By Raffy Paredes Shooting a photo every day and then sharing it online improves your well-being. That’s what scientists found after studying a group of people who have committed themselves to photo-a-day projects (often referred to as “Project365”). The findings were just published in a paper titled “The daily digital practice as a form of self-care: Using photography for everyday well-being” in the journal Health. UK scientists Liz Brewster of Lancaster University and Andrew M Cox of the University of Sheffield were behind the study. The duo selected a sample of subjects with approximate ages ranging from 20 to 60. The participants post a photo every day to services such as Instagram, Flickr, and Blipfoto. Each photographer was monitored for two months, with researchers recording the photos taken, captions written, and interactions had with other photographers in the online communities. After two months, the photographers also gave a phone interview. What the scientists found was that the act of shooting and sharing daily photos improves a person’s well-being through self-care (it’s therapeutic, renewing, and refreshing), community interaction (it provides regular interaction with people who share the same interests), and reminiscence (it provides the ability to look back on one’s life) (PetaPixel). Open-source image editor GIMP (a free alternative to Photoshop) has been updated to version 2.10.0, its first major update in six years. In this new version, GIMP has been “nearly” fully ported to the GEGL image processing engine, which brings support for up to 32-bit images, multi-threaded processing, and optional GPU-side processing for systems with stable OpenCL drivers. Many new features and improvements, as well as expanded support, have arrived in 2.10.0 - complete details of the changes are available in the full release notes. Notable among the changes are support for multiple new formats (including OpenEXR, WebP, RGBE, and HGT), on-canvas previews for filters ported to GEGL and improved warp tools. Color management has been revamped as a core feature, and the digital painting experience has been enhanced. GIMP 2.10.0 can be downloaded (www.gimp.org) now for Windows, macOS, Linux, BSD, and Solaris (dpreview.com). The Filipino International Photography Awards is now open for entries. Be awarded the coveted Lucie statue, receive global exposure, and $33,000 in cash prizes. Early-bird submission deadline is on May 31, 2018. IPA winners will be awarded at The Lucie Awards, the premiere annual event honoring the greatest achievements in photography. At the Lucie Awards, the photography community from around the globe pays tribute to the most outstanding people in the field. The 16th Annual Lucie Awards will take place in New York City in October  2018. Visit http://www.photoawards.ph/ for details. And now to our featured readers. Ailyn Reyes Copes (DoraDhang), all-around/event photographer and member of Northern Photography Aficionados of Zambales sent in the photo titled “Zambales Dinamulag Festival.” The photo shows a dancer wearing a wide skirt decorated with an ornately detailed rural scene complete with mini three-dimensional trees and nipa huts. The week-long festival held in April celebrates the province’s produce, especially mangoes. Ailyn shares that she has her own photo studio in San Felipe, Zambales. From Alvaro Del Mundo is an untitled pinhole photograph which is his contribution to the Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day last April 29. “I took this shot using my DSLR with a bottle cap pinhole as a lens,” writes Alvaro. “I used my shadow and a little umbrella as a subject to show how hot it is here in the Philippines during summer.” Arnie Cabardo shares “Magkaagapay,” a photo of a young boy and his grandmother preparing the “kuros” (sun-dried small shrimp). The photo was taken in Arnie’s hometown of Mayondon, Los Baños. The photo, “Dragon Dance Pinoy Version” showing young boys with their homemade dragon of cardboard and blanket comes from photo hobbyist Don Don Sangel. He took the photo during the Chinese New Year celebrations in Binondo last February. Gillian Dale submitted the portrait photo “Wandering Yin.”  She shares: “The lady in the picture is my best friend, Debbie. This photo simply serves as a token of the fulfillment of our ‘before 30 plan.’ Others call it BFF goals. We first met during fourth grade but her whole family moved halfway across the globe and stayed there for good. We managed to keep in touch despite the distance and the time difference. Last year, we talked about travelling to another country together before we turn 30. And in Seoul, we did! They say the test of relationship happens once you put both parties under life’s inconveniences and one way to do that is to travel together. More than fulfilling our dream vacation, we accomplished something. We passed the test. We passed life’s test; and we passed with flying colors.” Helton Balairos of Barotac Viejo, Iloilo contributed the photo, “Walking After You.” “This picture was taken last March 2018 when I was riding in a habal-habal going to the century-old tree in Canlaon City, Negros Oriental,” writes Helton. “I saw these kids walking on their way home after collecting some dried fallen small branches of trees.” The photo, “Metro Manila Skyline” is by Jerome Cunanan. He shares: “This is my first time to photograph Metro Manila at night, a beautiful view above the city lights, and hang out with my true friends. I think I’m so blessed to witness this kind of scenery.” Jerome took the photo from the hills of Antipolo. JM Lazatin’s portrait photo titled “The Last of the Mambabatoks” is her tribute to Apo Whang-od. Her photo description reads: “Apo Whang-od, a.k.a Maria Oggay, is a Filipino traditional tattoo artist. She’s already 100 years old and she’s been doing tattoo/‘batok’ since she was 15. Before, tattoo/‘batok’ was earned by the tribesmen by defending their tribe from enemies. Today, ‘batok’ is passed down to her granddaughter to continue this traditional art form for the tourist visiting Buscalan, Tinglayan, Kalinga. ‘Batok’ is performed using black ink and the thorn of pomelo.” Marife Agsaoay shares “Sunrise at the Farm” taken when her nephew, Elijah visited from Canada. And from Fr. Andrew S. Bayal, CM of Adamson University is the photo titled “Lako, Lakbay-Buhay” taken in Laiya, Batangas. Readers may now view issues of Picture Perfect including this column at www.mb.com.ph. For comments, suggestions or just to share an image or idea, email throughalensclearly@yahoo.com or rfyparedes@yahoo.com.