Oniza 3 in 1 Camera Lens

Sometimes its too much to grab a bulky full size camera along especially with all the advancements in camera technology and the versatility of having your smart phone handy. Add in all the latest photo editing software and your just about set. Now you can also add on Oniza 3 in 1 camera lens designed specifically for use on your iPhone, HTC, Samsung smart phones as well as your iPads, Tablets, PC's or laptops that have a camera included in them.

The Oniza 3 in 1 camera lens offers you three unique lens capabilities, Fisheye, Macro and Wide Angle. You simply clip on the lens of your choice on your device and ensure that it is over your devices built in lens and you're all set. I found that I truly enjoyed the Macro the best because it blurs the outer edges so your focus is on the detail in the center of the lens.

The top photo shows the image from my Samsung 4 phone without the lens and the bottom is with the macro lens attached. It blurs the outer edges so you can focus on the "shift" button photo.


The only downside I found to using the clip on lens is that based on the size of the case you have, you might need to remove it in order to line up correctly so you don't see an edge from the lens. The wide angle lens offers a 180 degree view point of what your camera sees which helps if you're not a pro using the panorama function on your device like me. All the lens fit in a smart fabric bag that you can tuck into your purse or pocket and you're ready to use. This definitely gives you some incredible options to take your own photography to a whole new fun level. For the price point, you can't beat it!

I received the Oniza 3 in 1 camera lens kit compliments of Oniza and the VIP Power Club for an honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation aside from the Oniza 3 in 1 Camera Lens Kit to try in exchange for my honest and personal opinion. You get three lens, a fiber cleaning cloth, a fabric holding bag, and rubber covers for each of the lens, along with a clip to fit your device. For the price point, this is definitely worth it in my opinion. I would give this product a 4 out of 5 stars in my opinion and love the convenience of taking this with me for more photo options in using my smart phone. Teens will definitely LOVE it as my 17-year-old daughter commandeered mine when I got it.

For more information about the Oniza 3 in 1 Camera Lens Kit or where you can pick one up today, please click on the links below:

Oniza 3 in 1 Camera Lens Kit from Amazon.

iCooker Camera Lens Thermos Coffee Mug - Product Review

If you have anyone who is a photographer or loves photography, I've got a great product and gift idea to tell you about! It is the iCooker Coffee Mug!

Just looking at the iCooker Camera Lens Thermos Coffee Mug leads you to believe it is simply another camera lens for your 35mm camera! But it's a great 12 oz stainless steel thermal coffee mug instead! Being a novice photographer, this was definitely something I could relate to!

It looks authentic and fits perfectly in your cars cup holder depending on your car, so it makes the perfect gift for any photographer or fan of photography. It is the identical shape of a Canon 24 to 105mm lens. It is BPA safe and keeps your favorite beverage hot or cold for hours. It comes with a lid that offers a slide opening to allow you to drink your beverage and helps keep spills under control. It does have a rubber seal on the lid to ensure a perfect fit on the lid. For those of you that have Keurig coffee makers this size is perfect to fit under your coffee maker so you can enjoy your favorite beverage in stylish fun coffee cup. It is dishwasher safe as well!

I received the iCooker Camera Lens Thermos Coffee Mug compliments from iCooker and VIP Power Club for my honest review of their product. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions expressed here are strictly my own. What I love about this product besides the stainless steel inside is the size. Just perfect for that single serving of coffee. For me, I've had mugs that are the equivalent of almost 2 1/2 cups and knowing I need to watch my intake of coffee, this makes it easy to track how much I am drinking. I even bought one of these for my daughter who loves something a bit unique for her coffee drinking and it keeps it from looking like all the other cups at work. It definitely is an eye catcher for those looking for that perfect gift for a photography fan! I easily give this product a 5 out of 5 stars and love the great price on it at this time. It's a weighted cup so its definitely not a cheap product. It feels like a true camera lens!!!

For more information about iCooker Camera Lens Thermos Coffee Mug, or where you can order it, please click on the links below:

iCooker Camera Lens 12 oz Stainless Steel Thermos Coffee Mug

Wings of Angels: A Tribute to the Art of WWII Pinup and Aviation Volume 2

What do WWII fashion, advertising, art work, aviation, history,  and pin ups have in common? All of these are beautifully captured in HDR color, black and white as well as sepia photographs in the latest book from photographer Michael Malak in the Wings of Angels: A Tribute to the Art of WWII Pinup and Aviation Volume 2. This is the second book in a two volume series that Michael Malak worked for over three years to get these published as a tribute to his grandfather Henry Michael Malak, who sadly passed away before the project was complete. It was that moment that spurred Michael to see this dream come true in the art captured through his artistic eyes in his photographs.

Using authentic WWII aircraft and props was the key to making these photographs truly something a novice like myself can appreciate as well as those seasoned service men and women that flew the aircraft featured in this book. You will also find WWII nose art pin-up artwork recreated as well as vintage ads and enlisted the help of today's biggest names in pin-up artwork to recreate the pin-up artwork you find tucked between the cover of this book. From Romain Hugault, Lorenzo Di Mauro, Ben Tan, David Nestler, Elisabete Cargnello, and Greg Hildebrant, all of Michael's photographs were utilized as the inspiration to capture some truly one of a kind works of art.

The pin-ups models capture that truly classic pin-up look using 1940's fashion and lingerie to give the readers a look back in time to those girls that wanted something to remind their men to hurry home from the war and to keep their minds focused on the returning. Each model is showcased in her own chapter with a truly unique authentic plane starring alongside her. From the FM-2 Wildcat, B-25J Mitchell, F4u-4 Corsair, SN-J5 Texan, F6F-5 Hellcat to the P-38L Lightning. Michael truly gets the reader right into the heart of the cockpit in his photographs that we may never get the opportunity to see. From specifications, missions, flight crew stories, history, and more those that love WWII aircraft will truly find something to treasure through this book.

The reader will learn the importance of what mail call did for morale, Look magazine's "women only" section, how Coca Cola did their part for the war, to the meaning behind war rationing. There are stories of the models and their ties to WWII including the famous Clara Barton founder of the Red Cross, to Charles Allen Bigbee one of the few pilots to fly the famous Memphis Belle. There are details for the significance of the paint schemes of the Hellcat's mouth on the plane, to photo reconnaissance on the P-38, and even what role Walt Disney played in their colorful cartoons found painted on the sides of some of the aircraft. There is even a section dedicated to Rosie the Riveter, the earmarks how women played a key role in the success in WWII as well both at home and in the air.

I received Wings of Angels: A Tribute to the Art of WWII Pinup and Aviation Volume 2 by Michael Malak, compliments of Schiffer Publishing for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions contained here are strictly my own. There is so much packed into each of these volumes that you will want to make sure you pick up both volume 1 and 2. From fun facts shooting on location with the models to get the perfect shot to what its like to be a pin up, this is such a comprehensive look at the beauty behind WWII captured in photographs by Michael Malak. It would be a great gift for any lover of WWII history, fashion, aviation and pinups. I easily give this a 5 out of 5 stars because I honestly have never seen anything like it so beautifully done to bring an true appreciation back for fashion, aircraft and history of WWII. Word even has it there is a 2015 Wings of Angels calendar available as well.

For more information about Wings of Angels: A Tribute to the Art of WWII Pinup and Aviation Volume 2, Michael Malak or where you can pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

Wings of Angels: A Tribute to the Art of WWII Pinup and Aviation Volume 2 by Michael Malak

You can find Michael Malak on Facebook to stay up to date with all his latest books and projects.

To purchase a limited edition commemorative set including both volumes 1 and 2 in a handsome collector's slipcase, please visit Schiffer Publisher's website. 

Wings of Angels: Tribute to the Art of WWII Pinup and Aviation Volume 1

So if you have been following my book review site, Reviews From The Heart, you already know I am a huge fan of WWII history, aviation and fashion. I am super excited to share something that combines the beauty of WWII Pinups, authentic WWII aircraft, some history of the time period and people that sacrificed so much for the freedoms we now, including Hollywood's role in the war effort ,all captured in beautiful color, sepia, and black and white photos by photographer Michael Malak. In the first of a two volume set, Wings of Angels: Tribute to the Art of WWII Pinup and Aviation Volume 1, is a three year plus project that the photographer captured as a tribute to his grandfather, Henry Michael Malak, a WWII veteran that passed away before the book could be published. It bears a dedication page that outlines the purpose of capturing the very essence of WWII and the veterans that are slowly slipping into history as time marches on.

The photographs are tastefully done which is why I reviewed the book. From classic 1940's fashion, to period lingerie all the photos capture that moment when women would have their photos taken to encourage their men as a way to remember what awaited them when they got home and that their sacrifice was not all in vain. Hollywood starlets joined the ranks from Betty Grable, Rita Hayworth, Veronica Lake and even Dorothy Lamore whose pictures as a pinup model raised more than $300 million dollars through war bond sales. These women became the inspiration that contributed to the pin up look that is captured in this book.

For those that love the planes and the history that goes along with them, Michael Malak takes you right into the heart of the cockpit as you fly the P51D Mustang, P-40 Warhawk, B-17G Fortress, BT-13B Valiant, SBD-4 Dauntless, and C-47 Skytrain. From plane specifications, service histories, flight crew stories, missions, and everything in between, you truly get an indepth inside look at some of those planes our service men and women have flown. The pictures of the aircraft alone gives readers a look inside some of these planes we might never see. All the aircraft in this volume are stored currently at Yanks Air Museum in Chino as well as the B-17G can be viewed at Palm Springs Air Museum if you want a closer look.

As if there isn't already enough, tucked between the pages of this hard cover book, Michael captures the big advertising companies of WWII from the story of Coca Cola and the War, to the Lucky Strike campaigns to lend their support to the war through rationing efforts in their packaging. There are some amazing artists that also shared their work thanks to Michael's inspriational photographs and commissioned their work to appear in this volume from Kelly X, Romain Hugault, Carlos Vlaenzuela, and Lorenzo Di Mauro give you that extra bonus that truly completes this collection. There are even some amazing stories called "fun facts" that share what happened on those beautiful shots that were captured and how difficult it was to obtain that perfect final look that you see in this book.

I received Wings of Angels: Tribute to the Art of WWII Pinup and Aviation by Michael Malak compliments of Schiffer Publishing for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions contained here are strictly my own. There is truly something for everyone in this book whether you love the planes, the fashion, the history, the advertising or the pinups, this is a great gift for just about any WWII fan of photography and history. I easily give this book a 5 out of 5 stars and don't forget when you pick this one up, you might want to grab volume 2 as well. Word has it there is even a 2015 Wings of Angels calendar available as well.

For more information about Wings of Angels: Tribute to the Art of WWII Pinup and Aviation, Michael Malak, or where you can pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

Wings of Angels: Tribute to the Art of WWII Pinup and Aviation Volume 1 by Michael Malak

You can find Michael Malak on Facebook to stay up to date with all his latest books and photography.

To order a limited edition commemorative set that includes both volumes in a slipcase for the true collector, please click here.

Believing Is Seeing

In Believing Is Seeing Academy Award-winning director Errol Morris turns his eye to the nature of truth in photography. In his inimitable style, Morris untangles the mysteries behind an eclectic range of documentary photographs, from the ambrotype of three children found clasped in the hands of an unknown soldier at Gettysburg to the indelible portraits of the WPA photography project. Each essay in the book presents the reader with a conundrum and investigates the relationship between photographs and the real world they supposedly record.

During the Crimean War, Roger Fenton took two nearly identical photographs of the Valley of the Shadow of Death-one of a road covered with cannonballs, the other of the same road without cannonballs. Susan Sontag later claimed that Fenton posed the first photograph, prompting Morris to return to Crimea to investigate. Can we recover the truth behind Fenton’s intentions in a photograph taken 150 years ago?

In the midst of the Great Depression and one of the worst droughts on record, FDR’s Farm Service Administration sent several photographers, including Arthur Rothstein, Dorothea Lange, and Walker Evans, to document rural poverty. When Rothstein was discovered to have moved the cow skull in his now-iconic photograph, fiscal conservatives-furious over taxpayer money funding an artistic project-claimed the photographs were liberal propaganda. What is the difference between journalistic evidence, fine art, and staged propaganda?

During the Israeli-Lebanese war in 2006, no fewer than four different photojournalists took photographs in Beirut of toys lying in the rubble of bombings, provoking accusations of posing and anti-Israeli bias at the news organizations. Why were there so many similar photographs? And were the accusers objecting to the photos themselves or to the conclusions readers drew from them?

My Review:

For most people who look at articles in the newspapers, magazines or even books, when a picture accompanies them we are often looking at that picture and forming an opinion. Hand in hand with whatever the article states, we may buy into the story because what is being written about and what the picture show make a match in our brain. However what Errol Morris does in the book, Believing Is Seeing, is show a picture with the proposed article and how at times in history, they have been made to appear as though they were real, when in fact they were an image created to tie into the story.

These are created to help influence what we read and what we see, so that the audience is more prone to believe it based not just on what they read but also what they see, even though at times the images are created and not really what is happening.

Errol Morris uses many such examples of photos with one being a cow skull show over a dry and cracked land. In the article that accompanied the picture, the reader was made to believe that this photo was taken to show what was happening in the Dust Bowl era in order to get people to buy into Franklin Roosevelt's programs to aid the farmers even though the photo was staged.

I received this book compliments of TLC Book Tours for my honest review and found the book an interesting read. Its hard to imagine that this type of marketing happens to use photos to pull at the emotional heart strings of people, but if it works, they will use it. Many such examples are shown through the book along with commentaries explaining how it was used. This is a great book for anyone looking into marketing or photo journalism or just photography in general to see how pictures invoke emotions in all of us. I rate this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

For more information on this book, the author and where to pick up a copy of this book, click on the links below:

Believing Is Seeing by Errol Morris

You can also visit Errol Morris on his website by clicking here.