Fujifilm launches Pivi MP-300 portable printer in Japan

The new Fujifilm Pivi MP-300 is the latest in portable printers from Fujifilm.The new model Pivi MP-300 besides transferred via IR is PicBridge compatible.If USB interface is used with PictBridge compatible digital camera, picture is transferred to Fujifilm Pivi MP-300 easily for print. With Image Intelligence technology you are assured of super high picture quality card size prints of 61×46mm size.

With date and sharpen function you are assured of best quality prints from such a palm size printer. Fujifilm Pivi MP-300 takes approximately 38 seconds to print a 5M/Fine image taken with Fujifilm FinePix Z3 digital camera and 1 minute 40 seconds from transfer of image to final print via the USB port.

The reprint function allows you to print many prints of the same image. The new Fujifilm PIVI MP-300 measure 146×102×29mm, weigh 225g (w/o battery & film) and is powered by 2x CR2 lithium electric battery. Pivi MP-300 will be available fo 15,000 Yen($127 ) in Japan.

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Top Ten Places to Find Free Images For Your Site

If you're not a camera buff or you simply wish to use other people's images in your blog, then you might want to look in to free stock photography sites and services. Just remember when you use these services that each photo may have different licenses. Some are okay for non-commercial use only and some have no restrictions at all. So, always check before using the images in your blog projects.

Here's a short list of some of my favorite sources for royalty free, public domain, stock photos.

1) Stock.Xchang
Stock.xchang is definitely my absolute favorite source when it comes to royalty free stock photos. The site is well organized and easy to navigate. And, there are plenty of pictures to choose from. There are different licenses for each photo.

2) Flickr
Flickr is a very popular photo storage service. Some people who use this site offer their photos for use to the public. So, it's one good place to find easy-to-blog pictures. However, not all photos are available for re-posting in different blogs.

3) Buzznet
Buzznet is another photo storage service that's quite popular among bloggers. Again, each photo may have different types of restrictions.

4) PD Photo
PDPhoto.org has is a collection of stock photography. It's well organized and has a decent amount of images in its database. Some photos are restricted and some are in public domain.

5) Open Photo
A great looking stock photo community and resource. It's full of terrific photos under several categories such as animals, computers, landscapes, still life and technology. Creative Commons licenses apply to different photos.

6) Our Media
OurMedia.org is a resource for media materials such as photos, audio and videos. As always, it's important to check the license for each photo that you wish to use. One disadvantage of this site is that it's a bit difficult to navigate. Some photos are restricted and some are in public domain.

7) Google Images
This is a good service by Google, but it can be frustrating looking through the photos, as each one have different types of copyright use. It's not always easy to tell which ones are okay to use and which ones are restricted.

8) Free Stock Photos
This is a good but limited website dedicated to free stock photography. Some of its categories include: Animals,Christian, Scenery, Sky, Weather Wildflowers, and Plants. The photos are okay to use for both commercial and non-commercial use, but with attribute.

9) Image After
This is a collection of totally free stock photography. You can use the images both in personal and commercial blog projects.

10) morgueFile
Here's another free stock photo site that's available to the public either for personal or commercial use. There seems to be a good amount of photos in their database.

How Do the Paparazzi Sell Their Pics?

An introduction to the celebrity photo game. By Daniel Engber

A paparazzo photographer crashed a minivan into Lindsay Lohan's sports car on Tuesday; he now faces a possible charge of assault with a deadly weapon. The next day, Cameron Diaz filed suit against the National Enquirer for publishing a candid picture with the headline "Cameron Caught Cheating." How do the paparazzi sell their photos?

Most turn their snapshots over to a celebrity photo agency, which in turn sells them off to the highest bidder. (Some paparazzi do work independently or start their own agencies.) A typical deal gives 60 percent of the proceeds to the photographer and 40 percent to the middleman. If the photographer used information from the agency—such as, say, "Lindsay Lohan will be driving an SL65 coupe near the Beverly Center at rush hour"—the agency might take an additional 10 percent. That extra money often goes toward paying off inside sources such as bodyguards or personal assistants.

The word "paparazzi" comes from the celebrity shutterbug in Fellini's La Dolce Vita. Today, the term is often used to distinguish between reckless star-chasers and more conservative photographers who work official events and studio shoots. (These conservative types sometimes call their competitors the "stalkerazzi.") There are plenty of agencies that represent paparazzi—some of the best-known in Los Angeles are MB Pictures, Bauer-Griffin, X17, and Splash News.

Agencies try to sell pictures within 24 hours. The agency crops the images, adds captions, and wires them in digital form to publications around the world. (Sometimes these are sent in low resolution or with a watermark to discourage freeloaders.) Typically, a different deal gets cut for every country; the biggest players are the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France. A publication will typically buy exclusive rights to print the photo for a few months.

Celebrity magazines and tabloids will also commission agencies to get certain pictures. If the editors at People wanted a shot of Denise Richards coming out of the hospital with a baby in her arms, they might offer photographers a few hundred dollars a day.

Publications often bid against each other for exclusive footage, and prices can get very high. Pictures of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie on the beach are said to have gone for $500,000 (though some paparazzi claim the actual figure was half that). The value of a photo depends on the story behind it: Shots of Denise Richards with her baby, for example, are worth more because of her separation from Charlie Sheen. Details are also important: An image of Denise smiling would be worth considerably more than a bland-faced equivalent.

With about 150 paparazzi in Los Angeles alone, it can be hard to find a photo that no one else has. If everyone gets the same red-carpet photo, it might only fetch a "space rate"—about $75 to $200, depending on the size of the published image. Exclusive shots net a great deal more, whether they're taken by the most aggressive paparazzi or a more austere agency like WireImage. An exclusive shot of a celebrity, taken by invitation in his or her home, can be worth tens of thousands of dollars.

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