WeBSITeThe Flipagram app lets you create effortless photo
montages, which you can put together as a personal
album or to share on social networks like Instagram.
The best thing is that you can select as many
images as you want. However, before converting the
pictures to a video, the app gives you the option of
resizing your images to fit into a square. After the
video is created, you can decide its length by
choosing anywhere from 15 seconds for Instagram,
30 seconds for Flipagram, or you can set your own
time limit. Additionally, you can also add text and
music to the video. The only thing that is distracting
is the app’s watermark that appears on the bottom
of the video. If you want to get rid of it or want to
use your own watermark, then it will cost Android
users around Rs. 62. I really liked that with every
addition that I made, I was able to preview the video.
However, depending on the number of images, the
final video might take some time to process.
Available for Android, iOS and Windows users,
Flipagram is great if you want to make a fun and
interactive video of say a holiday trip or a party
that you attended, without bombarding your social
media with too many photographs.
—Conchita Fernandeshttp://www.gurushots.com
GuruShots brings live photo challenges right to your
desktop. It gives you the chance to compete and learn
from photographers from all around the world.
After signing up to the website, you can choose
from the several genre-based challenges, created
by the website's 'gurus'. However, if you don't want to
participate, you can also just vote for your favourite
photographs. Each contest has its own prizes and,
winners are selected based on the number of votes
that they receive. Even though this is a great way to
increase website participation, there is a chance that
a average photograph may get selected as the winner.
Nevertheless, one winner is also chosen by the
contest's designated guru.
Overall, I quite enjoyed navigating my way around
the different contests and photographs. Not only is
it interactive but also very inviting. Even the prizes,
which include USD 80 (approx. Rs. 5000) Amazon gift
vouchers and stylish Miggo straps, are pretty good.
— Written by Conchita FernandesWithin the NX500, beats the Heart of the Samsung NX
Artificial Skylight Can Recreate Natural Sunlight
S
everal features borrowed from Samsung's
flagship the NX1, have been stuffed into
the tiny mirrorless NX500. These include
the same 28MP sensor, WiFI, a drive mode
of 9fps, an ISO range of 100–25600 and 4k
video capabilities. The camera also has a
180° tilting, 1.04million dot 3-inch LCD, and
also borrows the hybrid AF system from
the NX1.
The camera will be available in black, white,
and brown. The NX500 is priced at USD 800
(approx. Rs. 50,000), and comes along with a
16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ ED OIS kit lens.C
oeLux, a high tech artificial skylight,
can recreate natural sunlight in rooms
that are cutoff from the outside world.
This has been done using a thin coating of
nanotechnolgy that can accurately simulate
how sunlight follows through the Earth's
atmosphere, going through
an effect known as Rayleigh
scattering. As a result, not only
is the colour temperature of
light the same, it also has the
quality of real sunlight.
Photographs seen on the
CoeLux site, including the
one shown here, comes
with a note that says, “Thephotographs on this site are real and
unretouched. They are not computer
renderings.” While designed for areas like
gyms, hospitals and basements, it is easy
to find use for the lights in a photographic
studio as well.
According to the company,
future improvements will
include the ability to change the
position of the sun in the frame
and dynamic color temperature
of the sunlight. Of course, the
setup comes with a pricetag of
USD 61,000 (approx. Rs. 38 lakhs),
and an installation charge of USD
Image Source: CoeLux 7600 (approx. Rs. 4.7 lakhs).APP RevIeWSNAPSHoTSBeTTeR PHoToGRAPHY FeBRUARY 201526