If you’ve ever tried your hand at sports photography or attempted to capture an action shot, you know that regular cameras can be kind of wimpy when it comes to extreme photography. The Hero 3 digital wrist camera seems to address every potential problem a sports photographer or simply a photographer who gets himself into extreme situations might encounter. It’s waterproof, for one thing, so you can take photographs of your friends underwater if you ever decide to throw a pool party. Or if you’re going snowboarding and you want to get some pictures while you’re actually in motion, this seems like a great little device to help you get shots without any fumbling with a huge camera. It spares you the trouble of trying to adjust the focus and whatnot. There’s a built-in self-timer as well. Apparently it is waterproof for 100 feet, and extremely lightweight as well, weighing only 4.5 ounces (this is important, obviously, because it is strapped to your wrist). It can either lie flat on your wrist, or it can flip up. I’m not an incredibly fashionable or hip individual (that would be my girlfriend), but I’d say it’s pretty hip looking. I have considered (am still considering, I mean) buying this for myself, for my Christmas present, because I’m learning how to kite surf and it might be fun to document my progress on film. I also imagine it’s a good camera for a night out on the town: you don’t have to worry about getting too drunk and losing your camera, because it’s conveniently strapped to your wrist. Speaking of which, it’s Wednesday today! Happy Wednesday to all my readers out in cyberspace. The work week is almost over. For you San Francisco readers that means dollar well drinks at Sadie’s Flying Elephant, one of my favorite bars in Potrero Hill.
Archive for November, 2007
A hero lies in you!
“I can see what’s happening. They don’t have a clue”*
Here’s a goofy contraption for anybody who has ever harbored fantasies of becoming paparazzi. The Proviewer digital 5.0 megapixel binocular camera, which is—yes, you guessed it!—both a set of binoculars and a camera, is the perfect camera for when you are bemoaning your seat in nosebleed section at a concert, performance, or sporting event. Never again will you struggle to make out who that ant-sized celebrity in your photograph is. This camera allows you to zoom in as much as eight times more than a normal camera. As with most digital cameras, there is also an option to capture video footage. It comes with a flip out LCD screen. My cousin Herbert lives in LA, in Echo Park to be exact. He’s always telling me that he sees the cast of Grey’s Anatomy just walking around his part of town. Because it’s one of my favorite TV shows (I just have the biggest crush on Sandra Oh), I always ask him to take pictures for me, but he never does. He’s too “cool.” Anyway, this camera should be a perfect Christmas gift for him. Maybe it’s a little creepy to be using binoculars at a coffee shop, but I think it is still an awesome gift if I do say so myself.
*That’s a quote from Lion King, by the way. “Can you feel the love tonight,” as sung by Simba’s meerkat friend, Timon.
The real animal planet
One thing that’s become downright trendy these days is seeing the world from an animal’s point of view. A few months ago, I saw an art exhibit about animals that included the work of artist Sam Easterson and his “bird cams,” which gave a whole new meaning to the phrase “bird’s eye view.” Sam is interested in points-of-view from non-human beings. For his “bird cams,” he strapped tiny cameras to the heads of several species of bird. I saw the world from the point of view from an ostrich, a chicken, a duck, and some others. Apparently, Sam Easterson has also created an “octopus cam” and a “sheep cam,” as well as buffalo and alligator cams, and countless other animal cams. He has collected footage from over fifty different animals—even seemingly dangerous ones. The miniature cameras Sam uses are ones normally used for surveillance purposes. He then strips them of their plastic casings, leaving only a circuit board and lens. He hopes the videos will cause those who view them to better appreciate the natural world. [
Wonderful Shot dog camera by Takara Tomy– which is exactly what you suspect it is: a camera strapped to your pooch, so you can see from his or her point-of-view– is a 3.5 megapixel camera with 8 MB internal memory, a rechargeable battery, and timer that goes every 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, 30, or 60 seconds, so that your dog can take pictures all day while out roaming. You can control the camera to take pictures using a remote control. Another option is setting the camera to take pictures at the interval you specify. It comes with a collar clip, and instructions in English.
Recently, Photojojo, a neat website that often features DIY photography projects, posted instructions for making a DIY doggie-cam—the poor man’s version of the Wonderful Shot dog camera.
All you need for this easy project is a Gorillapad and a digital camera. You screw your camera to the Gorillapad and bend the legs around your dog’s neck. You should adjust the settings on your digital camera, so it either takes continuous video footage, or is configured to capture images every minute. Voila! You now have your own homemade doggie-cam.
I’m not a dog owner, personally, but imagine that the dog-cams work just as well on cats, though I can’t imagine the footage being particularly exciting. Who knows, maybe I’m wrong, and Joseph turns out to be a better photographer than I am. “Cat-cam” does have a nice ring to it, though.
Salt ‘n peppa.
The artist Rita Botelho has made these absolutely great salt and pepper shakers out of film canisters. They cost $35 at the MOMA online store (you can also get these gift-wrapped), but that seems a little steep for salt and pepper shakers that look like film canisters. You could probably make your own using film canisters and a sharp thumb tack or thick needle, poking them into the shape of an S and a P (make sure the holes are big enough for the grains to pass through). Anyway, what a great idea for recycling film canisters you no longer have use for. Other uses for film canisters include: matchstick holders (they’re great for keeping your matches dry when you go camping), toothbrush protectors (cut an appropriate-sized hole in the lid and protect your toothbrush while you travel), containers for quarters (or other coins, though quarters fit so perfectly and are convenient for Laundromats and toll booths), pill containers (you can even get a series of them and label them with days of the week, if you’re a several-pill-a-day kind of person), or a dispenser for a roll of stamps (cut a slit in the lid).
What are some of the ways you use empty film canisters? Leave your comments below.
