RESULTS of the ACTION challenge: 

Thanks to everyone who entered.

Canon were impressed by the number of good entries and found it tough picking a winner from their short list.

Congratulations to Katie Jones of Hamilton for "BMX boy" (pictured).

All entries can be viewed here.

Following on from Nikon inviting their retailers to a track day at Hampton Downs for the release of the D4 & D800 Snapshot staff suggested that the Nikon staff come down to our store to show the gear to our customers. To our great delight they accepted this invitation.

There's a new Digital Photography Group created by a bunch of Waikato enthusiastic photographers.

This group was formed to provide inspiration and motivation for any person interested in digital photography at all ability levels. It is also hoped to provide some helpful suggestions and ideas to improve your photography skills. This group will also expose you to the work of other Photographers and like-minded people so we can all learn from each other. It will provide enjoyment and fun activities and suggestions that the group may come up with.

There will be some Photography Challenges and on-line Photo contests posted from time to time for our group to enter.

Photo Trips and workshops will be organized so the group can meet at certain times during the year.

We would like to hear from you - you can join the group if you are a Facebook user by visiting this Facebook page and clicking on JOIN GROUP. Alternatively you can email Rose. 

MAY EVENTS

Saturday, May 12, 2012 1:00pm

Sculpture Park Visit

This afternoon will concentrate on help with Composition and Light

Meet at the beginning of the track at the Sculpture Park. Any new Members are welcome. Let us know if you would like any help with Photos or Composition. There is an entry fee for the Park. This is a great place to photograph many different landscapes. I am hoping to see some mushrooms, colourful toadstools and fungi. Perhaps concentrate on some macro Photography. See you there. For directions visit www.sculpturepark.co.nz

Monday May 21, 2012. 7:00 pm

Sunset and Night shoot called "Stretch Your Imagination" with Tom Martin and Rose Kerin

Meet outside the Rowing Club in Grantham Street from 7.00pm

Come to this night shoot to "Stretch your Imagination" and "Use your eyes to See" and even get outside your comfort zone. Tom Martin and Rose Kerin are determined to stretch your photography skills to the max. You will be given a Photography Challenge on the night which will last until the 24th of June. Then we will have a get together to show off your night shots (venue and time to be advised).

For further information about events or joining you can email Rose or phone her (ph 07-855-1876  or 0274496712)

Note: I learnt that once you are a member of a group you may get a lot of emails from the group's members if you don't set your "notification" settings correctly:

1. While on the group's page go to "Notifications" in the top right corner below the photos.
2. Either choose Yes, No or Settings
3. With settings ensure "Also send email to..." is unticked if you don't want to receive emails. 
4. You can also choose which group posts you receive.
5. If you do turn off notifications make sure you visit the group regularly, especially the EVENTS page. 

Zoë by Finepix could be described as the ultimate fashion accessory with its beautiful slim styling, safely tucked away 5x optical zoom lens and available in a range of vivid colours.

Zoë comes complete with colour matched accessories - case, 4GB SD card & USB drive - so Mum can look the part no matter what the occasion... all for $279.

New to New Zealand and available only at Snapshot Cameras... the Flip-Pal mobile scanner. This great little scanner is great to take to your relatives' homes to scan the family photos if they won't let them out of their house. It's portable, runs on AA batteries and works independently of a computer. It's unique point of difference is that you can remove the lid, flip it over and scan photos that are stuck on  albums pages! You can also scan large items, such as framed images, in pieces and stitch together with it's onboard software. Ask us for a demo. More info here...

The transit of Venus in June 2012 will be an opportunity to see one of the rarest astronomical events - weather permitting. No one alive today has seen a transit of Venus from New Zealand.

To view the transit it will be necessary to use suitable eye protection - we have a few pairs of "solar viewing glasses" but our supplier is out of stock.

Photographing solar eclipses and ultra-bright light sources can be extremely dangerous. You can't use a compact camera but you can use an SLR to capture the transit if you add a "solar filter" or an ND 400 filter which reduce light values by 9 stops (or less than 1/500th of its original intensity).

We stock the Marumi Vari ND2-ND400 filter which can vary the light reduction from 1 stop through to 9 stops so has a variety of other uses apart from solar photography. However, don't point your camera at the sun until it is set on the darkest setting - unless you want to cook your sensor!

The transit starts in Hamilton at 10:15 am on June 6th but for the exact time for the transit in your part of the country as well as other information follow this link.  

A useful tip for Astronomers (which has nothing to do with the transit of Venus):  The Evening Sky Map (PDF) is a 2-page monthly guide to the night sky suitable for all sky watchers including newcomers to Astronomy. Vist this page and scroll right down to the SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE" section.

We saw an impressive demo of the Sony Projector video cameras recently. Sony held a product launch in the picture theatre at Chartwell and the speaker was able to project an image from the video camera onto the large screen from the middle of the theatre (no - it didn't fill the screen). However Sony did manage to fill the screen with their powerpoint presentation using their new 4K data projector. We have projector cams in stock but the 4k projector is a bit out of our league at $25k!.

Another great demo was the comparison of compact cameras with cameraphones. Sony staff taped a cameraphone to a camera and took pictures with both. The camera outperformed the phone in three areas - low light situations, extended zoom and image stabilisation. Sony aren't biased - they makephones as well as cameras. 

A review website owned by kiwi photographer Richard has recently done an independent review of the Samyang 35mm F1.4 lens versus the Nikon equivalent.

Visit Richard's website  www.nikonjin.com to have a read of the review.