You know you do it. Your mom’s done it. Your dad, too. Everyone’s done it at least once. Some people like to pretend they never have. But sometimes, you just can’t help yourself.

Everyone has ruined a perfectly good group picture by blinking.

What to do? Put your math skills to use, my good friend.

Thankfully, Nic Svenson and Piers Barnes of the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organization have already done the heavy lifting. Their research calculates the number of photos you must take to virtually guarantee that nobody in a group will have their eyes closed.

Here’s their rule of thumb: For groups smaller than 20, divide the number of people by three if there’s good light and two if the light’s bad. That’s how many shots you need to take. See their paper for the nitty gritty.

Now if only they’d come up with a formula to eliminate bunny ears…

Blink-Free Photos, Guaranteed
velocity.ansto.gov.au/velocity/ans0011/article_06.asp

p.s. These two won a 2006 Ig Nobel Prize in mathematics for this work. The Ig Nobel honors achievements that first make people laugh, then make them think.

– Nicole Ramsey, PJ Intern

Reckless, stupid, downright insane. Camera tossers have been called worse.

Camera tossing is, well, just what it sounds like. Set your camera on long exposure or self-timer mode, press the shutter, and toss it into the air just before it goes off. Catch the thing (or have it land on a soft surface), and ogle the results.

Why would you do this? Quite simply, it’s the photographs: beautiful, abstract images you can’t get any other way. Many photographers also find the technique liberating, as it forces them to exert less control over the final image.

We won’t blame you if you decide not to try this one. (And we won’t take responsibility if you do.) But if you decide to give it a shot, we’d love to see what you come up with in our flickr group!

Camera Toss How-To
cameratoss.blogspot.com/2005/10/camera-toss-mini-howto.html

See also: Camera Toss Flickr Group

Photo Credits: Whales tails, Diluted, El Ray, spidrwegian (∆ncient), davespilbrow, mappamundi, Valentinian.

Smoke pellets from special effects supply houses, glycerin-filled spray bottles, shoe polish, and microwaved cotton balls — standard tools in any food photographer’s arsenal.

If you’ve tried to document a delicious dining experience, chances are you’ve come up short. It’s not your fault.

Food is camera shy.

From framing your shot, to deciding what to focus on, to making your food look its best (or better), Shutterbug’s food photography tips have got you covered.

Read up and next time you and your camera hit the kitchen, whether it’s cakes, crêpes, or crème brulle, we guarantee your culinary creations will be craving the spotlight.

Shutterbug: An Insider’s Look at Food Photography
www.shutterbug.com/features/1204insider/

See also: Tips from O’Reilly and food-styling tricks galore.

Capturing motion well is one of the most difficult photographic challenges. It can be hard enough to get the lighting and composition just right in a posed shot. But try and do it while you’re chasing a toddler or a terrier and you’re in for a surprise.

The technical aspects of shooting motion are easy: a fast shutter speed (or the action or sports setting) will freeze motion, a slow one will introduce motion blur. Where you go from there makes the difference between a shot that merely documents and one that uses action to paint a scene or set a mood.

Up for some experimentation? We recommend you start with panning (as in golf, swing through the ball… er, click) and then try some nontraditional composition ideas. Our pals at DPS have a great post on each.

Mastering Panning
http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/mastering-panning-to-photograph-moving-subjects/

Nontraditional Motion Shot Composition
http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/leaving-space-behind-moving-subjects-composition/

Photo credit: Running Away by Ozyman

p.s. Today is the last day for XMAS delivery (USA orders) of awesome photo goodies from The Photojojo Shop! We’ve got refreshed stock, great stocking stuffers, and shipping is only $5!

How can you not love a holiday that encourages you to dress up in costume, invites children to go from home to home demanding candy from strangers, and promises the annual rising of the toy-laden Great Pumpkin?

Yup, Halloween is pretty darn great.

And now that it’s just around the corner, we’ve put together a guide to help you get great photos on our favorite holiday.

Read on for creative ideas for Halloween shots, tips on how to carve your pumpkins to make them more photogenic, even instructions for making an anatomically-correct thoracic cavity cake!

Get out your glowsticks and get to work!

If you’re a digital camera convert (or thinking of becoming one) you’ve likely wondered how big you can print those digital files you’ve been capturing by the hundreds.

And knowing you, you’ve done the research, asked around, and probably discovered what we have: everyone’s got a different opinion. Your camera manufacturer is happy to tell you that 5 megapixels will get you pristine poster-sized prints (hogwash!), while purists proclaim that your digital is good for no more than 4x6s, no matter what the resolution. (Baloney!)

The truth, as is so often the case, lies somewhere in the middle.

The good folks over at Design215 have put together a super easy-to-digest resolution chart that gives you the straight dope. At a glance, it tells you how many megapixels you’ll need to print at true, photographic quality. (ie. It looks sharp, even when your nose is mashed up against the print.) Simple!

Chart: How Many Megapixels You Really Need
www.design215.com/toolbox/megapixels.php

p.s. Need to cheat and print bigger anyway? Read the fine print below the chart for more details.

This one isn’t so much about your photos as it is about keeping your digital camera in tip-top shape.

If you’ve ever had to buy a replacement or a backup battery for your digital camera, you know they aren’t cheap. And as rechargeable batteries have gotten increasingly powerful and more complex, the prevailing wisdom for extending their life actually does the very opposite!

All rechargeable batteries eventually die and go to battery heaven (where we hear you can lie around in your charging cradle all day if you wanna) but follow some simple advice and your little guy will be kicking around for a while to come. Better yet, it’s a lot easier than you think!

How to Take Care of Your Digital Camera Battery
www.kenrockwell.com/tech/battery-life.htm (via reader Liji Jinaraj)

p.s. Want a more technical explanation? Try this Battery University article on lithium-ion cells.

Got a great shot that’s just a bit too hazy to be usable? Is early morning mist (or pollution-induced smog) holding you back?

Don’t let haze phase. Here’s a quick trick to regain the details in your gloomy shots with a little Photoshop finesse. (Paint Shop Pro and The Gimp work, too.)

The effect is subtle, only takes a few minutes, and results in noticeably improved shots!

Eliminate Haze in your photos
jakeludington.com/photography/20060921_fixing_haze_in_digital_photos.html

Stop right there. Before you start thinking we’ve lost out mind, consider this: William Wegman has been successfully photographing dogs for the past 30 years. And not for nothing: his photographs are comical, endearing, and artistically worthy. His adoration for his dogs is evident, just like your love for your pet.

Your little buddy gives you unconditional love, so why not make some time to photograph the furry/fishy/scaly little guy? To get you going, we’ve compiled a list of great sites: tips on taking perfect pet photos, as well as amazing examples of the form.

The best advice we can give you? Love your subject and you cannot go wrong.

Your digital camera can save 500 photos on one memory card, your iPod’s got 5,000 photos on it, and your computer’s packing a cool 25K.

But when was the last time you saw photo #143? Or #2,486?

We’re all buried under a mountain of memories.

You may have 10,000 MP3s, but stick iTunes on shuffle and you’ll hear stuff you haven’t heard in ages. Picture frame widgets for your Mac or PC are the photographic equivalent of iTunes shuffle.

Just load up Picture Framer on Dashboard for your Mac, or Picture Frame on Yahoo! Widgets for your PC, and let the shuffling begin! Both offer a choice of slick frames and the ability to view your own pics, or even view pics from Flickr (your own, or your contacts.)

p.s. The Deluxe version of Picture Framer for Mac normally costs $5, but Photojojo readers can get it for free today (8/21) only! Find out how.