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Film photography
“You Press The Button and We Do The Rest.”
So said high school dropout George Eastman in 1885 when he introduced the Kodak camera and created the era of amateur photography.
Eastman's dream was to make picture taking “an everyday affair, to make the camera as convenient as the pencil.” He succeeded far beyond his expectations, and for a century people around the world photographed their families, friends and vacations using cameras that descended from Eastman's Kodak and the photographic film that he perfected.
Prior to the Kodak, cameras were the size of shoeboxes or small suitcases. They recorded images on glass plates that the photographers themselves carefully coated with a light-sensitive emulsion inside a light-tight tent or enclosure.
Eastman's Kodak camera opened up photography to everyone with a dry, light-sensitive film that could provide up to 100 images.
In 1900 Eastman Kodak introduced the Brownie, a small black camera designed for children that sold for $1 (about $26 in today's dollars). The Brownie could take six photos using a film cartridge that could be loaded into the camera in daylight. It was an instant success, and 150,000 were sold the first year.
In 1975, Kodak engineer Steven Sasson made the first digital camera. Instead of developing a commercial digital camera, Kodak built a solid foundation of digital camera patents and worked hard behind the scenes to improve digital photography. But Kodak was reluctant to commercialize an invention that might ultimately take a major bite out of its immensely profitable film business.
That didn't slow the competition. While Kodak makes digital cameras today, the leading digital camera makers are Japanese companies like Canon and Nikon.
Digital photography has ushered in a revolution almost as significant as the Brownie, because now anyone with a color printer can make photographic prints.
Before acquiring my first digital camera in 1998, I spent countless hours in a darkroom developing film and making prints for my books and articles. Today I can make higher quality prints in a few minutes.
While Kodak is no longer the leading photography company, its legend as the pioneer in its field will live on long past the fading billboards that advertise Kodak film along the highways that lead to New Mexico's Carlsbad Caverns.
Recently the Kodak legacy came to mind while I photographed one of those old advertising signs with a modern digital camera that stores thousands of high-quality images on memory cards not much larger than a postage stamp.
You can learn much more about the legacy of George Eastman and his Kodak at www.kodak.com, where some of the history related here was found.
Mims lives on Geronimo Creek near Seguin. His science is featured online at www.forrestmims.org and www.sunandsky.org. Follow him at twitter.com/fmims. E-mail him at [email protected].
Filed under Articles by on Jun 27th, 2011. Comment. 
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Virtual tours for websites
With technological advancements, convenience is a by-product as services are improved. Now, there is the possibility of utilizing 360 virtual tours or panoramic virtual tours through a virtual tour provider although perhaps you are not yet familiar what a virtual tour is. A virtual tour is a method or process that provides graphical presentations of a property to make them available for the internet user or website visitors to see. Typically, this process involves the simulation of a certain location that really exists and this may consist of moving or still images, virtual models of actual locations and videos.
To make the sites more presentable, the webmasters are making use of virtual tours and they add music, narrations, texts and animations. Using the virtual tours can be very easy since many of the sites don’t require plug-ins or downloads. The real estate market has benefited much from these virtual tours and they are using these widely. The users can now look at several properties, from homes to buildings at different angles. These days, many industries are employing this type of technology as a marketing strategy for endorsing their products and services.
Among the different excellent things offered with the utilization of virtual tours especially when used for real estate promotions is convenience because the prospective buyers can view the properties without having to see them physically. Moreover, they are able to navigate through the floors by clicking the maps and they can easily transfer between rooms and look at the property with a clear image. Because of these great advantages and conveniences, the real estate market brokers are now utilizing both virtual tours UK and panoramic virtual tours in their webpages. In order to lure other brokers and potential buyers, they make sure that their sites look attractive to the visitors.
Nowadays, the online users and visitors have benefited from the virtual tours. The website owners are also able to take many advantages from these since of the online viewers, more than 50% decide to take of the actual location after having taken the virtual tour. Also, the buying decisions of prospective customers can be influence through these virtual tours. These can increase traffic and increase the potential clients recall-value. Furthermore, the retail industries can gain more revenues as they display their showrooms. Real estate websites that used the virtual tours on various properties have effectively lured several clients and definitely increased their sales.
These virtual tours are really great for both entrepreneurs and customers so that they can save more time and they can use the site comfortably and conveniently. These can turn images to a flat 2-D world into a full 360 virtual tours to represent the real look and appearance of a property and the website visitors can take a look at the properties online as if they were actually there. Thus, virtual tours have can be very useful for companies, firms and businesses. With the use of the virtual tours, the websites become more inviting for internet users and due to the usefulness of these programs to different clients, they’ve been used by other markets beside the real estate industry.
ideaanglers.com
Filed under 360 virtual tours, Articles by on Jun 1st, 2011. Comment.
Videos or Virtual Tours?
With an estimated nine out of 10 homebuyers heading online to conduct their initial house searches, property marketing professionals are well aware of the importance of offering some kind of virtual viewing to the internet audience.
Potential purchasers are keen to get a feel for a home in advance of committing to seeing it in person, and both 360 virtual tours and videos offer agents the opportunity to showcase properties in an online environment. But which medium is best for property marketing purposes? In his property column this week, US real estate broker Ray Pugel said: “Virtual tours of homes have been the mainstay for almost a decade, but now, the showing of homes on the Internet is transcending to video.” Is this really the case? Here we look at what each technology has to offer property marketing teams.
Videos Send Strong Property Marketing Messages
With online video site YouTube being the second most popular site in the world, and its owners Google sitting at number one, it is no surprise that the video medium receives a good billing in online searches. A full production video allows for a level of direction that cannot be achieved with 360 virtual tours – making it the perfect medium for a property marketing team looking to push home a message, while a carefully crafted videoette can speak more subtly about a property’s potential.
Virtual Tours Offer Autonomy to Explore
However, agents should not rush to mothball virtual tour technology, as it offers autonomy to the viewer, allowing them to tailor the tours to their own queries and questions. Indeed those looking to present a property in a style that suits all would-be buyers may wish to continue offering a choice of virtual viewing medium in order to reap the benefits of both.
photoplan.co.uk
Filed under 360 virtual tours, Articles, Sell your property with a virtual tour by on Jun 1st, 2011. Comment.
Image by Michael D Martin via Flickr
A List Of The Advantages From Adding A 360 Virtual Tour On Your Web Site
With the advancement in technology, services are improved and they get better. Probably, you are not quite familiar with virtual tours namely panoramic virtual tours and a 360 degree virtual tour. A virtual tour is a useful tool for website owners as they able to provide a graphical presentation of certain property to website visitors or internet users. Typically, this process involves the simulation of a certain location that really exists and this may consist of moving or still images, virtual models of actual locations and videos.
Virtual tours are used by webmasters to make the sites look attractive and they also add narrations, animations, music or texts. Because many of the sites don’t require plug-ins or downloads, the virtual tours are easy to use. The real estate market has benefited much from these virtual tours and they are using these widely. With these, the web visitors can have a glimpse of buildings, homes and other properties at varied angles. These days, many industries are employing this type of technology as a marketing strategy for endorsing their products and services.
One of the many fantastic things about employing virtual tours when utilized for promoting real estate is convenience since potential buyers can examine the properties without being in the actual location. Just by simply clicking the maps, they can easily navigate the floors and transfer from one room to the other and take a good look at the featured property with clarity. These days, the real estate market brokers are making good use of the panoramic virtual tours and 360 virtual tours in their websites. In order to lure other brokers and potential buyers, they make sure that their sites look attractive to the visitors.
Nowadays, the online users and visitors have benefited from the virtual tours. Moreover, owners of websites benefit a lot from these as there are more than 50% of the online viewers who prefer to see the real location after viewing the virtual tour. Also, the buying decisions of prospective customers can be influence through these virtual tours. An increase in traffic and recall-value of potential buyers is also achieved. Furthermore, the retail industries can gain more revenues as they display their showrooms. The real estate brokers that used the virtual tours in their websites were able to attract different buyers and because of this, they have improved their sales.
These virtual tours are really great for both entrepreneurs and customers so that they can save more time and they can use the site comfortably and conveniently. These can turn images to a flat 2-D world into a full 360 virtual tours to represent the real look and appearance of a property and the website visitors can take a look at the properties online as if they were actually there. Thus, virtual tours have can be very useful for companies, firms and businesses. The virtual tours have also been used by other markets aside from the real estate since the virtual tours have been very useful for the Internet users.
cherryjam.mobi/
Filed under 360 virtual tours, Articles, Sell your property with a virtual tour by on May 27th, 2011. Comment.
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