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If you’re under a certain age, I think you have a natural trust of high technology. Above a certain age, I think you suspect that “it can’t be that easy.”  Well, I won’t say what that age is, but put me in the suspicious category. I bought a 4×6 digital photo printer. An Epson, maybe $119.  We bought it to print our wedding pictures. We had saved some dough by going mostly digital on the wedding pictures, with a few film shots for the classic wedding shots like rings, kiss, cake, etc.  What I wasn’t prepared for was that these digital files were like 5 meg or so, and the size of each picture was something like 42×29 inches. How in the world was I going to shrink them down to 4×6? I spent hours in Photoshop cropping, shrinking, saving to various media, in various file types. No success. Finally, in frustration, I transferred the pics, untouched, from the DVD to the thumb drive and popped it into a port on the printer. Instantly, perfect 4×6 prints popped out.  Imagine the satisfaction on my wife’s face, having told me 3 hours earlier to do exactly that. My response at the time? “It can’t be that easy!”

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I was at a high school graduation over the weekend. Something like 600 kids graduating, so there were approximately 250,000 relatives in the audience.  Our nephew was way back in the “B” names, so I was already bored. My wife eventually elbowed me and pointed out the following scene. A couple of rows in front of me sat Nana. Not exactly a little old lady, but definitely some kid’s grandmother.  Apparently, little Bubba’s turn was coming up, so Nana was getting ready. She had her digital camera all set to go. Sort of. It was “on” anyway. Even from 2 rows behind, I could tell that she was zoomed all the way in. The camera had a pretty decent zoom. The problem is, in a sea of 600 kids all wearing the same green caps and gowns, she couldn’t find her kid to save her life. Watching her point the camera all around, and stretching her arms waaaay out (I don’t know what the logic was there) was comical. Finally, her son grabbed the camera, zoomed it out, and actually pointed the thing at the diploma table for her. She was really grateful, and a little embarrassed. Finally, they called little Bubba’s name. I could feel the tension! Nana pointed, raised her index finger, and hit the power button “off.” 

Here’s the deal. The guys at the big box stores who sell grandmas these fully featured digital cameras need to be smacked. Buy your mom the simplest camera you can find. Something with decent resolution and a nice zoom, period. And teach her to use to use the thing!

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A friend bought a brand new, palm-sized, $900 mini-dv camcorder for his European vacation. Where was he heading? Munich’s Oktoberfest. I knew this guy’s love of beer, and I had a bad feeling. Sure enough, on day 3, he dropped the thing right into a full pitcher of beer. It was that tar-thick German beer, too. Instantly, $900 camcorder ruined.  No problem, he thought. He bought it on his American Express, and don’t their commercials always say that they cover this sort of thing? Um, read the fine print…they don’t cover it outside the USA. Homeowner’s insurance? Sorry, you’ve got a $1000 deductible.  He was screwed, and that’s the moral: make sure, I mean really sure, that your nice photographic equipment is properly insured!

How do you protect your lens from its nastiest enemies…dirt, scratching, shock and moisture? It’s a constant battle!

DIRT: for dust and lint, use a microfiber lens cloth and rub GENTLY.  If you have to use some kind of solution for stubborn dirt, use something specifically for lenses. NEVER 409 or anything like that.

SCRATCHES: Forget it. The best way to fix scratches is to avoid them. Use a plain, clear filter over your lens at all times. That way the filter gets scratched, not the lens.

SHOCK: It’s not always practical, but carry your lens and camera back separately. Also, use some kind of padded camera bag. And, above all, be careful!

MOISTURE: If you’re shooting in the rain, use a hood. Or, better yet, don’t shoot in the rain! If you are indoors, and go outside into the humidity, keep your lens in your bag until it has time to adjust.

Fact is, there are some kinds of damage that you just can’t fix, and you’ll have to get a new lens. So prevention, prevention, prevention!!!

Your mantel and bookshelves are full of family pictures. But don’t forget your pets! With some preparation and a little patience, you can take your own pet portraits and have fun doing it.

First of all, try to capture your pet’s personality. What’s his favorite thing? The kids’ wading pool? A grimy tennis ball? An old blanket? Snapping him with his favorite item not only helps capture his personality, but will likely make him more comfortable while you’re doing it.

Take the shot at his level. Towering over your pet to take the picture is no good. First of all, that’s how we see them everyday. There’s nothing  “special” about that angle. If you have to roll around in the dirt to get that special shot, do it!

Don’t use flash, unless you like red-eye, or you need practice on photoshop!

Overall, if you have to choose between a pet portrait that’s technically sound versus a pet portrait with personality, I’d say go with personality every time. Hey, it’s not like he’s going to make you do it over!

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Somewhere in my mother’s attic, there is a family portrait from 1972. There’s dad smiling, mom smiling, sis smiling and me, down in front NOT smiling and looking like I am reaching around to clutch my kidney. Which I was. It was the classic “Ready, on three…one, two…” On “two” my sister punched me in the back.  I don’t remember why.  And I can’t figure out why, six weeks later when the proofs came back, nobody said “why is that clutching his kidney and not smiling? Do you think maybe we should retake the photo?”  I mean, if not for the domestic violence angle, it would have been a 1972 classic: black and white, with dad’s brylcreemed hair and muttonchops, mom in her B52 hairdo and sis looking like Marcia Brady. I was even wearing a clip-on bowtie!  How about you? Any family portrait tales of terror you’d like to share?

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Dueling Photographers

I happened to be down at Charleston’s White Point Gardens last weekend. That’s the old city park at the Battery. It’s one of those perfect picturesque settings in town, both as subject matter and as a background. And a big magnet is the old gazebo. It was funny to watch several species of photographer doing their thing. First was a wedding photographer, dragging a young couple around to all the various locations. It was Sunday, and they were alone, so I’m guessing they were shooting pictures for their wedding announcement. Next, it was a fashion photographer, ordering around this gaggle of mod young hipsters through their various poses. Each photographer had to compete for the best angles, both with each other and the usual squadron of tourists. It looked like a challenge, but everybody was laid back and cooperative in that Charleston way. Definitely one of the nicer things about shooting in Charleston…you never run out of scenery!

Better Vacation Pictures

You should see my mom’s picture books. Volume after volume of family photos of holidays, birthdays and vacations. Especially vacations. You look at those pictures of us in Myrtle Beach, or Beaufort or Fort Sumter and you notice the same thing. I mean, other than blurry tip of her index finger in the frame. You notice how staged all the pictures are. Her favorite composition was to stand us up in front of whichever bronze maker placed there by the Park Service, edge her index finger into the frame, and snap. What you get is tired kids squinting into the sun in a photo that says nothing other than “we were here.” That’s fine for a mom, I guess. But you know what would be better than a kid awkwardly posing in front of a cannon? A kid playing on a cannon, who has no idea you’re taking his picture. Instead of a kid standing next to a sign saying “World’s Deepest Canyon,” how about a kid looking up in awe at the size of the canyon walls? So go for the candid shot! It may take an extra bit of creativity than striking a pose, but you will appreciate the pictures so much more. The index finger is your problem, though!

Tip 1: Keep LCD Use to a Minimum

The part of your digital camera that uses up the most power is without a doubt the LCD screen. Every time you open up this digital display you are presented with a view of what the camera sees in real-time, meaning that the display has to be refreshed multiple times every second to show you a fluent-moving picture. Keeping usage of the LCD screen to a minimum will definitely help a freshly charged battery last much longer!

Tip 2: Manage Photos While Your Batteries Charge

Another easy way to cut down on the amount of power drained from your batteries is to wait until you can plug your camera into an AC adapter before you start to manage your photos. This is an important tip to remember - you may enjoy cropping, deleting, and viewing your photos on the go, but it will leave you with much less power to take photos if you do so.

Tip 3: Try Not to Use the Memory Card

This tip goes hand in hand with the previous one, but also plays an important factor in keeping enough juice in your camera batteries to take those important photos! It uses up a lot of power every time that you access the memory card, so keep this in mind before reviewing every photo that you take while relying solely on battery power.

Tip 4: Don’t Mix Different Types of Batteries

Keeping the same types of batteries together can help to conserve power in digital cameras as well as most other battery-powered devices. This is mostly because the performance of older batteries will not be as good as newer ones, and they will drain much faster. Another important reason to remember this tip is that mixing different types of batteries can be dangerous – the batteries can become damaged and even leak, which in turn could end up damaging your digital camera.

Tip 5: Let Batteries Run Out

Letting batteries completely run out of power before recharging them can help them to last longer as well as increase their performance. Something that people tend to forget is that just because your batteries aren’t holding enough energy to run your camera it doesn’t mean that they are entirely empty of power. You can make sure that your batteries are as empty as possible before recharging them by leaving them in an old radio or a flashlight that is turned on until they run down.

The best part of being a child of the eighties at a birthday party was taking a picture and waiting the three seconds that it took for the film to develop right before your eyes. Goofy eight year olds across the country would grab pictures as they came out of the camera and watch the magic unfold before their eyes.

At one time Polaroid dominated the instant camera market, sadly, Polaroid has finally given up the ghost.

Thankfully, for the nostalgic few interested in purchasing film for their dusty Polaroid camera (It’s a great way to add some authenticity to an 80’s party) the Goose Creek, South Carolina Agfa plant manufactures the film you’ll need.

Visit our photography directory to find a retailer that carries Polaroid film for your next ‘tubular’ event!