Yeah, we know it’s only April. But we just got brightly colored camera toys. For free. So you tell us, doesn’t that sound like Chrismukkahwanzaa?
Corbis just came out with a line of printable pinhole cameras. There are a bunch of designs by different illustrators, and they’re super-duper fantastico. And free! We just can’t get over it.
Pick up some film, print these babies out, and spread the Chrismukkahwanzaa spirit.
Thanks !
p.s. Check out ! We also think Heather Champ’s series rules.
"Never before has the demand for images of women who are pregnant been greater." - Jennifer George, Photographer, Author
Let's admit many of us in the PhotoHand office were quite puzzled when we started receiving orders to design pregnancy/maternity albums. I think we did a good job though. On the right is a sample of how we glamorized the pregnancy moment for a couple through photo retouching techniques.
And today I came across a press release announcing the launch of a book titled The Art of Pregnancy Photography.
In this book, author Jennifer George explores maternity photography from a conceptual and artistic point of view. Readers are encouraged to select a meaningful location for the session, what props and fabrics enhance the images, how to pose the subject, the composition of the portrait, the use of light and digital imaging, and the importance of the relationship that is forged with the client.
Photographers looking for a new genre to increase their studio's revenue would be wise to consider adding maternity to their studio's repertoire. "Never before has the demand for images of women who are pregnant been greater". Magazines are filled with photos of celebrities proudly showing off their pregnant figures, and women everywhere want to document their beauty during pregnancy. Also, the digital revolution has made capturing beautiful, painterly images easier and less time consuming than ever before. The subject's skin tone and texture can be easily digitally enhanced, and special software programs can be used to impart a wide variety of polished, classic, artistic effects."
"Working with pregnant women to create beautiful portraits is indubitably satisfying, but it has its financial merits, too. The relationship you form with your client during her pregnancy can, and should, lead to a lifelong client relationship (you can photograph her growing family) and many referrals."
I’m planning on running a contest in the next couple of weeks here at Photodoto.com. Besides everlasting fame and glory I’d like to give actual prizes to the winners as well. So far though, I only have some vague ideas about the format of the contest and what the actual prizes may be. This is where you come in.
I’d like to find out what you’d like in a contest. Please share your ideas in the comments about contest format, possible themes, judging, prize suggestions and anything else you can think of. Is it just a photo competition or something else photography related? Should we allow photos from the archives or only new photos? How should winners be selected? Skill or chance? Should there be a judging committee or some kind of open voting? Is there a theme? Should we have contests regularly?
Please share your thoughts in the comments. Thanks!
The thing about the best portraits is how they capture the essence of a person.
Maybe the wrinkles on their hands, or the expression in their eyes, tell you about the life they’ve had.
So what if you had 30 seconds to capture that person, instead of a nanosecond shutter-click? And what if the person could talk? Whoa. Crazy, we know. We call it a long portrait.
Ask the person a question. Have them sing you their favorite song. Whatever. We 100 percent guarantee you’ll end up with a great living portrait.
To learn how to shoot your long portrait, and for great questions to ask, read on…
(we got the idea from )
p.s. Hey. You. You got a mom? Our thoughtful, wonderful, you-were-always-my-favorite are perfect for Mother’s Day. (You didn’t forget, didn’t you?) The order deadline is tomorrow (April 15th) for regular delivery.
My kids are naturally curious about photography having a shutterbug for a dad. I started them out tentatively with some disposable film models but those were unsatisfying. Too slow. No LCD screens. Kids aren’t known for their patience. Digital was made for them.
In this article I talk about why you should stay away from “made for kids” cameras and get a real camera instead. It’s easy to find a great camera that your kids and your wallet can be happy with. And by getting an actual camera instead of a toy, you’ll be buying a product that will last longer than a week and that has capabilities that your child can grow into over time.
Last Christmas I was looking at cameras specifically for my daughter who was seven. Fisher Price is notable for coming out designed to be child-proof. Ha. As I’m sure most parents can attest, there ain’t no such thing as a child-proof anything.
The bigger problem with the Fisher Price camera and all other “made for kids” cameras is that the actual camera is utter crap (”made for kids” really means “made for landfill”). 640×480 resolution interpolated to 1.3 megapixels gives you images that look vomited rather than photographed.
I knew I could get better value for my money.
Every low-end digital camera in the sub-$200 range takes better photos than any “made for kids” camera. And with barely any moving parts all of them are already very rugged by design. Heck, I’ve dropped my Canon S50 a half dozen times onto concrete and it still works fine.
My criteria for a camera for kids were:
Easy to use. That doesn’t mean unsophisticated or dumbed down. Just straight-forward design, big displays and buttons, minimal interface, and easy to understand icons and graphics for modes.
Kid-sized. Kids’ hands are small.
Good image quality and decent LCD screen size.
Zoom and video capability.
Expandable memory.
Nice looking. Not intimidating.
No additional software required. Lots of those super cheap cameras require you to load special software just to download the pictures. No thanks.
Under $150.
There are literally hundreds of cameras that fit those criteria. I went with the with a 2GB SD card. You can get the Kodak with extra memory for about $80. Nice little camera. Perfect size for small hands, 6 megapixels, videos, zoom, and we got a neat little blue carrying case with a shoulder-strap to protect it. With the 2GB SD card, it holds over 650 photos. Another great feature of that camera is that it runs on two AA batteries (I use rechargable NiMH batteries). My daughter has taken hundreds of photos with it, taken it out on the open ocean and shot video of dolphins, and even started making some home movies with her brother. In short, she’s had a blast with it.
For a little more money you can get any of the cameras in the Canon Elph line. The ($150), for example, is a 7 megapixel camera. All of the Elphs take great photos and are made for small hands. Every manufacturer makes cameras in this category. Check out these from , , , , , and . Or .
Whichever camera you get you’ll also want to get an extra memory card. Memory cards are very inexpensive these days. I think I paid about $5 for a 2 GB card that can hold about 600 photos. You’ll also want to get a soft carrying case just big enough for the camera with an adjustable over-the-shoulder strap.
So what do you do with all the photos? I import them every couple of weeks from the SD card and tag them all “bykids.” We go through them together and she’ll ask for prints now and then. But mostly, she just likes shooting them. No Flickr account—yet.
As far as instruction goes, I’ve pretty much left her to figure out things on her own. I’ve shown her how to switch between automatic and video and the basics of taking photographs. But beyond that I’ve let her experiment. As Patton once said, “If you tell people where to go, but not how to get there, you’ll be amazed at the results.” Kids have an interesting perspective on life and a camera allows them to express themselves in a new way creatively.
I was concerned initially that my daughter would be disappointed with the Kodak, but in fact she couldn’t have been happier to have received a real “grown-up” camera instead of the same kids model her friends got.
So the consensus seems to be that I should on a compact camera. Which is a consensus I am quite happy to go along with. The problem is that, as is often the case, answering one question has led to another. Namely, which compact camera should I buy?
I’ve done a little research into cameras in my price range ($150-$300) and this is a brief summary of what I’ve found:
Camera
Optical Zoom
Shutter Speed
Aperture
Price (est.)
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC E90
3x
1 – 1/1600 sec
2.8(W) 5.2 (T)
$220
Casio Exilim EXZ100
4x
2.6 (W) 5.8 (T)
$280
Samsung i8
3x
1~1/2000 sec
3.5 (W) 4.5 (T)
$200
Panasonic DMC-TZ4S
10x
8 - 1/2,000 sec
3.3 (W) 4.9 (T)
$280
Canon Powershot A590 IS
4x
15-1/2000 sec
2.6 (W) 5.5 (T)
$180
Nikon Coolpix S550
5x
$230
I didn’t include megapixels because all of them have at least 7MP, the blank spaces in the table are bits of information the manufacturer’s website didn’t provide (or at least not where I could find it).
Out of this lot the Panasonic appeals to me because of it’s large optical zoom but it’s at the top end of my price range and the Canon, which sits at the bottom of the price scale, looks like great value especially considering this isn’t going to be my primary camera. I’m not quite ready to part with my cash yet so leave a comment and tell me which compact (in the $150-$300 price range) you think I should go for and why. Although I’ve just read a review of the so maybe I need to keep saving and aim for that!
Adobe’s online television channel went on the air Wednesday this week. Lot’s of stuff there including a . Uh, you have to kind of squint and use your imagination a bit if you don’t want to be reminded that it’s an infomercial.
The next is coming up April 27. Pinhole what? You don’t need to go all crazy and buy film or anything. You can . Or make one of out of paper.
Here’s an interesting bit. The Calgary Herald wrote recently about a company that people are . Why? So they can get “completely natural” candid portraits.
Looking to jump on the DSLR bandwagon? It’s amazing when you think that we’ve gone from measly 2 megapixel monstronsities to sleek, 12 megapixel DSLRs in the span of just 5 or 6 years. Take a look at and join the fun.
Photographers looking for a new genre to increase their studio's revenue would be wise to consider adding maternity to their studio's repertoire. "Never before has the demand for images of women who are pregnant been greater". Magazines are filled with photos of celebrities proudly showing off their pregnant figures, and women everywhere want to document their beauty during pregnancy. Also, the digital revolution has made capturing beautiful, painterly images easier and less time consuming than ever before. The subject's skin tone and texture can be easily digitally enhanced, and special software programs can be used to impart a wide variety of polished, classic, artistic effects."
As far as instruction goes, I’ve pretty much left her to figure out things on her own. I’ve shown her how to switch between automatic and video and the basics of taking photographs. But beyond that I’ve let her experiment. As Patton once said, “If you tell people where to go, but not how to get there, you’ll be amazed at the results.” Kids have an interesting perspective on life and a camera allows them to express themselves in a new way creatively.