Digital Views

Apple's Net Book Strategy

2011-03-24T21:14:00.000-07:00

In the weeks and months prior to the announcement of the iPad there were all sorts of "wish lists" floating around and many of them were hoping for some sort of "tablet computer" to eclipse the netbook product line. Steve Jobs basically panned this idea, saying that netbooks were slow etc. etc. Apple's answer was of course a tablet but not necessarily a computer tablet; no hard drive or physical keyboard unless you are using the dock. It was a mixed bag when it comes to fulfilling anyone's wish list.

Now we are at iPad 2 and everything has changed and Steve has proved his concept was spot on. Imagine that. The iPad succeeds because it doesn't compete exactly but creates a whole new way of interacting with our stuff, just like the iPod did.

But what about those die hard fans who really wanted a netbook. Well Apple actually has created one, it's called the MacBook Air. One might argue the 11" Air is still a tad bigger than some netbooks but you would be hard pressed to find a slimmer, more trim netbook anywhere. So what is the difference? The MacBook Air is a much healthier system, with flash memory that boots faster than you can sip a Latté and of course it costs a lot more. The moral of this story being that if you want speed, reliability in a compact form and you want it to "just work" then you buy from Apple and pay the price for all that speed, reliability and convenience.

You may be thinking, that's not fair and this guy is nuts but the lesson in all of this is that Apple tells us as much by what they don't say or call things. If you want to know what Apple's priorities are; go to their website and look at the tabs. They are in the content delivery business. Yes, they can do spreadsheets and vertical market stuff and a million other things but they have done something that few other companies have. They've made it simple. Maybe not in the way You wished but simple none the less.

George Eastman said "we will make photography as simple as the pencil" Apple has taken the computer and delivered on that promise.

I must confess to a bit of tongue in cheek with this but this kind of thinking takes over while I'm driving.

Explore These Apps for Phone & Computer

2011-03-18T12:16:00.000-07:00

Without much commentary
....and starring in no particular order

Instapaper
Simple Note
Wunderlist [free for every device]
Dropbox
Notational Velocity
Twitterrifc for iPhone
icebird for iPhone
birdhouseapp
Reeder (for google reader)
Mac OS 10.6.x
Kindle for Mac

Services:
gmail
twitter
zenfolio
Wordpress
Blogger
Google Books
Amazon

You will think, I don't really need these until you start using them for awhile. Of course your milage may vary as always.

Further explanation and commentary forthcoming.

None of the above items are affiliate links.

Administration

2011-03-17T13:20:00.000-07:00

Due to recent developments with Google and Blogger, I've decided to take a look at using this service as a vehicle for writing up my digital views.

The Answers To Better Photos Is No Secret

2009-10-11T08:16:00.000-07:00

First you must go where the photos are.

Take lots of pictures.

Edit Ruthlessly.

Select camera and lens to fit the task.

Three Crucial Tips to Improving Your Photos

2009-05-13T06:55:00.000-07:00

1. You can take a great photo with "any" camera. You just can't take any "great photo". You can make a great photo with any camera as long as you understand the limitations of that camera. Example: If you are using a box camera from the 50's you probably won't get a sharp close-up of a bird 50 feet up in a tree. Conversely you could get a stunning shot of your family standing in front of that tree 10 feet away.

2. Vision, knowing how to compose a shot will raise the level of your photography 500 percent. Making a great image can be as simple as getting in the right position to take the shot.

3. It's better to take and make a great image with a "average" camera than to take no image at all because you don't have the latest gear. Use what you have and understand why you need a certain piece of gear; not just that it's the hot item. Having the best stuff is not as important as learning how to use whatever you have.

Spring Cleaning and your online species!

2009-03-09T08:09:00.000-07:00

This post is generated to spark an entry on your spring cleaning to do list. We all clean out the garage, attic or closets but what about all the stuff that's collecting dust on your hard drive. Those of us who are avid surfers of the web end up with tens of megabytes in pdfs, emails, photos and trial software. However, the area I want to cover today is bookmarks. We all do it... find some great article, product or whatever and we hit the old keyboard shortcut to save that link. It goes somewhere, but what happens to it in a week, 6 weeks or longer? If you're like me you may visit a couple of times when it's fresh on your mind and then later when you look through your bookmarks you can't remember why you saved it in the first place. I call this species, linkus packraticus. To solve part of the problem you can add descriptons and put them in folders etc. but the real problem is that we are amassing information for which we have only one giant container. How to organize all of that is a topic for another post or perhaps many posts but the real issue is time. How many sites can you realistically keep up with and digest, five or ten?

We're swimming in a sea of information and often cannot connect the dots because the purpose for the information has yet to be defined. The context must be provided by you and I, which goes beyond the fact that someone simply wanted us to see it. Many things are trivial enough that they won't affect our daily lives but some things, big issues take time. There are at least two approaches 1) simply take everything they say at face value and truthful or 2) do your own thinking and research, which takes time. Those who wish to influence our thinking are hoping we will choose option 1.

As the volume of thought and opinon increases and is pushed up to the web, we the lowly digital citizen must learn to navigate the flood so as to not drown in the process. If strategies useful to all are revealed, we will be happy to post them here.

6 Ways to feed your body and Soul - Don't miss these!

2009-03-04T07:58:00.000-08:00

Update: Improve your online presence with these two sites:
Hubspot
Grader

Nikon Rumor: Update
No new D5000 from Nikon, for the latest from PMA
check out the 1001 Noisy Cameras Blog

Podcast:
Screencastsonline, Mostly Mac video podcast with great tips, tricks and tutorials, huge backlog
of tutorials for some of your favorite apps. Subcribe at iTunes.

Learn photography & Photoshop:
Pioneer Woman, One of the most interesting reads on the web covering everything from great
cooking to photoshop. Check it out.
Digital ProTalk, Award winning photographer David Ziser hosts a this blog that is chock full of
great photo and photoshop tips, video tutorials and more. Whether you are a pro or not you can
find great information to improve your digital images.

More on digital imaging and your digital life:
This Week in Photography - weekly podcast drops every monday and is a great resource for
photographers of all levels.
Want to mange your digital life? What about those gigabytes of photos etc. sitting there on that
hard drive. For all things mangement and backing up check out this brand new site Managing
Managing your digital life.

Gold Mine:
Chuck Green's ideabook.com a treasure of graphic design tools and learning, plus jumpola one of the best bookmark pages on the net about design.

Great Finds from Around The Web

2009-02-22T10:12:00.000-08:00

Image from the cameras voice © on Flickr

Improve your online presence with these two web tools:
Website Grader
Twitter Grader

Nikon Rumor:
New entry level DSLR D5000 coming at PMA March 3, 2009 ?

Podcast:
This week in photography, tips news and prizes from the pros and their special guests. Sign up for free at iTunes.

Gold Mine:
Chuck Green's ideabook.com a treasure of graphic design tools and learning, plus jumpola one of the best bookmark pages on the net about design.

How to take great photographs

2009-01-12T12:01:00.000-08:00

Perhaps a bold title but true none the less. We shall define great for the sake of this post as simply a photograph that captures your vision and also follows some basic guidelines of photography.

Step One: Get yourself and your camera in position to take the photo. Sounds simple but often overlooked. You cannot take photos of Lions in Africa unless you go to Africa; find the lions and have the necessary kind of gear to capture the shot; more about gear later. Scouting, looking and thinking can make great improvements to your photos. Take time to look at what's in the frame, ask yourself what shouldn't be there and then check the light. Could this shot be improved if I were in a better position, keep asking these questions. Edit out everything that is not the photo and then set your exposure, white balance etc.
Step Two: Composition. Use books, the internet or library to obtain some grasp of how geometry and light play a role in making memorable photographs. The rule of thirds is a good place to start but nothing is cast in stone there will always be exceptions to the rules.
Step Three: Gear. Probably the most talked about and discussed aspect of photogrpahy is the type of equipment one uses. The first professional advice I received after buying my first SLR in 1980 was this, find the right tool for the job becasue it's not necessarily about the brand or the specs. In other words a telephoto lens won't do you any good if it's a wide angle lens you need. As for specs I've "never" heard anyone complain about a photo because there was too much purple fringing or other scientifically measureable aberation. To be fair these "can" matter but they are way down on the list for most of us.
In this age of digital photography here are some basic considerations for gear. Regardless of what type of photography you shoot the two most important components of the camera are the lens and sensor. All the rest of the stuff you read about is how to get the light through the lens to the sensor. The gear is to a large degree determined by the type of photography your shoot. Landscape and wildlife require better and longer lens generally. Sports or action photography requires fast shutter and flash capapbillity. Studio work; generally for pros, requires a broad range of equipment and skill in order to shape images that don't naturally occur. For the rest of us we need something in the middle ground that will take the kind of shots we most often want to take. The best approach is to do your own research and get a few "informed" opionions to be sure you're not overlooking something.
If you are one the more fortunate souls and want to take advantage of the latest technology you might want to look at cameras such as the Canon 5D MkII or the Nikon D3 or D700 which offer superior low light capability without the need for flash.

Canon 5D Mk II - Report, Samples + Video

2008-09-28T19:02:00.000-07:00

I won't voice a lot of opinon on the new Canon 5D Mk II other than to say that it breaks some new ground and opens doors to new photographic vistas.
The Acclaimed Photographer Vincent Laforet has done some tests which he generously shares with the help of Canon.

Video shot with the 5D :
Behind the Scenes:
Download Still Clips:

Additional information and comments on the blog.
Even as a Nikon shooter I have to applaud Canon for the ground breaking work.

Nikon or Canon, Who Wins? (hint) it's the photograhers.

2008-09-05T12:52:00.000-07:00

While I don't usually dig too deeply into the rumors flying around I am not beyond entering to an occasional speculation. Such as it is on the near eve of Photokina 2008 which will be held during Septermber 23-28. While I don't have all the scoop, there is one site that has a great repository of Camera and Photograhy info and that is 1001 Noisy Cameras. Click the link for the full details.

Allthough there are may speculations, rumors and announced products one that caught my eye was the following from the WIRED blog.

The background: Nikon put out a print advertisement in Rangefinder magazine, regarding an announcement to be made at next year's WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Photographers International) conference. The teaser reads "Don't miss it. It's gonna be BIG!"

This subtle hint combines with a leak to Nikon Rumors which seems to show the specs of a new, larger sensor, called MX Format. The final piece of the puzzle comes from the afore-mentioned Nikon Watch: A reader tells them that the MX sensor will be a huge 48 x 48 mm. That's right, a decidedly old-school medium format square sensor. A big sensor that will sport a whopping 48 megapixels.

Elsewhere rumors hint at a Canon 7D or a large format camera; indicating that Canon has not been idle in face of the new challenge by Nikon's D3. All in all the photographers are the winners because the camera manufacturers are making it possible to capture more images in more situations. Photokina starts in a little over two weeks; we'll know a lot more then!

Painting in a fraction of a second

2008-08-16T17:50:00.000-07:00

Why Photography? We all have reasons for taking pictures. For some it's the doumenting of their children's growing up, travel or the sharing of some event but for the purpose of this post I want to focus on what makes photography so interesting as a creative endeavor.

I should preface this with a brief bit of history. My background is in Architecture; went to school, worked in the offices of several Architects and Architectural Engineers and was at times "own my own". I didn't have any mentors really; had to figure things out on my own and as a result explored other creative disciplines. I've always referred to myself as a designer and more recently as a creative simply because I don't stick to just one thing. I write, draw, teach, design and take photographs and all of that is simply a way to express the values of creativity. Making something both functional and beautiful is what I have been striving to accomplish during last 30 years.

Photography has been for me mostly a creative outlet but that is beginning to change. In the past I would shoot much the way a painter would paint; see something interesting and then make an image that captures that moment. In the artistic sense the photographer is in control; no committee telling them which f stop or shutter speed to use; oh use this lens or that one, none of that. Look compose and click "painting in a fraciton of a second" a moment never to be repeated but to be viewed over and over again. It's this element of control; the same one the painter enjoys, that makes photography an interesting endeavor, at least to me. It's not until you want to sell your work does the issue of value creep into the picture and now you must look at the work through your patrons eyes.

World Wide Photo Walk Saturday August 23rd 2008

2008-07-31T22:16:00.000-07:00

Scott Kelby is hosting a worldwide photo walk to celebrate the launch of his new Lightroom 2 book for digital photographers. The date is August 23rd 2008 To discover what it's all about and see if your city is on the list [ they're not all listed yet, so stay tuned. ] or to host a photo walk for your city you can get all the details right here. [ Pictured ] The Minks-Adams hotel, details can be found here.

So far their are 108 photo walks listed world wide, some cities having more than one photowalk. The group size is limited to 50 and if your city is not listed you can sign up to be a host if you meet their criteria. This is mostly a social event for photographers and anyone can participate regardless of their skill level or equipment. Their are some prizes for the top photographs and a grand prize will be given for the best photo taken during the walk. Check it out.

Update: Now 151 photo walks listed and climbing from around the world.

No Cell Phone Zone

2008-07-23T23:18:00.000-07:00

No matter how cool the gadget may be there are times when we need a break, reconnect with the analog world. Sometimes I even use paper and pencil. Upcoming is an article "Why Photography" which I think you will enjoy.

Shamrock Oil

2008-07-17T21:59:00.000-07:00

This station was once a thriving business during the 60's, located on an older stretch of Route 66. The building has since been demolished, prior to that it served a variety of functions before falling into disrepair. Since the "gas station" has merged with the convinience store it isn't likely we will see any new ones like this being built. I was trying for a kind of gritty look ala Dave Hill of course I am not in his league at all.

Filling Station 107

2008-07-15T09:08:00.000-07:00

This old "Filling Station" (which is what they called them in those days) sits on an old stretch of Route 66 in Tulsa. Dilapidated and sagging here and there, it is still a reminder of more optomistic times when the adventure of the open road was still new and a great way to see the country. I am told that this station also sold Hot Dogs and probably a few groceries which made it a true forrunner of the convienence store. The pedestals for the gas pumps are still there but no idea of the tanks are still around.

A technical note for photographers: If you use Firefox 3 and have employed the new color profiles that it offers you will find that there is a slight difference between what your monitor displays in PS and how it will look inside the browser. This image went just a bit darker when uploaded to the web. Review the post below "Good Reason To Upgrade To Firefox 3" for more explanation.

It was 1923

2008-06-28T21:06:00.000-07:00

To celebrate the Oil Exposition of 1923 a no expense spared Adams Hotel was built with an eclectic mix of architectural styles all rendered in Terra Cotta.

Good Reason to upgrade to Firefox 3

2008-06-19T11:52:00.000-07:00

It's here the new and improved fabulous, awesome, multifaceted Firefox 3. For the complete tour just visit the Mozilla website and watch the video to check out the new features. If you happen to love looking at photos on flickr or some other photo sharing site you will want to enable a new feature in Firefox 3 that is turned off by default; the new feature is advanced color management and can be turned on with the click of a mouse. You will immediately see more vivid colors in photos displayed in Firefox 3. To turn it on simply follow this link to the instructions for turning it on and your in business in less than a minute. A good reason to take and post more photos. Stay tuned more tips on the way.

2008-06-14T18:36:00.000-07:00

Ice Storm Dec. 07 view more here.

2008-06-12T20:20:00.000-07:00

Some 07 photography,
I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in...

2008-05-03T08:39:00.001-07:00

Old Postcard Look !

Direct From The Camera

2008-04-19T16:55:00.000-07:00

New Life

2008-04-19T08:19:00.000-07:00

Foundational To All Creative Endeavors

2008-03-22T15:45:00.000-07:00

What makes creative solutions work is in part because the creator has found a suitable reason for the expression of what is seen. The reasons for decisions reached become the foundation upon which the whole thing is built.