2×4: One series that examines two topics, creativity and productivity, by asking those who make things on the web the same four questions on both subjects. C.J. Chilvers is a photographer on a mission… A mission to awaken those who are more focused on equipment than images. A desire to get those who…

Accidental Exposures Back in the ‘old days’ cameras used to have accidents that caused multiple exposures creating photos which we could now consider to be artistic. Nowadays, it’s difficult to reproduce this type of photo without using photo editing software. Digital cameras do not expose the same piece of film twice, it saves a new file each…

How we used to label photos in the past Back when cameras were not digital, labeling photos was a process of writing on the back of the printout. If you owned a Polaroid camera, scribbling on the bottom on the photo was another way to describe what was happening in the photo. However, this is no…

Suffer from plain or boring photos? Taking photos on your cellphone is easy & convenient, but how many times have you taken a picture and thought “This looks a bit plain” or “This looks boring compared to other photos I’ve seen”. Phototreats is a free photo enhancing app that adds vibrancy, mood and flavor transforming your…

We have released a new application called Actioncam, which joins our popular Darkroom app (which just exceeded 1M downloads!) Actioncam captures multiple shots in one go and combines those photos into a beautiful collage. Our design focus is to simplify the multiple photo taking experience. You can control their shooting parameters on the camera…

Ah, the lowly index card. So basic, so common, so cheap — so useful. Index cards are one of the most versatile parts of the productive person’s toolkit — small enough to travel anywhere, cheap enough to keep hundreds or even thousands on hand at all times, and basic enough that one never hesitates to…

Photography is a hard business to break into, especially the upper brackets. But the internet does make it possible to earn a few dollars off of your photos — especially if you’ve found some great shots. More and more people have what amount to high-quality digital cameras these days and, if you’re one of them…

My Renaissance Man friend Richard has a post about designing a digital photography workflow. He used the free visual software, Gliffy, to produce the flow he has now. In his blog, Richard asked others to help better develop his workflow, or suggest their own additions to the process. It’s a neat exercise for you…

Imagine the scene: you’re at a conference, about to present on the latest application your company is proud to offer, and moments before going onstage, you realize you’ve left the usb drive with the presentation in your other bag. You’ve got nothing. Your backup copy isn’t handy. Whatever the case. Or… maybe you just don’t…

PhotoJojo has all kinds of interesting DIY projects for photos. I could’ve listed any of about a dozen, but here’s a neat one on turning a photo into a photo block, complete with a video tutorial. We’re here to help. Gather your piles of vacation photos, stunning portraits of Aunt Mildred, and your gallery-worthy shots of…

I was puzzling over a note in Dave Gray’s Flickr account, and by note, I mean a photo of a note he’d taken at a conference, when it struck me: Flickr is not a photo sharing tool. It is a platform, and it could be exceptionally useful for businesses. Flickr Business Hacks Upload a product design…

Go create something. I don’t care what, how much it cost, the purpose, or the form, but the result must be supremely innovative, worth every penny, and profoundly significant to the human race. Take your time.

The reasonable person finds this overwhelming. Creativity’s root is the tension filled conflict between the imagination and the physical: input and output, insight and achievement, learning and performing. Remove conflict and there is no need for creativity. Imagination v. reality – like a courtroom battle — negotiation leads to creative solutions. In onerous jargon laden corporate speak: look for the win/win.

Look at Dad take pictures of little Joey go down the playground slide. Wait – hasn’t he taken about 100 shots of that little boy this morning? Oh yeah – digital – our lives are digital now. Content is overwhelming: words, images, sounds. That same proud Dad uploaded this week’s most precious 150 images to the Joey’s Cute website, so all his dedicated fans can view the little darling.

Those phone photographers are in play too. The phone is now a ubiquitous capture device making no one immune from the serendipitous photographer documenting our most inelegant moments. Unedited, they’re thrown up on Flickr.com for your viewing pleasure – often for everyone’s viewing pleasure.

Pleasure? I’m not so sure. Just like those jokes we used to forward through email as web-neophytes, they swiftly become annoying. We learned only to forward those that were extra-specially, extraordinarily hilarious. The best ones traveled the internet like a virus, but as with a healthy immune system, minor viruses are cured. Who’s going to cure the information overload virus? Who’s going to help me edit my life?

We are all creative, but being “a creative” usually refers to someone for whom creativity is life’s goal: Illustrator, Architect, Advertising Art Director, Writer, Musician, Photographer, Designer, Etc. Scientists, Surgeons, Marketing Managers, CEO’s and other problem solving discovery professions are among our species most creative members, but typically don’t get the label.

After reading this tutorial, you can be a professional photographer too. Lindsay Landis over at Switchboards teaches on using non-professional items to generate the professional looking photos. She teaches how to create a small photo tent using frosted plastic Rubbermaid container, white interfacing, daylight light bulbs andwhite color matte poster board. Then she gives some…