Consider How To Honor Jane Kinne (Stock Asylum / PDN)
The stock photo industry lost a trailblazer when Kinne died on Saturday from complications of a stroke following heart surgery. Both the Picture Council of America (PACA) and the American Society of Picture Professionals (ASPP) are looking for ways to commemorate Kinne’s contributions to the photography industry. PACA has requested that its members offer ideas for a possible program to honor Kinne. And the ASPP is considering paying its tribute to Kinne through an educational program.

Kodak Discontinues Some Pro Film Lines (Kodak)
After announcing the launch of its “finest grain 400 speed” B&W film last month, the company has decided to do away with some of the “smaller” film lines, effective at the end of December 2007. Among the axed lines are EPR, EPN and High Speed Infrared (HIE). According to a Kodak press release, “Demand for these products has been declining significantly in recent years, and it is no longer practical to continue to manufacture given the low volume, the age of the product formulations and the complexity of the processes involved.”

MORE BELOW: Camera Press Managing Director Roger Eldridge Dies ... Business tips from Bruce Springsteen ... Photog John Evans dies ... Does it pay to delete non-selling microstock pix? ... Vogue's unfashionable photo caption ... Catherine Bailey becomes Agent Provocateur's new leading lady ... Julia Roberts covers Vanity Fair ... Yousuf Karsh's widow keeps the photog's memory alive ... Photog sues Keanu Reeves for negligence ...

Camera Press Managing Director Roger Eldridge Dies (Photo Archive News)
Eldridge worked for the UK photo agency Camera Press for 37 years. He joined the agency as a writer in 1970, before going on to oversee royal portrait sessions, including the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana and the Golden Jubilee portraits of the Queen. Eldridge also served as the chairman of the Council of Photographic News Agencies from 2004 until his death on Sunday. He suffered a stroke while traveling to BBC Radio London to talk about the UK photo agency’s 60th anniversary exhibit. Although Eldridge regained consciousness, he suffered another stroke and died within 24 hours.

Lessons From The Boss (MSN Money via Sportsshooter)
Bruce Springsteen may not spend much time behind the camera, but he knows how to win over an audience. And borrowing a few pages from his playbook might help you win over and maintain customers. Among the marketing rules you can learn from a Springsteen concert: keep your customers enthused, innovate, give the people what they want, share credit, set and reset expectations and love your work as if you were a rock star.

Photog John Evans Dies (Canada.com)
Evans was one of Ottawa’s most well-known photographers. Between the early 1960s and his 1995 retirement, Evans shot visiting ambassadors and heads of state, including Richard Nixon (who called Evans’ photo of him the best ever taken) and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. He also took a photo of newborn Justin Trudeau, the son of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. That shot appeared on more than 120 magazine covers worldwide. Evans died early Saturday morning after years of health problems. He was 83 years old.

Nothing Screams Style Like A Trip To Prison (Gawker)
In what Gawker has termed “the most ridiculous Vogue caption ever,” an image of Greenhope CARES director Linda Wright visiting a prison has been paired with the words: “Road to redemption: ‘You’re going to be afraid. But there’s people up here who can help you,’ Greenhope CARES director Linda Wright tells female prisoners on Rikers Island. Louis Vuitton hat, TSE sweater. Details, see In This Issue. Sittings Editor: Phyllis Posnick.” The photo accompanied an article about how Vogue’s CFDA gala is “funding the fight” against HIV/AIDS. Maybe the story will move some readers to join that fight. But hopefully LV wasn't counting on that photo to selling any of those hats.

Yousuf Karsh’s Widow Keeps The Photog’s Memory Alive (Boston Globe)
When her husband died in 2002, Estrellita Karsh was devastated. But in the last five years, she’s found ways to keep the famed portrait photog’s memory alive. Among them: bringing art (and her husbands’s pix) to hospitals and outpatient centers, endowing the Estrellita and Yousuf Karsh Curator of Photographs at the Boston Museum of Fine Art and creating a fund for nurses at Boston’s Brigham hospital to improve patient care. And thanks to donations that the couple made before Yousuf’s death, the Boston MFA will exhibit more than 200 of the late photog’s works next year. His portraits of famous authors will also be displayed at the Boston Publish Library, where Estrellita is a member of the trustees’ collections committee.

Catherine Bailey Becomes Agent Provocateur’s New Leading Lady (Vogue UK)
After using a recently pregnant Maggie Gyllenhaal for its last ad campaign, Agent Provocateur opted to use an older woman for its Lady of the Manor campaign. 46-year-old Bailey posed in hopes of encouraging women to be confident about their bodies. “I don’t really think about my age,” she told Style magazine. “I only think, hang on, how come I’ve got to this age and still feel the same? People’s attitudes to older models are changing. Why can’t you be sexual? Why can’t you wear underwear and be fabulous? Older women shouldn’t disappear. I want to see them wearing that stuff.” Photog Alice Hawkins shot the ads, and Bailey’s photog husband David Bailey is reportedly “thrilled” with the results.

Photog Sues Keanu Reeves For Negligence (Hollywood Reporter)
Paparazzo Alison Silva alleges that Reeves struck her with his Porsche last spring. Peculiarly, though, reports at the time of the accident indicated that Reeves had struck a male photog. In any event, Silva seeks an unspecified amount of damages for alleged “shock and serious bodily injuries.” Reeves attorney said that Silva was blocking the actors’ way and that “if there was a collision, it was not hard enough to injure the photographer.”

Vanity Fair Nabs A Pretty Woman (Vanity Fair)
Keep your eye on the newsstands. Vanity Fair’s December issue, which hits L.A. and New York newsstands tomorrow (and other newsstands on November 13), will feature Julia Roberts on the cover. Michael Thompson shot the pix in L.A.

Does It Pay To Delete Non-selling Microstock Pix? (Microstock Diaries)
Lee Torrens doesn’t think so. Usually, he says, the breadth of buyers means that even obscure pix find an audience. Plus, the bigger your portfolio is, the more often it will appear in search results (and buyers’ line of sight).