But, uh, how true can that really be? Photojournalists strive to be unbiased, but we know that by simply choosing the subject to shoot the photographer is making an artistic decision. Subjects can be posed, costumed, given props, and directed to do whatever it is the photographer wants.

So, just because a photo has been taken does not mean it is telling the truth. Take the ever-growing popularity of tilt-shift photography. What the image above LOOKS like is a photo of a model airport: tiny little model planes placed on a tiny cardboard tarmac with carefully painted yellow lines and some kind of green felt for grass. But what it IS, is an ACTUAL airport! This shot, presumably taken from the air, features REAL airplanes on a real tarmac with real grass – what tricks the eye is the camera lens. A Tilt-Shift lens to be exact. So while the camera doesn’t lie, it can still play with our perception.

Take a look at some of these great examples of tilt-shift photography. Also, here’s a link where you can learn how to turn your photos into tilt-shift shots using Photoshop (real tilt-shift lenses are pretty expensive). There is even an iPhone app, called Hipstamatic, that comes with a tilt-shift setting!

Now, creating photo books is easier than ever. No need to spend time selecting photos, editing backgrounds and stickers, and adding text. QuickPix simply takes your favorite photos and creates the photo book for you. The process is entirely automated – so click, sit back, and relax.

If you don’t like the photo book QuickPix generated for you, just click again. A new one will appear in seconds (wowzers)! And for the control freak in all of us, if you do like your photobook but still want to make some changes, you can do that too. In fact, you can take any of your QuickPix photobooks and edit them to be just how you want them – change themes, add stickers and text, and more.

When you’re finished with your QuickPix, you can publish it to your Facebook Wall in nothing flat. Your photo book will play through an interactive slideshow – It’s a great way to show off your photos to friends.

Click here to try QuickPix for yourself!

Well, today we’re giving you just that! We have upgraded our 8×5.5″ photo book to one that uses a perfect binding. Now, you’ll be able to create a photo book with however many pages you’d like – from 16 up to 100 pages! Never leave out a favorite photo again, as you’ll have enough space to add them all!

The Old Saddle Stitch

The New Perfect Binding

137 Varick

So for those of you who don’t know, Pixable has been a tenant at the 160 Varick Street incubator for the last year. “160 Varick, a collaboration between NYEDC, NYU-Poly, and Trinity Real Estate, is the first City-sponsored incubator launched as part of the City’s efforts to promote business innovation through entrepreneurial activity,” as stated in an NYU-Poly release (here!).

Basically that means the City has sponsored a high-quality, ready-to-use office space that provides start-up companies the opportunity to get on their feet. “NYU-Poly provides mentoring services, business seminars, and networking opportunities for tenants.” And rent is cheap, too!

But at some point, due to business growth (woo!), funding (woo!) or just plain experience (woo that too!), everyone “graduates” from the incubator. It is a place that opens doors and gets companies ready to stand on their own; and now we, at Pixable, are ready to do just that!

It is a bittersweet experience; the incubator is a safe place where different companies can both fraternize and collaborate, and we’ve made a lot of friends and connections over the last year. However, we’re so excited to have an office of our very own! (Its just down the street from the incubator, so we can still get happy hour with our friends!)

We just moved in last week! Our new address is 137 Varick St., Suite 603. Take a look at how we’ve settled in

Almosttt doneee...

Done! All settled in and back to work.

Interns snackin' in front of our "Pixable-Blue" wall

How do you guys like our new crib?! If you’re in the area, stop by!

After I lost that camera I bought another film SLR that had lots of digital controls and things were never the same. Then eventually I moved on to a true DSLR, and while I do like my camera, I miss the chemical smell and feel of film prints and the entire low-tech photography process.

Enter the Holga. Billed as a “toy,” this inexpensive medium format 120 flim camera is not really a toy at all. Its defining feature is its plastic lens, which produces shots with a softer focus and vibrant colors. The camera also has some little quirks; it is extremely unpredictable. The camera’s plastic body is prone to light leaks, blurring and other distortions. But these quirks are what make the Holga so fantastic. Professional photographers and amateurs alike have embraced the unpredictable behavior of the Holga. It has inspired people to just let. it. go. Stop trying to be so in control! Have some fun wondering what surprises the Holga has in store for you!

In fact, people have been known to make their own modifications to the Holga and other similar “toys” (Wikipedia Diana, Lubitel, and Lomography for more info). Holgas can be fitted with a Polaroid back, allowing people to create instant photos with a Holga twist. Others paint the inside of the camera to minimize the reflection of light leaks or add tiny silhouettes to the inside of the lens that then show up in the print. Pretty cool, huh?

Here’s some pictures of shots taken with a Holga camera. I got them from http://microsites.lomography.com/holga/ so check them out for more information

Because Music Fans Do It Better!

So, send us your best shots of your favorite artists on stage doing their thing. And while you’re at it, send us a photo of the concert itself!

View all submitted entries in our Contest Gallery!

Grand Prize
- the winner’s name and winning photo featured on our website, facebook page and blog
- $100 Giftcard to spend at Ticketmaster.com
- a Gorillapod – the tripod that attaches to almost anything!
- a fully-customizable, 8×8″ hardcover photobook from Pixable

Click the “Contests & Giveaways” button for Official Contest Rules and information on how to Enter!

Traditionally, LOLcat photos feature a cat doing something funny and/or downright adorable, with a large caption written in “lolspeak” – understood to be the language cats think in (why cats apparently speak in broken english and have bad spelling, i have no idea, but let’s not look too deeply into this one).

The first modern record of the term “lolcat” dates back to June 2006, first mentioned on the online imageboard “4chan.” The imageboard still hosts “Caturdays,” which feature strange photos of cats every Saturday. On June 14, 2006, LOLcats.com was officially registered as a domain name. However, the craze didn’t become, well, a craze until January 11, 2007, when the now-iconic “I Can Has Cheezburger” image was posted on icanhascheezburger.com.

Since then, every blog under the sun has featured pictures of cats doing weird things. They have evolved past the LOLcat format, sometimes showing several images of cats all doing the same funny thing, sometimes dropping the caption, etc. But did you know that funny cat photos actually date back to the mid-1800s?

Oh yeah. People have been obsessively photographing cats (its kind of creepy now that I think about it) since Harry Pointer gained fame for a series of carte-de-viste photographs featuring his pet cats in 1870. The photos showed the cats doing really silly human-like things, like attempting to ride a bicycle, and even had silly captions! Quickly, Pointer realized that he didn’t even have to pose his cats doing funny things as long as the caption was amusing – this is EXACTLY what LOLcats does!

So, in honor of Harry Pointer and all the creepy cat-obsessed photographers throughout history, I give you my own funny cat blog. This is my cat, “Zucchini.” He is really weird. Take a look.

Don't upset him. He will eat your brain.

Sometimes he chills in the sink. Don't ask me. Ask the weirdo in the sink.

I think he thinks he is human.

He's the only recorded instance of a cat with flying powers. Ever.

See? He's a wanna-be human. (btw he refuses to drink water from anywhere else)

Got pictures of your cat being weird? Email them to us at alie.l@pixable.com!

You know the photo boxes I mean; the ones with fake leather on the outside and a label in the front to assist in “organization.” But really, these boxes are ridiculous because who has an entire box of photos that fall under a single category? Any time I’ve tried to organize my prints in any particular way I find myself at a loss. There are just too many to keep track of, and even if do I manage to organize them by year or event, they just end up going back in those ineffectively-labeled boxes and I don’t see them until the next time I go searching through the attic.

Then of course, there is the issue of preservation. A lot of these photos were taken by my grandparents between 1930-1970. The rest are from my childhood. They are starting to wear (and the fact that they’re only starting is impressive now that I think of it); some photos are discolored, some have suffered water damage, and some of the photo finishes are starting to separate from the paper.

What kills me is that I never look at the hundreds of photos I have stored away despite my refusal to throw them out. Their sentimental value is incredible, and I’d like to find a way to both preserve and memorialize these shots to give them the respect they deserve. The attic is no place for memories.

Okay, okay, ready for my solution? I know you’ve been at the edge of your seat since reading the first paragraph, so here it is: SCANNING! Why not take all these prints and digitize them? Here are all the benefits of scanning your prints (and negatives and slides, while you’re at it):

• Backup & Storage: Photo files take up A LOT LESS SPACE than prints. You can keep your photos on discs or buy an external hard drive for around $100 to hold all your photos in one small electronic box. Actually I recommend doing both – backing up your photos by keeping them in more than one place will ensure that your photos will be safe, and won’t get lost if, say, your computer breaks down.
• Preservation: Digital photos aren’t susceptible to water damage or bleaching from the sun. There is no paper so they won’t disintegrate with time or becomes separated from their shiny finish. Also, once photos are scanned, there is actually software out there that can restore photos, removing damage (and red-eye) and enhancing your photos beyond even their original quality.
• Usability: Not to toot my own horn here, but if your photos are on your computer you can do a lot more with them like, say, make a photo book with them on Pixable.com! You can easily take your friends for “a trip down memory lane” by emailing them photos from high school or summer camp. Or make a virtual family tree using old black & whites from the 1930s. Really, the possibilities are endless once you get technology involved in your old photography.

Now, how exactly to go about scanning. Of course, you can try and scan these photos yourself, and if you have a nice enough scanner, that could really work. However, if you want to get the full treatment – photo restoration, red-eye removal, high quality scanning with dust removal etc. – I recommend sending your boxes of prints to a professional photo-scanning company. It will save you lots of time, and while it does cost a little money, the quality of your photos will be far higher than doing it yourself.

There appear to be two companies that provide this service for a reasonable price – DigMyPics and ScanCafe. They are clearly competitors – they actually trash talk each other on their websites- but I can’t find much of a difference between their pricing or their services. The companies also provide negative and slide scanning, as well as video-to-dvd conversion (very helpful for home movies!).

ScanCafe charges $0.35 per printed photo, with a $0.29 summer special. Their restoration services start at $6.95 – pricing depends on the severity of the photo damage.

DigMyPics charges $0.39 per printed photo and includes color and exposure correction.

Which company to choose depends on you; after reading countless reviews online I still can’t decide which service I prefer. All I know is, I can have 100 photos scanned for around $40, and for that price I’ll be seeing a lot more space in my attic really soon!

The Photographer’s Dictionary

ISO - how sensitive your “film” is to light
Aperture (f-stop) – controls how much light can enter the camera. small numbers = more light. This also affects depth of field, where small numbers = less depth.
Shutter Speed - how long the camera shutter stays open

*Aperture and Shutter speed have a reciprocal relationship. This means that your photo’s brightness is determined by aperture x shutter speed. So, if your photos are coming out blurry and you need to shorten your shutter speed from say, 2 seconds to 1 second, you have to double your aperture to keep your photos at the same level of brightness. Remember this as you make adjustments during your low-light shoot.

Camera Settings
Assuming you want your photos to be as crisp and bright as possible, I’m going to provide you with camera settings and tips to give you a good place to start. Before you even try to take a low-light shot, make sure you don’t forget to BRING A TRIPOD! It is the easiest way to ensure that your photos will be crisp and clear. Then set your camera to MANUAL mode, so you can control exactly what your camera is doing.

As far as settings go, For ISO we want some real light sensitivity but not so much that you get noise (visual static) in your pictures. A wide aperture is going to allow light to enter the camera more efficiently, and shutter speeds wont be too slow to hopefully avoid blur.

High ISO – Remember, the higher the ISO, the more noise there will be. Most cameras can handle ISO 400 pretty well, so start there. If after playing with shutter speed and aperture your photos are still too dim, bring it up to 800.
Wide Aperture – Set your f-stop to the second or third-smallest number available.
Slow(ish) Shutter Speed – After you’ve set your ISO and aperture, take 3 photos with varying shutter speeds, and look at your results. I recommend trying 1/2 second, 1 second, and then 2 seconds.

From there, look at your 3 test photos. Still too dark? Try a slower shutter speed. Or try setting your aperture to a higher f-stop and slow the shutter speed to 3-5 seconds. Too blurry? Widen your aperture and use a quicker shutter speed.

Other Tips and Tricks to Remember
-In the evening, light is constantly changing because the day is gradually becoming night. Don’t be surprised if your settings keep changing as the evening gets darker.

-Beware of auto focus! Because your camera can’t “see” very well in the dark, auto focus is hazardous. The camera cannot tell where to focus, and as a result, images can be blurry. Tip! Shine a flashlight on the area of the shot you want to focus on, and adjust your focus accordingly.

-Set your camera on a self-timer. This will minimize even the shaking that comes from pushing down the shutter button!

-This tutorial works for outdoor shots, but the same concepts apply to indoor photography, too! Inside, light is often spotty from lamps and thing, and over all is not very good. Use these tips to remove blurriness from your inside shots, and avoid using that harsh flash!

Unfortunately there is no single way to take a great low-light shot. The best recommendation I can make is to take lots and LOTS of pictures, and keep on playing with the settings until you find one that works for your camera!

When viewed together, these photos reveal a female perspective in regard to both subject and medium. What is seen through the lens is conceived by women and reveals their view of life. It also reveals their view of photography itself -photography’s history, its ever-evolving techniques, and its purpose as an art form and a documentation. For much of photography’s 170-year history, women have expanded its roles by experimenting with every aspect of the medium.

Featured artists include Berenice Abbott, Claude Cahun, Roni Horn, Helen Levitt, Tina Modotti, Carrie Mae Weems, and Yoko Ono, among many others.

For more information, visit the exhibition website here!