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.
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.
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!
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 til Oct 25th 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 snapping!
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 🙂
This week I’m eventually getting around to enlarging and framing my daughter’s first year pictures. Well, I was going to get some of them framed but the cost of getting large format frames has been putting me off. So for a lot of pictures I’ve opted instead for getting canvas prints from photos from the past year of her life. The funny thing is this is actually working out really inexpensive!
Many people don’t realize that you can get canvas prints from photos that you already have on your hard drive. Thanks to wonderful digital printing technology , these personalized piece of art can be yours with a few clicks of the mouse. For my prints I’ve opted to use Canvas People . I’m always cautious about getting prints made online – I guess it comes from my background in printing and extremely high standards! Canvas People are actually giving away a free Canvas print this month so it’s a great way to try out their quality with no risk.
One of the best things about canvas prints from photos is that you can go really big with your picture without having to worry about having to buy and hang a big expensive frame. Canvases are so lightweight that can be hung on virtually any wall.
The canvas wraps around the frame, (sometimes known as a gallery wrap) and gives a wonderful professional finish. They have a look of an oil painting and also have a special protective coating to protect from dust and dirt.
Canvas prints make wonderful unique and personalized gifts for those hard to buy for people in your life.
I hope I’ve inspired you to try out some Canvas Prints from photos that you have sitting on your hard drive. Why not check out Canvas People for yourself and get a free canvas print of your own to get you started!
Happy Snapping!
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 comfortable you’ll know what a pain it is – Frustrating and can sometimes put you off taking your camera with you. Not Good!
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 hand luggage 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!
So you’ve figured out how to use your camera. You know how to make your pictures pretty using Photoshop. Now what do you do with all your photos? Share them of course! And where best to share your pictures then in your living room using one of the latest Digital Frames? I’ve recently discovered a wonderful resource for buying digital frames – www.digitalframehq.com It really has a wonderful selection of frames at every price point from all the big manufacturers such as Sony, Kodak and Hewlett Packard.
The website is so easy to use – you can choose your frame based on size, brand or price. You can check out a really great image of the product your interested in too.
And one of my favorite things about Digital Frame HQ is their Learning Center which is a section of their website devoted to explaining all about their products and how best to use them. You can find out how to get your images onto your frame, wireless frames and how to set up your frame. Pretty cool stuff!
So don’t forget to check Digital Frame HQ here and do your pictures justice and frame those bad boys in a digital frame!
Happy snapping
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.
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:
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!
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.
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/
Last Wednesday was March 17th which as everyone knows is St. Patrick’s Day, our Irish national holiday (and also one of my favorite days of the year!) As my regular readers already know I’m Irish through and through – no really – I was actually born there and lived the majority of my life there so it really is a special day for me!
Anyways, I just thought I’d let you know that I spent this glorious St Paddy’s day morning being interviewed on Blog Talk Radio on “For Powerful Women Only” about Adapting and Changing (to my life here in the US) and entrepreneurship and all sorts of other chit chat. The interview was such fun and was with Lady T “The Business Coach for Moms.” She an awesome coach! Even through the course of the interview, she was able to pull out of me some really interesting and thought provoking insights. Being a work from home/homeschooling/ mom of 5, she knows a thing or two about all the trials and tribulations that moms have while endeavoring to run a business. I am, as ever, a huge fan of hers and recommend her highly.
So, if you are interested in finding out a little about me and my background you might want to give the interview a listen here
And don’t forget to check out LadyT’s blog here for really awesome tips for women starting their own business.
Happy snapping
One of the coolest things about my job teaching people how to use their cameras, is that I get to play around with all the latest camera gadgets and gear. This week I had the pleasure of meeting a new student and she wanted to learn how to use her Canon Powershot S90. I was so impressed with the camera that I wanted to share my thoughts on it with you guys.
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!
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.
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.