The Future of Photography Technology

The future of photography technology will be as dramatic as the technologies we are seeing in smartphones and tablets. The computing power is doubling at amazing rates and the power needed to manipulate photographs is growing with it. That is so promising and yet not everyone has grasped that yet. I was reading an article about organizing your photographs and the author said to not download your blurry photographs. Stop right there! That statement is assuming a lot of things that are not necessarily true. First, it assumes that the picture is just one of many and no big deal if you delete it. Second, it also assumes that at no time in the future could technology advancements in photography resolve the blur problem. Because of better technology I have pictures that I have rescued this past year that I took 12 years ago. If that blurry image is the only one you have of something important then do not delete it! Have you seen the technology demonstrated by Adobe where blurry images are being corrected to an almost perfect image? I only delete pictures that I feel are duplicates and of no value regardless of the future. Yes, I have a lot more pictures I store because of that but so what? What is the cost of doing that?

Be very selective of the pictures you delete. I have gone back into my archived pictures more than once to process a picture because of what was in the photograph. I used 12 year old pictures of my house being built to see where the pipes and wires were at. I didn't have them in my "official albums" but they were still there on  my hard drive. You never know what the value of a picture is until the day you want it or wish you had it.

I store all of my photographs on a single drive that is backed up by Carbonite and I also copy the "Picture" directory to a second hard drive. I do not want to lose my pictures regardless of their perfection.

Checkout the Adobe "Sneak".

Balloon Classic Invitational

The last weekend in July is time for the Balloon Classic Invitational in North Canton, Ohio. A tradition since 1984, hot air balloons fill the sky for 2 days with the pilots participating in piloting skill competitions. On Friday evening there is a glow event that is a beautiful site to behold, which is great family entertainment. In addition to the hot air balloons there is the Jackson-Belden Food Fest, where you can enjoy your favorite carnival foods and the Friday "glow" event and the Saturday night Fireworks show. A great time for the entire family. All of this is the kickoff to the Football Hall of Fame festivities. Below are several pictures that I took at the 2010 hot air balloon event and a skydiver from the Saturday night events in July 2009.

Typically there are 75 balloons at the invitational with a great "glow" event after sunset Friday night. Relax on the hill side and enjoy the warm evening and glowing balloons. For more information about the invitational follow this link.

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Cleveland Browns Stadium

Here are a few pictures I took of the Cleveland Browns Stadium. The stadium opened in August of 1999. The first picture was taken in 2009 from the Goodtime III and gives a nice water front view of the stadium. It is one of my favorite pictures and provides a bit of an edge to the stadium. It is a great view from the deck of the ship. The other 3 pictures were taken on 10/10/10 when the stadium was almost completely empty (taken with my iPhone).

Seating Capacity: over 73,200.

• 8,801 Club Seats.
• 10,644 Dawg Pound Seats (bleacher seating).
• 142 Luxury Suites.

Like being at home, but experiencing the excitement of the crowd. A great way to enjoy the game!

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[color-button color=orange href="http:/bhagavideo.com/2011/01/camera-phones"]Click here to see more pictures of the stadium[/color-button]

Super Cruise 2012 Salem, Ohio

My friend Zakeer was visiting from Leeds, UK this past weekend, and when my neighbor called and asked if we wanted to join him at the Salem Super Cruise, it was a definite yes. The cruise starts at 4 p.m. Thursday and ends at 7 p.m. Sunday. Now that is a cruise! This is the same weekend of the Steel Valley Super Nationals at the Quaker City Raceway. I had never been to the Super Cruise and didn't know exactly what to expect. I knew that it wasn't the typical car show and this was a chance for my friend Zak to not only see the cars, but hear them as well. It beat an evening at the local mall!  As usual I took my Nikon D90 along, but decided to shoot some video from my iPhone 4S. It is just easier to do. The picture quality isn't as good, but I would get a better result with the focus! Besides, I just wanted to record the sound of the cars driving by.

The Super Cruise consists of several parking lots where everyone shows their cars, stages with local bands, plenty of cars driving down the main drag of town and of course the food vendors. A root beer float was in order after an hour or so of taking pictures! There are a variety of cars to see from the 1940's to present and street rods galore in the numerous parking lots. I was there in time to see the parade cars rumble by and see new Mustangs, old caddies and army jeeps.

Everyone brings a chair and sits along the parade route to watch the cars drive by, listen to the drivers revving their engines, and hearing the variety of car horns (including the train horns). The fun also comes with being with your friends talking cars.

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Ashtabula, Ohio - Flying Saucer Gas Station

I have this converted Super 8 film on my YouTube and Vimeo site as well as a page on this blog. I am adding it as a post since it is so popular. I happen to have had my Super 8 camera with me the day I drove by the flying saucer gas station. I don't know how many people took a film or video of the gas station, but most people have said this is the only video they have seen and the lights are working as well. I feel pretty fortunate to have captured a piece of highway history all those years ago. Who knew? The guy hanging out of the car is magician Ed Ellis. He was a musician at the time (drummer), but he is more widely know for his magic skills. He has performed throughout the US, Europe, Korea and a frequent performer at the world famous Magic Castle. Who knew that would happen as well!

Also you might note that I said I shot the film on a Super 8 camera. It was not sound film. So where did the sound come from? I added it from my library of over 40,00 sound effects. By adding multiple layers the sound appears to have been captured at the scene all those years ago. As I mentioned in other areas of my blog site, I always add a little something extra to all my films. In this case it was sound.

Today more people take pictures and video than ever before. That's great, but what happens after that? Are you saving or archiving it? Will people see it 30 years from now? Record history, keep a journal, you can tell the real stories of the past someday. A past that you lived that is real, not a past that has been doctored or distorted!

Keep on recording history through the lens of your cameras!

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Late Evening View of Navsari

Part of my travel to India included a trip to Gujarat. I flew from Hyderabad to Mumbai and then took a 7 hour cab ride to Navsari, Gujarat, India. My wife had made the same cab ride a few days before me to meet her sister and other family members. After being introduced to "new" family members and having an enjoyable meal and conversation, I went for a walk taking a looking around the area. I eventually made my way to the roof of the flat we were staying in, and got this photo of the evening sky and cityscape. Navsari has a 2,000 year history and has been know by many names over the centuries. Cities with long histories are always the most enjoyable to visit.

Gujarati is the main language spoken in Navsari. The language my wife uses to speak with her sister and family from time to time. They jump inbetween English and Gujarati quite a bit. Sometimes I think I am understanding Gujarati until I realize they jumped to English! 

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