ScanCafe for Quality Slide & Negative Scans

I recently had nearly 2,000 slides scanned from a service called ScanCafe, a company based in Burlingame, CA in the heart of Silicon Valley. I love their story and how it all started because it's not dissimilar to my own.

One of the ScanCafe's co-founder who I've yet to meet, had to travel back to Switzerland to attend the funeral of his grandfather. They tell the story: "Every family seems to have a family archivist, and among his many gifts, Laurent's grandfather was an enthusiastic photographer, who left behind countless Agfacolor prints, slides and negatives. As the engineer in the family, Laurent volunteered to scan in all those old photographs so that they could be shared with the extended family, who are scattered all over the world. Many of these photos, in fact, had been forgotten altogether...." I'll stop right there.

They nailed it at the "need" level and solving a real problem and that's the point. Many of the photos in our lives are forgotten altogether. I went through a simliar situation, once when I had to hand scan and photocopy (yes really) slides from the 1940s for a family reunion when my grandfather was still alive. Disjointed as our extended family is and despite the fact that reunions and get togethers used to be plentiful in my childhood, they had waned and in fact, were resented because of the amount of work it took to make a meet-up happen. Recapturing earlier family memories rebonded my relatives and for me personally, it gave me a deeper understanding and perspective of what made our family culture tick. 

Forward wind the clock to when my grandfather finally passed and I wanted to do the same thing at the funeral. With very little notice, I had didn't have the time to convert the best of his life, so I resorted to showing slides on a rickety old machine that was scratchy, hard to manage and frankly, just didn't do the job. The equipment was old and outdated. When I was a kid, no one minded swapping out slide after slide and manning a machine because it was the only option available.

I learned about ScanCafe from my friend Rick Smolan, who is an amazing photographer and had ordered his own slide scan batches through their service. Having tested a few of my slides on a friend's high-end scanner, I was disappointed by the grainy results and weary that any service could return the clarity or color quality on a set of slides that were over 80 years old. I also had a stack of slides from SE Asia that were nearly 20 years old, many of which were sadly scratched and poorly stored.

ScanCafe's results were incredibly good not to mention the fact that their service and marketing team aced it. Since I am who I am, I had an endless set of questions, not to mention fears and concerns about parting with the only copy of some of the most memorable moments in my life. A huge call out to their head of marketing Wade Lagrone who walked me through the process before I embarked on the image scanning journey. Step-by-step, he assured me that my slides would be safe and sound and why.

One of the reasons I was concerned about the safety of the slides is the fact that they ship them to their scanning facility in Bangalore India and my fears had to do more with shipping mishaps than anything on the ground in India. Sure, things get lost from time-to-time when you ship things overseas but more often than not, they tend to be small uninsured parcels with no tracking numbers. The risk is dramatically reduced when you're shipping something in a massive crate, one which is so large that it would be pretty hard to misplace or suddenly go missing. Point taken. 

The process is pretty simple. You can either order boxes through them which includes peanuts for protection or use your own. If the latter, be sure to take their tips for a smoother process, such as how to pack your slides and reduce the risk of scratching and extra movement during shipping.

After they do a run through of your photos, they allow you to review them and only order the ones you want, which is a fabulous feature. Why pay for the ones that are lousy? And, how would you know if you've never gone through a process like this before or had a clue about the quality of the results?

Once you review them and say yay or nay to your images, they ship them back to you on CDs clearly marked in a similar way to the way you tagged them when you sent them. In my case, I marked things by region and country and put them in separate plastic bags, all of which was logged on a separte piece of paper I could refer to later. The result was zero confusion on the receiving end as to what slide scan went with a specific period of time, event, person or trip.

It was quick to offload the images from the CDs to my hard drive and I was in photo sharing mode within minutes.

Sending your valuable and precious memories is a stressful and emotional experience for most of us. If it's the only photo of your parents or grandparents in a particular embrace or with a particular smile that you resonate with, the thought of losing your only copy is painful.

I would use ScanCafe again in a heartbeat and based on my research, the feedback I've received about competing services and of course my own positive results, these guys are the best gig around, hands down. Below are some of the results from their scans...bear in mind the age of some of these images and the fact that many had faded through direct and indirect sunlight and have been severly scratched over the years.

The below scan of India came from a slide which is about 20 years old.

The below scan from Africa came from a slide which is about 15 years old.

The below scan of Sydney came from a slide which is about 24 years old.

Utah Canyon Shoot: Testing New Graphic Tripod in the Desert Cold

On a recent trip to Utah, I had not yet tried out my new graphite tripod, the one I spent far too much on but did so because it is a full length one and yet it folds down to 12 inches and weighs a mere two pounds. When the sun started setting, a light jacket was no longer enough, but you forget about these things when you’re a photographer on a mission.

There I was with four other photographers who were clearly already “one” with their tripods and experienced with cold evening “waits” for that precise moment when you snap that killer shot. Freezing cold despite my layers, I observed them as much as I did the canyon before me which was changing color by the minute as we neared 8 pm. Since I was told the magic time was between 5 and 7, I didn’t realize I’d be standing out there for nearly four hours until 9 pm turning into ice.

The good news is that my photographer counterparts (Canadian, French, Swedish and a New Yorker) were great companions and even offered me some of their tools to play with, such as a cool blue filter and different lenses. They were two for two (two Nikons and two Canons) and I had my Canon 7D with me and my new 85 (1.2) lens. We all tried various settings and I found myself going through flash card after flash card since I was shooting raw. I seem to go through more cards driving through Utah than my last shoot in Paris somehow.

I found myself cursing how long the sun was taking to deliver the optimal moment given how cold it was, but alas it came and it really didn’t arrive until close to 8:30 pm. Once you’ve committed to waiting, you learn a helluva lot about your camera and about the way other photographers think and work.

What I realized is that I’m not really a wide angle landscape fan even though I always take those shots when the opportunity arises. I really love close ups of rocks, landscapes, fauna and earth; it’s the textures and depth of the land that turns me on rather than the expansive aspect of a horizon.

Perhaps it’s because I like getting my hands dirty; I like being “in” a situation creating from within rather than observing from the outside. Not sure if that makes me a producer, director, artist or just high maintenance or a variation of all three, but although I left completely satisfied, I was thinking on my drive back to my hotel, how much I was looking forward to using the tripod for model shots more so than mountain ones.

Testing Out Photosynth: Photo Stitching Technology

Testing out stitching technology using Photosynth, a free iPhone app at TEDx this past weekend.

 

My Top 12 Apps for #SXSW or any Conference for That Matter

After a gruelling week (translation: no food or sleep) in Austin for SXSW, I took a look at the apps I used most frequently and why.

Here's my top pick: the top 12 apps, most of which are iPhone apps, but some of them I also used on my laptop.

Plancast: Plancast is doing remarkable things given that it's still only a team of three. I had a chance to hang a bit with founders Jay Marcyes and Mark Hendrickson on the main floor early on. When I brought up the issue of Plancast seeing multiple accounts (this happens if you check in with Twitter the first time and another social network like Facebook the second time around). They know about it and can now automatically merge accounts. I used it to see where friends and colleagues were going to hang throughout the week, including international folks. It also included guest lists of some of SXSW’s biggest events and parties, which was instrumental for planning SXSW in advance. Since you can also see how many people (and who) signed up for each one, the sheer volume can give you an idea of whether its likely to be crowded with long lines or have a smaller more intimate feel.   

Blurb Releases BookSmart 3.0

There are some great new changes from Blurb with BookSmart 3.0 released today. BookSmart 3.0 now includes:

• Automatic two-page spreads - Drop your photo in our new two-page template and BookSmart automatically spans your photo across two pages with full bleed.
• Automatic book size change functionality - Now you can take an existing book project, click "Change Size" and create a smaller or larger version of your book. BookSmart automatically copies the entire contents of your book into the new book size and saves your original version so you can always order more.

They are also upgrading Blurb's standard end sheets. Currently, Blurb's end sheets are white. As of Wednesday, April 13, 2011, their standard end sheets across all hardcover books will be mid-grey and 30% thicker. There will be no extra charge for this end sheet upgrade.

Download BookSmart 3.0 and give it a try: http://www.blurb.com/create/book/download.

 

Creative Minds From Palm Springs to Long Beach to Los Angeles

A few visual highlights from Palm Springs to Long Beach to Los Angeles to consciousness to networking with filmmakers to a post TED soiree with friends in Encino and Santa Monica.

Below, Peter Hirschberg and Dan Gould.

 

Amanda Coolong, Dan Gould, Richard Green, Renee Blodgett, Jennifer Pogue

Photograph from JR Exhibit in Long Beach, this year's TED Prize winner

In front of the same photograph with a lifesize image that spit out within a minute

Stephanie Czerny and Yossi Vardi

Late Night Jam After Hours at the Westin

Renee Blodgett, David Bolinsky, Jennifer Pogue, Janine Warner

Canadian Filmmaker James Stewart

Post TED gathering on consciousness. Thanks Gino!

Hanging out in Santa Monica

2011 TED Prize Winner: Changing the World One Photograph at a Time - #TED

Being a passionate photographer myself and having lived and traveled to some of the pockets where JR shot hundreds of images for a 'wish' he had for the world, I couldn't help but be a little more than intrigued by his project which just won the TED Prize last week in Long Beach, CA.

So, who's JR? He is a photographer whose career began when he found a camera in the Paris subway. In his first major project, in 2001 and 2002, JR toured and photographed street art around Europe, tracking the people who communicate their messages to the world on walls. His first large-format postings began appearing on walls in Paris and Rome in 2003. His first book, Carnet de rue par JR, about street artists, appeared in 2005. 

In 2006, he launched “Portrait of a Generation,” huge-format portraits of suburban “thugs” from Paris’ notorious banlieues, posted on the walls of the bourgeois districts of Paris. This illegal project became official when Paris City Hall wrapped its own building in his photos.

His wish for the world? I wish for you to stand up for what you care about by participating in a global art project, and together we'll turn the world...INSIDE OUT."

Here's the idea: to participate.create a large-scale participatory art project that transforms messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work. Everyone will be challenged to use black and white photographic portraits to discover, reveal and share the untold stories and images of people around the world. These digitally uploaded images will be made into posters and sent back to the project’s co-creators for them to exhibit in their own communities.

People can participate as an individual or in a group; posters can be placed anywhere, from a solitary image in an office window to a wall of portraits on an abandoned building or a full stadium. These exhibitions will be documented, archived and viewable virtually. Visit www.insideoutproject.net to participate.

Below is an exhibit of some of his work held at a gallery in Long Beach, the weekend after the TED Conference finished. 

 

In the gallery, which was free to all attendees, you could have your photo taken and within minutes, you were given a larger than yourself piece of paper with your mug shot, replicating what he has been doing in developing countries. It's symbollic of his project and the idea is to plaster your image somewhere to expand his idea and he hopes, to change the world.

The TED Prize is designed to leverage the TED community’s exceptional array of talent and resources and is awarded annually to an exceptional individual who receives $100,000 and, much more important, “One Wish to Change the World.” 

The Zappos Tour: Join Me on a Very Wild & Visual Journey

If you live in the U.S., I'd be shocked if you've never heard of Zappos, a unique online store that started with shoes but then moved into other products even before it was acquired by Amazon.

CEO Tony Hsieh is a well known entrepreneur in Silicon Valley and social media circles, and is on the speaking circuit promoting his latest book Delivering Happiness, which is a must read if you haven't read it yet. There's even a Happiness Bus that is touring around the country, which I've had the pleasure to see in a few different cities. Check out a blog post I wrote summarizing a talk he gave in San Francisco last year, which includes a video clip. "If you get your corporate culture right," says Tony, "branding and customer service will naturally happen on its own. Customer service shouldn't be about a department, it should translate to the whole company."

This attitude and methodology has most definitely paid off as he points out in his book - it leads to a sustainable business and to profits. It leads to happy employees and customers. And, it leads to a corporate culture that is fun, memorable and inspiring, one that you want to stay with for a long time.

"Don't chase the paper," says Tony. "Chase the vision, chase your dream....and money will naturally follow. There's a big difference between motivation and inspiration. Make sure you have a higher purpose." He says that his only regret if he had to do it all over again was not having a core set of values in place for the company earlier. If you have passion, you're following your vision and your dream AND your company has alignment with those core values, all of it will extend to your employees, your partners and your customers. And, it shows up when you interact with Zappos employees - from the receptionist and customer service rep to the marketing and blogging team.

I finally had the opportunity to go on the official Zappos corporate tour during a recent trip to Las Vegas. It's more than a corporate tour - you feel as if you're on a ride with Disney, Tony Robbins and Pixar all at the same time, except that the tour includes shoes of course.....lots of them.

The creativity is a mish mash that changes as you migrate from department to department - it's as if you're on a discovery with each floor having its own energy and style, including the Blogging Bus which houses the 'blogging and social media' team. Check out a video interview I did with their social media team in January.

Since Zappos' color and energy was so eclectic and so visual, I thought I'd share my Zappos journey with you through photos. I also had an opportunity to attend their annual holiday party which had a 1920s theme this year and I most definitely dressed up - how could you not? While you'll notice a lot of funky shoes throughout including massive ones that were half my size, there was also a department that looked like a jungle, an official New York New York conference room and quite a few 'retro moments.' They also seem to really love Dr. Seuss.

Join me on my journey. Doesn't it look like a place you'd like to work?

The Wow Wall

A little Retro and Color in a sitting room

The New York New York Room

Hallway up to the Second Floor

Cake and cushions anyone?

Celebrity Portraitist Brian Smith Shares Fabulous Insights

 

Among other fabulous photographers, I had the pleasure of meeting and learning from celebrity portraitist Brian Smith at the recent San Francisco World Photography Festival.

Based in Miami, he came to the event to share some of the things he has learned from photographing celebrities, CEOs and models over the past thirty years.

A few things I took away from his style, which is very different from my own, yet he makes it work so well, you can't help but admire his work in the same way you'd admire a Salvador Dali but may not want to hang it on your wall. 

There's a fabulous shot that doesn't look like much when you first look at it, but note the careful selection of white against white yet his shoes nearly match the floor; natural earth tone next to natural earth tone. And....it just works.

Whereas this one combines a natural look with a little glitz in the background, but glitz in a solid color making the whole thing feel unified and balanced.

A few other takeaways.

Use contrasts. If you're shooting a boring subject - a traditional conservative CEO for example versus a Las Vegas singer, set him in a dramatic environment or change his / her clothing dramatically, i.e., outside the office and against a large gold pillar background or his example of putting Bill Gates in a black turtleneck.

OR combine the look of deep rich contrasting colors with contrasting images that don't appear to go together -- on the surface, such as what Brian did below. I LOVE THIS PHOTO btw. 

You can also put celebs or other subjects you're shooting in different clothing, different backdrops (tennis player in a suit on the top of a large building or an athlete in a graveyard showing their strength/that the rest of the industry should fear them because they're so good). He made some really interesting points about getting creative with 'how you depict' something.

For example, there are several ways outside of traditional thinking you could visually represent wealth or academia or entrepreneurship or design or glitz or fashion or beauty or health. You get the idea.

Other tips on speed....he says, "you don't always need to shoot 10 frames a second or more, you can do it one shot at a time with a strobe."

Apparently he uses strobes frequently and on touching photos up in the post shooting process, he had this to say, "I like to touch people up so that they still look real, but perhaps just left a really fabulous spa treatment - in other words, it's not so dramatic that someone wouldn't look at the subject and say it's an unrealistic representation of them." I thought it was great advice.

The keep it simple message kept coming up, which frankly is a message that works for most things in life. He also suggested not skimping on production or background since the environment (next to lighting) could make or break your shot.

I found him inspiring and down-to-earth, not to mention an easy listen. What I loved about his "show-and-tell" approach was the human part of the shot, i.e., not just what light or lens he used for the shot, but what the environment was like, the situation and occasionally adding funny add-ons throughout. Below is some video that I shot during the session.

Check out his work over at www.briansmith.com, where you can see countless images, ranging from travel, lifestyle and celebrity portraits to fine art and athletes.

A Recap of the 2010 Tudou Video Festival

This year, a thousand people attended the 2010 Tudou Video Festival, which was held in an arts complex in Beijing China. It mixed the Oscars with a little bit of Sundance and Cannes combined. In a CNN recap, you'll learn how fabulous the event was below. Except instead of red, the carpet was green. Instead of fancy designer dresses, the attire was a combo of grunge, flannel and faded blue jeans. And instead of airing on television or in movie theaters, the nominated films came straight from the Internet. Welcome to the 3rd annual 2010 Tudou Video Festival, held over the weekend in the Chinese capital.

Tudou.com (which means “couch potato” in Chinese) is China’s first, and now one of the country’s largest (aside from rival Youku.com), video sharing portals. Launched in 2005, Tudou follows a similar model to Google Inc.’s video Web site, YouTube.

 

Tudou.com co-founder Gary Wang.

Tudou also hosts videos that push the boundaries of sensitivity on the country’s censored Internet. It was the first portal, for example, to show the “War of Internet Addiction,” a 64-minute computer animation film on government Web controls, Tudou co-founder Gary Wang said. The film, produced by a network engineer who goes by the name “Sexy Corn,” won the top award at this year's festival.

Aspiring filmmakers, actresses and actors, animators and amateur videographers from around China (all mostly in their mid- to late-20s) showcased their work at the festival held at an art complex in Beijing, with aorund one thousand people in attendance.

Of the more than 5,000 entries, 94 made it to the final round of nominations.

“Two to three years ago, the works were really amateur,” Wang said. “Now people are taking it much more seriously.”

Now, traditional media along with advertisers are starting to take the content on Tudou much more seriously, too. Hung Huang, a blogge experiences working as a journalist in China won the “Golden Camera Award," and Hitch-hike Diary won the documentary category. The film, by a video blogger who goes by the name Tomato-Han Da Ka, is the story of a hiking trip on the border regions of Sichuan province and Tibet.

Sexy Corn

 

Sexy Corn, creator of “War of Internet Addiction,” which won the festival's top award. The film was shot entirely within the game World of Warcraft.

He is the producer of the “War of Internet Addiction,” an animated film shot entirely within the video game, World of Warcraft (it is a filming technique known as machinima, which involves making animated movies using real-time images recorded from video games). The movie won the top award at the Tudou festival.

The film centers on World of Warcraft gamers who are frustrated that a new version of the game was banned in China. However it also contains deeper themes about Internet freedom in the country. It has been viewed millions of times.

Video Link: http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/8w0z0Q_TAQI/