Fuji Instax Mini 25

Return of Film?

Digital is dead hoorah for the return of film! No wait. Sorry.  Only kidding.  Digital photography isn’t going anywhere I’m afraid but for those of you who still crave a little nostalgia, how about the convenience of the old polaroid?  There is still a huge following for instant cameras and you can’t beat the thrill of watching the image appear right before your very eyes, something that us old film users miss from the darkroom days…Anyways, I digress.

Fuji is now the leader when it comes to Instant cameras and it’s latest offering is the cool Instax Mini 25 which takes credit card sized pictures.  The one pictured below is a cool white color, matching perfectly with your MacBook or if you’re very trendy, you can go for the Hello Kitty version for a little extra.

Fun Fun Fun!

The camera is designed for fun usage and even has a little mirror in front to let you take the obligatory self portrait, or one of you and your favorite cuddly toy.

The Instax 25 is super easy to use with 2 chunky shutter buttons for easy picture taking either vertically or horizontally and it weighs hardly anything at all (less than 2 lbs.)  It also has a Landscape setting which means you can take shots that are further away and comes with a detachable close up lens to allow you to shoot close up (of course!)

The camera uses 2 CR Lithium batteries (included) and Instax mini film which is widely available.

Vivid Pics

The pictures are really bright and vibrant and are a really fun way of capturing a party or a special event.  Last week at my sister’s wedding, her friends snapped a poloroid of each couple as they entered the church and then at the reception put them in the guestbook so everyone could write their well wishes alongside their picture.  It’s a wonderful momento of their big day!

Hello Kitty!

You can check out the Fuji Instax Mini here on Amazon and if you want to be the cool Auntie at Christmas this year, get your mits on the exclusive Hello Kitty version while they’re still in stock!

Happy Snapping!

PS Amazon currently has the Fuji Instax Mini 25 as $30 off the RRP (August 2010)

Just had to let you guys know about this awesome offer from Picaboo. From now (Aug 1) til Aug 31st they’re offering all new customers a free photobook worth $39!  That really is a great deal as Picaboo truly makes quality photobooks.  It’s a great way to try out their services and get all those summer snaps put together in one place.  If you are new to creating photo books online, the process couldn’t be simpler and the Picaboo website is super easy to use.  The key is to have a particular theme or event in mind and do a little bit of organization before you start uploading your pics.

So get cracking and sign up today. I’m working on a book from my sister’s wedding so I’ll be signing up too!

Happy snappng!

This week I learned about a fun new photographic competition sponsored by O3 World.  Check out the details in the guest post below and get those camera phones out! – Ingrid

Guest post by Keith Scandone, O3 World.com

While some would consider it a travesty to consider the mobile phone as a means to create art, we celebrate it. Masterpieces Made Simple is new gallery series that is a showcase of creativity provided by everyday people by way of their smart phones. One of the best things about this series is that it is just as easy for the photography beginner to participate, as it is for the expert.

Masterpieces Made Simple is sponsored and hosted by O3 World, a Web Design and Development company in Philadelphia, and the concept was created by one of O3 World’s employees, Hilary Sedgwick, and Kenny Kim.

The site launched June 14th, and in less than a month, has received roughly 800 submissions. The submissions have come from all over the country, including NY, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, North Carolina and Florida, and from all over the world including Egypt, Singapore, Iran, China and India.

This event, which is being held Friday, July 23rd from 6 – 9, is the first in a 4 part series. Each event going forward with a theme associated with it and will be rolled out quarterly.

To check out the photos or make your own submission, check out www.themmsgallery.com

Making a submission couldn’t be any easier. Here’s what you do:

1. Take a sweet picture with your mobile device. Take a new one, or submit an old favorite… the choice is yours.

2. Email your image to submit@themmsgallery.com.

3. Include the following information:

* TITLE: Enter the Title of your image in the Subject Line of your email. THE REST OF THE INFORMATION LISTED BELOW SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE BODY OF THE EMAIL.

* ARTIST: That’s You! Include your name so when people admire your work they know that you created that masterpiece.

* LOCATION: Where were you when you became inspired? (City, State and if it applies, venue).

* DEVICE: Let us know what kind of mobile device you used to capture your image. An iPhone, Blackberry, Droid; any device is acceptable as long as it is a mobile phone that takes photos.

* You may choose to leave any or all of these fields blank. If you do choose to do this we will display the fields as “Unknown”.

4. Once all the information is in place, you’re ready to go. Hit that send button!

5. Once the image is approved by us it will be display on the The MMS Gallery homepage ready for public view and commenting!

Submissions are only being accepted until Monday July 12th, so pick up that phone and snap some photos!

Me and DD enjoying being back home

Hello from rainy Ireland! Yes I’m back in my homeland for a mixture of fun, weddings and workshops (and did I mention fun?!)  I’m having a blast over here, while still working away diligently and FINALLY I’m almost ready to launch my “Getting to Grips with your DSLR” Online course.  For all of you have already asked about it, I promise you will be the first to know the exact opening date.  AND there will be an extra special treat for you since you’ve all been so patient with me!   I’m so excited I can hardly contain myself

Now I have another wee favour to ask all of you – What specific things would you like to know about using your camera/photography?  Be as general or a specific as you like but please leave a comment below and let me know.  I’m really striving to make this blog a place that is jammed pack with interesting a relevant information for YOU so now’s your chance to let me know how I can help you!

Once this rain stops I’m off out to get some nice landscape shots of the views around my mum and dad’s house.  Funny how I never appreciated them growing up… They’ll make a nice addition to the office wall back home.  I’ll share as soon as I can!

Happy Snapping

PS – Don’t forget to post your photography woes below

Crumpler Digital SLR Camera Bag

So I’ve got the diaperbag, I’ve got the laptop, I’ve got my purse and I’ve got my Digital SLR camera bag.  How on earth am I going to get all of this plus my 18 month old on a transatlantic flight to Ireland this summer?  Well, careful packing will get me so far but the ever changing regulations on baggage allowance are so tight I’ve decided that I’m treating myself to a new digital SLR camera bag from Crumpler.

I’m going all out and going to splurge on the 8 Million Dollar Home bag which has room for a full size Digital SLR, big zoom lens, my laptop and loads more extra space.  I love the Crumpler range of camera bags mainly because they don’t look like a camera bag!  They have a whole variety of shapes and sizes so there’s bound to be one in there to fit your requirements not to mention style.

As the name suggests, the 8 million dollar home does not come cheap but when you’ve spent serious money on your gear it’s worth spending a little extra on a good quality bag to haul it around in.

Plus these bags are really comfortable to wear and if you’ve ever used a bag that’s not confortable you’ll know what a pain it is – Frustrating and can sometimes put you off taking your camera with you.  Not Good!

Digital SLR Camera bag

The same can also be said if your DSLR camera bag is difficult to access, to close or just doesn’t have enough room from everything.  These bags have heaps of space and lots of dividers inside so you can customize the interior to suit your needs.  The outside is made of a water resistant Nylon which will be great in the lovely Irish weather!

It looks like I will meet the handluggage requirements on my flight after all as my new Crumpler digital SLR Camera bag even has room for a few diapers and a sippy cup!

Happy Snapping

PS You can find the complete range of Crumpler Cags here .  They have every size, shape and almost every color!

DSLR Cleaning

I just had an email from a student of mine who has started to notice some blurs and spots on her images.  She’s cleaned her camera lens and her filters – where can this dirt be?

Well the fact of the matter is that there are tiny specs of dust inside her camera on the actual camera sensor.  A DSLR’s sensor or CCD is an electromagnetic device and because of this, dust particulars are easily attracted to it.  It’s a bit like the way dust attracts itself to your TV screen like a magnet – same concept.

Does my DSLR need Cleaning?

If you want to see if your camera has sensor dust try the following:

Set your camera’s aperture to f22 in the Aperture Priority mode.

Then take a few shots of a plain white piece of paper or if you have Photoshop or Photoshop Elements take a picture of a blank white canvas on your computer screen.

The result will look something like this:

DSLR Cleaning Sensor Dust

Ugh! Black spots! that’s one dirty sensor!

The can be removed in Photoshop but it really is a pain to do lots of shots like this.

What you need is a little sensor cleaning!

DSLR Cleaning Tips

The problem is that cleaning this sensor can be a tricky job one and having been in the business, I never recommend doing it yourself.   In my opinion, unless you are very confident and know precisely what it is you are attempting, leave this job to the professionals.  Find your local camera service centre and ask for a service quotation which should include sensor cleaning.  Then shop around till you find the best deal.

The best thing you can do is try to avoid this problem in the first place.

• Keep your camera body attached to a lens at all time.  There is no need to separate the lens from the body unless your are changing lenses.
• When you are changing lenses do it as swiftly as possible and try not to do it in very dusty/sandy windy environments
• Store your camera in a specific camera kit bag link
• Vacuum out the inside of the bag on a regular basis
• If you do have to get your camera senor cleaned try and go to a local service centre where possible so that you can have a faster turn around time than mailing off your camera body back to the manufacturer.

If you are interested in cleaning your sensor yourself this is a really great website which goes through the procedure step by step.

Be warned though this is not my recommendation and if you mess up your sensor – bye bye warranty and sometimes byebye camera….

Best idea – keep it clean people!

Happy snapping

Image thanks to  petar_c http://www.flickr.com/photos/ceklic_petar/1208075186/

Canon Powershot S90

Firstly, if you are looking for a camera that’s advanced enough to allow you to shoot in RAW, control your Shutter Speed, Aperture, ISO, shoot in low light conditions but without the bulk of of a DSLR then the Canon Powershot S90 is the camera for you.

It has a super bright f2.0 lens and a high ISO rating of 3200 which essentially means you can shoot in really low light conditions without having to turn on that nasty flash or worry about motion blur and camera shake.  With such a wide aperture lens you’ll also benefit from a nice shallow depth of field (otherwise known as a blurry background!) in your pictures which is great for stunning portrait shots.

The Canon Powershot s90 is so small and compact it will easily fit into a purse, diaper bag or pocket.   I think that this is a great camera for women as it really does just fit nicely in my hand.  I found it really easy to access all the functions but I could see this as being a problem with bigger man hands though, as the controls are set quite closely together.

It also features a brand new design feature namely the Control Ring on the front of the camera that can be set to control ISO, Focus, exposure or White Balance.  This is something unique to this camera and kinda gives it an old school feel for me.  I like it!

Canon Powershot S90

One more thing that you can do with the Canon Powershot s90 and that is go diving with it. That’s right  -   the addition of an special underwater casing turns the Powershot S90 into one of the best waterproof digital cameras around allowing you to shoot fantastic shots as you scuba, snorkel or just when your messing about in boats. Because of that bright f2.0 lens it’s a fantastic underwater camera.  That’s one of the main reasons why my student bought it and I can’t wait to see her pictures from her diving trip.

S90 Underwater Casing

Overall I was really impressed by the level of features and flexibility packed into the Powershot s90’s compact body.  I would definitely say that this camera is an excellent choice if you want to begin to move out of Auto Mode, without having to make the jump up to a DSLR.  Or if you already have a DSLR and you’re looking for a handy point and shoot camera, you’ll find that the Canon Powershot S90 will not disappoint on features or picture quality.  It’s no wonder that this is the compact camera of choice for many professionals out there.

If you’re on the look out for a new camera you can check out the Canon Powershot S90 here from my friends over at B and H Photo and get free shipping if you are here in the US.  I’m thinking this will be my next buy…

Happy snapping

P.S. If you already own the Powershot S90 or end up buying it, please comment below and let me know what you think of it.

What was that I hear? “ I save them to CD…When I remember” or “ I print everything” hmmm or the best – “I don’t back up my pictures!”

Well, I’m not hear to judge you. I admit I’m not the world’s most organized person but I do try. I’m currently trying to gain control of my hard drive and it’s contents. Mostly my pictures. I couldn’t believe it when I opened Picasa last week and realized how much stuff is on there. I have so many photos on my hard drive! Especially since having my daughter. I’ve probably taken more photos this past year than I had in the previous 3 years. And they’re all just sitting there…waiting…until someday, I burn them onto DVDs and file them away, possibly even delete them to free up some space on the hard drive. Oh a girl can dream…

Now, I teach all my students the importance of a good “workflow”:

Take Pictures – transfer to computer (my choice – use Picasa) – delete Pictures off memory card – Edit –

Print or Share – BACK UP.

I’ve got to be honest. I’m great at the taking, uploading and could use a little improvement on the “share” but when it comes to remembering to Backup my pictures, I have failed miserably.

It’s constantly on my list of things do.

Or should I say it WAS constantly on my list of things to do. Now I don’t worry about it thanks to a cool online back up service called MOZY! For $4.95 a month they back up my entire hard drive . That’s unlimited storage. Pictures, documents – EVERYTHING! How awesome is that? It works away in the background, uploading any new files and storing them on their servers and I can honestly say I don’t even notice it doing it’s thing.

They’ve just recently redesigned their website and it’s super easy to use.

• Just sign up and give them your info. They even have a free service where you can get 2GB without paying a dime. I decided to go for the MozyHome Unlimited Plan though – for less than $5 a month for unlimited storage.  It walks you through the necessary steps but basically you just do the following:
• Download MozyHome
• Then select the files you want them to back up (they give you a suggested list.)
• Over the next few days or weeks, depending on the size of your files, they back up your entire hard drive. (it took me 2 weeks).
• After that they periodically backup when your computer is idle.

Cool or what? No more CDs no more external hard drives No more “long finger.”

So go check it out before you regret it!

Remember: It’s not IF your hard-drive fails, but WHEN it fails. Don’t loose all those memories. Check out Mozy here - Trust me – you’ll sleep better at night!

Use this link and the coupon code AUGUST to get 10% off annual and biennial Mozy Unlimited or MozyPro

Happy snapping!

Ingrid

First of all,  I’ve been participating in (and helping to present) an awesome telecourse with Sheila Finklestein.  You can check out her course info at Through and From the Lens.  Sheila teaches how to see your world through fresh eyes and hence rejuvinating your photography skills.  I’ve certainly found that I’m starting to look at things a little differently.  Check out the faces I found in the trees in our yard.  I’ve been inspired to create a whole series of them.  (these guys have been around forever!)

Man Blowing Smoke

I’ve been reminded to look at everything from different angles, close-up and at a distance.  Looking at color, texture and thinking more about light.  In these pictures I was looking for faces in nature.

Fishy Face

Then this morning I discovered this new site thanks to the ever cool Photojojo -  Noticin.gs (see what they’ve done there?)  It’s a game really, played on Flickr.com.  “Noticings are interesting things that you stumble upon when your out and about”  You post your pics on Flickr and tag them with “noticings” and Geotag them with where they were taken.

You get points for noticing things like noticing the first thing in a neighborhood or noticing the same thing for a week.  Seems like a great way to get into the habit of taking pictures on a regular basis – one of the key ways of improving your photography.

So I’m headed out to get creative and find some noticings before the snow hits Atlanta

Happy snapping!

PS If your not on Flickr you really should be!  Connect with me there by adding me as a contact.  My Flickr Stream.