Bob Crum

What do you do with all the photos that you take and store on your cellphone? Most likely shoot and send off to Facebook or Instagram or attach to an email. After that, all but maybe a few vanish into the vapor of cyberspace while you're busy taking more snapshots destined for the same fate.

What if you could take a selfie or with a friend(s), and immediately print a memento sticker? You can! Imagine the fun!

As Tech Crunch stated, “People tired of taking dozens of shots on their phone and then never looking at them again are excited by the idea that you can leave your phone in your bag and get a fun photographic keepsake, no apps or wireless connections necessary.” Remember Polaroid?

Alas, with an instant-printing camera, you can now leave your cellphone in your pocket or bag and convert from 'phonetography' to 'photography', painlessly, sooner than later.

Fujifilm's popular model, the INSTAX Mini 90 Neo Classic, is a compact camera that supports the use of Fujifilm Instax mini-type film to produce instant credit card-sized prints. It features a 60mm lens, a built-in flash, and automatic exposure control to ensure accurate exposures in a variety of lighting conditions. An exposure counter visually displays the number of exposures remaining in the film pack.

Canon, a major manufacturer of photographic gear, jumped into the fray recently introducing two new instant cameras. The higher-end version, model Ivy Cliq+, is an instant camera with built-in mini photo printer that can fit in a pocket to take to a party.

Selfie-tographers, rejoice! The IVY CLIQ+ features a large 2" selfie mirror with an eight LED ring light for great looking selfies! If you must, connect your smartphone to the Canon Mini Print app via Bluetooth1 and take a photo with your smartphone's camera and print the photo. Even use fun AR filters and add effects, frames, text, and 'stickers' to your 2"x3" photos with a peel & stick back!

With the Canon IVY CLIQ+ now you have a camera and a printer about the size of a smartphone. Plus it's available in three dazzling colors: Pearl White, Sapphire Blue, and Ruby Red.

Mermaids are a subject that always instigates emails protesting their reality. However, for centuries eyewitnesses claimed to have seen real mermaids around the world. The sightings go back to the Roman Emperor Augustus (63 BCE-14 CE). Multiple artists produced images of mermaids drawn from life.

On his first voyage to the Americas, Christopher Columbus claimed to have encountered three mermaids. Columbus spotted the mermaids off the coast of Haiti in January of 1493. He wrote about the mermaids in his travel journal, where he said the mermaids “rose well out of the sea.” Who among us dares question Captain Columbus?

There is plenty of historical evidence that mermaids are real. Before anyone doubts the evidence, keep in mind that humans have not yet explored more than 95% of the oceans. Could mermaids be lurking in the deep sea? I know where one lives nearby!

March is mermazing mermaid month at the Ventura Harbor Village. Disney movie fans, know about Princess Ariel, the protagonist of Disney's classic 1989 animated feature film The Little Mermaid. Hence, children of all ages line up eager to meet, greet and chat with, ahem, a real mermaid! Photo of the week is Mermaid Kristen who resides in Section 9 of Kelp Village in Seaweed County. Remit $50 for her GPS coordinates.

Photo ops abound this weekend. Easter bunny and egg hunt at Two Rivers park 9 am to 1 pm and Community Center flower show Saturday and Sunday. Happy photoing!

Send questions, comments or suggestions to: focusonphotography@earthlink.net