TV WEEK: The River series premiere billboards...

You know you can expect some shaky cam in the jungle with The River, if Oren Peli of Paranormal Activity fame is involved.

These vivid billboard creatives have that Blair Witch Project feel with the terrified eye peaking out between those luscious plant fronds and the green colour really makes these ads stand out amidst the cluttered L.A. skyline.

The new series follows 'Tess Cole', the co-host of The Undiscovered Country, her children and a documentary crew, as they venture deep into the Amazon to find her lost explorer husband, 'Dr. Emmet Cole', when his emergency beacon goes off six months after he was presumed dead. It'll all be captured on camera, so what could possibly go wrong.

Is Daily Billboard the only one who thinks the placement of that eye in the landscape ad creatives make the title read 'The Driver' when you look at it quickly, it looks so much clearer but no less effective on the large portrait version.

Another small gripe that Daily Billboard has is the use of Steven Spielberg's producer credentials for TV shows these days. If he's busy overseeing the big screen escapades of War Horse and The Adventures of Tintin, plus other high-profile projects, just how involved can he possibly be in shows like The River.

Regardless of these concerns, these slightly creepy and intriguing billboards should pique a lot of passersby interest.

With the TV success of The Walking Dead and American Horror Story, it looks like there'll be even more horror-themed shows like The River on the small screen in the future.

Henry Perales and Elizardo Sanchez

Here are images from a press conference with Henry Perales, who told reporters in December 2011 that pro-government supporters attacked him and hit him on the head during a protest.
Elizardo Sanchez, above right, a human rights activist in Havana, organized the press conference.

 See more photos on the jump page.

Today's big announcement!...

For each of the next 4 weeks we are going to give away some goodies!

Yup, how it will work is each and every Friday in February we will announce a new prize winner.

Not sure what we will be giving away each Friday, but I do know prizes will be chosen from photography books, software, or DVD's (I mean really, have our prizes ever sucked?).

One entry at the beginning of the month will make you eligible for the prize drawing on all 4 Fridays... as this will be one month long contest, not 4 separate ones.

And as allows it is pretty simple to enter:

1. Leave a comment on any blog post or any of our YouTube videos.

2. Upload any image that you shot to our Flickr group.

If you are new to Flickr (never joined) you can get the details on how to join our Flickr group here.

This contest starts on Wednesday (February 1st) and it's open to everyone, all winners will be chosen at random from among the qualifying entries.

Winners will be announced each Friday in February.

Good luck everyone, looking forward to seeing your images and reading your comments.

Here is the small print (literally):

All rights and ownership of submitted images remain with the photographer who took it.

1 image upload + 1 comment = 1 contest entry.

You can enter the contest as many times as you like, no limit.

Winners outside of the US will need to cover the cost of shipping their prize.

TV WEEK: RuPaul's Drag Race season four billboards...

'Condragulations', drag diva RuPaul is back for a fourth fabulous season of RuPaul's Drag Race on Logo and just in time to usher in another TV WEEK here at Daily Billboard.

Reinvented in recent years as the Tyra Banks of the female impersonator world, she's on another quest to find America's next drag superstar and looking as fierce as ever above the skies of L.A.

The Glamazon was spied on a special hair extension (pardon the pun) billboard at Melrose and Highland Avenues on January 12, whilst a mini-version was snapped along Sunset Boulevard at Doheny Drive on January 19, 2012.

The supermodel was also spotted along Beverly Boulevard on a squarer format billboard which showed off more of her glittering golden attire.

If you're a fan of the show, be sure to also check out the fabulous season two and season three billboards for RuPaul's Drag Race.

Mondays may be the biggest drag ever, but at least they are now the funnest (and most glamorous) way to start your week.

The Vow movie billboards...

Valentine's Day is fast approaching and it looks like The Vow is determined to charm young lovers and romantics everywhere into cinema seats with all these billboards.

Rachel McAdams is the wife who awakes from a car accident with severe memory loss and Channing Tatum is the husband who must win her heart all over again.

These ads, in all their formats, do a perfect job of communicating that this movie is a romantic drama.

There's nothing like the anticipation of a kiss and story based on true events to get hearts aflutter and the tears flowing.

Daily Billboard also loves the complimentary green and pink colour scheme on this movie creative, of course it always helps when there's a gorgeous couple to ogle over too.

These billboards for The Vow were snapped around the streets of L.A. from January 9 through January 17, 2012, along La Brea Avenue, Wilshire Boulevard, Highland Avenue, Beverly Boulevard and at The Grove shopping center.

BONUS DAY: Mercury Insurance billboards...

Daily Billboard thinks that Mercury Insurance's current ad campaign is simple and effective.

The billboards stand out not only because of the bright egg yolk colour, but also due to the use of some clever copy.

Daily Billboard especially likes the sentiment of the 'Get a great agent. Not a great telemarketer' creative, but wonders in this age of overseas call centers and scripted, standard answers, if the service actually lives up to the promise.

Regardless, the ads do a great job of the communicating the savings you'll apparently enjoy if you opt for Mercury Insurance Group.

These insurance billboards were snapped along 3rd Street, Wilshire Boulevard, Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard in L.A. on January 12 through January 16, 2012.

For more examples of billboards with no images and a great use of copy check out these Chipotle Mexican Grill billboard ads.

UPDATED: One more billboard from the campaign, this one about roadside assistance, snapped along Vine Street in Hollywood on February 12, 2012.

UPDATED: Here's another billboard in the Mercury campaign snapped along Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks on February 23, 2012.

And the 5 winners are!...

Before I announce our lucky winners I have two things I want to say/share (actually 3 things).

First, you folks have put forth a phenomenal effort for this contest and I'm sorry that there can only be five winners.

Second, I have some big announcements next week, on Monday will be posting the details on how/why we will be giving prizes to lucky readers of Weekly Photo Tips every single Friday for the entire month of February and on Wednesday (February 1st) we will be announcing the biggest thing we have ever done on this blog.

Now, without further delay, our randomly chosen winners and the prizes they won:

1. terakinnane - You have won "Work Like a Pro Photographer in Aperture 3"

2. ZERO CEM - Your prize is "Photographically Speaking: A Deeper Look at Creating Stronger Images"

3. Daniel*1977 - You will be getting the great software "Organize"

4. Alexander Cordeiro - You will be getting a one year membership to 500px.com

5. fatlab99 - You too are getting a one year premium membership to 500px.com

Most of these are your Flickr names, so you will need to contact me with your snail mail address, or the email address you want your download link and license sent to.

A BIG THANK YOU and congrats to everyone.

Katherine Heigl One for the Money movie billboard...

Katherine Heigel is back on the big screen and this time she's not blonde, and even more surprisingly she's a bail-bond bounty hunter.

In this action comedy, the former Grey's Anatomy actress brings 'Stephanie Plum' to life, the star of Janet Evanovich's 1994 best-selling book of the same name, One for the Money.

These colourful movie billboards were snapped along Beverly Boulevard on January 10 and La Brea Avenue on January 17, 2012.

Given her box office history, maybe she'll handcuff the audience to their seats to get them to watch.

Nude in bed with oranges

This Cuban painting shows a naked woman on a bed with slices of orange. I don't know what the artist had in mind, but maybe the woman is contemplating the men in her life.
Media naranja - an orange half - is slang for one's partner or better half. Perhaps the woman is holding a letter from a boyfriend. The smaller orange slices are men who didn't measure up. And maybe some of the slices are smaller because the men weren't quite as portly as the woman. Who knows...

Orlando Luis Pardo (part 2 with English subtitles)

Big sale on photo gear...

Adorama is having a sale right now that has something for (almost) everyone.

Not only are the prices outstanding, everything on sale here comes with free shipping too.

An iPad Bluetooth Keyboard with a Stand & Folio for the iPad & iPad2 at almost half of at just $29. Use the coupon code S0116120 at checkout.


They have all kinds of Kingston memory cards and readers on sale, compact flash, SDHC, memory sticks, and more.


Get a Fisheye, Macro, and Wide-angle Lens for the iPhone 4 / 4S.


Creative Light collapsible reflectors with your choice of gold, white, and silver surfaces and metal frames all are 25% off.


You will also see 20 different Smith Victor lighting setups, complete with softboxes and cases.


Nikon Coolpix S4100 D Digital Camera - Refurbished by Nikon U.S.A. only $59.


Tokina 11mm-16mm lens, all mounts, they are on sale with rebates which will save you $90.


And now for the big gun, a Nikon U.S.A. refurbished D3 (with warranty) for $3499.