Photos Must Be Protected From Natural Disasters, Says ScanMyPhotos.com

Corporate News Release From ScanMyPhotos.com

(Irvine, CA) Expanding on the theme of National Preparedness Month (NPM), companies across the nation, including ScanMyPhotos.com are issuing an urgent recommendation to encourage people to take action and prepare for emergencies year-round.

NPM is a nationwide effort sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security's Ready Campaign to increase awareness for preparing and to effectively deal with emergencies and natural disasters.

As an advocate for protecting and sharing photographs, ScanMyPhotos.com is urging people to have their hard copy photos scanned and backed up now.

ScanMyPhotos.com president and CEO, Mitch Goldstone, said that “in support of National Preparedness Month it is important to remember that beyond gathering survival items when preparing for natural disasters such as fires, hurricanes or earthquakes one should also focus on the irreplaceable items in the home.

What is your backup plan?

It is often forgotten that in the aftermath of a disaster, your insurance will cover replacement of possessions that have a monetary value, but items with emotional value can never be replaced. Those shoeboxes of family photos tucked away in your closet or attic are often overlooked until it is too late.”

“Preparing for a natural disaster is a year-round imperative,” explains Goldstone who said, “In an instant, when disaster strikes, you risk losing precious photo memories. Family photographs document our lives in a way that material items cannot. Once those photos are destroyed, that part of the family history is lost forever. Family photos can also be ‘lost’ due to neglectful storage, sun exposure and actual time.

Because of new photo imaging technology, no longer do you have to individually scan every photo. That daunting taste has been replaced with ultra-fast and affordable bulk photo scanning using Kodak technology and performed by photo imaging industry professionals with same day return. Your photos are digitally scanned and saved onto DVDs allowing you multiple off-site backups.

ScanMyPhotos.com also offers its secure Extreme Backup plan for independently archiving all your images assuring the client total photo preservation.

According to ScanMyPhotos.com, the top six reasons to backup your photo memories are:

1) Offsite storage in case of a natural disaster.

2) Family divorce or relationship separations (duplicate copies solve ownership issues)

3) Halt ongoing fading and discoloration of your older analog pictures.

4) Easy sharing of photo reprints with others.

5) Making treasured photo gifts for anniversaries, birthdays and more.

6) Sharing stories and journaling to give a real ‘face’ for family tree genealogy projects.

Background: The history of ScanMyPhotos.com and affordable bulk photo scanning services: Founded in 1990 as a boutique retail photo center, the company is headquartered in Irvine, California. Today, ScanMyPhotos.com and its digital imaging retail photo center also operates a nationwide online photo ordering service that regularly makes national news for its leadership, entrepreneurial innovations and super-fast service. The company provides hundreds of photo imaging services. Years ago, the ScanMyPhotos.com division commercialized a new type of ultra-fast Kodak photo scanning technology to safely digitize and preserve tens of millions of millions of photo snapshots. Popular Photography called ScanMyPhotos.com a "leader in digitizing prints," the company has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. Click to read David Pogue’s Personal Tech review in The New York Times.
More info: ScanMyPhotos.com

Follow us on Twitter
Fan us on Facebook

Sphere: Related Content

ScanMyPhotos: photo scanning service, negative & slide scans, photo restoration

ScanMyPhotos: photo scanning service, negative & slide scans, photo restoration

Sphere: Related Content

Professional 35mm, APS & medium format negative scanning service

Professional 35mm, APS & medium format negative scanning service

Sphere: Related Content

Reviews and testimonials about ScanMyPhotos.com photo scanning service

Reviews and testimonials about ScanMyPhotos.com photo scanning service

Sphere: Related Content

Ten Photo Tips For Useing Lighting to Improve Your Photography

1. Explore the light. Learn to read where the light is coming from by looking at shadows – notice if the shadows are hard-edged or soft-edged. A general rule for beautiful images is to plan your photo shoot for early morning or late afternoon light because softer shadows equate to less contrast in your scene and more flattering light for your subject. If you must shoot images at high noon, move your subject under the shade of a tree or building.

2. Turn off your flash. It’s easier to capture subtle nuances of natural light in your scene if you turn off your on-camera flash.

3. Take beautiful pictures in the middle of a bright, sunny day by placing your subject in a shaded area near direct sunlight, for example, an open doorway or under the shade of a building or tree.

4. Use the rules of composition. The rule of thirds can help you create more compelling photographs. Envision a tic- tac-toe board on your viewfinder and place something of interest at one or more of these intersections.

5. Choose an interesting frame for your image, for example, an arched trellis, a unique doorway, or overhanging tree branch.

6. Think about using color to create a compelling image. From vibrant contrasts of primary colors to the Zenlike mood of harmonious blues and greens, color can determine the emotional content of a photograph.

7. Control the light. Create a more attractive image by bouncing or diffusing the available light. Bouncing light brightens up faces, gets rid of shadows and creates a catch-light in your subject’s eyes. Diffusing the light softens harsh light falling upon your subject. You can buy a reflector or diffuser at a camera store, but you can also use common household items. Aluminum foil wrapped around a baking sheet, a car dashboard reflector, or a white foam core board can be used to reflect light. Translucent fabric, sheer shower curtains, or plastic bags can be used to diffuse the light.

8. Mix it up! Tell a story with your images by varying the distance and angle from your subject. Consider a wide-angle shot of an area, a mid-range shot, and a detailed close-up to give your viewer an informed perspective.

9. Give yourself ROOM to ZOOM. To eliminate distracting elements and provide a flattering perspective – stand back and give yourself room to zoom into your subject and fill the frame.


10. Consider the direction of the light falling upon your subject. Front light can look flat but diminishes lumps, bumps, and wrinkles. Sidelight creates dimension and form. Backlight can create a silhouette or a rim of light around your subject. Top light isn’t flattering and should be avoided.

Sphere: Related Content

Revisiting Black-and-White Photography

Black-and-white is back because it’s part of the power of photography. In today’s color-saturated, manipulated-image world, black-and-white feels real. To many, it looks fresh. Black-and-white is back because brides want to see black-and-white photos in their wedding albums. Black-and-white is back because it’s still a great way to learn about how film “sees” light. The bottom line: Black-and-white photography is back because it’s beautiful.

Black-and-white is educational


Black-and-white photography is a great way to learn about the photographic medium. Concepts of highlight and shadow detail, image contrast, film and exposure latitude, and tonal range are all best understood by studying the black-and-white image.


The educational value of black-and-white film is not limited to making black-and-white images. Color silver halide images are actually made out of three (or more) layers of black-and-white images that interact with color couplers to produce layers of color dye. Viewed together, they give the illusion of a full range of colors. Whether learning to control color film and prints or even the different layers of a color image that has been scanned into a computer, the more you know about contrast, exposure latitude, and highlight and shadow areas of black-and-white images, the greater your color mastery will be.


Even if accomplished and comfortable working in color, you’ll derive great benefit from learning about black-and-white photography.

Traditional film

To choose from the full range of films for black-and-white, it is necessary to visit a good camera store, either locally or online. Chances are there isn’t even one roll of black-and-white film, much less a decent selection, at your local drugstore or big discount store. This is where the specialty store shines.


When you find a good store, you’ll find a variety of great black-and-white film in various speeds. The number that accompanies each film is its ISO or speed. The higher the number, the “faster” the film – meaning it is more sensitive to light. For most users, we recommend using a 400-speed film; and for low-light situations, we suggest trying one of the 1600 or 3200-speed emulsions.


There are other film stocks to consider, such as Kodak BW400CN. It’s a 400-speed, black-and-white film that can be processed in conventional color negative chemistry, a process technically known as C-41.


While we’ve discussed only traditional film-based materials, keep in mind any color photo can be converted to a black-and-white image on a computer. Several digital cameras on the market also allow users to capture images as black-and-white. How’s that for a comeback?

Sphere: Related Content

The First Digital Camera (via Kodak: Plugged In)

Kodak: Plugged In - We Had No Idea

[This is another extraordinary article from Kodak: Plugged In]


Written by Steve Sasson, the inventor of the digital camera, will be inducted today into the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame.

In December of 1975, after a year of piecing together a bunch of new technology in a back lab at the Elmgrove Plant in Rochester, we were ready to try it. “It” being a rather odd-looking collection of digital circuits that we desperately tried to convince ourselves was a portable camera. It had a lens that we took from a used parts bin from the Super 8 movie camera production line downstairs from our little lab on the second floor in Bldg 4. On the side of our portable contraption, we shoehorned in a portable digital cassette instrumentation recorder. Add to that 16 nickel cadmium batteries, a highly temperamental new type of CCD imaging area array, an a/d converter implementation stolen from a digital voltmeter application, several dozen digital and analog circuits all wired together on approximately half a dozen circuit boards, and you have our interpretation of what a portable all electronic still camera might look like.

Vintage 1975 portable all electronic still camera

It was a camera that didn’t use any film to capture still images - a camera that would capture images using a CCD imager and digitize the captured scene and store the digital info on a standard cassette. It took 23 seconds to record the digitized image to the cassette. The image was viewed by removing the cassette from the camera and placing it in a custom playback device. This playback device incorporated a cassette reader and a specially built frame store. This custom frame store received the data from the tape, interpolated the 100 captured lines to 400 lines, and generated a standard NTSC video signal, which was then sent to a television set.

The playback device and TV

There you have it. No film required to capture and no printing required to view your snapshots. That’s what we demonstrated to many internal Kodak audiences throughout 1976. In what has got to be one of the most insensitive choices of demonstration titles ever, we called it “Film-less Photography”. Talk about warming up your audience!

Side-by-side comparison – Hardcopy vs. Film-less Photography

After taking a few pictures of the attendees at the meeting and displaying them on the TV set in the room, the questions started coming. Why would anyone ever want to view his or her pictures on a TV? How would you store these images? What does an electronic photo album look like? When would this type of approach be available to the consumer? Although we attempted to address the last question by applying Moore’s law to our architecture (15 to 20 years to reach the consumer), we had no idea how to answer these or the many other challenges that were suggested by this approach. An internal report was written and a patent was granted on this concept in 1978 (US 4,131,919). I kept the prototype camera with me as I moved throughout the company over the last 30 years, mostly as a personal reminder of this most fun project. Outside of the patent, there was no public disclosure of our work until 2001.

The “we” in this narrative was largely the people of the Kodak Apparatus Division Research Laboratory in the mid 1970’s and, in particular, several enormously talented technicians - Rick Osiecki, Bob DeYager and Jim Schueckler. All were key to building the camera and playback system. I especially remember working with Jim for many hours in the lab bringing this concept to life. Finally, I remember my visionary supervisor, the late Gareth Lloyd, who supported this concept and helped enormously in its presentation to our internal world at Kodak. In thinking back on it, one could not have had a better environment in which to “be crazy.”

Many developments have happened between this early work and today. Personal computers, the Internet, wide bandwidth connections and personal desktop photographic printing are just a few of these. It is funny now to look back on this project and realize that we were not really thinking of this as the world’s first digital camera. We were looking at it as a distant possibility. Maybe a line from the technical report written at the time sums it up best:

“The camera described in this report represents a first attempt demonstrating a photographic system which may, with improvements in technology, substantially impact the way pictures will be taken in the future.”

But in reality, we had no idea …

[reposted in its entirety from "Kodak: Plugged In" Photos from Kodak]

Sphere: Related Content

Reviews and testimonials about ScanMyPhotos.com photo scanning service

Reviews and testimonials about ScanMyPhotos.com photo scanning service

Sphere: Related Content

Professional 35mm, APS & medium format negative scanning service

Professional 35mm, APS & medium format negative scanning service

Sphere: Related Content

Kodak Night at Frontier Field 2010

Sphere: Related Content

Kodak and Getting Gorgeous

Sphere: Related Content

Underwater footage with Kodak Playsport

Sphere: Related Content

Kodak M590 Digital Camera

Sphere: Related Content

Kodak 10 inch Pulse Digital Picture Frame

Sphere: Related Content

Kodak PlayTouch Pocket Video Camera

Sphere: Related Content

Mommy Bloggers are Crazy for Kodak

Sphere: Related Content

#140conf Interview #40 w/ @scanmyphotos

Sphere: Related Content

Create KODAK Picture Movie DVDs at ScanMyPhotos.com

Sphere: Related Content

How to order ScanMyPhotos.com prepaid scanning box

Sphere: Related Content

Create photo cards at ScanMyPhotos.com using Kodak kiosks

Sphere: Related Content

More than 10,000 Photos Scanned to DVD $579.00 Includes Free S&H, same day return

FAMILY GENERATIONS COLLECTION

Most Popular Promotion at ScanMyPhotos.com

Key Features:•Best Value - 10,000 photos scanned to DVD. (Total estimated, results vary with packing and size of photos.)
•Box dimensions: 11" x 8.5" x 5.5", includes six prepaid boxes.
•Free delivery and same day fulfillment.
•Includes 1 DVD data disc per box with your scanned images. (300dpi, True Color 24-bit JPEG)
•Fast, same-day scanning.
•U.S. domestic only. Sorry, no international orders. •For more answers, view our Frequently Asked Questions
Important Notes Before Ordering:
•Packaging Restrictions: Contents must reasonably fit within the Priority Mail packaging.


Box cannot be reshaped or deformed when closed. When sealing a flat-rate box, the container flaps must be able to close within the normal folds. Tape may be applied to the flaps and seams to reinforce the container; provided the design of the container is not enlarged by opening the sides and the container is not reconstructed in any way. If you do not comply with these USPS requirements, the post office will return your box unprocessed and you will be liable for the cost to repack and resend to ScanMyPhotos.com

•White Glove Services: The quantity ordered for White Glove Services MUST match the quantity of boxes ordered. Buy 2 get 3rd free does not apply to additional options.

•Refund Information: Due to the nature of the prepaid boxes and shipping costs, we cannot offer a refund once the empty box has been shipped.

•Replacement Box: If you lose or damage your box, there is a $14.95 per box replacement fee to have new boxes shipped to you.

•Before ordering, click here to review all terms and limit of liability

Ready to Order - CLICK HERE

Sphere: Related Content

Quick and Easy Photo Tips

Follow ScanMyPhotos.com on Twitter

Sphere: Related Content

FREE* PHOTO SCANNING Through September 10, 2010

[Follow us on Twitter - Twitter.com/ScanMyPhotos]

[Fan us on Facebook and post a review from your experience]

FREE PHOTO SCANNING Through September 10, 2010. Here is one of those hidden treasures. The best word-of-mouth promotion is when we help each other. Share your experience from having ScanMyPhotos.com preserve up to 1,000 4x6" photos and the scanning is on us. It is instant and free (same day scanning, mailed back nationwide) you just *pay $19.95 for return S&H. Applies to domestic U.S. mail in-orders only - no walk-in or international orders.

What is the catch? We just ask that you post a candid review of your experience on one of the leading social networking sites, and "Fan" us on Facebook to also post a brief review so we can learn from your experience.

Are you a Facebook-aholic? Mad about MySpace? Flocking to Flickr? Batty for Blogger? Typing on Twitter? Thinking on Wordpress? Well, good for you, because ScanMyPhotos.com is again offering its popular free photo scanning just for social network lovers. Current members of Twitter®, Facebook®, MySpace®, Blogger®, WordPress® and Flickr® can have up to 1,000 4×6" non-copyrighted photos scanned and saved digitally without any charge for the service. Network socialites still have to pay $19.95 for shipping and handling. This super affordable and fast photo scanning service alone regularly costs $64.00.

Have a question? Reach us on the free 24/7 Live Support help desk

Mitch Goldstone, president and CEO of ScanMyPhotos.com explained that online networkers get such a rich deal because they “represent the most cutting-edge and innovative group of consumers. Just like ScanMyPhotos.com, they are tech-savvy and are always seeking to catch the next wave of excitement and help create the type of buzz that launched the iPhone and other popular Internet-age products and compelling services."


The deal ends on September 10, 2010 and cannot be applied to prior orders and only can be used for standard photographic print scans and domestic U.S. mail-in orders only, this discount towards walk-in orders will not be honored, please don't even ask. However, you certainly can add on all types of other innovative paid services, like our:

• Photo Soap (Photo Enhancement)
• Extreme Backup
• Photo Index Book
• Additional DVDs
• Image Rotation
• Photo Scanning in Specified Order
• Kodak Picture Movie DVD
• ScanMyPhotos.com E-Gift Certificate

HOW TO GET YOUR PHOTOS SCANNED FOR FREE

Follow us on Twitter - Twitter.com/ScanMyPhotos

Fan us on Facebook

Free photo scanning applies only to current members of Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, WordPress, Blogger and Flickr to scan up to 1,000 4x6" non-copyrighted photo snapshots, plus pay standard shipping and handing fee of $19.95. Valid only for direct mail customers in the U.S. Limited to one complimentary scanning service per person / address. Cannot be combined with other orders. The completed official order form must accompany your mailed in photos (no walk-in free scanning service is available).

Click here for complete, mandatory packing instructions

Photographs must comply with ordering requirements and be loose, non-copyrighted, out of envelopes and albums and without any sticky glue, curls, non-horizontal or standard Polaroid-type shapes, or other conditions that would impede scanning.

See blog for more info: Tales from the World of Photo Scanning

To start, click here to download the official order form

You must fulfill your end of the deal by writing a blog-posting to review your experience on one of those social networking sites mentioned above within ten-days after receiving your completed order, and "Fan" us on Facebook to post a brief review, or you will be charged the $64.00 scanning fee.

ScanMyPhotos.com pioneered a new way to affordably and quickly digitize tens-of-millions of analog pictures by commercializing KODAK imaging scanners.

Website: ScanMyPhotos.com
Blog: Tales from the World of Photo Scanning

Any questions, ask away on our free 24/7 Live Support help desk

Sphere: Related Content

VHS to DVD Transfer

For $249.95, we will ship you a box for you to fill with your tapes to transfer to DVD which you can put up to 14 tapes, either VHS, VHS-C or Hi8 tapes or any combination of the three (up to a total of 14 tapes). We will ONLY accept standard size VHS, VHS-C and Hi8 tapes for this service. No 8mm reels, BetaMax or any other type of videocassette is valid with this option. Any video included in the box that is not a meet these requirements will be returned with your order without transfer and no credit will be issued. Additionally if you send a damaged for copyrighted VHS tape, it too will be returned without copying and no credit will be provided. Make sure not to send any professionally produced VHS tapes, such as recorded television programs, theatrical motion pictures, etc. If organized properly, you should be able to fit up to 14 standard VHS tapes in the box. Once packed, simply drop off the box at your local USPS location for delivery. When your order is complete, the DVD's and tapes will be shipped back to you. We do not, nor will not, dispose of your old VHS tapes.

More info and to order, please click here

Sphere: Related Content

How Photos Can Be Protected From Natural Disasters

IRVINE, Calif.--- Expanding on the theme of National Preparedness Month (NPM), ScanMyPhotos.com is not waiting until the annual September event to issue an urgent recommendation encouraging people to take action and prepare for emergencies year-round. NPM is a nationwide effort sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security's Ready Campaign to increase awareness for preparing and to effectively deal with emergencies and natural disasters.

ScanMyPhotos.com, an associate member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), is urging people to have their analog photo snapshots scanned and backed up.

In advance of National Preparedness Month, ScanMyPhotos.com president and CEO, Mitch Goldstone, said, “Beyond gathering survival items when preparing for natural disaster emergencies, such as fires, hurricanes or earthquakes, think about protecting irreplaceable items in the home.”

http://ow.ly/dcmu
Press release: http://ow.ly/dclO
Overview on preserving photos: http://ow.ly/dcma
Follow ScanMyPhotos.com on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/scanmyphotos
Website: ScanMyPhotos.com

While insurance may cover replacement of possessions that have monetary value, how are you protecting items of emotional value? Those shoeboxes of family photos tucked away are often overlooked until it is too late.

What is your backup plan?

According to ScanMyPhotos.com, the top six reasons to backup your photo memories are:

1) Offsite storage in case of a natural disaster.
2) Family divorce or relationship separations (duplicate copies solve ownership issues)
3) Halt ongoing fading and discoloration of your older analog pictures.
4) Easy sharing of photo reprints with others.
5) Making treasured photo gifts for anniversaries, birthdays and more.
6) Sharing stories and journaling to give a real ‘face’ for family tree genealogy projects.

“Preparing for a natural disaster is a year-round imperative,” explains Goldstone who said, “In an instant, when disaster strikes, you risk losing precious photo memories. Family photographs document our lives in a way that material items cannot. Once those photos are destroyed, that part of the family history is lost forever. Family photos can also be ‘lost’ due to neglectful storage, sun exposure and actual time. There is an urgency to preserve your analog photos before facing a possible natural disaster emergency.”

The daunting task of individually scanning each picture has been replaced with ultra-fast and affordable bulk photo scanning using Kodak technology and performed by photo imaging industry professionals with same day return. Your photos are digitally scanned and saved onto DVDs allowing you multiple off-site backups.

ScanMyPhotos.com provides secured Extreme Backup to archive all your images. Its menu of hundreds of other photo imaging gift and sharing items are posted on its Web site.

Resources:
Background news:

Founded in 1990 as a boutique retail photo center, today, [30 Minute Photos Etc.] ScanMyPhotos.com is an international company, headquartered in Irvine, California. The digital imaging retail photo center and international online photo ordering service regularly makes national news for its leadership and entrepreneurial innovations.

Sphere: Related Content