Olympus “Pen Your Story Challenge”

June 10, 2010 at 7:47 pm

Olympus is having an AWESOME contest, for a chance to win the new Olympus PEN® E-PL1. Basically all you have to do is create a video about what you would do with the camera if you won. Seems pretty simple!

I’m not sure what I would do with an Olympus PEN® E-PL1 – I’d probably use it to document those random moments in my life where iPhone photos just don’t cut it. It would also be awesome for vacations – I hate lugging my dSLR through airport security, or even to concerts!

The full press release is below if you need more information, or you can go here – http://www.youtube.com/getolympus and http://www.getolympus.com

*Oh, and no, Olympus did not pay me to write this. Maybe one day I’ll be famous enough for that! #dreambig

OLYMPUS LAUNCHES THE “PEN YOUR STORY CHALLENGE”

Submit Your Proposal on YouTube for an Opportunity to Win an Olympus PEN E-PL1 Camera and $5,000 to Show What You Can Do

CENTER VALLEY, Pa., May 3, 2010 – Olympus wants to know: What you would do if you had the amazing new Olympus PEN® E-PL1 portable camera featuring professional digital single lens reflex (DSLR) image quality,  point-and-shoot simplicity and High-Definition (HD) video, along with $5,000 to bring your creative vision to life? The PEN your story challenge starts right now, so it’s time to find out.

Your “vision” can be anything that you could produce with the high-quality PEN and $5,000 budget. Whether your dream is to direct a short film with HD video, produce a fashion spread of pro-quality still images, chronicle an adventure or create an amazing photomontage, simply submit your video proposal to www.youtube.com/getolympus and enter to win the PEN, the funds to make your project reality and a crack at the grand prize.

After the proposal submissions have been narrowed to 20 semi-finalists selected by the community via thumbs up “likes” (be sure to tell your friends to watch and like your submission!), six of the best proposals will be selected by an Olympus panel of judges as well as the YouTube community. Those six individuals will receive the PEN, the funds and time to bring their proposals to life.

Once the six finalists have uploaded their final creations to YouTube for the world to see, one lucky Grand Prize winner will be selected based on a combination of popular vote and the panel of Olympus judges. The Grand Prize winner will receive an all-expense-paid trip for two to New York City to attend the Olympus-sponsored US Open National Championships on Olympus Day. The winner’s work will be displayed on the giant video board** at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center before an audience of thousands.

Get professional tips to make your filmmaking dreams become a reality from multi Webby-Award winner Erik Beck, executive producer of the online DIY filmmaking network Indy Mogul (http://www.indymogul.com/). Beck has produced a how-to video with tips and tricks to assist you with the production of your submission for the PEN your story challenge. View the video here: www.youtube.com/getolympus and www.facebook.com/getolympus. The challenge is open to residents of the United States and Canada.

MAKE YOUR CREATION SHINE WITH THE PEN
When you submit your video proposal for the PEN your story challenge, you should explain how, as a finalist, you plan to use the creative features of the Olympus PEN E-PL1 in your creation.

In-camera Art Filters for HD Videos and Still Images
The PEN incorporates editing effects inside the camera to save time and make your artistic vision an instant reality. It has six in-camera Art Filters, including Pop Art, Soft Focus, Pin Hole, Grainy Film, Diorama and Gentle Sepia. These filters can be applied to your videos or stills to, for example, achieve a 1960’s era super-saturated colour effect with Pop Art filter, miniaturize your life with Diorama, add mystery to your story with a Pin Hole perspective or recreate classic Film Noir with Grainy Film. The creative possibilities are limited only by your imagination.

Multiple Exposures
With the PEN’s Multiple Exposure function available for still image capture, you are free to tell a visual story your way. The image capture options enable you to shoot one shot, then another and combine them in real time, or capture both shots separately and combine them within the camera later.

Live Guide
The PEN’s new Live Guide interface simplifies great photography and offers the results you desire at the touch of a button. Want more vivid or muted colour in your shot? Want warmer or cooler colour? Want a brighter or darker subject, or a sharper or softer background? Or maybe you want to capture the fast-moving action of your subject with a little artistic blur, or perhaps freeze the action? Simply select Live Guide and press the up and down arrows on the back of the camera to slide through numerous photographic effects. Make adjustments and watch the LCD as the effects are made live – before the image is captured. Don’t worry about learning technical things like f-stops, shutter speed and white balance; jump right in by composing, adjusting exposure and more before the shot is taken.

For more details about the PEN your story challenge and the Olympus PEN E-PL1 visit http://www.youtube.com/getolympus and http://www.getolympus.com, and connect with us on http://twitter.com/getolympus, http://www.facebook.com/getolympus and http://www.flickr.com/groups/getolympus.

ABOUT OLYMPUS IMAGING AMERICA INC.
Olympus Imaging America Inc. is a precision technology leader, designing and delivering award-winning products for consumer and professional markets.

Olympus Imaging America Inc. works collaboratively with its customers and its ultimate parent company, Olympus Corporation, to develop breakthrough technologies with revolutionary product design and functionality that enhances people’s lives every day. These include:

  • Digital Cameras
  • Professional Digital SLR Imaging Systems
  • Related Underwater Products and Accessories
  • Digital and Microcassette Recorders
  • Digital Media
  • Binoculars

Olympus Imaging America Inc. is responsible for all of the following markets: United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. For more information, visit: www.olympusamerica.com or www.olympuscanada.com.

December 1, 2009 at 2:42 pm

You may have noticed that the site was down for a bit – I switched my hosting over to my BF’s Media Temple account – yay for free hosting!
Long story short – when I updated the nameservers I put in the wrong ones (.com instead of .net) and it took 5 days for anyone to realize it lol
The good news is I’m back!

School is finishing up for the semester, and I’m officially done on December 16th! Wahoo! Then it’s off to Tremblant and Montreal for 5 days. I’m super excited!

Anyway – I need to get back to making cakes and fondant lady bugs.

In case you’re wondering – I keep updating my Christmas list with a whole bunch of cute things I find. Check it out – you may find something that someone in your life would love to have!

Later skater!

Quick iPhone App Reviews

November 3, 2009 at 12:41 am

So far this posting everyday thing has been quite a challenge!
To be fair, I was working since 9:30am anddidnt get home from school until 9:30pm so that doesn’t leave much time for a well thought out blog post!

I’m currently writing this post from my iPhone so I thought I’d give you a rundown of my favourite apps right now (Maybe the teens on Jeopardy could have used this post sooner!). I’ve now added in some screenshots (found on Google Images), and I checked the App Store – Boxcar is still free to download + 1 service is free. I definitely recommend grabbing that while you can!

1) Facebook
I’m really enjoying the new Facebook app, especially since the recent changes to the real Facebook interface. I rarely browse Facebook from anywhere but my iPhone anymore!

facebook-3

2) Tweetie2
Such a great new Twitter app. I had been using Tweetie since it first came out but the new version is great. You can check out nearby tweets and they’ve made it really easy to add attachments to your tweets.

Tweetie-2-iPhone-App

3) Boxcar
I managed to grab this app while it (and one service) was free! Essentially it allows you to have pah notifications from certain apps that don’t allow for it. Right now I’m using it for Facebook and Twitter. It’s so nice to be able to see things when they happen. It really keeps me from checking Facebook/Twitter a million times a day.

Boxcar

4) Byline
I had been searching for an RSS reader for quite awhile now. I couldn’t find many people who had used one so I took the plunge and went with Byline. I’m extremely happy with it! I was easily able to import my google reader feeds and the app will download all the unread items to read while you’re offline. This is a great feature for my TTC rides in the morning! I haven’t figured out how to keep items unread(Sometimes blog posts have links I want to check out later!), but I’m able to “star” the posts and Byline keeps them in a separate folder for me.

byline

5) Word Warp
This game has been out for quite some time now, but it’s the only one I play on a regular basis. It’s quite addicting – and free!

WordWarpScreen

That’s all for now, but if you’ve read my blog in the past you’ll know that I’m quite obsessed with iPhone apps so more reviews will come!

iPhone Apps Galore!

September 18, 2008 at 2:25 pm

I know you’ve all been wondering what my favourite iPhone apps are…
So here’s a blog post about it ;)

Please note that they are not in order of favourites, but just randomly as I see them on my iPhone.

1) Twinkle
By far THE best Twitter application for your iPhone. I had it on my old iPhone and I loved it. You can attach photos, view Twitters based on location, and best of all it has little sparkles everywhere. I love shiny things lol

2) Mobile Fotos
A great Flickr app. It’s $3 but well worth it. You can upload and view your own photos as well as contacts photos. It has geo tagging, and photos that have taken nearby. It’s pretty cool.

3) Evernote
I never realized how handy this was until a few weeks ago. Anything I want to save I just throw on evernote and then I can view it on my iPhone later, or take snapshots while I’m walking down the street of things i want to remember, put those in an evernote album and view them online later.

4) Pictems, Sketches and Comic Touch
I love random doodle-y apps. That’s why I have these. To draw all over people’s faces and dress them up like pirates. Yarrrrr

5) Simplify
I don’t really use this on my iPhone, but I do use it to listen to music at work from my laptop at home. I love it. It’s awesome not to have to take up 20GB of space on every single computer.

6) Shazam
I always hear songs on the radio, at the bar, in my cab ride home and I never know what they are. Of course DJ’s are useless (no offense if you are one, I love you, I swear) and never tell me the song right away. So I just turn on this app and voila I know what song is playing.

Okay…
There’s so many more but I need to get back to work.
To be continued!

Blog, blog, blog!

September 15, 2008 at 4:37 pm

I want to start off by saying how I love this cooler weather, but I hate that I’m already starting to get sick. I think I might do the flu shot thing this year and see what happens. Maybe I should just start taking vitamins. Flinstones chewables?

I’ve recently been playing a lot of xbox. Unfortunately I only play the same three games over and over again. At home I play Skate(which I still think is THE best game ever) and Guitar Hero, and at work I’ve been rocking Burnout. Which is also an awesome game. I get to smash into people to win! How awesome is that.
Obviously I’ve been really productive lately haha

I desperately need a new WordPress layout, but I can’t find any good free ones and I’m feeling way too lazy to make my own. How terrible is that? Send me some good free layout links!

Oooo I have to write another blog soon about how much I hate MobileChat. I take back everything nice I ever said about it.

I upgraded to the new iPhone software and I have yet to experience SMS keyboard lag. Which is awesome. That was my biggest problem, especially since I send 2000+ text messages a month. Super annoying, but now I am satisfied. My iPhone doesn’t even blink at my 5 pages of apps! It’s awesome!

Anyway, I’m actually going to start blogging more because it helps me vent and not be so angry at life(which has been happening a lot lately).
Stay tuned! Same bat time, same bat channel.

p.s. Those of you who read my blog from your iPhone or iPod Touch, have you noticed I made the mobile layout purple? Yes!!!! Oh how I love purple :-)