Tracy, at Planet Forward, gives us all a suggestion about going green: Go Digital!
Here’s a simple green tip of the week that can last a lifetime: use a digital camera to capture all of those memorable moments. When you process film, it necessitates the use of chemicals, a lot of water and paper. Choose a sustainable alternative with a digital camera that allows you to take countless pictures and easily delete the ones you don’t like and cherish those you love. Use a memory stick to take unlimited pictures at your complete discretion then copy them onto your computer for easy viewing.
And you can use a Digital picture frame to have an array of your favorite photos on display in your home. It’s green living made easy as you copy selected photos or plug in the memory stick into the Digital picture frame. The result, flashing crisp images that express even more about your child’s growth or a vacation you took or a party you attended. Digital picture frames are also a great and affordable eco-friendly gift idea to help cut down on the consumption required to process film.
You can also share your album online with friends and family through email or if you’re into the social networking scene, put them on your facebook or myspace pages or blogs of your own. It’s green photo sharing without using material resources.
If you aren’t already, start enjoying the benefits of a digital camera and follow this simple green tip that’s as easy as “say cheese.”
Photography expert Catherine Harvey takes a look at how digital photo frames are an ideal feature for a room displaying memories.
“Modern photography has come on leaps and bounds since its beginnings in 1820. The grainy, blurred first photos of those days we considered a bit of an eerie phenomenon at the time. To capture someone’s image and save it for all time, or at least as long as that person was alive, was quite something. But it set a trend and photography has taken a huge place in people’s lives.
The ability to capture memories and revisit them time and again is a fascination for many. Photography is used in all legal fields as evidence in the event of criminal acts or car accidents. It is used in medical fields to help train other staff on events that have already happened and it is used to send images around the world to share with others.
Picture lovers have long enjoyed displaying their photographs in their homes. From photographs of friends and family to photographs of favorite scenery, you would be hard pushed to find a home now that didn’t at least display a photograph or two.
Methods of the display of photography have varied slightly over the years. Who would have thought it possible that there could be a trend in photo frames – but there is. We have gone from the basic wooden frames to metal, plastic, mirrored and glass and we have seen variations that range from edgeless to chunky. Today, we now have digital photo frames that take photography display to a whole new level.
The everyday cameras that used to contain 35mm film are virtually non-existent now. Most people will be using digital cameras because the quality has come on to such a point that it is simply incomparable. Digital cameras are also a whole lot easier and more convenient that roll film.
The photo is seen instantly and can be kept, discarded or digitally enhanced or adjusted to make it just what you want. This is a much more cost effective method of photography than role film. To enhance this, the digital photo frame is an interactive display method that enhances the photos taken. .
What’s more, there isn’t even any need to print the photos before you display them. Digital photo frames can be connected to a pc through wires or even wireless methods and a program can be set up to transmit pictures to the display. A memory card can even be inserted directly into the digital photo frame and the pictures are then displayed directly.
It is also possible to set up a sequence of photos to be displayed so that the scene changes regularly. This is a nice idea if you want the frame to scroll through holiday snaps because one moment you might be looking at a picture of a beautiful beach and a few minutes later you are watching the smiling faces of your children enjoying that exact same beach. Digital photo frames also come in an illuminated variety and are lit up by small LED’s . This draws the eye to the photo and can enhance it further, making quite a room feature of it.
Long gone are the days where we would have to keep cumbersome photo albums to flick through, where photos would eventually become dog eared and faded. With the use of memory disks and cards and sticks as well as pc programs, it is easy to keep all your photos as crisp and fresh as the day you took them and to continue enjoying them forever.”
From TWICE comes the news that Motorola and Kodak have joined forces with their new 5 megapixel cameraphone, the ZN5.
The Motozine ZN5 is a fully functional Kodak camera, and when you use it, you can automatically download the pictures from the camera to your computer the moment you take them, or, you can save them for later. Once on the computer, you can utilize the Kodak Gallery and all of the Kodak picture functions. 4 gigs of expandable memory give you plenty of room for tons of pictures.
You can also download your pictures to almost any other picture-sharing website. I recommend, naturally, FrameChannel. Of course, you can also store your pictures on the Kodak site, or Picasa, or Flickr, or Google, or, actually, anywhere on the net, and still use FrameChannel to manage them. Once on FrameChannel, or any picture site, your wireless digital picture frame will immediately begin to include the new pictures in its slideshow!
Your Kodak/Motorola camera will upload your pictures to any wireless digital picture frame you tell it to; whether it’s yours in your own living room, or Grandma’s a thousand miles away. How cool is that?
Wifi, Bluetooth, MMS. . . . or a direct Kodak Gallery upload. . . Think of the many options the Motozine ZN5 offers!
I’ve raved before over how cool the Eye-Fi memory card is, and that everybody should have one. Well, I’m saying it again, and here’s one more reason why: if a thief steals your camera and uses it, your Eye-Fi card will send all his pictures to YOUR computer! And you can BAG THE JERK!
According to Reuter’s, Alison DeLauzon accidentally left her camera in a restaurant while on vacation, and when she went back for it, it was gone. She was very upset, for not only had she lost her camera, she had also lost tons of pictures and videos of her baby son.
But later, back home, Alison “. . . opened up the Eye-Fi manager on the computer and, lo and behold, there are the guys that stole our cameras. Not only is it the guy who stole our camera. . . but the guy took a picture of (his accomplice) holding our other camera.”
My husband was apparently not the only spouse to get an Eye-Fi card last Christmas! That’s when Alison got hers, too, and thanks to that magical card, she got her cameras back.
The thieves who were busily snapping pictures with their ill-gotten gains did not realize that when they walked by an unsecured network, the Eye-Fi automatically sent ALL of the photos to its registered manager on Alison’s home computer; in other words, each picture they took was immediately uploaded right smack onto her computer. Just as the Reuter’s article said, “. . . her camera “phoned home.” Just like E.T.!
Alison didn’t press charges again the restaurant employees who stole her camera – THAT’S where she and I would differ! – but yes, they were fired.
“When we finally got it back, my husband and I spent the night just sitting and watching the videos – stupid videos, like him feeding himself for the first time or him pulling himself up in his crib for the first time. We sat down one night and just relished it.”
I can’t say enough good things about the Eye-Fi memory card. We love ours, and Alison loves hers, and you’ll love YOURS when you get it. They’re about a hundred bucks and worth every penny. Ask Alison DeLauzon!
