“Man With A Camera” - Go PATS !!!!

I remember watching a TV show in the 1950s called "Man With A Camera"   starring Charles Bronson.    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_with_a_Camera.    Bronson was a World War II Vet who freelanced as a photographer in New York City and helped solve crimes with the police.  Bronson was the original secret agent who used all kinds of cameras to capture images. He even had a miniature camera on his necktie, had a phone in his car (1950) and developed film with a darkroom setup in his car trunk. As I watched with excitement, I thought it would certainly be great to have a job like that.

Over the years, I was always interested in photography and started taking pictures at an early age with my father’s Brownie Box Camera …   http://www.pierspettman.co.uk/photography/no2browniemodelf.shtml.  With a burning interest, I joined the Camera Club in school when I was in the 7^th grade and helped take school related photos. We even had a darkroom at school which was set up in an old custodian’s broom closet.

Normally, you would have to bring the exposed film from your camera to a Camera Store to have them develop it for you. Then wait a few days before you could get the pictures back. However, I was able to develop my own film in the school dark room and have pictures back in a few hours.

The film developing process involved several steps that were time critical and light sensitive. Every step of the development process was done in the dark or under a red light. The 120 mm film from my box camera was unrolled from its spool and then put in a developing solution, fixed, washed and hung up to dry. After drying, the negatives were transferred to a positive sheet of white photo paper on a light box or enlarger, developed again in a chemical solution and then hung up to dry usually on a string with clothespins. I was so proud of my film developing process. It was like a miracle in its day and unlike the digital cameras of the present.

Over the years I have purchased all sorts of camera equipment and have experimented with all the various innovations. Each innovation has brought a new joy and excitement to the process of capturing a photo image. The self developing film, the wide angle and telephoto lenses, the sharp focus of 20 mega pixels and now the mini video camcorders have fostered a new excitement for the average photographer.

Recently, I purchased a mini camcorder called the Sony Bloggie Touch. It has a slim design and you can slip it into a shirt pocket. It has a 12 MP lens for sharp still photos and also takes hours of video. I purchased my camera on Amazon.Com for $118.00 but I also saw it at Cosco for $99.00 ($149 minus a $50 rebate).

Although I also own an iPod Touch which takes videos and stills, the Sony Bloggie has a better lens for sharper images and low light situations. Besides, the Bloggie is a dedicated camcorder that has more camera only features.  You can see a demo and review at the following link ….   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqzllb_pJng&feature=related   .

After taking a bunch of stills and videos I can easily download them to my computer with the Bloggie USB doggle and then stored the images on the computer or online at my Picasa Albums account where friends and family can see them. 

You can also have the still photos developed at your local CVS or Walgreens by setting up an online account.  After sending your photos from your computer to Walgreens online you can either pick up the prints at the local store within an hour or have them delivered by mail to your home with 24 hours. You can even print them on your own computer printer with glossy photo paper.

If you feel even more creative you can put the stills and videos together to make a slide show or movie. Most computers now have built in photo software. For those with Apple computers you can use the iMovie Software and for those with PC computers you can use Windows Movie Maker Software.

I have a Toshiba PC computer with Windows Movie Maker and have had a great time creating slide shows and short movies with it. Movie Maker allows you to place a selection of stills and videos together with smooth animations or transitions between the photos. You can also add music, personal narration, titles, credits and captions.  After making your movie you can save it to computer, CD or upload it to YouTube or other online storage sites for others to see.

Using my Windows Movie Maker software, I recently took some stills and photos and made some short movies and then stored them on my Picasa Albums Online account. One movie was a family outing to Lowes Hardware and Making A Toy Wood Plane with my nephew.  You can see it at the link ….
https://picasaweb.google.com/108806068200291783388/PlaneMakingII?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNTsvK_-1oWPSA&feat=directlink

The other home made movie was made after the Patriot’s Football “Disaster Game” advocating the creation of a new football team for next year. In this movie I downloaded some TV commercial videos and Romeo pics and spliced them all together.  Tell me what you think.  Should I pack my bags and move to Hollywood for a new career?   You can see it at the link below …..  
GO PATS !!!!!!
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/T_v56Qgw4JpFxuyV7GamvdMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

Comments Always Welcome.  ….. markryan82@comcast.net