A friend of mine sent me this interesting article. It's about a new company called Refocus Imaging -- and the ability to change the focal point in a digital imagine during post processing. Check out the article:

http://www.news.com/8301-13580_3-9876296-39.html

Looks pretty cool, eh?

Did you see the movie "Rain Man" with Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman? Did you watch the end credits where the images the "rain man" shot on the cross country drive were featured?

Sometimes I like shooting pictures in what I call the "rain man style" -- random shots taken while driving, often featuring motion blur and / or rather mundane things that compelled the character played by Dustin Hoffman to take photos of. Here are some examples I shot earlier this week in "rain main style"...

Earlier I promised I'd check this out... :)

Have you heard about Animoto?

Animoto promises to be the "end of slideshows." It's an online resource that takes photos you upload, using music of your choice, customized into a very slick broadcast-calibre video. I haven't signed up or tried it yet...but I'm going to! :)

If anyone has any experience using Animoto -- or links to productions of your own -- please feel free to share.

Meanwhile...if you want more information about Animoto, go to their web-site and watch the 60 second "learn more" video. http://animoto.com/ I have no idea how much it costs! :) I'm sure I'll find out very soon tho!

Check out this CNN.com video about orthodontist-turned-photographer Phil Borges who uses photography to build bridges between American children and childen of other / developing nations. Check it out. You can learn more about Borges' "Bridges to Understanding" Foundation by clicking here (www.bridgesweb.org). Photographers can volunteer to become mentors in the program -- giving them the opportunity to promote cross-cultural awareness in a classroom setting or in nations such as India, Nepal, Guatemala, Kenya, Peru, and South Africa.

We here at Daily Photo Tips first told you about Photosynth -- the revolutionary imaging software being developed by LiveLabs at Microsoft -- almost one year ago (see this post).

Here is an updated presentation on Photosynth featured on Ted.com -- a cool technology sharing web-site. So, while our good friends David Jay and Gary Fong are just now mentioning Photosynth on their blogs, remember that we talked about it LAST AUGUST! :)

(But, we still love you Gary and DJ...)

I realize most photographers (advanced hobbyists to pros) are loyal to the Macintosh world...however, I'm still a PC geek -- have been for over 15 years. Our friends at Microsoft have recently announced their new Surface technology. Click here to check out a demo of Surface. You gotta admit it looks pretty cool. Stay tuned for more details on how this product will affect photographers and other creative types in the months and years to come.

(Though I still wonder how you can child proof something like this!)

It's a bit of a long load, but definitely worth checking out -- click here for "Midnight Carnival" by Chris Raecker. Very powerful images...enjoy!


BTW (totally unrelated) -- remember, U.S. postal mailing rate increase kicks in today! I was in a long line at the post-office this morning...

Most photographers are familiar with the "Ken Burns effect" in still image slideshows -- the addition of movement (panning, zooming, etc.) to still images being displayed onscreen. While this post isn't directly photo-related, I still thought this was a pretty cool.

Cinematographer Ken Burns is working on a PBS film about America's National Parks. He is inviting the public to submit old home movies (film or videotape) for inclusion in the project.

If you are interested in submitting footage, they have asked that you adhere to the following criteria:

• Send only home movies in VHS or DVD from 1920 - 1980.
• Footage of families and tourists is preferred.
• Do not send originals -- Material will not be returned.
• Clearly mark the tape or disc with your name, address, phone number and email (if available), so they can contact you if your footage is selected.
• Include a brief description of the film.
• Send all footage to:

Anne Harrington

WETA

2775 S. Quincy St.

Arlington, VA 22206

Our friends at Manfrotto, makers of fine tripods (of which I own three different models!), have this fun online video game. The game challenges you to pick the right tripod, set it up properly, and capture images in various settings. It's addictive!!!

Click here to play. I'm not telling you what my scores have been so far...I'm not very good at video games!!

While you're on the Manfrotta web-site you can check out some of their free tripod use tutorials.

The Wall Street Journal recently released an ad campaign called "Every Journey Needs a Journal" where a number of famous people are profiled in "life journey" form. If you click on one of the celebrities to see a little about their journey you can click on the "behind the scenes video" that shows each of the celebrities being photographed. The photo sessions appear to have been shot with just one external strobe with the subject in front of a seamless white backdrop. I thought each session was cool to watch to see how the final image was made -- be sure to watch them all! :c)