Picturehouse Chicago is coming soon and we'll be ready to see our buyer friends in the Windy City.

We'll be featuring our new display (shhh, super secret), announcing some fantastic new collections, giving away (as usual) natty tees and our latest must have accessory, the exclusive DRR designer shoulder bag.

Photo buyers can register to attend FREE. So, if you're in Chicago, April 16th, be sure to come by and say hello to our Chicago-based MidWest Sales Manager Christopher Beauchamp, check out some fresh images and get your free cool merch. I mean isn't that the real reason we go to trade shows?

Delighted to see the work of Jimmy Williams added this month to Marketplace. Too many superlatives to be contained in a single blog entry so we'll let the pictures do the talking.

© Jimmy Williams/drr.net

Jimmy Williams’ most recent passions include two series that have been compiled over the past few years. In VIVA L'ITALIA you will take a journey through Italy seeing its many splendors accentuated by Williams’ fine art style of photography. As he toured the rolling hills of Tuscany and the dramatic coastal regions he captured the heart of Italy found in its people and their many persona.

© Jimmy Williams/drr.net

SOUL is Williams’ intimate portrayal of Southern Blues Musicians, their families, and other local subjects that portray the heart & soul of the Southern United States.

© Jimmy Williams/drr.net

Recent commercial accomplishments include campaigns for Barilla, Hyatt, Daufuskie Island Resort & Breathe Spa, Lowe’s, British Virgin Islands Tourism, Costa Cruise Lines, Carnival, and more.

See more of Jimmy's images in Marketplace.

Photo Credit: Sephi Bergerson/drr.net

Crack open the current issue 1:2008 of ASPP's "The Picture Professional" to see our new full page ad. Thanks to member Sephi Bergerson for sharing the story behind the image.

Check out the cool interactive feature in the online edition of POP Photo. Mouse-over the images of McCain, Obama and Clinton to see what the future holds for each of the presidential hopefuls.

Web page © Hachette Fillipacchi

The article features images POP Photo selected from Marketplace members Archie Carpenter, Ron Sachs, Remi Ochlik, Kevin Dietsch and David Paul Morris.

Got a "before" and "after" image you'd like to share from Digital Railroad Marketplace? Post the links in the "Comments" below.

Photo Credit: © Bowater/Mira/drr.net

Look for this image of The Palais Royal by member Bowater/MIRA in the May issue of ELLE Brasil.

Do you know of other killer photos of Paris in the Marketplace? If so, cut and paste the image link from Marketplace into the "comments" of this post and let the rest of us see your editing chops.

Here's one of my personal favs by Galen Rowell also from the Mira collection.

Merci!

This month's ad from the ongoing "Believe Your Eyes" campaign for photo buyers, includes a portrait of blues musician Macavine Hayes image produced by Digital Railroad member Jimmy Williams during a long term project to document blues guitarists located in the rural south. Creative Review is the UK's top creative advertising trade publication. Look for Jimmy's wonderful image in the May issue's inside front cover.

With a concentration of top photographers, media companies - publishers, advertising, design, broadcast, corporate-- and picture libraries, London's photo community is incredibly vibrant and diverse. It was therefore wonderful to see so many picture buyers, photographers and agency members turn out to attend the BAPLA Picture Buyer Fair this week.

Opening night reception, BAPLA Picture Buyer's Fair, London, May 7, 2008
© drr.net

During the opening night reception, BAPLA announced annual awards for newspapers with the highest percentage of images published with proper photo credit. The winners were The Sunday Independent with 73% pf published images credited; Telegraph with 64%. The Sun was chastised for having the lowest percentage with only a mere 37% of all published images appearing with a credit.

Digital Railroad UK Sales Manager Andy Mitchell meets picture buyers at BAPLA.
© drr.net

The most well received featured at the show for Digital Railroad was our Research Network. After being introduced to the service, several buyers were so excited by the potential to tap 1000's of member archives for fresh images, they entered requests for images before leaving the show floor.

© drr.net
UK Member Support Manager James Jones demos Digital Railroad archives to Angela Murphy.

Of course, no BAPLA fair would be complete without "tipping a few jars" with editors and picture buyers at Cantina, an annual tradition. As usual, the place was packed with revelers spilling out on to the sidewalk to enjoy laughs among friends and colleagues.

London's photo community gathers at Cantina Augustus Pub post-BAPLA, May 7, 2008
© drr.net

See more images from this years event and mark you calendar for next year!