Kodak Challenge Tees Off
The Kodak Challenge tees off this week at the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Hawaii. When this partnership with the PGA TOUR began well over a year ago, I was so thrilled to be part of it, knowing that the Kodak Challenge would be BIG. Everyone we spoke to had positive things to say. Players, Tournament Directors, Fans - all looking forward to this unique competition.
Hole #18 at Kapalua has the distinct honor of making history as the very first Kodak Challenge hole. Not only is it a stunning hole, gorgeous views, but definitely a risk-reward Par 5 that will make for some exciting Kodak Moments. With only 1 eagle scored in 2008, it will be interesting to see if players do things a bit differently knowing that not only is the Mercedes-Benz Championship on the line, but also a great start for a chance at $1M.
A couple of the players in the field for the Mercedes-Benz Championship - Stephen Ames and Brandt Snedeker - even appeared in our overview video, giving their impressions of the Kodak Challenge concept. I will be watching closely to see how they do this week. While many of the top 10 players (yes, that includes Tiger Woods), do not traditionally play enough tournaments to be in the running for the Kodak Challenge - I think that brings an even more unique aspect to the competition. As Terry Clas (who has lead this effort for the past two years) would say, this may well be the Heisman Trophy of Golf.
My personal thoughts for the odds-on fan favorite as the Kodak Challenge begins? Boo Weekley. I think he won everyone's heart (mine for sure) at the Ryder Cup with his down-to-earth attitude and genuine enthusiasm for the game. I can picture him out there on 18 yelling to the fans, "Do y'all feel it?"
But no matter who eagles or birdies (or, maybe, just maybe, someone has an Albatross in them...), it's just the beginning, with 23 more chances to get a great score, the excitement will build throughout 2009, and again, I am just ecstatic to be a part of this!
Let the Kodak Challenge begin!
Mexico
Kodak's A Thousand Words Top 10 Posts for 2008
This blog has been active since September of 2006. We have published every business day since then. In the rush of daily business and "on to the next post" it is a healthy exercise to look back at the great stories and photos that are shared here. Below is a list of some of our top posts from 2008. They illustrate the creativity of their authors, their thoughtfulness, skill, or silliness. At the heart of each of these is the power of photography to tell a story.
So, drumroll please. here they are...
We are fortunate to have passionate contributors and we appreciate the comments, feedback, photos, story suggestions, e-mails, etc. from our equally passionate visitors!
In 2008 we cast a wider net in the social media universe. If you like what you see here and want to connect with a group of people at the Kodak Mothership that are over the top when it comes to photography join us at: www.kodak.com/go/followus.
So, drumroll please. here they are...
 | 10 | Point & Shoot, Angle of View - Zoom Zoom - A point of view on point of view from Paul Schwartz. |
 | 9 | Milk Sploop Photography - Having fun on April Fool's Day. I was surprised by how many people took this one seriously! |
 | 8 | Sweet Sorrow - Robin Huls has been chronicling the training of Paxton as a guide dog. It was time for him to begin what he was trained for and the parting was "sweet sorrow." |
 | 7 | May I Come with You? - Tender mercies in the fields of the Ukraine. |
 | 6 |
My take on the Games as a Beijinger and a Chinese! - The Olympics were one of the biggest world events in 2008. We were there covering it from Opening to Closing. This post from Wallace Bao provided a local perspective. |
 | 5 | Fancy Computer Cameras - Angel Ahmed remembers her father saying to her "go work for Kodak so you can teach me how to use those new fancy computer cameras." she did both and here is that story. |
 | 4 | Panoramic Extravaganza - A collection of photos taken using the auto-stitch feature on our cameras that makes a panoramic photo from three individual ones. |
 | 3 | Black and White Photography with John Sexton - Photographer, master printmaker, author and workshop instructor best known for his luminous, quiet, black and white photographs of the natural environment shares his insights with Kodaker Audrey Jonckheer. |
 | 2 |
A Plan to Capture American History in the Making - Vince Young sharing his plan to capture the historical nature of the 2008 US Presidential election for his family. Read the comments, powerful stuff. |
 | 1 | Remembering Alex - Vera is a special person and her posts on our blog are among the most impactful. Her brother, also a Kodak employee, tragically passed away this year. This post is a wonderful tribute to him. |
In 2008 we cast a wider net in the social media universe. If you like what you see here and want to connect with a group of people at the Kodak Mothership that are over the top when it comes to photography join us at: www.kodak.com/go/followus.
Tracking gifts given and received
I have to give my Mom credit for giving me the idea behind the post, first off. "I can't remember who gave me what last year," she told me, "so this year I'm going to take pictures of the gifts I get and note who gave me what."
My brain started to churn.
My husband's family is pretty big on writing thank-you notes. We often don't quite get them done - usually they fall off of the list in February or so. But our intentions are good, so when we get gifts, we keep a list of who gives what.
In a house full of lists- this is often lost or ends up as part of the clutter.
This year, inspired by Mom, I decided to keep track in a photo way....
To: Aprille, From: Sonny
I've been taking pics of gifts or groups of gifts - trying to include a tag if possible, or a post-it to indicate in the picture who they are from. Mom has done this, too.
It already seems better than the scribbly paper list, and I can do it on my own time instead of needing to keep track while unwrapping - which can make the moment less fun.
To: Aprille, From: Jeff
This can be expanded. Associated Content has some tips on creative thank-yous that include taking a picture of the receiver holding the gift and maybe a sign that says "thank you".
Ivillage suggests pics of the gifts in use. That gets a bit dicey - there's more opportunity for delay and thus the task falling off the to-do list (I really don't plan to make ice cream right now - eg) And, I don't know if people want to receive pics of me exercising with the new equipment they've given!
As I started to type this, I also thought of a family member who had a "magic notebook" (OK, magic in my eyes only - because it was handy and organized!) where she keeps track of practically everything, including the gifts they give. Photos could come in handy here, too, as a log of who you gave what to when.
Bit by bit I'll get more organized and creative about this stuff.
My brain started to churn.
My husband's family is pretty big on writing thank-you notes. We often don't quite get them done - usually they fall off of the list in February or so. But our intentions are good, so when we get gifts, we keep a list of who gives what.
In a house full of lists- this is often lost or ends up as part of the clutter.
This year, inspired by Mom, I decided to keep track in a photo way....
To: Aprille, From: Sonny
I've been taking pics of gifts or groups of gifts - trying to include a tag if possible, or a post-it to indicate in the picture who they are from. Mom has done this, too.
It already seems better than the scribbly paper list, and I can do it on my own time instead of needing to keep track while unwrapping - which can make the moment less fun.
To: Aprille, From: Jeff
This can be expanded. Associated Content has some tips on creative thank-yous that include taking a picture of the receiver holding the gift and maybe a sign that says "thank you".
Ivillage suggests pics of the gifts in use. That gets a bit dicey - there's more opportunity for delay and thus the task falling off the to-do list (I really don't plan to make ice cream right now - eg) And, I don't know if people want to receive pics of me exercising with the new equipment they've given!
As I started to type this, I also thought of a family member who had a "magic notebook" (OK, magic in my eyes only - because it was handy and organized!) where she keeps track of practically everything, including the gifts they give. Photos could come in handy here, too, as a log of who you gave what to when.
Bit by bit I'll get more organized and creative about this stuff.
Using a handmade steadycam for the Kodak Zi6
One of our cool new products for this year is the Zi-6 Pocket Video Camera. It's designed for shooting video and even better, it makes getting the results out of the camera and onto the internet, where people can actually see it, really easy. It's not as sophisticated as bigger camcorders but it's much smaller and lighter, which is great, but it's also more subject to vibration and shake and I hate camera shake.
Years ago, I'd did some video work for a school project and to get a more sophisticated look, I borrowed a Steadicam Jr. from a videographer friend. It really works, but it takes practice to use it well and it's too pricey for my budget. Since that time, I've seen several other products come on the market, also excellent and still too expensive for my budget. And then I found the poor man's steadicam which is perfect for my budget. I made one a while ago (mine cost about $16 to build) and I was pretty pleased with the results, particularly for recording kids sporting events. I could move up and down the sidelines and keep the action in the frame. I may have looked goofy but I don't mind and I like the resulting video. The basic concept is to counter-balance the weight of the camera. I have a typical mini-DV camcorder. It weighs about 20 oz.
After reading some reviews and comments about the Zi-6 and the shakiness of small video cameras in general, I wondered about if my stabilizer would help. The Zi-6 is really tiny, it's dwarfed by the weight of the stabilizer, even without the counterweight. Nonetheless, we thought we'd try it out and see how it went.
Keep in mind that this is with no practice and very little prep. We did 4 short clips here in the office.
First we tried without the stabilizer and moving quickly.
This is while walking backwards as fast as possible. It's pretty rough. You can see rapid small shaking with each footstep. Yes, that's Jenny riding a scooter.
Now, same path, but with the stabilizer attached.
It's still a bit rough, but much better than before. It doesn't make me seasick.
We tried slowing down next. No stabilizer.
There's not as much shake as the fast movement, but there's a steady up and down movement with each step. They felt so goofy walking down the hall like this.
Now with the stabilizer at a comfortable pace for walking backward.
Again, it's better than before. It's not as stable as I can do with the larger camcorder but it works. I am sure that with practice I could get even better.
(YouTube compresses these videos quite a bit... if you would like to see them at higher quality, go right to YouTube and click "watch in high quality" under each video Video 1, Video 2, Video 3, Video 4)
Using a stabilizer is sort of contrary to the idea of the Zi-6. The device is small and light and I've made it big and clunky. But I consider this test a success and I am inspired to make a smaller, lighter and more 'portable' stabilizer and give that try. Stay tuned.
If you've got a small video capture device and you've tried any stabilization techniques, let's hear about it!
Years ago, I'd did some video work for a school project and to get a more sophisticated look, I borrowed a Steadicam Jr. from a videographer friend. It really works, but it takes practice to use it well and it's too pricey for my budget. Since that time, I've seen several other products come on the market, also excellent and still too expensive for my budget. And then I found the poor man's steadicam which is perfect for my budget. I made one a while ago (mine cost about $16 to build) and I was pretty pleased with the results, particularly for recording kids sporting events. I could move up and down the sidelines and keep the action in the frame. I may have looked goofy but I don't mind and I like the resulting video. The basic concept is to counter-balance the weight of the camera. I have a typical mini-DV camcorder. It weighs about 20 oz.
After reading some reviews and comments about the Zi-6 and the shakiness of small video cameras in general, I wondered about if my stabilizer would help. The Zi-6 is really tiny, it's dwarfed by the weight of the stabilizer, even without the counterweight. Nonetheless, we thought we'd try it out and see how it went.
Keep in mind that this is with no practice and very little prep. We did 4 short clips here in the office.
First we tried without the stabilizer and moving quickly.
This is while walking backwards as fast as possible. It's pretty rough. You can see rapid small shaking with each footstep. Yes, that's Jenny riding a scooter.
Now, same path, but with the stabilizer attached.
It's still a bit rough, but much better than before. It doesn't make me seasick.
We tried slowing down next. No stabilizer.
There's not as much shake as the fast movement, but there's a steady up and down movement with each step. They felt so goofy walking down the hall like this.
Now with the stabilizer at a comfortable pace for walking backward.
Again, it's better than before. It's not as stable as I can do with the larger camcorder but it works. I am sure that with practice I could get even better.
(YouTube compresses these videos quite a bit... if you would like to see them at higher quality, go right to YouTube and click "watch in high quality" under each video Video 1, Video 2, Video 3, Video 4)
Using a stabilizer is sort of contrary to the idea of the Zi-6. The device is small and light and I've made it big and clunky. But I consider this test a success and I am inspired to make a smaller, lighter and more 'portable' stabilizer and give that try. Stay tuned.
If you've got a small video capture device and you've tried any stabilization techniques, let's hear about it!
