RoidWeek #2, 2014 - This Week!

I just found out about this. RoidWeek, which is a celebration of instant photography, starts today and goes through Friday. The event welcomes any instant film shots, but not digital facsimiles of them. They don't have to be Polaroid.

 

I read about it on Snap It | See It. (Click Here) to see the post. Inside, you'll find a link to the flickr page where you can submit images.

 

Importantly, images need to be taken this week, and the "week" is only five days, this Monday through Friday.

 

I'm going to have to load up my Polaroid (or Polaroid back for my MUP) and get some weekday shots to post.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Photo Contest Announcement - National Historic Landmarks

Potomac (Potowmack) Canal, by Reed A. George

Pentax Spotmatic

 

The United States National Park Service is sponsoring a photo contest, focused on National Historic Landmarks.

 

(Click Here) to see the announcement. The contest entry period ends July 9, 2013.

 

There are over 2,500 National Historic Landmarks in the United States. (Click Here) for a listing by state. Being in Virginia, I'm surrounded by sites.

 

You can enter one image per site, with a maximum of ten total photos. If you go to the link announcement above, you'll find directions to the flickr site where you submit the images.

 

Sounds like fun!

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

Not Quite Ready for Photography Back-up Perfection - the iPad

Apple iPad 2

Image Source: http://www.apple.com/ipad/compare/

 
So, I've been using an Apple iPad for so many things in life recently. I really love the device, and it goes everywhere with me - mainly for work, but at home and on travel as well.
 
My meeting notes and plans are so much better organized than in the past, and always with me. The app Evernote has made that happen for me. But, you're here to read about photography...
 
I've been using the iPad for photo backup on travel. The Apple Camera Connect Kit ($29) allows me to transfer fiiles from an SD card (from the camera) to the iPad. That's great. Here are the current limitations:
 

1. Limited storage (64 Gb total) on the iPad.
2. The iPad will only upload photos into its own photo app.
3. No way to export to a hard drive to have a second copy of the files.
4. Limited capability in apps to organize, rate, and store photos.

On the positive side, if you have access to the internet, with LOTS of bandwidth (more than most hotels offer), you can use the iPad to upload photos for backup. One great solution for this is flickr, which allows you to upload (and hide if you wish) unlimited jpegs for $25 per year. The only drawback there is that you can't backup your raw files. But, it's sure a nice way to have at least your jpegs safely copied online.

If you don't have internet access, options are quite limited. What I've been doing is copying files from my SD cards to the iPad, AND keeping them on the SD card as well. This is not a bad solution, as SD cards are quite inexpensive now, and it's easy to carry a lot of memory in a very small volume. But, once I reach 64 Mb (which includes all of my applications and documents on the iPad), I'm kind of stuck.
 
I thought I had a fix recently. I purchased a book specifically about the iPad for photographers. I won't list it here, because the fact that it's already out of date is causing me problems. I can't recommend the book to my readers. Anyway, at one point in time, the photo app PhotoSmith (www.photosmithapp.com) had the capability of sending photos to a compact wireless hard disk from Seagate.
 

Seagate Go Flex 500 Gb Wireless Hard Disk

Image Source: http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Satellite-Wireless-External-STBF500101/dp/B004Z0S7K6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354106017&sr=8-1&keywords=seagate+goflex

 
This drive is on sale for the reasonable price of $99 right now. So, I bought one. Guess what? It no longer connects with PhotoSmith. According to PhotoSmith Technical Support, that's because of some issues on the Seagate side, and they hope to fix it soon. But for now, it won't allow me to move photos from the iPad to the Go Flex.
 
Now, about the Go Flex. It's pretty cool. If you want to load up an enormous amount of video, photos, music, etc. for a trip (loading from a PC with USB), you can share all of that wirelessly to up to three devices (including iPads). So, you can keep the whole family happy with movies for a long drive. But, you can't move anything from the iPad to the Go Flex at this point. So, it doesn't solve my backup problem.
 
Another exciting development is the Kingston solid state wireless drive. That's a topic for a later post, as I haven't fully investigated it yet. However, at this time, I believe it has the same issue with transferring files from the iPad. Once this is solved, either device will be a killer solution.
 
A quick note on the PhotoSmith app. It's pretty good in most ways. It allows me to import photos from the Apple photo app to PhotoSmith (both on the iPad). Once I've done that, I can sort, rank, and flag my files, just like I do in Lightroom at home. And, there's a publish plug-in for Lightroom that allows me to transfer those files wirelessly once I get home, directly into Lightroom on my desktop machine, ratings and all. Now, this is not seamless. It has limitations. I've had a hard time getting ALL of my photos to transfer, and you don't have much flexibility in deciding where they transfer to on your desktop (they go in a PhotoSmith directory in MyPhotos on the PC, which is not where I want them). Overall, I give PhotoSmith 3 out of 5 stars. I'm sure it will improve.
 
I really love the iPad, and think the iPad Mini could be the right solution for travel photography backup, once it can send files to an external drive (by the way, that doesn't need to be wireless for me; a wired drive would be fine).
 
So, all of this leaves me thinking - what about just going to the Apple MacBook Air? I could carry a 256 Gb Air and a normal USB drive, and instantly have two copies of my photos, and free up my SD cards to be reformatted. And, if I have internet connectivity, it's even better. The Air is more expensive. It also lacks the nice touch screen interface of the iPad. I'd much rather solve the few remaining issues with the iPad and maybe go to the mini.
 
So, there's a quick update on the status of the iPad for photographers, as I see it. If others have found nice solutions, please let me know.
 
DMC-365.blogspot.com
 
 

"Twins" Wins! Adam Wins the Sony eReader!

 

The Twins, by Adam Bucci
Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/adambucci/7616904628
 
I didn't say this up front, but I want everyone to know who the judge was for the DMC-365 photo contest - it was my eleven year old daughter, Christine. She's a bit of a joker herself, and really loved this shot. When asked for why she selected it as the winner, she said:
 
 
"It's funny. The color is great. They really do look like exact twins. The clouds look nice, and you can tell it was taken in the wilderness."
 
So there you have it.
 
We had several great entries - thanks everyone for participating.
 
(Click Here) to see all the entries.
 
I'm already thinking of the next giveaway, and think I have something that may be a little more in demand.
 
Hope you all enjoyed the contest.
 
ADAM - Please send me your mailing address so that I can get your eReader on its way!
 
DMC-365.blogspot.com
 
 
DMC-365.blogspot.com
 

Is It True? Nobody Wants A Free $300 Sony eReader?

 

Free Sony eReader to Photo Contest Winner

 

So far, there are no entries to the contest. I'm a little surprised. The deadline is in 3 days, and all you have to do is post a great photo shot with a Panasonic camera in the flickr group.

 

(Click Here) for my post that explains how easy it is to enter.

 

Right now, there's no competition. If you enter, and no one else does, guess what? You win!
 
So enter!
 
DMC-365.blogspot.com
 
 
 

DMC-365 is Giving Away a Free Sony eReader! Enter Your Picture on Flickr!

 

Sony Reader PRS-950 - Enter on Flickr!

 

Let's have a little photo contest here on DMC-365!

 

The prize is a barely-used Sony Reader Daily Edition (PRS-950), with these features:

- Touch screen

- Wifi and 3G

- Audio player built-in

- Compatible with Sony Reader Store, Adobe pdf, other formats (not Amazon Kindle, however)

 

 

The reader works fine; I've just changed to the Kindle format, even though this one's compatible with many formats, and cost me $300 a little over a year ago!

 

You'll need to have a flickr account to enter (it's free).

 

To enter the giveaway:

 

1. Post a picture in the flickr group at this address:

 

http://www.flickr.com/groups/1988936@N25/

 

or (Click Here) to go directly to the flickr group.

 

Pictures must be taken with a Panasonic or Leica-branded Panasonic camera. Deadline is midnight 8/4/2012.

 

2. Include the tag "DMC-365" in your picture's tag list.

 

3. Leave a comment here (below), telling me that you've added the picture.

 

 

Enter up to ten images. There is no restriction on photo subjects (just have to be safe for all to view). Will only ship the prize to a continental US address.

 

The lucky winner will be contacted through flickr mail, and posted here. The Reader is completely free, and I'll pay to ship it to you (all entries must have a shipping address in the continental US).

 

I'll announce the winner and show the winning image by 8/11/2012.

 

Good luck!

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Lumix DMC-GX1 in Trinidad (Carnival)

And now for something quite different...

Image Source: http://www.mu-43.com/f57/trinidad-carnival-2012-a-22573/

 

Lumix images from another place I've never been, Trinidad!

 

(Click Here) to see the original post on mu-43.com and a couple more images, and a link to cakkarudie's flickr set at the bottom of the post.

 

There are some pretty risque' shots there, so be careful if you are at work!

 

I find this image pretty interesting:

Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cakkarudie/6931344327/

 

Those security guards with sticks in the background don't look all that jovial.

 

Anyway, I can see that these shots were made with the PZ14-42mm lens, and overall look really good. Looks like a fun party, but I'm not sure everyone there was happy about being photographed. Clearly, some were happy no matter what!

 

Thanks for sharing, cakkarudie!

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

 

 

Now This Could Be Cool - An Online Lumix

 

Image Source: http://files.petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2012/03/samsung_mini1.jpg

According to a post on PetaPixel, both Samsung and Panasonic are considering adding internet capability to cameras, using the Android operating system.

(Click Here) for the PetaPixel post.

I can imagine that it would be nice to be able to automatically upload images to my flickr account, even while I'm shooting. I can also imagine using my camera to guide me when I get lost. I guess I can even imagine using a bluetooth device to talk on my camera. But, what I can't imagine is that many people will not also have a phone in their pocket while they're out shooting. So, maybe the real usage will be restricted to photo-related tasks?

I also wonder if this would be limited to the Japanese market for Panasonic products? As far as I know, they sell phones in Japan, but I'm not sure if they sell anywhere else. I'm pretty sure Panasonic phones are not available in the US.

Anyway, this is intriguing.

I think I'd rather have wireless connection from my camera to my iPad, honestly. Now that would be cool.

DMC-365.blogspot.com

Is It Possible? The First Flickr Street Photography Group Specifically For Micro 4/3?

User KVG on mu-43.com recently posted an announcement that they had just started the first street photography group on flickr specifically for Micro 4/3 users. Seems impossible, but a quick scan of my groups shows none. There are certainly plenty of street groups, and Micro 4/3 groups, but I don't see any at the intersection of the two.

 

(Click Here) to see the post on mu-43.com

 

Hipster, by

Image Source: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7181/6936865507_f45e82ec48_z.jpg

 

If you prefer to go directly to the group, here is the link (Click Here)

 

I will be joining immediately. Let's see those street shots!

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com