Unlimited storage for clicked memories

I purchased my first digital camera in the year 2004 and the other in the year 2008. Digital camera or a mobile phone camera has become an important in most of our lives. Every occasion or a situation is easily clicked on the camera with few clicks on the camera or a mobile. Then it is saved on the memory card itself, a computer or on the internet. Storing images on the internet make it easier to share albums with friends whenever you like. Sites like Picasa, Flickr and Slide are the best and most used sites for storing images.

These sites have also allowed users to add videos on the site. But, the main problem occurs when you don't have enough space on your computer's hard drive to save the images. And the above mentioned sites do not allow users to upload the full size image as it is on their site. The images gets shrinked and then gets uploaded and when you try downloading the image to your computer, you get a reduced version of the original image. This reduced version can be only useful for sharing but not for editing or printing. Picasa allows 1 GB storage capacity and Flickr allows a limit of only 100 photos per month. And, to get more storage capacity on these sites, you need to spend dollars every year.

But, what if you get a site to store unlimited photos and that too without changing their resolution. You can check the site named "www.zoomin.com", which allows you to make albums and upload as many images you want. After uploading the images to a album, you can organize the images in ascending or descending order, View in Sideshow and Download the same album to your computer with images in same resolution. Just like other photo sites, you can also share albums with friends by inviting them to see the album.

The best part of this site is you can order prints from the albums. The size of the print ranges from 4x6 to 20x30 and you can also choose the finish of the image by selecting options like Glossy, Matte and Metallic and the cost of a 4x6 Matte/Glossy image is only Rs 4/-. Isn't that really cheap? The fun doesn't stop here. You can order various merchandise like Calendars, Greeting Cards, Zoomini Book, T-Shirt, Collage posters, Canvas prints, Photo Mugs and Mouse Pad and get it delivered at your door step.

You can also import images from and export images to Flickr and Picasa, thus saving your time.

Happy Imaging.

Thanks and Regards.

Digital Memories - Handle with Care

My father recently visited the Raigad Fort to attend a ceremony on the fort. He was carrying a Canon digital camera to capture the beautiful moments of the ceremony.

I had purchased Canon PowerShot A400 digital camera in Dec. 2004, which was always a companion to me and other family members on any outing. My father misplaced the camera on the fort. The news was shocking to me as it was a first digital camera and had captured very good and important moments. The reason for writing this blog is not to inform about the loss of the camera but precautions to be taken before you face such situation in life.

You cannot avoid such situations, as you are not aware when you will lose a camera or when your camera will be faulty etc. The best precaution is always backup the images when you return home.

Eg:- Once you come return home after visiting any destination or capturing images of any ocassion, make sure that you transfer the images as early as possible to your computer.

To be on safer side, you can keep a copy of same images on an external hard drive which are easily available in the market at best prices. If not then backup the images on a CD or a DVD and name the same to find them later in the future. You can also save those images on a CD/RW or a DVD/RW, so that you can add more images in future, if there is ample space remaining on the disk. The best way of transferring images is by using a Media Card Reader, instead of connecting the camera to the computer directly.

You can also upload these images on file or data sharing sites on the internet. There are sites which charge on monthly or yearly basis. But, I would personally suggest you to check esnips website, which provides 5GB data storage space. You can save images, videos (less than 100MB), audio files etc. The best part is you can save the images without changing the original resolution. It also has a feature called Private Folder, where you can hide the images from the public visiting the site. Hence, the images remain safe and secured without displaying to anyone.

There are some sites like Flickr, Picasa, Snapfish, Aminus3 etc. which allow storing of images and videos but they compress the original images and then upload the images. So, this naturally reflects the quality of the images and videos.

Once you have backed up the images or videos, format the Memory Card present in the digital camera. This will help you saving time when you are about to leave for your next shoot with your digital camera. Also, try scanning the card for viruses from time to time.

The idea of backing up the data (images, videos etc.) also applies to the data present in your mobile phone. Try backing up the data using a data cable, infrared cable or bluetooth by backing up the data from time to time on your computer.

Hope these suggestions would help you in taking care of your images in future. If you have suggestions to add, please mail me.

Thanks and Regards.