Just came across the news today that Kodak has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection in US.

It is kind of sad to see one of the great camera companies of yesteryear, particularly one which helped bring photography to the masses and developed the first commercial DSLR, file for bankruptcy. But in a way, it also underlines the stiff competition which exists today in the digital photography world, where one not only needs to innovate and come up with new products often to keep up with the competition, but also in a way predict what the future of digital photography would be and come up with products which really appeal to them.

While I have only owned and used couple of Kodak cameras in my life, one of them happens to be my first real digital camera, CX7430, which I will always remember for allowing me to capture some really memorable photographs during my first three trips to Ladakh and the solo ride to Spiti.

Although now at times it shoots photos with a pink cast and haven’t really seen much if any action in past three years or so, photographs I shot from it are viewed by thousands of people each month and really nurtured my love for photography and made it stronger than ever.

And this is what I would remember Kodak most for, and I sincerely hope that they are able to restructure the company and make a comeback; I know I wouldn’t mind getting another camera from the great Eastman Kodak Company .

From the 1st of February 2012, Surajkund Handicraft Mela would commence at the Surajkund Fair Ground in Faridabad, Haryana.

Held every year from 1st of February to 15th of February, Surajkund Handicraft Fair is not only a platform to showcase and sell handicrafts, traditional Indian cloths, decorative items and also some delicious food, but it also happens to be a folk dance and song fest with folk dancers and singers from all over India converging at the mela to showcase their talent to the general public.

I have been regularly visiting Surajkund Mela for past several years, mainly because it is simply a fantastic opportunity for photography and to enjoy the folk dance performances from across India.

Like earlier years, this year too I would likely be heading there for photography and in case any one is interested in joining me, they are most welcomed to.

Here is an attached place mark for Google Earth so you can reach Surajkund easily and for those using Google maps or GPS, here are the coordinates, 28°29’17.90?N, 77°16’56.45?E.

I have been using LensPen LP-1 to clean my camera filters and lenses for past few months.

I had first decided to order one, when I got fed up of trying to remove finger print from my Hoya UV filter. I mean I could remove it successfully, but the process was not only cumbersome and time consuming, but also harsh enough to have left scratches behind (which thankfully it didn’t).

So ultimately I decided to opt for LensPen (it’s chamois tip has a non-liquid cleaning compound (carbon based) that is supposed to absorbs oily residues and contaminates), which as far as I knew, was used by majority of professional shooters and even lens rental companies and was thus worth considering.

However, despite that, when I first got my hands on the Lenspen LP-1, I was slightly hesitant to use it on my precious lenses and Hoya filter and thus decided to test it out on the Rs. 50 UV filter I had gotten for free with my camera. Even though LensPen is a dry cleaning method, it managed to clean the filter far better than combination of water and lint free cloth could and didn’t seem to leave any scratches or residue behind.

So in the past few months, I have regularly cleaned my UV and CPL filters and even the front elements of my lenses with LensPen LP-1 and thus far haven’t faced any issue. In fact I used it daily while traveling in Ladakh, since a combination of dust and lint (lots of static energy around, due to being laden with woolens) would form each day on the CPL and UV filter and just wouldn’t go away, even after a through application of bulb type blower I was carrying.

Thankfully, LensPen used to remove every bit of it and I didn’t really had to worry about all that grit impacting the quality of my photographs or worse still, showing up as dust spots.

Overall, I am thoroughly satisfied with it. Though I wouldn’t really recommend any one using LensPen, without first using a bulb type blower to blow the larger particles away, which might just scratch the filter or worst still, then lens!

During my recent winter trip to Ladakh, I decided to avail the web check in facility of Jet Airways, mainly because I wanted to make sure that I got a window seat and that too at the front of the plane, in order to get an unobstructed view of the Zanskar Range, as we flew to Leh.

So around 24 hours before my flight to Leh, I logged on to the Jet Airways’ website and chose the first right hand window seat for myself and printed my boarding pass. This not only ensured that I got the seat I wanted and also 250 bonus JPMiles, but also allowed me to use the special check in counter at the airport to check in my luggage and get the final boarding pass, without standing in any queue. While other passengers had anywhere from 4-5 people waiting in line in front of them and that too at 5:30 in the morning!

Unfortunately, while coming back I could not do the same, as I didn’t have access to a printer and I really did not wanted to go to a cyber café.

Once at the Jet Airways’ check in counter at Leh Airport, I was allocated middle seat in the middle of the plane. Which come to think of it, wasn’t really all that bad. Since I captured Rahul’s window seat and he had to sit in the middle and it was all foggy and cloudy anyway, so I couldn’t really take any photographs. Add to that, there was only one check in counter for Jet Airways at Leh airport, so I would have had to stand in the line, no matter what.

However, based on the great experience I had while flying to Leh, I have decided that in all my future flights, I would be using the web check in facility and hoping to witness similar if not better views and hopefully avoid standing in long queues to get my boarding pass.

Lately, there has been way too much talk of Facebook giving stiff competition to Google, changing search forever and what not. But as I found out today, Google still rocks, even when it comes to finding how to use Facebook’s features properly!

To cut a long story short, I had been looking to add a welcome tab to my Photography Page on Facebook and even after glancing through the Facebook FAQ and trying to make sense of all the gibberish, I was getting nowhere!

That was until yesterday, when I finally decided to Google “how to create a tab for Facebook Page” and on the first page itself, I found a pretty easy method to add a custom tab, without any bloat or anything! Heck in couple of minutes flat, my welcome tab was up and running (since I had already created a collage earlier).

In case you are like me, who had been searching for ways to add a welcome tab then here is how to go about it:

Search for Static FBML on Facebook.

Once on its app page, click on “Add to my page” and then choose the page you want to add it to.

Then on your Facebook Page, go to settings and under that, Apps.

FBML App would be listed there, click on Go To App and now you can change the name of the tab, as well as add content to that tab (HTML works).

Afterwards click on save and once again go to the settings of your Facebook Page and head to Manage Permissions section.

Here, in front of “Default Landing Tab:”, chose the new tab you have created and voila, you now not only have a welcome tab, but also one which opens up when someone opens your Facebook Page, thus making it look professional.

For those who are interested in what collage I added and aren’t able to access Facebook, here is what it looks like: