"We have found that mothers tend to be the Chief Memory Officer of thehome, and thus the better they can use their digital cameras, the morerewarding it is for mother to see their family's special moments capturedin beautiful, clear and vivid images," said Alex Fried, National MarketingManager, Imaging, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company. "Digital camerasare very common Mother's Day gifts, so by adding a Digital Photo Academycourse, we not only offer Mom a way to maximize her camera, but we alsoencourage quality time with her. Our Digital Photo Academy two-for-onespecial allows a mother and her loved one to truly embrace the joys ofdigital photography and learn together how they can take better photographsand capture their family's memories with beautiful images."

The Digital Photo Academy courses are available in Atlanta, Boston,Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami,Minneapolis, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, SanFrancisco, Seattle, Tampa and Washington, D.C. Each level of DigitalPhoto Academy courses is offered monthly in each city and students areencouraged to bring whatever brand of digital camera they use. Giftcertificates can be purchased for any of these three levels of courses:

Beginner Course: Three Hours, $50. The "Discovering Digital" beginnercourse is designed for all types of users, whether it is the family recordkeeper, a passionate scrapbooker, the casual point-and-shoot user or theperson looking to choose the right camera. Instructors address how toreduce red-eye, better use a flash, include special effects and createbetter composition. Beyond photographic techniques, the course alsoteaches valuable "post-capture" skills, such as how to use Adobe®Photoshop® elements to create a greeting card or calendar, and sendprints to friends and family via e-mail.

Intermediate Course: Four Hours, $65. The "Digital Endeavours"intermediate-level course is designed for users who are quite familiar withthe settings on their point-and-shoot and are looking to take digitalphotography to the next level. Either a recent purchaser of a digitalsingle-lens reflex (SLR) camera, or someone considering buying one,benefits from this course. The class compares point-and-shoot cameras toSLRs and discusses the differences between the two categories, helping toensure a smooth transition. For those who have some experience inpost-capture and Photoshop, this class offers more advanced techniques,such as burning and dodging and an introduction to color management.Attendees also will learn about printed layouts, and how to makenewsletters and brochures.

Advanced Course: Eight hours, $150. At the advanced level, the "DigitalVision" course is divided into two parts: in-field shooting and learningpost-capture computer application skills. The four-hour in-field shootingsession will be held in local parks, vibrant streets, during seasonalevents like fairs and marathons to capture newsworthy current affairs. Thesecond component involves four hours of classroom time learning techniquesfrom Adobe® Photoshop® Creative Suite 2, such as converting andprocessing RAW files, using layers and masks, working with black and whitefiles, and more.

The Digital Photo Academy courses are held in photogenic and inspirationallocations, such as professional studios and museums, and are taught bylocal professional photographers, who serve as ongoing resources tostudents, even after the course has ended. To maximize student andinstructor participation, classes are kept to 15 students.

The Digital Photo Academy Mother's Day gift certificate special isavailable for purchase until Monday, May 12, 2008. A gift certificate mustbe purchased for a specified level, and can be redeemed for that levelonly, in any city before December 31, 2008. To sign-up and purchase apersonalized Panasonic LUMIX Digital Photo Academy Mother's Day giftcertificate, call 1.877.DP.ACAD.1 or visit www.digitalphotoacademy.com formore information and to view course schedules and locations.

About Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company

Based in Secaucus, N.J., Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company is aDivision of Panasonic Corporation of North America, the principal NorthAmerican subsidiary of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. (NYSE: MC)and the hub of Panasonic's U.S. marketing, sales, service and R&Doperations. Panasonic develops advanced imaging technologies and itsentire 2008 LUMIX digital still camera line includes optical imagingstabilization and Intelligent ISO features. Panasonic is honored to supportOUR PLACE - The World's Heritage, a project that will create the world'slargest photographic collection of UNESCO World Heritage sites, withacclaimed photographers exclusively using LUMIX digital cameras to captureall images. Information about Panasonic LUMIX digital still cameras and itsaffiliated programs is available at www.panasonic.com/dsc.

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