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Add Wireless Capability to Your Camera

January 15, 2010 — Mrs. Mecomber

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Eye-Fi. All opinions are 100% mine.

I’ve been moaning and groaning lately about my problems with my photo blog– I just don’t have time to deal with the photos! I loev taking photos, I love looking at them… but it has become a hassle to download them from the SD card, load them into my computer, edit them, upload them to my photo-sharing site, and *finally* post them on the blog. It would be really nice to skip a few of those steps, if I could.

Well, I can! There’s this nifty gadget called Eye-Fi and it’s the hottest little thing to hit the gadget world. The SD card has wireless capabilities. When you purchase the card, you activate the wireless functionality, and snap photos. The Eye-Fi comes in four different SD cards with up to 4GB memory, each with their own functions: Home, Share, Explore, and Pro. This brief video starring Erin Manning gives a quick rundown of how Eye-Fi works.

I like the idea! Of course, I’d have to take quality photos the first time (I am known for snapping 4 to 5 photos of the same thing, just in case most don’t turn out. I think it’s a precaution from my celluloid camera days).

The Eye-Fi looks good not only for it’s ease in uploading photos wirelessly, but it also has an automatic backup setting that organizes all photos by date onto your computer! It will also upload videos from your camera as well as photos.

I think it’s a photographer’s (and photo blogger’s!) dream. And if you go to the website, you can see that there’s a new Eye-Fi card with 8GB capability now! Plus, there’s a nice special for getting an Eye-Fi free if you purchase 200GB storage with Google. Check out the Eye-Fi website for more details.

Posted in desktop publishing, image editing, technology. Tags: cameras, photos, SD cards. Comments Off »

Free Photo Editing Software

April 21, 2009 — Mrs. Mecomber

I found another very nice (and free!) photo editing software program: Photoscape. It’s very nice. It’s a lot like Google’s Picasa, but without… Google. Which I prefer.

Here’s the self-described key features of Photoscape:

I just love the batch editing ability. I process hundreds of photos at a time sometimes– takes me HOURS. Resizing or sharpening all at once is such a time saver. I love Photoscape! And the price can’t be beat.

Posted in desktop publishing, free programs, image editing. Tags: art, free, photos. Comments Off »

Vintage Photos Site

April 7, 2009 — Mrs. Mecomber

I just LOVE vintage photos. For one, they are cool to look at. It is amazing to see how so much has changed, especially after the inception of technology. And two, the photos are usually public domain, and free to use!

I found one nice site with various vintage photos: Shorpy. I have no idea if this is a blog, or just a compilation of old photos in blog form. Nonetheless, it’s a nice site to see old photographs.

Another good site is Frontier Vintage Photos. I don’t think you can use these for personal use, as the owner owns the originals to sell them. But they are neat to look at.

Another site is My Heritage. Some of these ask for reader help in identifying people and places. And here‘s a small collection of downloadable vintage photos. And this site is very cool– Vintage Supermarket photos. Amazing! Finally, probably one of the best collections of everything on the planet is at the Library of Congress– including old photos. You could spend days perusing the website.

Enjoy!

Posted in desktop publishing, educational programs, free stuff, image editing, Internet, websites. Tags: archives, education, photos, resources. Comments Off »

Ho Ho Ho!

December 6, 2008 — Mrs. Mecomber

This is just too adorable! The guys who did this did a terrific job– this video is so witty and well done! That’s ME, virtually-sitting on Santa’s lap! lol!

This is a special little interactive video brought to us by the amazing dudes at CEIVA Logic. They produce the amazing CEIVA Digital Photo Frame. This isn’t just any old digital photo frame, either. This is an internet-connected social media tool for your friends and family. You can send or receive photos directly to your frame from anywhere in the world. I think the concept behind it is pretty amazing. The CEIVA Share program is very affordable– a one-year plan is on sale right now for $129.99. This would make a great gift for grandparents, or anyone. It’s best of you order by December 22, to ensure delivery by Christmas.

Back to the video, Santa says my wish is a “lofty request.” LOL. You’ll have to see the video here to see what I asked him for, lol. :-p

Also a benefit is the Got a Wish Sweepstakes being sponsored by CEIVA. I entered! There is no purchase necessary to win, and the sweepstakes is open to all U.S. residents 18 years and older (excludes reindeer and elves, sorry). Winners are chosen at random each day of the sweepstakes, to receive $500 a day! Check out the website for more details. And be sure to check out the CEIVA Digital Photo Frame, it would make a lovely gift.

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Posted in free stuff, photo editing. Tags: photos, sweepstakes. Comments Off »

PicApp for Free Photos

December 6, 2008 — Mrs. Mecomber

I have been trying to incorporate more photos into my blogs, but taking them myself and going through the uploading is such a hassle sometimes. PicApp is something I found. It’s a site with loads of free photos for the taking. Be sure to read the terms of service and FAQs before using the site, though! PicApp says there is no fee to use their service, and they are in the process of making a way for people to actually make money with them.

I tried out the photo search– I tried “cat” and I came up with all sorts of results. I was going to embed the photo here, but after I tried, I noticed a Google AdSense ad in my post under the photo. I do not want an AdSense ad in my post, so I removed the image. I find this element of embedding photos with such ads very offensive.

You can embed their photos for free, if you give them your email address. Or, you can register. I tried to register, but the captcha wouldn’t take. I tried five different times on two different browsers and it wouldn’t go, so I assume it’s something wrong on their end. Bummer.

So the idea of embedding free stock photos is great, but like I said, they’d better dump the AdSense ad if they want to have any means of success. That is just TOO intrusive to be acceptable.

Posted in free stuff, image editing, photo editing. Tags: free, images, photos. Comments Off »

Hotlink– Please!

November 10, 2008 — Mrs. Mecomber

The time has come! Wow I found a terrific website! I think it’s about time for something like this, and I am very excited to use it! It’s called AcoBox.com. It’s a portal for bloggers who love to have blog pictures within their posts (like me). The problem with a blogger (like me) posting photos the “old way,” is that I have always had to search for an image (and make sure its not copyrighted from me using it), save it to my computer, upload the photo to my photo hosting site, fanagle with that, and insert the code into my post. It is a tedious chore.

Well, here comes AcoBox.com. They already have a large selection of photos to choose from. You register to use the service (if you are a blogger, you need to include your blog url in the form), and you can hotlink their photos on your blogs. All their photos are licensed and optimized for websites. And the photos are very nice, too. Here’s one I tried:

It’s a pretty cool service. I’m all for efficiency– I see so many of the same photos clogging up places! And I hate tinkering with endless photos all day long.