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UnFramed

23rd March 2021

Bringing the Feel of Paris to My Living Room

As the river Seine flows from central France to the English Channel it disects Paris the City of Light. In turn, the river is responsible for the large number of bridges that connect the two sides of the city – known as the left bank and the right bank.

By far, my favorite is the Pont Alexandre III, an elaborately decorated structure with gold colored statues at both ends, intricate sculptures arranged along the width of the arches, black elegant light posts, a generous pedestrian walkway.

I took this photograph of Pont Alexandre III in 2008. Notice how the gold painted sculptures contribute to the bridge’s beauty.

I decided to add a touch of Paris to our home and had the photograph made into a large canvas print. It is a wraparound canvas – the image edges fold over the internal wooden frame to create a simple hanging piece. The canvas print now decorates our living room.

Here’s a close up of that canvas hanging. Its size is 36″ x 24″. You can see that the print closely resembles the original digital image taken in 2008.

Moving even closer to the canvas you can see more of the bridge detail. Despite the rough texture of the canvas print surface the detail remains quite sharp.

From the above photo I enlarged a small section. While you can clearly see the textured surface, you can also see how the print retains its sharp detail.

What’s your favorite vacation spot? You can easily bring your past travels into your home.
Don’t let your photos sit in a proverbial shoe box. Get them out of there and show them to the world.

Post tags: canvas, display, frames, mounting, Paris, Pont Alexandre III, presentation

Posted in: informational,photographs,presentation,printing,stills,travel,wildlife | | Comments (0)

Fuji Instax Cameras

29th March 2018

Instant Cameras on the Comeback Trail


When I was growing up, Polaroid instant print cameras were very popular. After I bought my first SLR, my next purchase was the $19.95 Polaroid Swinger. The size of a small loaf of bread, the Swinger produced small black and white prints (about 2″ x 3″) in a mere 60 seconds. Instead of spending hours in the darkroom to see the results of my picturetaking, the Swinger provided me the instant gratification that today’s digital devices now deliver. Before I knew it, I had several Polaroids in my stable of cameras including the OneStep as you see on the right. This model popularized the square 3′ x 3″ format prints in both black and white and color. For many reasons by the start of the year 2000, the Polaroid Corporation was on a downhill slide and its bankruptcy claimed their instant cameras and film as a casualty.

At about this same time, Fuji was developing their Instax line. Fuji has since introduced a series of cameras that are tailored to multiple markets. Various models of the Instax are available in many different sizes and dozens of bright colors as you can see below. They include models for children, teenagers and millenials. I had a chance to see many of these models and displays at this year’s annual Wedding & Portrait Professional International Convention and Expo where I learned about Fuji’s continuing commitment to instant photography. Instax film is available in several different sizes and with colorful borders. The board on the right shows a set of instant prints that might be displayed for an engagement – in real time.

Instax Square SQ10 The Fuji rep showed me one of their new models. It’s called the Instax SQ10 and Fuji dubs this an instant print camera with digital features. As its name suggests, the prints are about 2-1/2″ x 2-1/2″ square. The SQ10 has a digital sensor so it can capture images to a microSD card. You can edit and or enhance the images using the builtin LCD monitor. The SQ10 has 10 builtin filters and adjustments for brightness and vignette. Lastly you can immediately print one or more copies. The SQ10 has a fairly fast f/2.4 aperture with autofocus, a builtin flash, a self-timer and automatic ISO setting from 100 to 1600. The film is packaged for 10 exposures. The suggested price is about $230 and film about $12 per pack. For more information please visit Instax Square SQ10.

Instax Share SP-3 The rep also demonstrated the Share SP-3. This is a small, portable printer that uses the same square film as the SQ10. It’s aimed at users who want prints of their smartphone photos. To use it you first install the SP-3 app onto your smartphone. The app then establishes an integrated Wi-Fi connection from the SP-3 to the smartphone. The app offers several ways to customize the prints. There are adjustments for brightness and contrast, color and special effect filters, conversion to black and white and multiple ways to combine two, three, four or nine images on a single print. Additionally the time, date and location can be added to the print. The SP-3 also lets you print images from a Facebook, Instagram, Flickr and Google Photo account so you can share prints with others. The suggested price of the SP-3 is about $180. It uses the same film as the SQ10 costing about $12 per pack. For more information, please visit Instax Share SP-3.

Written by: Arnie Lee

Post tags: camera, expo, Fuji, instant, instax, Polaroid, Share SP-3, SP-3, SQ10, Square SQ10, Wedding & Portrait Photographers International, WPPI

Posted in: equipment,events,informational,printing,stills,technical,weddings | | Comments (1)

Affordable 3D Printer by New Matter

07th November 2017

I’ve been a tech junkie for a very long time. It seems that whenever new technology appears, I’m fairly quick to try it out.

Several years ago, I bought a MakerBot 3D printer. Early adopters know that purchasing new technology is usually expensive – this model had a price tag just north of $2000. Using it, I’ve learned the mechanics of how these amazing devices turn long rolls of plastic filament (PLA) into very detailed solid models. The prize is a collection of plastic models that adorn my office and the house. To be honest, I haven’t had a need for additional 3D models, so the MakerBot has been sitting unused for the past few months.

At this past January’s Consumer Electronics Show I ran across a couple of new 3D printers. And while the technology is no longer new, the prices of several of the printers are now within the grasp of many more consumers. My interest in a second 3D printer was motivated by my curiosity about the quality of the finished models compared to the more expensive MakerBot from a couple of years ago.

New Matter is a relatively new manufacturer that makes the MOD-t 3D printer. I purchased one directly from New Matter bundled with additional filament and accessories for $350 – a huge price difference vs. the MakerBot from a few years ago.



The MODt is small in size and can easily fit on a desktop. When operating, the continuous movement of the base plate mechanism creates a a noticeable noise. The clear plastic cover keeps the noise level down.	3D models are created by emitting melted plastic filament (PLA) from the heated extruder. The PLA is supplied in long rolls of different colors. A 150-meter length roll of PLA costs about $20.


Here’s the MODt at work as it lays down a few thin layers of melted PLA.	A few minutes later, several more layers have been added revealing more of the model.


This is the completed 3D model. You can see that the completed project shows a tremendous amount of detail.	The patterns for models are available free from many online 3D libraries. This model was available from the New Matter 3D library.


This model was printed as two separate parts. Afterward, the base and the launcher were combined to turn it into a working catapult.	This white model was also printed as two separate parts – the bottom circular plate and the tall intricate vase. Complex models may take a few hours to complete.