This Weeks Friday Freebie iPad Wallpaper: Foggy Field Friday Freebie features an image to liven up your iPad display with images from my travels… all for free.
I’ve always found it fascinating that nature can be so complex, yet so simple. Fog has a magical way of making this observation come to life. The rolling coastal hills of California provide a great space to explore on cold foggy mornings. Seemingly endless fields of grass and old oak trees are an easy subject to lose yourself in. If you enjoy this image be sure to view more of my photos of oak trees in the fog. Enjoy.
Note: This image is distributed for personal use only and all rights are reserved. If interested in using this photograph commercially please contact me.
This past week I enjoyed some time in Yosemite National Park just after the first wave of a large winter storm swept through. Conditions on the ground were perfect for winter photography, but a bit cold for the average Californian I think. The outlook from Tunnel View is often photographed, but the view is so beautiful it is really difficult to avoid taking a photo here.
Yosemite is really a magical place in the winter and while this view is the most iconic there are several other subjects waiting to be explored on the valley floor and at the rivers edge. I’m looking forward to returning here in March on my Yosemite photo tour (2 openings left if you’re interested in joining) in the hope of catching more dramatic winterscapes before the spring melt. I’ll be going through more of my photos from this trip in the coming week and look forward to sharing other lesser known subjects that are equally as beautiful.
Yosemite Valley Snow - Yosemite National Park, California
Cell phone photography is exploding in use these days. As our ability to take photographs becomes easier, so too does the inadvertent spread of our personal information. Devices such as the iPhone automatically embed GPS data into EXIF data of its photos. Uninformed use of certain social media sites / image hosting services can result in the inadvertent spread of personal information such as your approximate home address or daily routine.
It’s important to note that I’m a firm believer in embedding EXIF data into professional images from a dSLR so that you can be found for future work, image licensing or print sales. In this instance I’m focused on images that originate from mobile / cell phones and other mobile devices. For a complete list of what social media web sites preserve metadata refer to David Rieck’s Controlled Vocabulary Social Media survey.
As it relates to mobile / cell phone photography and privacy I was tipped off to the following news report by Michael E. Gordon. Ever aware of metadata and my online activity with my iPhone photography I felt comfortable I was in good shape on the privacy front, but I decided to check sites that I disiplay my iPhone photos just in case. What I learned was that my settings on some sites were not 100% correct. Below the following video I’ve outlined what sites did or did not include GPS data and what I had to do to adjust my settings to hide personal GPS data.
Mobile App Communities (ex. Best Camera, Instagr.am, etc.)
A general rule of thumb is that anytime a mobile app applies a visual change to your photos there is a good chance, as of this post date, the metadata of your photo is not being preserved. Apps such as Best Camera and Instagr.am that apply pre-set filters to alter the look of your photographs do not carry over metadata to the final version of your image. As it relates to privacy this is great, but if you’re sharing dSLR photos that are being made available commercially this is not such a great thing.
Facebook – Mobile Uploads & Places
Facebook has never preserved image metadata to the best of my knowledge. Once again this is great if you’re concerned about location related metadata in your mobile / cell phone photographs, but horrible if you’re uploading dSLR images for business purposes.
Flickr
Flickr has long been at the forefront of geotagging photographs. They’ve implemented an elegant solution to read GPS data in a photographs metadata on import and show the location via Google maps on each photo page. I have (2) two Flickr accounts. One account is for my professional work and the other highlights photos taken from my cell phone. Checking my cell phone Flickr account I found that personal location data was being revealed on numerous photos and I had to remove it. The fastest way to do this was to batch remove GPS data. Here is how I did it….
Batch Delete GPS data on Flickr
Navigate to “Organize & Create”
At the bottom of the browser window just above the row of image thumbnails click “Select All” and drag them to where it says “Drag items here to edit them as a batch”
Select the “Location” menu and choose “Change geoprivacy”
Select remove Map information
To stop Flickr from importing GPS data from your photos (highly recommended for mobile phone images if privacy is a concern)
Navigate to “You” > “Your Account” or click on your account name in the upper right of the browser window
Select “Privacy & Permissions”
Click on “edit” for “Import EXIF location data”
Uncheck “Yes, please, that would be lovely.” and click Save under “Shall we import that information when a photo or video is uploaded or replaced?”
FourSquare & Gowalla
These applications are a fun way to share your whereabouts and activity with your social network. While shared images do not contain EXIF data the application is capturing / providing information on your location you voluntarily share with others via location services.
GPS Settings on your iPhone To be 100% certain what applications are providing location based information about you via GPS you should check your iPhone settings. To do this follow these easy steps:
Click on the Settings app
Choose “General”
Select “Location Services”
Turn on or off the ability to relay GPS data to the list of apps found on your phone
Final Thoughts
I hope this information helps you get the most out of your online / mobile experience while preserving the level of privacy you prefer. I do not have access to an Android phone so if you have privacy tips please feel free to share them in the comments.
This Weeks Friday Freebie iPad Wallpaper: Sunset Surf Friday Freebie features an image to liven up your iPad display with images from my travels… all for free.
Seeing that so many are enduring stormy winter weather these days I thought it might be nice to share a warmer view, sunset at Ocean Beach here in San Francisco. If you’re enduring drab winter weather perhaps this will brighten your week. Enjoy.
Click here to download your free iPad wallpaper. Have a great weekend!
Note: This image is distributed for personal use only and all rights are reserved. If interested in using this photograph commercially please contact me.
You might not think photographing a picnic table would be all that interesting, but at night White Sands National Monument looks like a moonscape. The gray and blue tones look very moon-like and in combination with the Frank Lloyd Wright inspired picnic shelters you feel like you’re awaiting a shuttle back to Earth. Fortunately for me there were no run ins with Marvin the Martian.
Rest Stop on the Moon - Picnic Area at Night, White Sands National Monument
This Weeks Friday Freebie iPad Wallpaper: Anemones & Pebbles Friday Freebie features an image to liven up your iPad display with images from my travels… all for free.
If you’re into macro photography there are few things that beat exploring a tide-pool. Some time ago I posted the original version of Anemone & Pebbles just after I picked up my Canon 1Ds Mark III. The detail in the photo blew me away. This weeks Friday Freebie is a tighter crop of a sister photo and it’ll certainly enhance your iPad experience. Enjoy.
Click here to download your free iPad wallpaper. Have a great weekend!
Note: This image is distributed for personal use only and all rights are reserved. If interested in using this photograph commercially please contact me.
This is one of my favorite skyline photographs of downtown San Francisco. The pre-dawn light in combination with the glow of the buildings across downtown made for a special capture. As it turns out over the years this has been a favorite of others who have visited my web site as well. First featured on my web site in 2004 as part of my San Francisco Labyrinths write-up it’s been viewed hundreds of thousands of times. With such popularity come some interesting stories, but the most recent story about this photo will have to wait for another day.
If you ever want to see the desert come alive just spend some time there at night. This is true in relation to wildlife activity and finding a new take on landscape subjects. We are diurnal by nature so it is very easy to look past what unique lighting can be found at night. The desert offers so many great subjects rich textures, wildlife, expansive landscapes, unique plant life, etc. and all of it looks completely new after the sun sets.
Camping Under a Full Moon - White Sands National Monument
When I’m not exploring under the light of the moon I’m apparently taking photos of my tent. Well you might think that from the photo above, but this was the last photo of the day before I hit the sack. Below is a photo more exemplary of my efforts in the dark. By day the sand is pure white and by night it’s a lunar gray. Again the change in color highlights the unique qualities of the white sand at White Sands National Monument, it reflects the available light. White by day, orange-red at sunset, turquoise at dusk and cool lunar gray at night. Truly a feast for the eyes and a great place to explore & hone ones creative eye. I’ll be heading back in the fall to hold a very small White Sands National Monument photo tour. If you’re interested in joining me at White Sands or on my Death Valley photo tour check for details on my Photo Tour page.
Moonlit Dunes - White Sands National Monument, New Mexico
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