We ought to acknowledge how powerful photography can be. It can move people in different ways. Like the words of a poem or a song, images can have a great impact on people. Indeed, photographers are a talented lot who have a great deal to offer.

Even more, just as photography can be a tool for generating earnings, it can also be an instrument for giving back to the community. Photographers are in a unique position to make a difference in other people’s lives.

Christina Dickson lists five ways to reach the community. Christina is a gifted wedding photographer who takes time out of her busy schedule to inspire people in her own personal way. She shares some advice on how we can inspire people in our own personal way too. Her five suggested ways to reach the community are:

1. Host an art fundraiser

Sponsor an art fundraiser by bringing together artists who may be willing to donate a few…

The winners of the 2009 Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism were announced in Sydney on November 27 and images from the finalists in the five photographic categories will tour to Brisbane, Newcastle and Perth in 2010.

With emotive, celebratory and evocative images of daily life, sports and spot news both in Australia and around the world; photographs depicted an array of events and topics from Victoria’s terrible bushfires to the glory of the Olympic Games and the loss and pain in refuge camps in Congo.

The Nikon sponsored awards include daily life, sport, news, photographic essay and the coveted award for Press Photographer of the Year. This went to Renee Nowytarger from The Australia for her body of work that features an exhausted Malcolm Turnbull.

Nikon-Walkley Press Photographer of the year:
Renee Nowytarger, The Australian

Daily Life / Feature Photography:
Kirk Gilmour, Illawarra Mercury & The Sydney Morning Herald: Batten Down the Boogie Boards

Sport Photography:
…

The HP Climate Change Photography Contest is a chance for photographers to document climate changes within their own environment. The contest has been significantly timed with the Climate Change talks in Copenhagen and submissions are due by December 31, 2009.

Hewlett Packard is running the competition in association with Sanctuary Asia and WWF-India and wants photographers to document the droughts, floods and natural disasters that are becoming more commonplace around the world.

They seek striking images that tell the story of the challenges and solutions of climate change and send a message to the world that will bring about conscious local and global change. The best 100 entries win subscriptions to Sanctuary Asia magazine.

HP employs 300,000 people in 170 countries and seeks to minimize its global footprint and find low-carbon solutions for its customers.

If you’re a young aspiring photographer who lives in United Kingdom or Ireland, this is your chance to get a foot in the news photography industry. The 8^th Times Young Photographer of the Year competition has been launched earlier this week (3^rd of August). British Press Photographers Association and the six-month training placement with the newsletter, the winner also gets a bunch of Canon goodies: an EOS 5D Mark II camera body, a Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8 L standard zoom, a Canon EF 70-200 F/2.8 L IS telezoom, and a Canon580EX II Speedlite flash.

Six shortlisted entrants will be invited to the newspaper for an interview where they will be set a brief by Paul Sanders, Picture Editor of The Times. Three finalists will then be selected on the strength of their assignment and…

Nature Conservancy is once again looking for nature photos for their 4^th Annual Photo Contest. Digital images of Earth’s natural beauty (lands, plants, waters, animals, people in nature) are all eligible to enter the contest.

The competition is looking for photos that best display our planet’s wide range of habitats, like forests, grasslands, rivers, deserts, marine habitats, coral reefs, and various natural places where life dwells. The winning image will be printed on the 2011 Nature Conservancy calendar and will be featured on the Nature Conservancy website.

Entries may be submitted before 12 o’clock am in Pacific Standard Time on September 20, 2009. View full contest rules here.