Nov 2008
Quick way to make your picture a Polaroid
Two weeks ago or so I read a post about a pretty cool software on TUAW.com that I immediately downloaded to try it. What software that was? An app called Poladroid (currently there is only a beta for Mac OS X but they are also working on a Windows version) that allows you to simple drag your photo onto the icon of the app and it will start processing your photo as a Polaroid. It will start out as a blank Polaroid, just as it would when you use an actual Polaroid camera and it will start processing from there, slowly revealing your photo, which you can speed up by shaking the Polaroid.
It really is a very fast and convenient way to transform your photo into a Polaroid. I also like how it affects the colors of your photos, making it feel so much more realistic. The most pressing thing that is missing right now is the ability to choose the area it should crop to for the square size of the Polaroid. Here are some more examples of my photos transformed by Poladroid:
and the originals:
If you want to see more, feel free to check out my flickr set.
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How a camera strap can make such a difference...
03/Nov/08 21:16 Filed in: Hardware
A few months back I had read several posts in german photography blogs about a new camera strap. I was thinking about getting one but forgot to do so until I read a blog post by Scott Kelby about that strap. After that I decided to finally get one. I was using the standard strap that comes with the camera until then. While I like that one, the camera can get pretty heavy if you carry it around your neck all day. This had gotten such a problem that I was wearing it around my shoulder half the day during my trip to Berlin last summer.
So now you are probably wondering about what kind of strap that is and how it makes a difference. The strap is called R-Strap and is made by Backrapid. It’s one of those things were you think: „Why didn’t anyone think of this sooner?“. The strap is a basic shoulder strap with your camera attached to it, so that it will hang next to your hip while you are walking and you can just lift it up to your face for shooting pictures.
Because my explanation doesn’t do it any justice, here is a promo video where they show of how the R-Strap works:
I got mine several weeks back and was finally able to test it out last week when I visited the Zoo here in Atlanta with a friend of mine. I was carrying my Canon 40D with the 75-300mm IS lens attached, which is a pretty heavy and long combination. But all day I didn’t notice that I was carrying a camera - it was as if it weighs nothing! In fact, my Crumpler camera bag with my 60mm Macro lens and a bottle of water, on my other shoulder felt way heavier. Another great thing was that I didn’t have to be afraid for my lens when I was walking through crowded areas, since the camera was hanging at my hip in a way that the lens was protected from harm and didn’t swing at all while I was walking. I was really pleasantly surprised after my day in the zoo. I absolutely love my new camera strap!