Technology Explained, Practice
Daniela Bowker
Resolution and pixels and image quality! Oh my! ...

When you hear the term 'high-res' thrown about with such abandon when it comes to images for web use, have you ever stopped to think just how big or how high quality and image meant for the web needs to be?

Resolution and pixels and image quality! Oh my! Saving images for the web
Feature Articles, Photography Theory
Haje Jan Kamps
Low-contrast photographs don't have to be boring

There's an assumption that high-contrast images are more dynamic, more compelling, more inviting. Have a go at some low-contrast photography. You might surprise yourself with the results.

Low-contrast photographs don't have to be boring
Feature Articles, Theory
Daniela Bowker
Seeking balance in your photos

Balance doesn't mean symmetry; it means an internal consistency and tension within your photos. And it's a vital element of composition. 

Seeking balance in your photos
Feature Articles, Photography Theory
Haje Jan Kamps
Training your photographic luck

Great photos might be down to a little bit of luck, but most of that 'luck' you make yourself. Don't believe us? Read on...

Training your photographic luck
Feature Articles, Practice
Daniela Bowker
The ups and downs and ins and outs of ...

Photographing buildings doesn't have to mean wide-angle lenses and fretting about correcting for the keystone effect. Any lens, and angle. Don't believe us? Let us show you!

The ups and downs and ins and outs of photographing buildings

mickey

Letting kids loose with the Sakar Disney AppClix camera? Not my first choice.


Mickey makes it cute and all; but it still doesn't endear me.

Occasionally I read the spec for a product and I'm left with an overwhelming urge to try get inside the head of the designer in order to figure out just what it was that she or he was thinking when embarking on its birthing process. Sometimes it'll be a case of 'Wow! That's so amazing what inspired you?' Others it'll be a much more cyncial 'What, exactly, were you thinking there?' When someone pointed me in the direction of the Sakar Disney AppClix camera, it was definitely a case of the latter.

It's a Disney-branded camera, it comes emblazoned with Mickey or Minnie Mouse, Tinkerbell, a princess, or Phineas & Ferb. It's clearly aimed at kiddies. And I'm so in favour of getting little ones interested in photography that I'll always take notice of something intended to do just that. But this one has it, well, wrong.

Oh for sure the specs on this make it a fairly desirable piece of kit, with seven megapixels of resolution, 4× zoom, a micro SD card slot, and the ability for it to function without having to connect it to a PC, but it has one major flaw. It's designed to be attached to an iPad. Whilst it is certainly convenient to have a camera on an iPad, the iPad is in no way a convenient device to function as a camera. And it certainly isn't one that I'd thrust into the hands of an eager seven year old.

Its size, its shape, its primary function... just... no.

At $60, it is reasonable, especially because it comes with its own internal rechargeable battery, and there's a free companion editing app, too. But you attach it to a piece of kit that starts at $499.

Nope. When you've a youngun who really wants to have a go at photography, get a decent point-and-shoot at under $100 (I'm a big fan of the Fujifilm Z90), with an even better lens and video capability, too, and let her or him loose with that. They'll have a proper camera to call their own and you won't be fretting about your iPad. Everyone wins.

(Headsup to Engadget)