By Mark Feeney
Globe Staff

For many years, Robert Campbell and Peter Vanderwarker's "Cityscapes" feature was a mainstay of The Boston Globe Magazine. It consisted of a brief chunk of text about some site in the city along with a pair of photographs: one then, one now. The thens were archival. Vanderwarker had taken the nows. The pictures made plain how much Vanderwarker savors cities, this one especially.

A few things:

> Early next week, we're unveiling a new homepage for RAW that will make it easier for us to highlight good photography and stories and easier for you to find the features you want. Look for the new page Monday afternoon or Tuesday.

> Want to chat live with a Globe photographer? Mark your calendar and join us at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday for an hourlong talk with Jim Wilson, assistant photo director. Jim knows all there is to know about camera equipment; he does all of the purchasing for the Globe's Photo Dept. So if you have questions about camera bodies, lenses, filters, lights -- you name it -- Jim's your guy. He also loves to take time-lapse photos; you can see his latest handiwork here.

> Also next week, Globe photographer Jonathan Wiggs will choose another RAW Dawg for a critique.

> Our judge for the February Black & White contest will be the Globe's Stan Grossfeld, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and an associate editor at the Globe. He'll narrow the field to the Final Fifty next Friday, March 6.

That's it for now ... Don't forget the deadline to enter February's B&W contest is midnight tomorrow (Saturday the 28th). I'll keep adding entries to our big galleries over the weekend.

If you're looking for something a little extra special to slip your photographs into, try the Back Bay Framery at 303 Newbury St., Boston, 617-424-1550. Frames are 25 percent off and photo albums 50 percent off as part of the store's annual spring sale. We were partial to the delicate, ribbon- and button-adorned frames and albums by Jill Schwartz (above), but you'll find plenty of options in leather, Italian wood, sterling silver, and more.

An exhibit of photographs by Henry Horenstein, called "Animalia", opens at the Robert Klein Gallery Friday and runs through March 28. Here's a gallery of images from the related book.

By Mark Feeney
Globe Staff

It's a putdown to describe something as being "for the birds." The 32 photographs in Rosamond Purcell's "Egg & Nest" suggest there should be a comparable term, "from the birds." It would be anything but a putdown. How could it be? Purcell's pictures of these quintessential avian products are that distinctive, that elegant. The show runs through March 15 at the Harvard Museum of Natural History.

OK, folks, I'll start the February contest gallery today, as soon as I get out of a 10 a.m. meeting and post some exhibit info. There are a TON of entries, and some really terrific compositions.

By Denise Taylor
Globe Correspondent

The colors in Jonathan Torgovnik's photographs tend toward rich, welcoming hues. The light often shimmers warmly. But the tense, somber stares of his portrait subjects tug the viewer out of this safe scenery and into something hurt, dark, and hollow. Even before reading the sobering texts beneath the images, it is hard not to want to look away - but Torgovnik asks you not to.

Bloomberg News

Ritz Camera Centers Inc., the largest camera store chain in the United States, has filed for bankruptcy protection, blaming the deepening US recession and the consumer transition to digital photography.

Since a couple of black-and-white images have won contests lately (partly because of the winter themes), and this month's theme is black-and-white, I figured it might be a good time to go over some tips on shooting in B&W. Apart from the contest, many photographers, saturated by digital colors and appreciative of the simplicity and stark beauty that such images can afford, like to try their hand at the technique. And after reading the tips below, you'll see that there really is a technique to producing good B&W photos.

Now that the January contest is over, and February's Black & White theme is in full swing -- more than 150 entries have been submitted already -- it's time to vote for themes for March and April.

We'll close the March poll on Feb. 28 and close the April poll on March 14. As always, if you have suggestions for themes, leave a comment below.

MARCH POLL

APRIL POLL

"It makes me want to sit in front of a fireplace!" was how Globe assistant chief photographer John Blanding summed up his feelings about the First Place winner in our January contest, which had the theme of "Cold."

OK, voting for the January contest has ended ... Globe photographer John Blanding will look over the Final 50 once again, see how you voted, and then choose the Top 10 winners. I'll post the winners Tuesday morning.

As part of our ongoing series of "On Assignment" features, RAW regular Kati Seiffer volunteered to go on a photography walking tour with the company PhotoWalks. Here's her report:

Text and photos by Kati Seiffer

Have you been living in the Boston area but never really explored it? Do you want to know how Tremont Street got its name? Are you interested in seeing Boston from a different and more intimate perspective than a trolley? If you've answered yes to any of these questions, you may want to check out PhotoWalks.

By Lara Jakes
Associated Press

Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently ordered a review of a Pentagon policy banning media from taking pictures of flag-draped coffins of military dead, signaling he was open to overturning the policy to better honor fallen soldiers.

Photographer Eva Timothy has said that folks like Sir Isaac Newton and Galileo were not much different than we are. "These people were not simply born to greatness," she says. "They were individuals who cultivated such a powerful sense of creative curiosity that nothing could stop them from fulfilling their desires for discovery." Satisfy your creative curiosity at Timothy's "Lost in Learning" visual investigation of the Renaissance through black-and-white photos of great historical figures positioned alongside their manuscripts and artifacts. Through March 20; talk and reception at 6 p.m. Friday (Feb. 13). Free. The New England Institute of Art Gallery on the Plaza, Washington Street at Route 9, Brookline. 617-582-4617.

John Blanding, the Globe's assistant chief photographer who judged this month's contest, loved the range and variety of photos you submitted for the January theme of "Cold". He was impressed by the level of detail of some pictures, liked some that included a human or animal element, and marveled at the black-and-whites: "The contrast and strong tones really came across well," he said.

The next meeting of the new Photographic Society of Cape Cod will be held this Wednesday, Feb. 11, from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at the Cultural Center of Cape Cod in South Yarmouth. (Directions below)

Most of you own DSLRs, but some of you use high-quality point-and-shoots. Others carry a point-and-shoot when your bigger camera is too much to lug with you to an event. In any case, you may want to supplement your DSLR with a convenient point-and-shoot, or upgrade your current model. Perhaps you want to buy a camera for a friend who is just getting started in photography or a relative who needs a new camera.

In its March issue, Consumer Reports (subscription required) rates 15 point-and-shoot digitals, ranking them according to category: Subcompact (for those who need a camera that fits into a purse or pocket), Compact (for those who want the basics at a low price or advanced features), and Superzoom (for people who need an extremely versatile zoom lens).

The Antarctic: From the Circle to the Pole
Photographs by Stuart D. Klipper
Chronicle, 175 pp., $40

"It is an otherworldly place, the edge of the Earth," writes photographer Stuart D. Klipper about the Antarctic in his new book, an oversize collection of 120 images from the region, shot in panoramic format.

"Roxbury Community College Library Celebrates African American History Month" is a month-plus work of art. In a 34-foot-long photo display titled "A Timeline of African American History," visitors can follow history starting with the arrival of the first Africans to Jamestown, Va., in 1619 and ending with the election of our new president. Through March 15. Free. Roxbury Community College Library, 1234 Columbus Ave., Roxbury. 617-541-5323.

By Jonathan Perry
Globe Correspondent

As a teenager growing up in Salem, N.H., in the late '80s, Anthony Pappalardo began sneaking out to metal shows - in Boston, Lowell, Framingham, anywhere - every chance he got. The music was loud and aggressive, and it spoke to him - but not nearly as loudly or aggressively as hardcore did.

By Wendy Killeen
Globe Correspondent

When it came time for Beverly's Leighton O'Connor to make his annual contribution to North Shore United Way, the marine and travel photographer took a different approach.

Emmet and Elijah Gowin make the unreal out of earth, air, and water

By Mark Feeney
Globe Staff

WINCHESTER - Emmet Gowin and Elijah Gowin are father and son. Although they don't collaborate, they've previously exhibited together. "Pull of Gravity: Photographs by Emmet Gowin and Elijah Gowin" shows what a complementary pairing their work makes for. It runs at the Griffin Museum of Photography through March 29.

By Ben Dobbin
Associated Press

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Seated by a window in the Illinois State Capitol in 1860, a beardless, bow-tied Abraham Lincoln held still for 25 seconds for what would become a classic campaign portrait of the soon-to-be president. It was undoubtedly a personal favorite.

Eric Draper spent the past eight years alongside George W. Bush as the chief White House photographer. Draper, 44, who had covered the 2000 campaign for the Associated Press, took the White House from film to digital as he met world leaders and mixed it up with Britain's Prince Philip. He also received an unexpected farewell gesture from No. 43 last week. Here are excerpts from a telephone interview by Boston.com Editor David Beard with Draper, who spoke from his home in Alexandria, Va.

Photographs of the landscapes and people of Borneo by Ginger Teal of West Newbury are being exhibited at the GAR Memorial Library in her hometown through Feb. 28. Teal shot the photos while in the country as a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity. The library is at 490 West Main St. 978-363-1105.

"20th Century Czech and Slovak Photography" is one of the inaugural exhibits on display at the new Center for Visual and Performing Arts at Endicott College in Beverly.

Robert Festa and Kristin Mallery first crossed paths at the Footlight Club's annual holiday fair about a year ago. The two longtime Jamaica Plain residents and fledgling photographers were both peddling original prints ranging from close-up scenes to panoramic portraits.

They found, much to their surprise, that they also each had a photo of the same row of houses in Portsmouth, N.H.

Look for the main gallery to be finished today, and over the weekend, look for a Final 50 gallery as well as several other entries on various items -- exhibits, etc.

We'll post the Voting Machine Monday morning and open voting for 5 days ... so when the Final 50 gallery is posted, look over the photos carefully so you're ready to make the best choices ... yours and two others, right?

We're supposed to get a nice thaw this weekend, but winter is far from over. I asked the Globe Photo Dept. for a tipsheet on taking pictures outside when it's cold, and photographer Mark Wilson (who used to write a terrific photography column for the Globe) was more than happy to share his advice.

The Flash gallery became too big for this blog software to handle, so I had to split it in two. This gallery contains some photos that were in the Part I gallery, along with more recent pictures I have posted. It's now complete. I'll post a gallery of the Final 50 photos over the weekend, then we'll open voting Monday morning.

This gallery was getting so large that I had to split it in two. Some of the photos that were in this gallery are now in Gallery Part Deux (in the entry above this one), along with new photos -- with more to come. This gallery now contains just the first 125 photos I posted. I won't add any more photos to this gallery, just to Part Deux.

I also moved the gallery into the extended entry field to get its weight off the RAW homepage, so from the homepage, click through to see it.

This month's Critique by a Globe Photographer is a little different. We received a batch of submissions from students in a photography class taught by Chloe Hill at Waltham High School, and the Globe's Essdras Suarez, who has a soft spot in his heart for beginners, jumped at the chance to work with them.

One of the students, Anna O'Brien, is the subject of this month's full critique. But Essdras also agreed to critique a photograph from each of the seven other students who sent in their photos at the same time as Anna. You can find those critiques in the next entry.

Meanwhile, back to Anna. She wrote in her critique request that she is "hoping to learn how to improve my photo-taking abilities." Good news, Anna: Essdras thinks you've already come a long way.

At the urging of their teacher, Chloe Hill, eight students from a digital photography class at Waltham High School were among those who submitted portfolios for RAW's Critique by a Globe Photographer feature.

This month's Globe photographer, Pulitzer Prize winner Essdras Suarez, picked the portfolio of one of the students, Anna O'Brien, for a full critique. But he also agreed to comment on what he thought was the best work from each of the other students. So consider this a Critique by a Globe Photographer bonus feature.