There’s still a long way to go before an automated process is able to determine just what does and what doesn’t make a great photo, but the Paparazzi Bot is as close as they come.  

Ken Rinaldo is a faculty member at Ohio State’s Department of Art and the creator of the Paparazzi Bot.  He’s installed a total of three of these robots to cover the Winter Olympics, snapping photos of passersby.

Each of the robots is capable of not only determining when to photograph people – smiles are a big indicator – but they can move at the speed of a walking human and avoid obstacles in the process.

The name Paparazzi Bot comes for a good reason.  Not only can they move on their own, but thanks to infrared sensors, the bots will detect and rush towards people, mimicking the movements of frenzied photographers.

To learn more about these new automated photography robots, check out a great video demo, or see a gallery of captured photographs, you can visit Ken’s site, PaparazziBot.com.

If you’ve dealt with the release process, you know what a pain it can be.  Carrying around paper forms to secure the rights to photograph a particular location or to use a person in your shot is an absolute pain.  It’s a process that’s starting to feel a bit archaic, but ApplicationGap’s new Easy Release program takes care of everything electronically.

Robert Giroux is the founder of ApplicationGap, and he’s been planning Easy Release for years.  During the four years he worked for Getty Images he dreamed of a way to make the process simpler, but there wasn’t a device capable of doing it.  The iPhone, he says, is perfect.

The process is simple.  You can collect signatures right on the phone, and send out PDF copies of the release to you.  It’s even got a bit of protection built right in.  If anyone tries to change the release, the signature is cleared.

“A professional photographer wants to take great pictures,” says Giroux, “not hassle models with confusing and timeconsuming paperwork.”