FotoBridge | Digitizing Photos Blog

Divers were eating up our 15% off SCUBA special during March, so we've extended the special through April 30, 2009. Now through the end of April, simply enter "DIV15" in the coupon code field for online orders of our Slides 3000 or Negatives 3000 Packages and recieve instant savings. To qualify, your collection must include at least 300 underwater photographs. The discount applies to the total purchase price, including options. So gather up those treasured, underwater shots and send them to FotoBridge, you'll be glad you did.

We are suckers for a photo contest, and this one recently caught our attention.  If there was ever an ideal backdrop that competes with a Backroads trip for stunning photographic possibilities, it's a Moorings sailing charter in the BVIs. And to celebrate 40 years of Moorings vacations, the company is sponsoring a Photo & Video contest. Top prize is a 7-day sailing charter, or a 7-day stateroom vacation for 2 on a Moorings crewed yatch in the BVIs. Second prize is 7-days of provisioning for 4 people and third prize is $500 credit towards a Moorings yatch charter.  Entries are due by June 1, 2009, 3 photos per person (see Photo Contest Rules).

So if you have ever charted a course through Sir Francis Drake Channel or plan to soon, send those winning photos to the folks at the Moorings - you might be glad you did.

Green business is a natural at FotoBridge.  If there was ever a way to be constantly reminded of just how important earth-aware practices are, we've got it. Picture this: our daily passion of tranforming thousands upon thousands of photographs, many of which capture rare, often unseen natural beauty of our shared planet.  So among all the smug mugs, treasured family moments, and milestone events captured in color, black & white and sepia is a plethera of awe-inspiring reminders of the fagility we must protect.  

For us, that means constantly finding new and innovation ways to conserve engery, use and consume less and support earth friendly programs beyond our direct influence. How does this translate today at FotoBridge? Practical efficiencies that not only help us fufill our earth-friendly mission, but make darn good business sense. Our automated and digital systems were designed from the bottom up not only to allow us to deliver exceptional security, quality and value ..but to also take up less space and use less enegery than traditional platforms.  The adoption of paperless techniques wherever possible helps us drive down consumption.  Shipping and recieving offers huge opportunities for us to practice what we preach.  Among them are reusing ship-safe boxes, all packing materials and recycling anything we can't reuse.  So if that box you recieve from us doesn't quite meet the apperance expectation you might have for a world-class, big brand, global technology company - we can assure you of two things: 1) we certify and gurantee it is more than safe to protect your one-of-a-kind photos on their jorney back to you, and 2) you can help us by reusing or recycling the boxes and packing you recieve from us.  Together, we make a difference.

Are you an avid diver with a treasured collection of underwater photographs? If so, then March may be the time to finally digitize your lifetime stash of slides and negatives.  Now through April 30, FotoBridge is offering an additional 15% off its already affordable Slides 3000 and Negatives 3000 Packages.  The discount applies to the total purchase price, including options such as index prints and extra DVDs. To qualify, your collection must include at least 300 underwater photographs.

At FotoBridge, we have a life-long passion for diving and underwater photography. We have traveled far and wide pursuing great shots - from Bloody Bay Wall, The Ribbon Reefs, and Girifushi Thila to The Great Blue Hole, Palancar Caves and Jack McKenny's - we've explored many of the great dive meccas you have. To receive this special offer, place your online order for a Slides 3000 or Negatives 3000 Package prior to April 30, 2009 11:59pm and enter "DIV15" in the coupon code field. It's that simple.

SmugShot lets you snap a photo with your Apple iPhone and instantly upload it "from the scence" to any one of your SmugMug galleries.  Now that's the power you get when using these slick Apps for the iPhone connected (wirelessly) with web-based services, such as SmugMug and others.  That's remote, instantaneous sharing of images from any "field" event with anyone accessing the web, in any way (mobile, connected, etc.)  from any location.  From road rallies, trips, concerts, hikes, parties, meet-ups, conferences, restaurants, parks - whenever, wherever.  SmugShot tags every photo with the location as you take them and your SmugSug service drops them on Google Maps so anyone can share the experience as it happens.

A free application from the iPhone App Store, its work with any iPhone - even the old ones.  Easy to find and use, a must for iPhone toting SmugMuggers.

Apple's iPhoto has been a mainstay for Apple users since 2002. And like everything Apple that been around and has a future, it gets updated regularly to stay fresh and cool. iPhoto '09 has the usual improvements one might expect from a new release, such as enhanced editing features and more tools. But perhaps the biggest jump forward is a new feature Faces.  With Faces, iPhoto automatically organizes your photos by who is in them.  It uses face recognition technology to find faces that look like the same person. Naming people allows you to view the Faces corkboard that contains named faces.  Click on a photo and Faces displays all the photos in your library (regardless of size) that match your selection. Faces suggests photos for you to confirm and gets better at matching the more you use it. People-based Smart Albums update automatically when you confirm the addition of more photos of people Faces recognizes.  Another new feature is Places. With Places, iPhoto uses data from GPS-enabled cameras orthe camera on the iPhone to organize photos by location. Even without the GPS data, Places allows you to enter locations by name, address or by pointing on a map to add geographical information to your photos.  Once tagged, simply type the loaction name or "navigate" to click along a map and display photos. 

For decades, a camera first developed by a French offshore machinery company in 1961 and later evolved by Nikon for nearly half a century - NIKONOS - has been synonymous with underwater photography.  From the beginning, the NIKONOS cameras were huge hits around the world.  Sales soared through the 70s and 80s because the camera filled a niche in which it had no equals.   The initial iteration of the camera, simply branded "NIKONOS" was the first compact, easy to operate 35mm, affordable camera rated water pressure resistant to 50m. Its successor NIKONOS II, debuted in 1968 and included improvements for film handling and included the II logo next to the viewfinder window to brand the refined model. By the 70s, the camera was rapidly growing legions of devotees in academic research, underwater photography, oceanic research, civil engineering and construction. NIKONOS III, introduced in 1975, continued the model with a slightly changed shape and further modifications to the film mechanisms.  This model proved easier to operate with improved durability over the NIKONOS II model.  While the first three models were transformed versions of the original French "Calypso" camera, the next version was a completely new camera designed by Nikon and included some of the company's proprietary know-how.  Released in 1980, the IV-A featured TTL exposure meter, aperture-priority AE control, electronically controlled shutter and other improvements that significantly improved the camera's versatility. The AE control set the IV-A apart for a special purpose underwater camera, but the aperture priority AE left some wanting for more control.  Enter the NIKONOS V, perhaps the camera that marked the peak in the NIKONOS revolution. The NIKONON V added a manual mode for shutter speed selection, giving photographers a much needed degree of flexibility and utility. So starting in April of 1984, professionals adopting the V had a much improved, highly functional underwater camera.  This camera extended the NIKONOS brand to legendary status.  Among professionals and enthusiasts, the NIKONOS V was, and with many still is, the standard tool of choice underwater. Odds are, most of the dramatic underwater photographs seen today - whether it be online, in print or other media venues owe their capture to a dedicated professional with a NIKONOS camera. Throughout the decades that NIKONOS dominated the underwater niche, no other camera came close.  It's waterproof capability and comprehensive integration of lens, speedlight and accessories added up to a system that could not be beat. Many top, world renowned underwater photographers built careers around the creative and technically proficient use of the NIKONOS system.

Today, underwater photography has largely moved on - despite a lingering and loyal following, the NIKONOS V was discontinued in October of 2001. It's legacy is millions upon millions of outstanding underwater photographs - published and unpublished.  Much like other photogrpahic platforms, the digital revolution has transformed underwater photography in a NY minute when compared to the rein of the NIKONOS.  The preferred approach to capturing images underwater today has come full cycle. Prior to NIKONOS, water-proofed housings for land cameras were the only option underwater.  Now, after the NIKONOS era, housing based digital SLR photography is heralded as the logic next step. No doubt, it has supplanted the domain dominated by NIKONOS for oh so many years.

HP has launched (in Beta) what could arguably be the quickest and easiest way to publish your very own magazines. CNBC's Maria Bartiromo highlighted the new service by engaging her team on their recent Davos trip to document the experience using MagCloud.com. How does it work? You simply upload a PDF and the service does everything from printing, mailing, and subscription management.  

It costs the publisher nothing to publish because the cost HP charges the purchaser covers their cost of service. The publisher decides on the price above the HP cost to charge subscribers and the profit, if any, goes directly to the publisher.

The service provides a way for HP to trumpet its Indigo printing technologies, which drives efficient print on-demand applications such as this new online service.  The magazines themselves are dazzling full color, stitched cover bound 80lb paper that is the real deal. Subscribers need only a PayPal account or credit card to purchase a magazine online, publishers need only a PayPal account to collect earnings.

While the service is still in beta and shipping is currently limited to the United States, it's been nominated for a "Best of the Web" award by UK's .net Magazine.

No doubt, this promises to be yet another exciting avenue for sharing, and potentially profiting from your recently digitized photographs.  Stay tuned for a full test drive and review here in the near future.

 

We had a dog in this race, Jodi and Neil's excellent Vietnam honeymoon photograph of the rural Ox, Cart and "Backroads" rider.  Congratulations to all the photographers who submitted some 4,200 photos to the contest. The 1st place winner was Donald Riedel who captured a spectacular morning mountain landscape scene in Patagonia while hiking near the Explora Lodge.  Second place was awarded to Barbra Barbour for a colorful street scene in Hoi An, Vietnam.  Third place went to Julie Mandel for her action photography in Maine.  Check out the Winners. 

Additional shots from Jodi & Neil's Backroads Honeymoon trip.

FotoBridge continues the tradition of great values for active and retired military personnel.  In addition to our standand flat-rate scanning and free return shipping, a 10% discount for the military has been renewed for 2010.  This discount applies to the total amount of purchases online without restrictions.  To take advantage of the discount, simply enter 'MIL10' in the coupon code when ording online and enter service branch and active dates in the online order comments field.