Mother’s Day Photo Inspiration

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Jennifer Cisney

You know your Mom would love a card from you for Mother’s Day.

And you know she would really treasure a photo card with a personalized message.

But what photo do you put on the card?! Here are a few ideas.

Scan in an old photo of you and your mom for your photo card.

The “vintage” photo looks nice on a card and the memories will choke up your mom.

Are you a dad helping the kids make a card for mom? Have the kids post with letters that spell out M-O-M or I love you. You could also have them make a sign to hold, write it on a chalkboard or even spell it out with their limbs and bodies!

Note that my card had M-O-M spelled out by pets. Don’t forget Pet Moms too!

Some other ideas for Dad’s “helping” the kids make a card – use a card of your children when they were babies. Or take a shot of little kid shoes next to Mom’s shoes. You could even scan in a drawing your child created of Mom and use that in a card!

Don’t forget Grandma on Mother’s Day! A card that shows all the generations makes a sweet and memorable card. If you don’t have a good photo of Mom and kids, an appointment with a professional photographer for a photo session would make an amazing Mother’s Day gift.

Plus you are in luck! Here is a coupon offer for Buy One Card Get One FREE at Kodak Picture Kiosk! Make Mom a couple cards or cover both Grandmas!

This Mother’s Day, MomStart is hosting a blogger Kodak Picture Kiosk party at a Bartell Drugs in Seattle! Read about the fun they are going to have on her blog! We can’t wait to see what everyone makes at Kodak Picture Kiosk!

Exclusive Bonnie Marcus Mother’s Day cards at Target

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Jennifer Cisney

Now through Mother’s Day, you can find exclusive Bonnie Marcus Collection cards at Target through Kodak Picture Kiosk.

“We love our partnership with Bonnie. She is a ‘mom-preneur’ who combines her experience in fashion and entertainment to create a sophisticated line of stationery that will be a keepsake for moms nationwide,” said Garth Neenan, Regional Business Manager, US & C Personal Imaging Division, Kodak. “Consumers can create these one-of-a-kind cards, ensuring Mother’s Day is made even more special with a signature card from one of the leading designers of greeting cards and stationery.”

“It’s an amazing opportunity to continue to work with Kodak, such an iconic brand known for preserving family memories in special and lasting ways,” said Bonnie Marcus. “I love creating designs that I, as a mother, would want to receive, and that I know will put a smile on the face of countless other Moms on May 12. Every mom treasures a card that features her own family/children!”

To help you make Mother’s Day really memorable we are offering a Buy One Get One free folded 5×7 card offer by downloading a coupon at http://kodak.ly/momd13

Film’s Not Dead Store and Film Photography Gallery

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Lars Fielder

Back in 2010, three friends and lovers of film photography, Charlie Abiss, Tori Khambhaita and Jamie Rothwell got together and formed the Film’s not Dead (FND) group. They intended to bring together like-minded photographers who enjoy the benefits that film photography offers and to provide information on film availability within the UK, while sharing imaginative, thought provoking images.

Today FND has nearly 5000 followers on Facebook and has a regular stall in London’s famous Brick Lane market. Due to that success, FND has yesterday opened a permanent store and film photography gallery in the West End of London.

Fans and followers of the Film’s not Dead page enjoy discussions, take part in exciting competitions – such as ones from Kodak ourselves, and locate nearby venues where people can buy film or have film developed.

Now with the opening of a new store and gallery, FND will offer film photographers and fans so much more. Each month, on the upper floor, the gallery will host a collection of images shot on film by professional and amateur photographers. To launch the new space, Film’s not Dead is proud to open its new store and gallery with a collection from one of its own, Tori Khambhaita, with her unique “Printers” exhibition, which was shot using Kodak’s Tri-X film.

Tori’s ‘Printers’ project gained national press and won her the coveted title of Young Black and White photographer of the year 2012. This isn’t only a photographic show; it’s an awe-inspiring exhibition of skills and the unseen faces that have powered London’s photographic printing industry for decades.

Dennis Watson – ® Tori Khambhaita

Tori has created something truly original, which bridges the gap between the prints and the printers. The prints are truly one off’s, as each printer in the shots has illustrated their creativity and style, which can never be duplicated. This exhibition not only shows you the faces behind the London print industry, it also shows the skills behind those faces.

Klaus Kalde – ® Tori Khambhaita

Tori, who works with some of the featured printers, gained exclusive access to the darkrooms of her subjects. After photographing either inside or outside of the darkroom, she herself would return to Klaus Kalde’s, where she would develop her own rolls of film.

Lee Williams – Raipd Eye – ® Tori Khambhaita

Upon developing the negatives, Tori returned to the printers themselves and asked them to reflect their personal styles and preferences in the final image, again making each photograph unique. Some have chosen to stay safe whilst others have gone all out, which will leave the viewer wide eyed and open mouthed asking ‘how?’.

Nick Jones – Photofusion – ® Tori Khambhaita

Aside from the prints Tori also asked these highly skilled craftsmen to state the story that preceded them. These handwritten anecdotes beautifully entwine to create an absolutely fabulous narrative of life within London’s photographic printing industry.

Robin Bell – ® Tori Khambhaita

This show is a testament to all that support traditional photography and recognise the years of acquired skill it takes to call yourself a darkroom printer. Tori’s exhibition and images celebrates the master craftsmanship and style of these artists committed to traditional photographic printing. The knowledge of the featured men and women in the photographs have acquired on their journey is invaluable! Tori’s ‘Printers’ exhibition will run from 3^rd May 2013 – 28^th May 2013 at the new Film’s not Dead gallery and store.

Film’s not Dead
13 Mount Pleasant
London
WC1X 0AR

Opening Times: Mon – Fri: 11.00 – 6.00

Building & Shooting a 3D Pinhole Camera

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Art Welner

last year a friend found the perfect birthday gift for someone who thought he everything, a 3d pinhole camera.

i knew pinhole cameras existed, and i have several 3d cameras, but i never imagined someone made a 3d pinhole camera. it turns out a company called recesky makes one, but it needs assembly. the camera consists of a plastic snap together body. in addition to taking stereo paris, it also has an option of taking a panoramic image.

fortunately, the assembly instructions were illustrated, but the text was unfortunately (for me) in chinese. a trip to google solved that problem for me by finding several on line videos showing how to assemble the camera. about an hour later, i had a fully assembled, ready to go, stereo pinhole camera.

the next challenge was learning how to use it. the first question was ‘what is the f stop?’. a closer inspection of the chinese instructions revealed that the stereo pinholes were f 128 and the panoramic pinhole was f 180. those f stops are off of most light meters scales, so i had to do a bit of interpolation when calculating the exposure

normally i would go out on a shoot with a few different film speeds, and a camera where i controlled the f stop and shutter speed. with this pinhole camera, i had an unchangeable f 128 aperture, and the best control i had over shutter speed was counting mississippi’s

my first mistake after seeing an f stop of 128 was going out on a bright sunny day with fast film. that combination resulted in exposure times faster than a Mississippi. the next try was on a more overcast day with slower film. that allowed me to do a 4 or 5 second exposure using a tripod

typically I shoot on slide film and mount the slides so they can be viewed in a special stereo viewer, but you can view the image below in stereo too if you follow these instructions in one of my past blog posts on stereo photography, on how to do parallel freeviewing

as you can see with the arches of the bridge, the pinhole ‘lenses’ produce some interesting distortions

the arches should be symmetrical, not having that pushing forward effect

the ‘focus’ also produced an interesting soft feel that is usually produced with filters on a lens or with digital post filters

after i started to get the hang of 4 second exposures, i wanted to make good use of that exposure time with water

and later, just for fun, i tried doing stereo fireworks shots. normally, a fireworks shot uses a long exposure, so it seemed natural to try the pinhole camera to take some stereo pairs

after having fun assembling and shooting with that pinhole camera, our next project is a “slr” pinhole camera made by kikkerland

Transformed by Our Response to Racism

Posted on April 26, 2013 by maryannedetmer

I have witnessed racism first hand, both personally and in my professional life. We know that racism happens throughout the world, but I need neither be a business leader nor a parent of children of color to have been touched and transformed by our response to racism.

Everyone experiences racism in one form or another. How it impacts us may differ, but to eliminate racism, we must all take a stand – and it starts with awareness.

Kodak’s stand against racism takes place every day. As our company’s Global Diversity Director, I and Kodak’s senior executives lead our efforts to ensure that our workplaces are free of harassment, and that our employees are treated with dignity, fairness and respect.

The key is that we act to prevent discrimination and harassment in our workplaces. We do this in several ways:

The first of our Kodak Values sets forth an expectation that we treat others with respect for the dignity of the individual.
Our senior executives set diversity and inclusion goals for themselves and their operations, and are accountable for meeting those goals.
We offer the employee networks representing diverse constituencies at Kodak the opportunity to engage with our senior leaders, and to lead education and awareness-building sessions open to all employees.
We require employees to complete an annual review of Kodak’s policies that help enable an engaged, inclusive workforce free of discrimination and harassment.
We actively work to develop and sponsor diversity within our global workforce.
We reach out and partner with members of our community who share a commitment to ending racism and to build a thriving and diverse environment.

We know that our continued engagement in diversity and inclusion, and against racism, is essential.

Kodak is one of hundreds of organizations that have raised their hands in support of the YWCA’s mission and vision statement, “The YWCA is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all”. This statement embodies Kodak values. In what has become a movement that we observe annually, the

April 26 “Stand Against Racism” observance asks companies, universities, schools, and other organizations to hold an event, private or public, where participants gather to take a pledge to work against racism. You can learn more about this endeavor at www.standagainstracism.org.

It’s true that we are a society touched and transformed by our response to racism, but racism doesn’t own us. What it does is challenge us to take a stand and transform our workplaces and communities. “Be the change you want to see in the world” is a famous quote by Mahatma Gandhi. So when we encounter racism, confront it, decry it, and take action to prevent its spread. And, just as importantly, let’s positively promote equality and fairness for all. Let’s recognize and celebrate our uniqueness and differences and harness this in a way that is beneficial to our employees, customers, organizations and our children. Let’s foster hope in the hearts of our young and encourage their vision of a world of equality and peace. They can see it, feel it, and live it.

Celebrate Earth Day with Kodak Adaptive Picture Exchange (APEX)

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Beth Rice

As Earth Day approaches each year, I like to reflect on things that I have done to improve our environment and make a difference. Did you know that many Kodak products have features and benefits with reduced environmental impact? This year I have been reflecting on the environmental benefits of the KODAK Adaptive Picture Exchange (APEX) and would like to share those benefits with you. The APEX dry lab system uses digital print technology. This technology eliminates the need to print pictures with water and processing chemicals, which also reduces chemical storage and disposal costs.

In addition, the APEX reduces energy consumption when printing a picture. By now you are thinking “show me the data”.

The APEX doesn’t need energy to maintain chemistry and paper drying processes.

Energy use was compared to the following representative systems in a retail setting: the KODAK Adaptive Picture Exchange (APEX), NORITSU QSS-2711DLS, FRONTIER 340 Digital Mini Lab, FUJI FRONTIER 570 Digital Mini Lab, and GRETAG Master Lab+ 742.

The electricity required by each system to deliver a standard print volume, 1000 prints per 24-hr period, was measured and used to calculate total energy consumption per a 4 x 6 print. This energy analysis suggested that Kodak’s APEX System consumes 70-90% less energy when compared to traditional photoprocessing minilabs.

The APEX has earned the Kodak Cares logo because of this energy savings comparison.

The environmental benefits of the APEX do not end with energy savings. Photo paper used to create a print is sourced from PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes) certified sources. This means that each print is created with paper from a sustainably managed forest.

And, one more benefit, the packaging used in the media to create a print is suitable for local recycling and plastic parts are labeled to facilitate proper sorting.

Celebrate Earth Day by printing your pictures, enlargements, collages, and other photo gifts at a retailer that uses the Kodak APEX dry lab. Happy Earth Day!

PEOPLE v. PLACES

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Special Guest

Last fall, on Twitter, we came across Stephanie Bassos and Timothy Burkhart collaborators on People vs Places. In this double exposure project, Stephanie exposes a full roll of 35mm film of only “people,” and Timothy reloads the film again into the same camera, to imprint only “places” and locations to the same roll. These images are all the end result of their ongoing series and are unedited negatives straight from the camera. After seeing their project on Tumblr, we wanted to know more.

What prompted your project?

Stephanie Bassos: We both meet at our full time job, where we both work on various photographic projects at an online-based startup. We do a range of things from basic photo editing to smaller studio shoots. Our friendship sparked from casual conversation about our love for photography and the projects we were both currently working on outside of work, as well as other artists we were into at the moment. Our styles seemed to come from opposite ends of the photographic spectrum, and we had an admiration for what the other was doing.

I prefer working with people and shooting portraits, while Tim shoots mostly landscapes and places that don’t directly include people. We had entertained the idea of collaborating on a photo shoot or project, but we couldn’t really nail down how to make it happen. Tim had been shooting with some older film cameras at the time and had an instance where he unknowingly double exposed a roll of film resulting in double exposures. He then realized that his camera wasn’t rewinding film all the way and allowed the same roll to be loaded again fairly easily. This occurrence seemed to be the perfect vehicle for us to bring our two styles together into one image as well as series. We have been shooting for around nine months now and sticking to the formula of me shooting only people and Tim shooting only places, although we each don’t know the specifics outside of that.

How do you choose your subjects and the order in which you shoot?

SB: The order we shoot is completely random. We don’t have a specific way (people first, or places first.) We were originally passing the same camera back and forth after we finished shooting our respective subject, but that slowed the process significantly. If we both had a trip planned at the same time and only one had the camera, it seemed counter productive. To solve the issue we bought another one of the cameras we were using and tested it to find that it had the same rewind issue as the original. This allowed us both to shoot simultaneously. Now we both have a roll in our cameras at all times, and whoever finishes first gives it to the other to re-load.

Timothy Burkhart: We choose our subjects by observing our surroundings and just going about our daily lives. The people Stephanie shoots are mostly her friends, or candid strangers. The places I shoot are in transit or traveling. The project definitely has a point and shoot aesthetic and vibe to it. It’s rare that we go out to a specific place or find a specific person to shoot with-shoots aren’t premeditated. The camera is always on us, so we just constantly have it in the back of our minds and we shoot our life as it happens.

Why did you choose Kodak film for this project?

TB: When we first started shooting we used what was most available. Lots of camera shops have been closing up around us in Chicago, so we were picking up Kodak Gold 200 at the local pharmacy or corner store, which fit our needs of availability. Kodak films in general always have a bit more saturation and warmer color tones than other manufacturers and this was something we both liked aesthetically. After we shot on Kodak Gold for a bit to get a feel for the project we switched to Portra 400, which gave us a little less grain and even better tones. Now we go back and forth between those two and shoot whatever we have available.

How does this fit in with your overall photography work/style?

SB: It’s a pretty perfect project for both of us to do outside of our own freelance. It gives us a chance to focus on what we love shooting most, and also comes with an element of surprise when the film is finally developed. It keeps us constantly creating and observing and thinking about photography in a different way. Rather than focusing on composition and style to create the photo we want constantly, we surrender some of those decisions and leave it up to fate and cross our fingers hoping the great “people” shot was overlaid by a perfect “places” shot.

TB: It throws us both out of our comfort zones a little because we are not able control the frame in it’s entirety… but that’s good for us because it forces us to not think too much about one specific shot. The project looks a lot different than anything we both do. We both shoot in our own ways and have a cleaner shooting style, so doing this project is a way to break away from our own personal process and have some fun with an old camera and some film.