In our homeschool, sometimes I find the need to be very creative in order to keep my children's interest, as well as to make learning fun. When they were younger we often made buildings or castles out of paper mache, we created large collages to indicate a period in history, or we built scientific DNA models out of pipe cleaners and plastic beads. Most of my ideas have come from other homeschool moms and I am thankful to have such creative resources. Yet, in recent years, my now-teenaged daughters have discovered another method of creativity that I never would have thought up on my own; and I doubt that most of the creative homeschooling moms I know would have thought of it, either. Three years ago, my daughters discovered that we have a music and video editor on our computer. Apparently it had been there all along, but I knew nothing about it. Their discovery came at just about the time we bought our first digital camera, so they began taking small video shots of various activities during their day, and compiling them all into hilarious videos, complete with sound and captions.
The first project was based on the then-popular movie, The Matrix. My daughters dressed all in black and took short video clips of each other jumping on our trampoline, doing "Matrix moves" as they called it. Soon, they got even more creative and brought toy swords and guns into the videos. After watching various clips from the real movie over and over, they began learning some of the moves of the actors on the movie and they assimilated those exact moves. This entertained them for hours, and when it was time to come inside, they sat together at the computer, putting the videos in and typing away. I honestly did not pay attention to whatever they were working on, but then the next day, they asked me to come see something on their computer. I was amazed that they had made their own short movie. It was only about one minute long, but it had captions introducing the theme as well as the characters, and then the movie went on to show my two daughters doing their Matrix thing - but they had added sounds, colors, special effects, and various other things that made the whole thing look completely different from the reality of two little girls jumping around on a trampoline. I was so impressed; and they were only ten and eleven-years-old.
From then on, that began a trend to take short videos with the digital camera, transfer them to the computer, and see what unusual, amazing, or hilarious thing they could make out of it. Soon they began using clip art to add to the fun, as well as still-shot photos which are strategically placed into the video at various intervals. Often, we will view videos with small clips of various family members, some of whom we were not even aware we had such photos; and with the captions and clip art added, the sky is the limit for video fun.
One of the most recent projects is a video based on the Weird Al Yancovic song, "White and Nerdy." They made their own version complete with all the geekiness that goes with it. And just today, my daughter was not feeling well, so she decided to take a short break from her school work. She got on her computer, and only and hour later, I found she had created an entire video of stick figures who have an adventure that includes explosions, ghosts, and elephants. Small clips from the digital camera enhanced her creation, as did music she had downloaded. When I discovered she had not yet finished her math lesson for the day, I informed her that it had to be finished, but I was quite sure she had covered any lessons in creativity. I can only imagine what potential careers this might lead to, especially when such things are being created by a twelve and thirteen-year-old.
I suppose the next time my daughters tell me the batteries are dead in the digital camera, I should not be exasperated; rather, I should realize that what they are doing is educational. Sort of.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Taking Fabulous Pictures of Children
Ever since the introduction of the first cameras long ago, parents have been snapping memories of their children. Every new stage of life often was accompanied by a photo session. Today with the invention of digital cameras, the interest is more widespread than ever and parents are snapping all kinds of memories and smiles to preserve for the future.
In the past, photographs were taken at special occasions mostly. These times included birthdays, each grade of school, holidays, and family vacations for the most part. Often a big production was made of it and everyone dressed up the boys in their little suits and the girls in those frilly dresses.
Why only special occasions back then? Well one reason was because not only did the film for the camera have to be bought, but often the flash needed a separate purchase. Remember those old flash "cubes"? After those things were purchased, then the film had to be sent off to be developed and that was more money. Parents often made the decision that even though little Emily may have been adorable with pureed sweet potatoes all over her face it wasn't a reason to put money into having a photograph of the moment.
After digital cameras started appearing, though, all this changed. Suddenly dozens of pictures could be taken and there were no film, flash, or developing costs. Most everyone already has a computer, so downloading photographs is not a bother. The option to have them printed out still exists, so people who need the tangible photo to hold in their hands are happy, too.
Scrapbookers are happy because copies are easy to make. Grandparents are happy because it means more pictures of their grandbabies. Parents are happy because now every moment can be captured and the cost of many of the digital cameras is decreasing from when they were first introduced.
One thing that I personally need to work on is keeping my cameras within reach. Yes, that's plural. I have not been able to make myself switch totally over to digital yet. I have a great digital but I also keep my 35mm in working order and with film in it. I just like the quality of 35mm a bit better, so there are some occasions that I prefer using the traditional camera.
I need to keep my digital camera in a more accessible place. I have it in its case in the hall closet and it really should be easier to grab than that. I hope it will not take missing a fabulous shot of a lifetime to remind me to do that!
Try to photographically document what daily life is like in your household. If you are into scrapbooking, there is even more reason to do this. The kids may get annoyed with mom or dad constantly having a camera in their face, but the pictures will be so much fun to look at. A picture of a child reading their favorite book is a great idea. Do they have any chores that have been assigned to them? Document it!
Do you have guests stopping by your home for whatever reason? If so, snap a picture of them. Do the neighborhood kids come over to play with your kids? Let them pose for a picture. Does your family enjoy doing any activities together either inside or outside of the house? Again, document it! Don't forget pictures of pets.
Even though you will be taking many photos throughout the year, be sure to also take plenty during the holiday season. Even if you don't keep scrapbooks, you can buy photo albums that are specifically made to hold holiday photographs.
If you are like I am and enjoy having actual prints of your digital pictures, you may want to go ahead and have double prints made of each picture. Not only is it nice to be able to share them, but if you want to do scrapbooking and end up cropping some of the pictures for framing, you will still have a copy of the original. Caption and date all photos that are printed out.
In fact, something I have wanted to do but never got around to doing is to make duplicates and then store one set in another home with family members. If you don't do printouts, the same applies for your digital pictures. I've often heard people say that when there's a disaster, the worst thing to lose is family photographs. Take steps to preserve these memories.
In the past, photographs were taken at special occasions mostly. These times included birthdays, each grade of school, holidays, and family vacations for the most part. Often a big production was made of it and everyone dressed up the boys in their little suits and the girls in those frilly dresses.
Why only special occasions back then? Well one reason was because not only did the film for the camera have to be bought, but often the flash needed a separate purchase. Remember those old flash "cubes"? After those things were purchased, then the film had to be sent off to be developed and that was more money. Parents often made the decision that even though little Emily may have been adorable with pureed sweet potatoes all over her face it wasn't a reason to put money into having a photograph of the moment.
After digital cameras started appearing, though, all this changed. Suddenly dozens of pictures could be taken and there were no film, flash, or developing costs. Most everyone already has a computer, so downloading photographs is not a bother. The option to have them printed out still exists, so people who need the tangible photo to hold in their hands are happy, too.
Scrapbookers are happy because copies are easy to make. Grandparents are happy because it means more pictures of their grandbabies. Parents are happy because now every moment can be captured and the cost of many of the digital cameras is decreasing from when they were first introduced.
One thing that I personally need to work on is keeping my cameras within reach. Yes, that's plural. I have not been able to make myself switch totally over to digital yet. I have a great digital but I also keep my 35mm in working order and with film in it. I just like the quality of 35mm a bit better, so there are some occasions that I prefer using the traditional camera.
I need to keep my digital camera in a more accessible place. I have it in its case in the hall closet and it really should be easier to grab than that. I hope it will not take missing a fabulous shot of a lifetime to remind me to do that!
Try to photographically document what daily life is like in your household. If you are into scrapbooking, there is even more reason to do this. The kids may get annoyed with mom or dad constantly having a camera in their face, but the pictures will be so much fun to look at. A picture of a child reading their favorite book is a great idea. Do they have any chores that have been assigned to them? Document it!
Do you have guests stopping by your home for whatever reason? If so, snap a picture of them. Do the neighborhood kids come over to play with your kids? Let them pose for a picture. Does your family enjoy doing any activities together either inside or outside of the house? Again, document it! Don't forget pictures of pets.
Even though you will be taking many photos throughout the year, be sure to also take plenty during the holiday season. Even if you don't keep scrapbooks, you can buy photo albums that are specifically made to hold holiday photographs.
If you are like I am and enjoy having actual prints of your digital pictures, you may want to go ahead and have double prints made of each picture. Not only is it nice to be able to share them, but if you want to do scrapbooking and end up cropping some of the pictures for framing, you will still have a copy of the original. Caption and date all photos that are printed out.
In fact, something I have wanted to do but never got around to doing is to make duplicates and then store one set in another home with family members. If you don't do printouts, the same applies for your digital pictures. I've often heard people say that when there's a disaster, the worst thing to lose is family photographs. Take steps to preserve these memories.
Konica Minolta No Longer in the Camera Business
By Christina VanGinkel
I bought the camera of my dreams just sixteen months ago, a Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z5. It had all the features I had dreamed a new digital camera would have. A larger than typical optic zoom, 12X to be exact, built in anti-shake technology which I felt was an important feature for me as I always seem to have a slight tremor when holding something like a camera, a 5.0-megapixel CCD, a very adequate 2 inch LCD screen, and much more. When I bought it, I was already the owner of a Sony Mavica 350, which I still have. Between the two, the Konica should have been the easy winner, especially as the Mavica had only a 3X optical zoom and a 3.3-megapixel CCD. However, now that I have had them both for some time, I often find myself grabbing my Sony Mavica without hesitation when I know I cannot risk losing a shot.
Jump ahead from July 2005 to now, and while I like my Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z5, it has a few issues, nothing serious, but some things I would love to be able to follow up with the manufacturer about. Occasionally, when I snap several pictures in a row, I end up with a completely black snapshot. I do not mean snapping one right after the other with no break in between, just a somewhat consecutive row of snapshots. It is almost as if the camera becomes tired. This happens even when I have fresh batteries installed. In addition, when I turn it on, it sometimes seems to need to think before it will open. Again, this happens even when I have brand new batteries in it. Both problems, when I asked a few fellow digital camera owners if they had ever experienced issues such as these, the response was always to check my batteries, as the problems seem to be a power issue.
I decided my best course of action would be to go online and check the camera's site, to look through their FAQ (frequently asked questions) section and see if they had any ongoing issues with problems such as mine or even similar. Imagine my surprise when I popped online to go to their website only to discover that they no longer exist. That is right. While the company itself still exists, they have chosen to close some parts of their operations, essentially those parts of the company that are related to their cameras.
The notice on their site reads:
Camera Customer Services and Support
Konica Minolta Photo Imaging, Inc. ceased the camera business on March 31, 2006. As of April 1st, 2006, Sony Corporation is providing customer service for Konica's, Minolta's, and Konica Minolta's cameras (excluding Film-In cameras) and camera-related products except for the binoculars. For information about customer service, please click "Contact & Repairs".
For support information, please click "Support".
Photographic and Processing Products
Konica Minolta Photo Imaging, Inc. will also end our color film and paper supply operations, on an area-by-area basis. The withdrawal from worldwide sales activities will be complete by March 31, 2007.
Therefore, we are providing all information about photographic and processing products at the Konica Minolta Camera & Photo Support Site. Information is available in the English, German, French, and Chinese languages. Konica Minolta Photo Imaging, Inc. would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to fans of Konica Minolta around the world for their support for more than a century.
While I understand companies go through changes such as this, I still found this disturbing. After paying as much as I did for my camera, I would have at least expected to receive some sort of postcard, in my mailbox announcing these facts. They have customers register for warranty reasons, so I know they have my contact information, along with the other thousands of people who have products recently purchased and under warranty. At the time of this announcement, my camera was not even one year old. The good thing is their FAQ section is still online and searchable through their site, as are certain drivers for download. So even though they have passed off their support to Sony, the Konica Minolta website is still a good starting point if you find you have issues with one of their cameras, that, after you get past the shock of reading that the company no longer supports the cameras we paid them for.
The good news in all of this is that Sony Corporation is providing support of Konica Minolta customers. As an owner of a Sony camera, I know the company has good customer service, as I had to deal with them shortly after I first purchased my Sony Mavica. It ended up there was nothing wrong with my Mavica other than user error, yet the reps I had to deal with were both courteous and helpful, and not the least bit condescending when we all realized the problem was with me and not the camera.
I bought the camera of my dreams just sixteen months ago, a Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z5. It had all the features I had dreamed a new digital camera would have. A larger than typical optic zoom, 12X to be exact, built in anti-shake technology which I felt was an important feature for me as I always seem to have a slight tremor when holding something like a camera, a 5.0-megapixel CCD, a very adequate 2 inch LCD screen, and much more. When I bought it, I was already the owner of a Sony Mavica 350, which I still have. Between the two, the Konica should have been the easy winner, especially as the Mavica had only a 3X optical zoom and a 3.3-megapixel CCD. However, now that I have had them both for some time, I often find myself grabbing my Sony Mavica without hesitation when I know I cannot risk losing a shot.
Jump ahead from July 2005 to now, and while I like my Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z5, it has a few issues, nothing serious, but some things I would love to be able to follow up with the manufacturer about. Occasionally, when I snap several pictures in a row, I end up with a completely black snapshot. I do not mean snapping one right after the other with no break in between, just a somewhat consecutive row of snapshots. It is almost as if the camera becomes tired. This happens even when I have fresh batteries installed. In addition, when I turn it on, it sometimes seems to need to think before it will open. Again, this happens even when I have brand new batteries in it. Both problems, when I asked a few fellow digital camera owners if they had ever experienced issues such as these, the response was always to check my batteries, as the problems seem to be a power issue.
I decided my best course of action would be to go online and check the camera's site, to look through their FAQ (frequently asked questions) section and see if they had any ongoing issues with problems such as mine or even similar. Imagine my surprise when I popped online to go to their website only to discover that they no longer exist. That is right. While the company itself still exists, they have chosen to close some parts of their operations, essentially those parts of the company that are related to their cameras.
The notice on their site reads:
Camera Customer Services and Support
Konica Minolta Photo Imaging, Inc. ceased the camera business on March 31, 2006. As of April 1st, 2006, Sony Corporation is providing customer service for Konica's, Minolta's, and Konica Minolta's cameras (excluding Film-In cameras) and camera-related products except for the binoculars. For information about customer service, please click "Contact & Repairs".
For support information, please click "Support".
Photographic and Processing Products
Konica Minolta Photo Imaging, Inc. will also end our color film and paper supply operations, on an area-by-area basis. The withdrawal from worldwide sales activities will be complete by March 31, 2007.
Therefore, we are providing all information about photographic and processing products at the Konica Minolta Camera & Photo Support Site. Information is available in the English, German, French, and Chinese languages. Konica Minolta Photo Imaging, Inc. would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to fans of Konica Minolta around the world for their support for more than a century.
While I understand companies go through changes such as this, I still found this disturbing. After paying as much as I did for my camera, I would have at least expected to receive some sort of postcard, in my mailbox announcing these facts. They have customers register for warranty reasons, so I know they have my contact information, along with the other thousands of people who have products recently purchased and under warranty. At the time of this announcement, my camera was not even one year old. The good thing is their FAQ section is still online and searchable through their site, as are certain drivers for download. So even though they have passed off their support to Sony, the Konica Minolta website is still a good starting point if you find you have issues with one of their cameras, that, after you get past the shock of reading that the company no longer supports the cameras we paid them for.
The good news in all of this is that Sony Corporation is providing support of Konica Minolta customers. As an owner of a Sony camera, I know the company has good customer service, as I had to deal with them shortly after I first purchased my Sony Mavica. It ended up there was nothing wrong with my Mavica other than user error, yet the reps I had to deal with were both courteous and helpful, and not the least bit condescending when we all realized the problem was with me and not the camera.
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