Continuing in the trend of packing more and more resolution into pocketable point-and-shoot cameras, Sony broke news Monday of its new Cyber-Shot W300, a slim new digital camera that takes 13.6-megapixel shots.

Like many cameras in Sony’s Cyber-Shot line, the W300 gets a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens, which offers 3x zoom and benefits from Sony’s Super SteadyShot optical image stabilization. It also sports a titanium covering to resist scratches and fingerprints, and manages to fit both a 2.7-inch LCD and viewfinder on its back panel.

Besides offering ultra-high resolution, the W300 also includes an “extra high sensitivity mode” that boosts camera speed to ISO 6400, which Sony says cuts down on blur in low-light situations. A new high-speed burst mode also allows it to capture strings of photos at five frames per second, albeit at a lower 3-megapixel resolution. Three different noise reduction settings also allow users to balance noise versus resolution, and there’s even an automatic “Smile Shutter” option to allow the camera to automatically snap a photo when a subject smiles.

Sony will roll the W300 out into retail stores in May, with a price tag of about $350.

The restaging of Bert Stern's 1962 Marilyn Monroe photoshoot, using actress Lindsay Lohan, was shrouded in a 'cloak of secrecy,' according to .

It has also emerged that Stern shot the pictures on film rather than use a digital camera and duplicated the original Monroe set, right down to the lighting he used 46 years ago.

Lohan posed nude for the shoot, which took place on 5 February at the Hotel Bel-Air in California В– the location for the photographer's famous 'The Last Sitting' pictures of Monroe, six weeks before she died of an overdose of barbiturates. The 1962 images were published in magazine.

In his latest shoot, for , Stern had two photo assistants on hand and said he shot hundreds of frames during the seven-hour photo session.

The publication, which features the pictures in its 25 February issue (pictured), explained that Stern decided Lohan was the 'perfect actress for this project'.

'When he asked us if we might be interested in working with him on it, we were naturally more than enthusiastic,' states the magazine's website.

'So was Lohan В– the 21-year-old happens to be a Monroe fanaticВ… we sent her Stern's book so she could study up on the shoot.'

Lohan's hair and makeup took two hours and she wore little more than diamonds and a scarf.

'There were three wig changes to get precisely the right shape and shade of platinum,' adds the magazine.

To view the images visit the New York Magazine website.

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Luminous Landscape have reviewed the new Epson Exhibition Fiber Paper, which offers extraordinary blacks, clean whites and a surface texture that is just like a true black-and-white silver gelatin print.

“As soon as I started printing on it, I immediately noticed that all my prints looked significantly sharper, much more so than I had anticipated. I am sure that this is partly due to the smoothness of the surface, but I believe that there is something else at work here. The prints look as if the interaction of the inks with the coating is such that it produces a higher accutance than I have ever seen before in an inkjet print. This paper delivers without question a new and heretofore unseen level of sharpness and snap.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - Epson Exhibition Fiber Review

For those who may not know of Ansel Adams, or whom have only heard his name with relation to photography, he was the most honored American photographer of the twentieth century. Once destined to become a concert pianist he instead chose photography. Over the course of the next 50 plus years he defined the art of photography.

400 Photographs constitutes a study in that life. The book is 440 pages long and, as the title states, contains 400 of Adams' finest photographs. The book is arranged into five major periods which correspond to his growth as an artist. It is edited by Andrea Stillman, a close associate and editor of seven of Adams' books. 400 Photographs starts with an introduction in which Stillman gives a brief overview of Ansel Adams' life.

"1916-1930 – Yosemite and the High Sierra" begins when Adams was 14 years old and he visited Yosemite for the first time. He had his first camera, and on this trip he recorded a "visual diary" of where he had been. This chapter begins with some of the images he took and of the album he had made with his father. Some of these are very rare images including one of his first of "Half Dome." You can see the growth of his work between 1918 and 1927 as he developed from simple records of scenery to more artistic expressions. In 1927 he began the process that would later become "visualization." It was here that he began to photograph with much more authority and you can see the new power that his images gained.

"1931-1939 – Group f/64 and Alfred Stieglitz" shows the influence of a loose group of West Coast photographers that included Edward Weston and Imogen Cunningham called Group f/64. This group promoted "straight" photography as opposed to the "pictorialist" methods that were in vogue at the time. They were trying to define photography as an art form by simple and direct presentation as opposed to photography as relating to painting and graphic arts.

During this time the compositions of Adams' photographs began to change. He tried to present his subject in as straightforward manner as possible. He also lowered his horizon now including cloud filled skies. It was also during this time that Alfred Stieglitz, the director of America's foremost gallery of modern art, An American Place, exhibited Adams' photographs which took Adams' work to a larger audience.

"1940-1949 – National Parks and Monuments" describes the time period in which Adams was commissioned by then U.S. Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes to photograph the national parks and monuments for murals to be displayed in the Department of the Interior's new Washington D.C. headquarters. It was during this time period that his work grew in different geographic directions beyond California and the Southwest, branching out to other locations across the country.

"1950-1959 – Conservation, Publications, and Commissions" focused Adams' attentions on photographic commissions and writing. It was during this time that he wrote the many technical books that became standard course materials, even to this day. He also spent time working on conservation issues with the Sierra Club as well as mounting exhibitions for them.

It was in 1956 with the help of Nancy Newhall that the exhibition "This is the American Earth" was presented. It was later turned into a book with Newhall's poetic text, and characterized as a wake up call to the nation for environmental issues.

"1960-1968 – Carmel" examines the time in the life of Adams, that although he photographed less and less, he printed more and more. Adams never worked with a lab as did many of his contemporaries. He made every print himself. During this time, when he was not printing, he was writing, teaching, and tackling conservation issues.

"Notes on Selected Photographs" contains information on selected images from throughout the book. There are over 75 images that contain comments, history, and other interesting insights into the artist. 400 Photographs is fully indexed by title and by subject. There is also included a bibliography of both Adams' work as well as works on Adams.

When I was growing up, my doctor had an Adams mural on the walls in one of his patient rooms. The image to me was enormous. Even more, the impact on me of this image was enormous. It has shaped the way I viewed photography and in many ways, how I view life in general. When I view the photographs in 400 Photographs, I get this same feeling.

Sure, the small images that are presented in this book cannot replace the feeling that one gets when you see his full size presentations, but that is not the purpose of this book. 400 Photographs is about presenting a body of work from someone who chose not to make photography fit into the notion of the pictorial art of the day, but instead made photography into an art form that could stand on its own. That is what makes this book so important.

I think that Ansel Adams: 400 Photographs is an absolute must have for anyone that enjoys Ansel Adams, art work, photography, or just wants to get lost into the world of images. It is also a must have for artists from other disciplines as the compositions, arrangement of light, and locations are inspirational. It should also be in every waiting room or patient room as well; you never know whom it will inspire.