Krome Studio Receives Inaugural Mobile Photo Connect Award

PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 6, 2015 /PRNewswire-iReach/ --  Krome Studio, the leading provider of crowd-sourced photo editing services, today announced that the company received the inaugural Mobile Photo Connect Award at this year's Mobile Photo Connect Conference.  As one of six companies hand-selected by an elite panel of judges including James Joaquin, cofounder of Obvious Ventures and Jen Pollack Bianco, award-winning iPhone photographer and blogger, Krome Studio's photo-editing concierge app beat out a field of over 30 demonstrators, who unveiled cutting edge mobile photo technologies during the day's industry led sessions.  Recognition for Krome's ingenuity:  creating a global creative services market to address the average consumer's photo needs while generating work for photo professionals was heralded by industry experts and peers.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151005/274220LOGO

"Krome Photos is a good example of how an app can solve a fundamental consumer problem and solve it in a really simple way.  Mere mortal consumers simply don't know how to fix their photos and do retouching.  To create a crowd-sourced market for retouching services is an impressive business model," said James Joaquin, cofounder of Obvious Ventures.

Jen Pollack Bianco, whose photos have appeared in Apple's World Gallery and Shot on iPhone 6 campaign, praised the company stating, "I know many people who could use Krome – I certainly could.  The public doesn't know such solutions exist, let alone that they're offered at a reasonable price – the average user doesn't even know what is possible with programs like Photoshop."

About Krome Studio

Palo Alto based Krome Studio connects customers with a global network of professional photo editors. Available online, on iOS, and Android, customers can request enhancements and custom edits to create unique photo art. Photo projects start at $.99.  A free preview of your first photo project is available for a limited time.

About Mobile Photo Connect

Mobile Photo Connect is the leading annual forum for entrepreneurs, investors and senior executives driving the technologies and businesses behind the surge in mobile imaging and visual communication. Learn more here.    

Media Contact: Melissa Carpio, Krome Studio, 855-438-5766, melissa@kromephotos.com

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SOURCE Krome Studio

Source: Krome Studio Receives Inaugural Mobile Photo Connect Award

Artist Behind 200 Clarendon Mural Is Bringing Another Art Project to Boston

JR's 'Inside Out' photo booth truck is coming to Roxbury / Photo provided

A few weeks ago, the French street artist known as JR took Boston by surprise.

Unannounced, one of his signature large-scale photorealistic murals began unfolding on the facade of one of the Boston skyline's signature elements—the skyscraper formerly known as the John Hancock Tower, recently renamed 200 Clarendon.

"I'm already convinced that the piece has a little bit of genius about it," proclaimed Sebastian Smee, Boston Globe's Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic, even before the piece was finished.

The work is now complete, on display for an indeterminate period of time, but JR is not done with Boston just yet.

The artist is bringing another temporary artwork to town, but this time he's giving forward notice—in fact, this project depends on the public's participation.

On Wednesday, October 7, JR will host an iteration of his worldwide "Inside Out" project in Roxbury, bringing a photo booth truck to capture and instantly print out large-scale portraits of people that attend the pop-up. The black-and-white prints will then be pasted on the grounds of the Dudley Branch of the Boston Public Library, creating a collective portrait of the community, titled "The Faces of Dudley."

JR's vision for "Inside Out" won the 2011 TED Prize, which granted him an investment of $1 million to realize the worldwide photo project. Since then, iterations of the project have taken place in 124 countries, resulting in more than 200,000 individual portraits. Each collection of portraits is documented, archived, and exhibited on the project's website.

In addition to the portraits, local arts nonprofit Now and There Inc. and mobile creative lab UP Truck will collect stories from participants in Roxbury that will later be compiled into a book and text-based project.

Free, Wednesday, October 7, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Dudley Branch of the Boston Public Library, 65 Warren St., Roxbury.

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Source: Artist Behind 200 Clarendon Mural Is Bringing Another Art Project to Boston

Wayne Hinshaw: Is our love of the smartphone based in nostalgia?

A few weeks ago, I wrote columns about the use of smartphones and the future of straight photography. With those subjects on my mind, I have discovered other articles about the subject that I would like to share with you. I don't want to bore you with subjects that don't interest you, but I think these writers have an interesting outlook on where smartphones actually got their start.

"Regardless of what it signifies, any photographic image also connotes memory and nostalgia, nostalgia for modernity and twentieth century, the era of the pre-digital, pre-post-modern," Lev Manovich said.

From the previous quote, Joshua Sarinana, a writer with a PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, developed a fascinating idea about why we are so attracted to smartphones.

With the idea that we will always need to connect to our past, our modern culture has a connection through our unconscious minds with past generations and ideas. Sarinana says that the current generation, in today's pop-culture, is trying to "mimic the 1970s."

The concept of mobile photography was founded in 1972 with the invention of the Polaroid SX-70 camera. With the Polaroid SX-70, you could shoot photos quickly and they would automatically eject and develop without any chemical residue. Edwin Land went on stage with the new folding camera in his pocket. He shot five pictures in 10 seconds and they popped out of the camera completed. By 1974, Polaroid sold 700,000 cameras at $180 each. The astronauts used a SX-70 camera in Skylab 3 and 4 to make instant photos.

Thus, quick and instant, mobile photos were possible.

This draw to quick, instant photos remained in modern people's minds. They liked the idea so much when the smartphone and social media of today popped into the culture, it was quickly absorbed into our lives.

Photographer Stephen Shore is quoted in Shutterbug magazine as saying immediacy was always on his mind. So was sharing. People would give away SX-70 pictures. "l'll take your picture" was followed by, "Here, you can have it."

From the 1970s until now, the missing step, according to Shore, was to communicate what he observed to others in his photos in a quick, instant move that the iPhone 5 and other smartphones now present.

Shore, director of the photography department at Bard College, says, "I'm using all this source material to decide what to photograph and also how to structure the picture, not to make it composed like a photograph, but to make it look like 'seeing.' "

The photos he is taking with his iPhone "aren't to be like stories. They're one liners."

Sardinian feels that all this is part of our nostalgia, of wanting to return psychologically to the past. That is why we want to use our smartphones and apply all the apps to the photos trying to make the photos look like photos from the past.

In the 1970s, we were moving from analogue to digital, which brought about the social media. In the '70s, our visual culture was different than it had been in previous generations. Our desire for color photos and "snapshot aesthetics" was evolving as the Polaroid SX-70 camera became popular.

You didn't need any technical knowledge to successfully use the SX-70, just like no knowledge is needed to use the modern smartphones. Everyone can use the smartphone.

With the iPhone you can get an app for a 1977 filter added to your photo. You can make your photo look like an old toy camera effect with all its defects. You can put a Polaroid white border on your images with an app. You can add vintage filters of color and textures over your images.

We are in a digital age where you can make any photo look like an old analogue photo from the past. It is our connection to the past, our nostalgia for the old. The photos can be shared with friends instantly on social media like giving them Polaroid photos of old.

Sarinana says, "Every photo implies the past, but it is necessary to use the past as a way to guide us toward the future and not as a place to find refuge from the unknown."

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Source: Wayne Hinshaw: Is our love of the smartphone based in nostalgia?

UK launch sees Cheerz lead the way in mobile photo printing

by Khyle Deen. Published Fri 02 Oct 2015 18:19

Innovative young lifestyle brand Cheerz has made its mark as the European leader in the mobile photo printing market with the launch of its hugely popular app. Bringing retro into modern day, the super-simple Cheerz app for iOS and Android provides a stylish and fully customisable way to print and enjoy the best moments from Instagram, Facebook and our smartphones in an authentic Polaroid format with just a click.

As a whole generation rediscovers the magic of sharing physical photos, Google Vice President Vint Cerf, one of the founding fathers of the internet, also raises the stark warning that digitally stored images and information could be wiped out by tech upgrades and deteriorating files.

It's therefore become more important than ever to not allow memories to live and die on a hard drive. "If there are images you care about, print them out," Mr Cerf said.

With just a few clicks, users can select, print and hold their photos in just a few days, all wr apped up in stylish packaging. Not only providing a quality print, personalisation is also super easy, with options to add impressive filters, background colours and text.

Photos can be used to create any product from their ever-growing contemporary range, including the distinguished Cheerz Box, a cute designer box filled with 30 to 45 retro-style Prints, Cheerz Strips reminiscent of a photo booth-fun, and other popular products such as magnets and authentic Polaroid-style Prints.

Always staying on top of their game, Cheerz is constantly adding inventive new products to their range, such as the recent addition of the Big Fat Box, a stylish box holding at least 100 Prints, and Flip Prints, a pack of 24 or 36 double-sided Prints with options to add ready-made designs, text or photos to the reverse side.

To adapt to changing seasons, the Cheerz Box and Magnets also come in a range of designs, with limited Christmas editions available along with adorable illustrated gi ft tags and packaging.

From fashioning creative displays in the home to collecting memories or simply creating the perfect gift for friends and family, Cheerz presents a stylish way to celebrate and decorate our lives.

"Cheerz is about giving the photo-printing evolution a personality, and to provide userswith the simplest and most intuitive photo-printing service to bring back the joy of printing and keeping your photos that seems to have been lost with the introduction of smartphones. We're excited to see the rapid growth since launching in the UK, and since opening our local ofce in London, we've been able to much more efectively communicate with this market." - Frans Diels, Country Manager UK

Source: UK launch sees Cheerz lead the way in mobile photo printing

Nexus 6P’s sample photos, slowmo video shown off by Google execs

R Padla

Excited to take your new Nexus 6P for a spin? You may not easily get your hands on one but Google Android's VP Engineering Dave Burke posted some sample photos captured using the latest flagship. He shared on Twitter the impressive results of his colleague Romain Guy's (@romainguy) test drive. According to Guy, some photos where edited on the default editor to increase brightness. Some built-in filters were also used when asked if any filters or processing were done on the images.

Photos were captured by the Huawei Nexus 6P on Full Auto with auto exposure and auto HDR+ among others. A bunch of photos are presented in a gallery below but here's a 'black and white' sample first:

Aside from photos, Burke also shared a link of a slow mo video of a hummingbird recorded at 240fps. The video was shot by Google's camera framework team lead Eddy Talvala.

The 240fps video is really impressive. You can see the bird's wings flapping slowly as if it's not flapping 50 times per second. You think there's no need for slow motion videos but now that people are getting serious with mobile photography and videography, smartphones need to keep up with the needs of the consumers.

Yesterday, DxOMark reviewed and remarked that the Google Nexus 6P by Huawei is a "serious contender for mobile photography". It's just behind Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge when it comes to DxOMark's ranking and even scored better than the LG G4. If you're still searching for a new phone with a high-quality camera, then the Nexus 6P is for you.

SOURCE: Dave Burke (1),(2), Romain Guy

Source: Nexus 6P's sample photos, slowmo video shown off by Google execs

Bringing global photography to public spaces

Shweta Sharma, Oct 01, 2015, DHNS

Reclaiming spaces

Amid the regular hustle and bustle at the Select Citywalk mall in Saket, Tina stood glued to a television screen which displayed varied works — from fashion photography to mobile photography. "I have never seen this screen placed here before, neither have I seen these works. This is a wonderful way to bring photography close to the common man, who otherwise may not get such opportunities."And it is with the same intention that photographers Manik Katyal, Poulomi Basu, and CJ Clarke conceptualised 'Just Another Photo Festival' (JAPF), that brought powerful, inspiring photography to a mass audience.

The idea for the festival germinated after the trio realised that the present state of photography in India was synonymous with lack of exposure and limited opportunities for people outside of the photography scene to see great work from around the world.

"This encouraged us to explore this space and bring over 150 photographers from 35 countries to Delhi. The mai n idea is to democratise photography in India; to take it to the people rather than inviting them to fancy museums/gallery shows. We want people to enjoy photography, celebrate the medium and most importantly, make it for people from all classes and backgrounds," Katyal, founder and editor-in-chief of Emaho Magazine/Foundation, tells Metrolife.

Bringing global photography to the masses, the festival's first edition held free-to-access events between September 25-30 at prominent public locations across the capital to reach out and build a grassroots platform for photography. The venues included a mall, a slum in Vasant Kunj, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Old Delhi and also Lajpat Nagar.Sharing details of her work, Adriana Zehbrauskas, a Brazilian documentary photographer says she loves to tell stories about anonymous people, their lives, dreams, hopes and fears.

"The work I'm showing was shot entirely on my iPhone in 2015 either as a commission, or complementing an assignment.  Most of these images were uploaded to my Instagram feed. I think it's important to tell stories about people and places that are always misrepresented. No stories are too small to be told," Zehbrauskas says.

Another photographer, Nafise Motlaq from Iran says that while her project reflects her relationship with her father, who came back to life after slipping in to coma for a few days, it also showcases Iranian culture.

"The project started with simple portraits of my family and friends but later I decided to look at it within a bigger perspective to show the variety of social classes in Iran through a father-daughter relationship. In this collection, people will see how diverse Iranians are in terms of cultural, economic, social and religious background," she tells Metrolife.

But how strong is the concept of public art in India?"Photography should be shown more in public places because it kills the elitism of the medium which is often pres ented at certain selective venues only. We really believe in the concept of public art and are planning to take JAPF to different cities. I wish that there was more support from the local photography community, instead we are being targeted. But we are here to celebrate photography and make JAPF a huge success, not for us but for the cause of public art," Katyal says.

Agrees UK-based Philip Toledano, whose work ranges from socio political to being deeply personal. He says, "I firmly believe in the idea of democratic art. It shouldn'tbe locked away in the exclusive biosphere in which it tends to exist."

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Source: Bringing global photography to public spaces

Winkflash Launches Mobile-First Photo Book App

Huntington Beach, CA (PRWEB) September 29, 2015

Winkflash, the photo-printing, canvas and gifting site, released an innovative free iOS app for quickly creating mobile photo books. Swipebooks for Winkflash is the first mobile photo book app to embrace finger swiping as a way to not only select photos, but to adjust photo-book layouts.

"Swipebooks was created to allow the mobile photographer to create photo books from their photos on their Apple devices," says Fred H. Lerner, founder and CEO, Winkflash. "Printing your iPhone photos is the only way to be sure your photos will live on in case of a lost phone or crash. The intuitive Swipebooks interface makes it easy to select the best photos, and then create a photo book from them in seconds."

Books can be ordered an iPhone for shipping to the consumer's home or any address they choose. A 20-page book will cost $19.99, plus shipping.

ABOUT WINKFLASH.COMWinkflash.com is the pre-eminent site for printing photos instantly at thousands of retailers from your phone app or PC and also offers convenient mail-to-home. Winkflash preserves photo memories as photo books, canvas, prints, cards, enlargements and other photo gift products. The service is seamlessly integrated to print your photos and the photos you are tagged in from Facebook and Instagram photos…and photos from any phone, device or computer. Winkflash offices are located in Huntington Beach, Calif.

Fred H. Lerner is the founder and CEO of Winkflash. He previously founded Ritz Interactive, which included RitzCamera.com, WolfCamera.com and others. Fred also founded two imaging companies which were acquired by Kodak and became the CEO of Kodak Processing Labs. He is a United Nations' Hall of Fame recipient from the International Photographic Council and Past President of the Photo Marketing Association International. 

Peter Tahmin, co-founder and COO of Winkflash, was the former vice president at Ritz Camera & Image and co-founder, senior vice president and COO of the Ritz Interactive e-commerce network, which included RitzCamera.com, WolfCamera.com, BoatersWorld.com and others. He brings 20 years of e-commerce experience and a lifetime of imaging industry experience to Winkflash.

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2015/Swipebooks/prweb12954420.htm

Source: Winkflash Launches Mobile-First Photo Book App