Blog.Photobucket.com

How to get great night-time photos of holiday lights

We've seen some great photos of night-time holiday lights on Photobucket. So we asked one of our favorite photographers, Scott Proposki, how to get those great shots. Because it's kinda hard. Here are his suggestions:

How to Get Great Night-Time Photos of Holiday Lights

You have an awesome digital camera, but you still can’t get good night-time photos. Sound familiar?

If so, you might want to try using a “tripod.” That’s, right, a tripod. Not an iPod. A tripod is a three-legged stand that will attach to most, if not all, digital cameras, to keep your camera from shaking, which it normally does when you hold it in your hand. If you look at the bottom of your camera, you will see a place to insert your tripod.

What does a tripod do? Basically, it helps keep your camera still, which is especially important during long exposures, like capturing holiday lighting displays. If you’re frustrated by those blurry, weird-looking photos, you know what I mean! 

You’re taking a long-exposure photo when you hold down the exposure button for longer than the usual split second. It may be for 10 seconds, a minute, or longer. Some cameras have AC adapters if you want to take long-exposure photos lasting more than six hours!  Check your brand and model for optional items.

You can create photos in the darkest night if you set your camera for a long exposure time, then mount the camera on a tripod and place it on solid, flat ground. By the way: Make sure you have charged batteries before you start. There is nothing more frustrating than taking photos with your new digital camera then having the batteries die!

For me, the best time to take photos is right after sunset. It’s perfect! The sky gives off this dark-blue background that makes even a so-so photo look good! At this time of year, it gets dark very quickly. So head out early, at least an hour before sunset, and plan out your route to the best lighting displays. And remember to back up your photos and post them on Photobucket. Half the joy of taking good photos is sharing them with family and friends. Enjoy!

Check out a few of my Holiday Lights at dusk and other fun photos in this slideshow of photos in my Photobucket account.

About Scott Proposki

Scott Proposki, creator of Photos In A Minute and www.photosinaminute.com, from Lawrence, MA, has created some of the most exciting trade show booths for clients such as National Geographic, The Gillette Company, Sports Illustrated, Warner Bros, HBO, Fox.com, and Microsoft.

To see other photos by Scott on Photobucket, go here:

http://s242.photobucket.com/albums/ff246/photosinaminute/?albumview=grid

There's still time to ship gifts to arrive Dec 24th

There's still time to order gifts to arrive by December 24th. To make it easy for you, here's a table giving you deadlines for shipping dates if you want your gift to arrive by December 24th.

Here's a table showing which products, the shipping method you should use, and the last possible date you can order those gifts in order to make the December 24th delivery date. You must order by noon Pacific Time, or 3pm Eastern Time on the date specified to make it in time.

Happy shopping! Click here to go to our store.

	USPS	DHL Ground	DHL 2 Day	DHL Next Day	DHL Worldwide**	Int'l Economy	Media Mail
Photo Prints	Dec 15	Dec 15	Dec 18	Dec 19	Dec 14	Too Late	N/A
Photo Books	Too Late	Too Late	Dec 17	Dec 18	Too Late	Too Late	Too Late
Hardbound Photo Books	Too Late	Too Late	Dec 14	Dec 15	Too Late	Too Late	Too Late
Calendars	Too Late	Too Late	Dec 17	Dec 18	Too Late	Too Late	N/A
Greeting Cards and Post Cards	Dec 14	Dec 14	Dec 17	Dec 18	Dec 14	Too Late	N/A
Posters	Dec 14	Dec 14	Dec 17	Dec 18	Dec 14	Too Late	N/A
Mugs, Shirts, Mousepads	Too Late	Too Late	Dec 17	Dec 18	Dec 14	Too Late	N/A
Wrapping Paper	Dec 14	Dec 14	Dec 19	Dec 20	Dec 14	Too Late	N/A
Puzzles, Keychains, Luggage tags, Stickers	Too Late	Too Late	Dec 14	Dec 15	Too Late	Too Late	N/A
Canvas Prints, Magnets	Dec 13	Dec 13	Dec 17	Dec 18	Dec 13	Too Late	N/A
CDs	Dec 14	Dec 14	Dec 17	Dec 19	Dec 14	Too Late	N/A
My Cards	Too Late	Too Late	Dec 16	Dec 17	Too Late	Too Late	N/A

We're seeing some awesome Photobucket makeovers!

Make sure we see yours.  JCPenney is sponsoring a makeover contest on Photobucket. Show us your "before" and "after" transformations as a videos or pics in a "remix" using Adobe Premiere Express.  Winner gets featured on the Photobucket Home page, and get a $500 gift certificate to JCPenney. Just in time for back-to-school. 

See here for more details on the contest: http://photobucket.com/contest/jcpenney/.

Photobucket Search Results get more options!

Sharing what you find on Photobucket just got a little bit easier! Check out how our changes make it  fast and convenient to share your fun finds in images and videos that are in our huge public library. 

Search for anything and click on the thumbnail of your select search result.
At the full or detail view of that media, you're given four different link options for sharing it with the world.

The HTML Tag (for embedding on webpages, blogposts, or profile pages) and the IMG Code (for forums and message boards) stay the same but we've made some minor tweaks on the link options.

Share URL: This is a new link option which lets you share the Photobucket webpage for a specific image or video.

URL Link:  This is the link option for the image only and best used when making layouts or backgrounds for websites or profile pages.

Grand Opening of a Photobucket Store!

Photobucket fans and friends rejoice!

You can now purchase Photobucket branded goodies directly from our online store. 

Check out the stickers, mugs, mousepads, t-shirts, and hoodies that are now available and order yours today. Go shopping now!

More items to be added to the Photobucket online store soon so check back often!

Videos working on MySpace again!

Hi all,

Following discussions with MySpace, we’re pleased to announce that all Photobucket videos and remixes are enabled once more on MySpace with immediate effect. Both our companies are committed to putting our users first.

Moving forward, we’ve established open lines of communication and procedures with MySpace to prevent a sudden block of Photobucket content in the future. We want our users to be able to share their content and understand it must be within the framework of MySpace’s Terms of Service for it to appear on the site.

Thanks for all your patience. And we really appreciate all the feedback we've received. We've read it all. Happy sharing!

Alex/CEO
Photobucket

An Important Message from Photobucket Support

Below are some simple steps to make sure your Photobucket account is always ready for you to share images and videos with family and friends. Please review the following tips to ensure your Photobucket content is safe and up-to-date.

Photobucket Housekeeping 101

Check the email address you have registered in your Photobucket ‘Account Options’ and keep it up to date.
Why? If you need to request your password, it will be emailed only to the most current email address on file in your account. If you do not have accurate registration information in your account, you will be required to answer security questions to prove ownership of your account. If you keep your email address up-to-date, you'll be able to access your account with greater ease.

Don't share or publish your password!
Why? Your password protects all the content stored in your account. If someone else has your password, he /she will have the ability to post and delete content, change your password, change the email registered with your account, or delete your entire account. If you do not have backups of your images and videos stored on your personal computer, your content may be permanently lost.

Always backup your images and videos!
Store them on the hard dive of your personal computer, or burn them onto a cd/dvd. Photobucket offers cd/dvd backups for your account for a small fee. (review Qoop info re: CD/DVD backup options & prices)
Why? Once content is deleted from your Photobucket account, only you can upload it again from the backup files you have in your possession. Photobucket does not maintain backup files of your account content. We strongly urge you to maintain files of your own.

Before you upload content, check ‘Uploading Options’ and select the maximum size that works best for the image you are uploading.
Why? If you upload an image that is larger than the maximum size you selected in ‘Uploading Options’, that image will compress proportionately to meet the size parameters you set. Also, remember that once you reduce and upload an image, it cannot be reverted back to its original size or enlarged.

These four simple steps will make your Photobucket experience easy and enjoyable.

Your Photobucket Support Team

Online Help Center: http://photobucket.com/tips.php/
Support Forums: http://forums.photobucket.com
Support Email: support@photobucket.com
Pro Accounts Support Email: pro@photobucket.com

Latest Newsletter Highlights

We've just sent out our March newsletter to keep you up to date on the latest happenings at Photobucket. You can view the HTML version here or take a look at the highlights below.

* We're now serving over 50 billion images per month

* New BucketStamp and BucketStrip dynamic imaging tools are available to share multiple photos with one link

* Users are currently uploading over 100 Million new images per month

* Our new PrintIt! feature allows you to create photobooks, posters and more from your images

* Photobucket now has 12 million registered users and is adding 60,000 new users a day

* Photobucket has teamed up with these BucketSites so that you can seamlessly browse, upload, and link your images with our new integrated plug-in

some albums experiencing issues

We managed to lose a disk this morning and although no data is lost and its rebuilding, some albums be unavailable for up to an hour or so.

Sorry for any inconveniences

Alex

UPDATE: all albums are available

No more popups!!!

We have decided to get rid of all popups and popunders on Photobucket.com. They do help pay the bills but in the end, it wasn't worth it as many people were complaining about them.

Hope this change improves your experience at Photobucket.com

-alex