This fall I hung some Indian corn on my front porch as decoration. Soon I noticed the corn was disapearing.

One afternoon I pulled into my driveway and caught the tubby little culprit red handed. I tried to get a picture but turns out squirrels are skittish and don't like their pictures taken. Or so I thought.

A quick search online for "squirrel photography" turned up this amazing collection of squirrels photographed by Scott Alan Johnson. Or are the squirrels the ones taking the photos?

I got in touch with Scott to get the scoop on these fuzzy little critters. Here is what he had to say...

"About 4 years ago I was out hiking in the near by park with my camera. I sat down at a picnic table to rest and a squirrel jumped up on the table looking for a food hand out. The squirrel went right to my camera and sniffed around looking it over like he knew what it was. This gave me the idea and the next day I brought one of my old cameras from my collection.

I placed the camera on the ground by the table and the same squirrel as before ran out begging for food. Soon he was looking over the camera and I was able to get his picture. When I took the film to the camera store to be developed they asked me if they could post a copy of the picture on the store's wall. I knew I had something and all I needed to do was to get more cameras and take more pictures."

"I have been collecting old cameras for years. Most have been given to me or I find them in yard sales or thrift shops. I never pay more than a few dollars for any one camera. When the first squirrel (who I named Pops) got me started taking the photographing squirrel pictures I figured I would use the squirrels to help me archive my camera collection. I could photograph the camera with the squirrels and have something a little different than the normal collection."

"Photographing Squirrels taking pictures with old vintage cameras is something anyone can do.  I have found that squirrels just love to take pictures. The truth is squirrels are very curious and will often take time to inspect cameras that are placed where they can get to them. It just takes a little patience to photograph them when they are in the right position."

"The squirrels started a camera club called A.C.O.R.N. (American Camera, Organized Rodent Network) meant for only squirrels, but soon other animals wanted in. I have photographed frogs, birds, turtles and even a few insects all with cameras. Getting them to work with the cameras is even easier than the squirrels. Frogs and turtles will stand still for a long time letting me set up the shots. The birds and insects only need small cameras. Today any animal can join A.C.O.R.N. even humans. :)

The motto of A.C.O.R.N. is (Isn't it great to share your hobby with another species) " - Scott Alan Johnson

Whether it's the squirrels or Scott that are taking the pictures, they are a lot of fun to look at.

A big thank you to Scott. Check out his site photographingsquirrels.com for more great photos.

It's getting close to the holidays and it's never too late to start planning your holiday cards so you can get them in the mail nice and early. Here are some holiday card ideas we have featured on the blog the past two years.

Tom Hoehn is known around the office as the Master Holiday Card Creator. Weeks of cutting and pasting go into his masterpieces. Here is the "extreme holiday card" he produced last year. Pulling on the end tab reveals a message.

Just so you wouldn't miss out on past years of his Extreme Holiday Cards, Tom wrote a post covering the past five years of holiday cards. Take a look for more inspiration.

Tom made a great photo holiday newsletter to include with this cards. He demonstrated a great photo idea of cartoonizing his photos for a comic book look and feel.

If you have some design skills you might be able to create a card like this amazing kid snow globe holiday card.

Shruti also designed this classic holiday card you can download and print.

I used my disarmingly cute pets to create a Martha Stewart holiday photo card on Kodak Gallery.

Here are some other holiday photo ideas you might want to tackle in your spare time. I posted instructions for creating your own personalized Photo Advent Calendar.

Diedra shared her idea for sharing holiday treat recipes with photo holiday recipe cards.

If you are running out of time and you can't get to any of these holiday ideas, you can always visit the Kodak Tips & Projects Center to download these print these holiday cards for your friends and family.

There has been many a time I have said "If we had cookies here, this meeting would have gone much better!" Now there is a section on the Kodak Tips & Projects Center called Betty Crocker Connecting Through Cookies. A super idea I think.

One of the features on the page is Betty Crocker cookie recipes you can download and print. Being the dedicated bunch we are, it seemed that the cookie recipes should be "tested". My coworkers and I selected different recipes and baked our little hearts out. We brought them all into the office and had a Betty Crocker cookie feast.

Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies and Cranberry-Pistachio Biscotti

Mexican Chocolate Cookies and Tiramisu Cheesecake Bars

Here is the gang doing quality testing on the cookies. I personally tasted each one and can vouch for their yumminess.

These recipes are just in time for the holiday cookie rush. Check out some of the other great Betty Crocker ideas on the Kodak Tips & Projects Center.

And before someone asks... no, we do not eat cookies all day and yes, we really do work hard around here!

Over at Kodak Gallery, a photo is chosen every month to be the Kodak Moment of the Month. Last month they were asking for presidential election photos and two were chosen as the winners!

There is one photo from Becky Kagan and one photo from Pamela Blackwell. There are also lots of other great election themed photos.

This month they are looking for photos that capture the spirit of Veterans' Day. If you have the perfect picture, be sure to enter it. And also be sure to take time today to vote!

Today is Halloween and a lot of spooky creatures will have their photo taken today.

Even monsters, ghosts and ghouls want to look nice in pictures, so Kodak is here to help.

Before/After

Whether it's because you are evil or because you were using flash, red-eye can really be distracting in a photo. Luckily, Kodak Easyshare Software has a great red-eye removal tool.

Before/After

Kodak All-in-One printers come with Kodak's Inkjet Software, which includes one-click Facial Retouch that reduces wrinkles and blemishes. Great news for all those zombies out there that perhaps have a few open wounds and decaying crevices that may detract from their charming smile.

Vampires prefer not to have their picture taken in bright sunlight. Since they are typically photographed in low light situations, they can depend on Kodak digital cameras like the Z1015 with High ISO and digital image stabilization to get a nice sharp picture.

Witches like hanging out together in cafes, book clubs, covens... and when they take pictures of themselves having a cackling good time, they often wonder what else they can do with their pictures. Kodak Gallery is the go to place for witches to make tote bags, mouse pads or even a nice mug to hold their poisonous brew.

Happy Halloween everyone!

(A big thank you to our Halloween ghouls: Andy Blake, Daryl Corbett, Tom Hoehn, Shruti Goradia and Tina Clark)

The Kodak Tower at our headquarters in Rochester was built in 1916. Over the years other buildings were built around it. Hallways and bridges were added to connect all the buildings together.

To the left of the Kodak tower was a little bridge that hasn't been used, at least since I have been here, for the past 10 years. A lot of people probably didn't even realize it was there. It wasn't in good shape so it needed to come down.

When I realized what was happening I decided to take a picture every day from a window inside as the bridge came down.  Above is an animated gif of the pictures I took. It will loop 4 times, so if you miss it, refresh the page and it will start again.

Some things I learned shooting progressive pictures like this.

1. mark your spot so you get the same shot every day - (I placed transparent tape on the window so I held the camera in the same spot)

2. take the picture at the same time each day - ( I didn't do this and the shadows are distracting)

3. take frequent pictures, don't let long periods of time break the sequence - ( I missed one day at the end and POOF the bridge was gone)

I guess I wasn't the only one who noticed because my coworker Kevin hustled outside and asked one of the workers for a brick from the bridge as a souvenir. That's one big paper weight.