Rediscovering Photography

Just in the last two decades, photography technology has done some incredibly interesting things to cameras. About twenty five years ago, all cameras were film based. They had to be manually loaded with the film. And, they were bulky in size. This is definitely no longer the case.

Today, you can have a slim digital camera that can be found in all colors, shapes, and sizes. And, when I say sizes, I mean from small to smaller. As electronics become more and more sophisticated, they also become smaller and thinner to fit the demands of the marketplace.

Small digital cameras have found a very welcome consumer base that is able to feed the appetites of compulsive picture takers. Now you can find mini digital cameras small enough to easily slip in your pocket and you can have it with you 24 hours a day. There is never a reason to miss a photo again. And even if you’ve got the latest and best 35mm DSLR with all the lenses and accessories you can’t have it with you all the time. Consider one of these tiny digital cameras to add to your gear and you’ve really got the perfect ‘walk around’ camera.

Here are some of the many reasons why people tend to lean towards purchasing a slim digital camera:

Super small size – Their size is so small James Bond would be jealous, allowing them to be carried virtually anywhere with very little effort.

High Quality Photos – They have enough mega pixels for you to take any picture and blow it up to almost any size. 10 MP and 12 MP models are available and affordable.

Trendy and Stylish – Yes, they have the tendency to be very trendy and very stylish making them appeal to pretty much everybody. And there is nothing wrong with that, is there?

With top rated company brands like Casio, Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Samsung, Panasonic, Kodak, Sony, Fuji, and Olympus marketing their own unique models of slim digital cameras, the variety of available features and styles are almost endless.

Another one of the exciting benefits of owning one of the many slim digital cameras that are available on the market today it that they really do not require any excessive level of specialized training to operate them like those film based cameras of yesteryear did.

Today, almost anyone can pick up a slim digital camera and just take several minutes to familiarize themselves with it before going out and shooting some great pictures pretty much effortlessly.

You can find high quality cameras today that will easily fit in your shirt pocket or will hardly take up any room in your purse or handbag.

One very popular model is the Casio Exilim EX-S12 12MP Digital Camera pictured to the left (click on the picture or this link to check it out at Amazon). This camera is very small but it is a powerhouse for it’s size. It is smaller than a package of cigarettes measuring 3.7 inches wide by 2.2 inches high by 0.6 inches deep. It features 3x Optical Zoom and has a 2.7 inch LCD screen.

If you want a camera that you can always have with you that takes great high quality shots then the Exilim EX-S12 is a great choice. Then throw in the fact that you can also record HD Video clips that you can upload right to YouTube if you want and you’ve got the perfect carry everyday camera!

And if you want to save a little money and still get a perfect slim digital camera that you’ll always have at your fingertips, you should check out the Casio EX-Z33VP 10.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and 2.5 inch LCD (Vibrant Pink) pictured above at the right. This camera looks great in pink, but also comes in black and a pale blue.

Today it is so easy to have a camera that takes great pictures with you at all times. You never need to miss a chance to snap a memory that you might cherish forever. Check out the various slim digital cameras and get yourself one today.

Technology has a way of moving toward the biggest and smallest ends of every spectrum, and the case with mini digital cameras is no different.

While the trend in cameras has been to see how many more megapixels each manufacturer can squeeze into regular sized cameras, there is a growing trend of small mini sized cameras coming on to the market.

Some of these are small enough to be carried in a usb stick or on a key chain. While most users report that the photo quality of these smallest camera leaves a lot to be desired, there is still a notion in my mind that there is a place for these.

If you had a camera on your key chain, and for the first week or so after you got it you would take a few pictures every day, it would stick in your mind that you have this little gadget in your pocket or purse. The photos they take may not be the finest quality and you hear a lot of criticism when you read the reviews of these products. But it seems that people are really missing the point.

You should not think that if you pay somewhere from $10 to $40 for a little key chain camera or one of the really small mini units that you will get the same quality photos that you would get with a $2,500 Canon or Nikon DSLR. That’s not the point. The point is that they do take usable low to medium resolution photos in normal lighting conditions.

And there are lots of situations where having any type of camera to snap a quick photo would really be a benefit. If you are out shopping and you see something that you might want to consider in the future, snap a quick pick and research it later when you have time. Or if you see a sign in a store window, or spot something you want to remember for later, a quick photo will have enough quality for you to get the information from later.

If you see a news worthy event, or just want a quick shot of some special occasion, you will always have your little camera with you. And it goes without saying that if you would have the bad luck to be in an accident, or witness one, a few pictures of the scene and people involved can be your private record in case you need to refresh your memory later.

These also make excellent gifts for kids and will bring out the James Bond in them.

These types of camera typically use a single AAA battery, so the cost of using it is minimal.

It wasn’t that many years ago when having a camera and taking photos was an expense that forced people to take pictures only for ‘special’ occasions. Things have now radically changed with digital photography. The cost and ease of use of cameras has moved to the point that we should all keep in our minds that anything we see is something that we could instantly record if we just remembered to do it.

The power, quality and ease of use of all digital cameras continues to get better and better. Maybe now is the time for you to do some thinking about the way you use them in your everyday life.

Nobody sees the photos you have on your hard drive!

Why do you take photos? To keep them stored on your computer? To spend hours and hours post processing them with Photoshop or some other image processing software? And then saying, “I’ve got to get to bed. I’ll work on these some more tomorrow.”

If this sounds familiar, then you’ll know how I’ve felt about processing photos after I download them from the camera.

About a year ago I made some headway into solving the time it takes to sort lots of pictures when I wrote my PhotoMove program. It automatically sorts photos into folders based on the date the photo was taken (not the file date) and you can’t beat the price, it’s free. Download it and try it out.

But I think I’ve finally realized that our whole mindset has got to change about digital pictures. There are so many tools available to change and edit and adjust and sharpen and resize and fix the photos that we are constantly trying to make them “perfect” and end up never printing them or putting them up on the web for others to see.

So here’s a start on knocking down the “post processing barrier” that we spend so much time on.

After looking at many options, I found a free program that works exceptionally well at resizing images and is extremely fast to use.

The program is called the RIOT – Radical Image Optimization Tool. This is free resizing software but the author does ask for a voluntary contribution. If you can afford it, give the guy a few bucks. This is a nice piece of work.

This program is made for one thing only: Reducing the size of the image file while keeping the highest quality possible based on the size you pick. This allows you to use your photos quickly on your web page or in an email without spending hours getting it ready.

For fun, take a look at these instructions for How to Optimize a Picture for the Web from eHow.com. Can you believe it? Seven (fairly complicated) steps to convert an image.

We are going to be working on ways to allow people to see our photos, in very high quality so we can be proud of them, quickly and immediately so we don’t waste hours on the computer. And the RIOT tool is a great start for our system to accomplish this.

Download the program and give it a try. It’s a riot.