One Snap Away

When I was sighted, I absolutely loved snapping pictures; they can leave a lifetime of memories. Pictures are a gateway into how a person views the world. Despite my blindness, I still have that fascination and yearning to capture precious moments. Some may be wondering why I would want to engage in such a visual activity, to which there is no simple answer. All I can say is that if you have an imagination, the possibilities are limitless. However, I have to admit for me, snapping pictures can be daunting at times for one main reason; pointing the camera. Encompassing the whole subject to which I am trying to capture in the picture is a challenge for me, and often leads to much frustration. Lately, I have been experimenting more with my iPhone, and found out some helpful key elements that VoiceOver helps me out with. When in the camera mode, you can switch between two different cameras; front and back facing. I have been trying the front facing camera to take pictures of myself. VoiceOver lets me know how many faces are in the picture, if it’s centered, and the image size. So awesome! Toni is probably tired of me sending her random pictures of myself for feedback, lol. Thanks sis! In addition to being excited about the new found interest with the camera on my phone, I was elated to hear about a new app that will make snapping pictures even easier for people with visual impairments. Specifically, a graduate student at the University of California at Santa Cruz is collaborating with others to create an app that seeks to help blind/visually impaired individuals line up the ideal snap shot when taking pictures. The app enables face detection, voice accessibility, and audio reminder clips. The app was unveiled in Greece during the latter part of May at a technology conference. Can’t wait to see if this innovative app makes it to the app store. What are your experiences with snapping pictures? Do you have any helpful tips? Beautifully Blind, Inc. wants to know!