I love to scan old photos.
Seriously, being able to scan negatives and slide from my archives is one of my favorite evening pastimes. Set it up, scan and store. It almost becomes a treasure hunt, especially with the negatives.
One thing I was not scanning much were all of the 4×6 photos in my storage boxes. You know, we all have them. The personal records of our lives.
The neg sleeves from the commercial labs, like Fromex, had a short cut to the strips, and was, honestly a bit of a pain to deal with.
There are services where you pack all of your precious family photos into a box, and send them overseas to be scanned. Scared the heck out of me, so never did it.
The I saw a demo of the Epson FastFoto 640

When I first saw the Epson FastFoto last year, I had a feeling that this was a breakthrough product. Being able to bulk scan my family snaps, with speed, AND scan front and back for the older ones (people used to put notes on the back) was a win. And sitting on a small bit of a desktop? Worked for me!
Until I get to try these things out myself, I can’t truly comment.
After having one to test for a bit. I’m convinced.

Pure winner.
There is one downside that I’ll broach later. Continue Reading »

You have the new camera, and have figured out that the upgrade in your photographs is massive. How do you take the next steps? Want to crush it in the photo contests, and social media? Or maybe you just want to be the master of your photo domain?
The camera manual has some good info, now it’s time to expand the horizons.
Andrew Darlow, photo book writer, has come out with a new tome which is geared to the intermediate and advanced photographer titled : “Focus & Filter, Professional techniques for Mastering Photography and capturing the Perfect Shot”

Almost 200 pages, with 50 assignments you can try after walking through the lessons, to prove the technique. Worth $15? Continue Reading »

He left the house when I was 4.
Not much time to get a sense of who the man really was. His history, his present, his dreams.Even just basic dad stuff, as it was not a good exit.
When I was 18, I went to live with him to find out more.
Every night, we would sit at the kitchen table, when the rest of the house had gone to bed.
Smoking Doral cigarettes, and having a cup of tea, the conversations were almost an interview . His history was revelatory, and would be punctuated with documents. Continue Reading »

LAST DAY FOR THIS SALE!!! 6/9/17
For 5 days, some of the finest images from the masters at Magnum Photo, are on sale for only $100!
All prints are 6″ x 6”, signed, or estate stamped, and museum quality.

Girl in a Chinese coat. Xigazê, Tibet. 2001 © Steve McCurry / Magnum Photos

“I photographed this girl in her new Chinese-style coat in Xigazê, Tibet’s second largest city. She wore it with pride.
I like to get in close when I make portraits so that distracting elements don’t interfere with the person’s expression. It was easy to establish a rapport with this girl and her family.
I think of taking portraits as making a family album of our time. This picture is one page of that album.” — Steve McCurry Continue Reading »

It’s official! Summertime has begun.
Nikon has introduced an update to their excellent outdoor camera, newly named COOLPIX W300.

It’s waterproof, shockproof, dustproof. Oh yeah, and freeze proof for your wintry excursions.
16 megapixels, and 4K UHD video.
With Wi-Fi, it’s a pretty easy share to your phone, via an app, and posting all over the dang place.
Basically, when you don’t want to put your smart phone in danger, and the go-pro menus still infuriate you, this is their perfect catchall, do everything you need camera, in a nice small package.
Continue Reading »