Landscape, Nature And Travel Photography

Back in 1983/4 my friend showed me his Apple IIe and I was blown away. In 1986 I was super stoked to get a Macintosh Plus. No more hand written reports or worse using a type writer and relying on Wite-out to correct my bad typing. The world thanks to Steve Jobs and Apple is very different now.

I have been an Apple fan as long as I’ve used computers and I’m unashamed to admit I’ve purchased a vast majority of their computers and mobile devices. When the Macintosh II came out, Apple’s first color computer, I knew the world of digital imaging would be in my future. I didn’t now how exactly, but I knew it would happen. Photoshop did not exist in September 1988 when I paid over $5000 for the Mac II, but as I saw software develop in the months and years after that enabled the editing of photos I was enthralled. Sadly scanners were equally expensive back then, but I relied on scanning my photos using an HP scanner in my college computer lab. It took ~15 minutes to scan a 4×6 print at a resolution of 1600×1200 (a giant file at the time) and to share it I had to use dial up at home or bike to campus to use the earliest form of the Internet. It was a super exciting time. It was so obvious things were changing in radical ways. I had no idea how it would turn out exactly, but Steve seemed to have a master vision that kept Apple users on their toes waiting for the next development.

Since that time so much has changed. Steve Jobs without any doubt has influenced my life laying the groundwork for my interests and career aspirations. Would I have been able to do the things I’ve done to date with out Apple or Steve Jobs… likely, but not with as much passion. Steve Jobs kept me on my toes always thinking about the next big evolution in computing, content creation and publishing channels.

A Crowd Photographs the First Apple iPhone - MacWorld Expo 2007

I never met Steve Jobs, but I came close while at the 2008 MacWorld Expo. It was the year following the release of the iPhone and he was on the convention floor at the Apple booth. He was busy catching up on email on his iPhone. I never had any interest in interrupting him, but I did want to get a “I saw Steve Jobs! photo”. I had my dSLR with me which stuck out like a sore thumb and every time I raised it to take his photo one of his handlers would casually move between us blocking my view. I had to eventually shoot from my hip as I walked by to get his photo. I suppose it added to the adventure of it all.

Steve Jobs Checking His iPhone at the 2008 MacWorld Convention

I will certainly miss Steve Jobs not because I ever knew him, but because of how he made me think about the next big thing with each big announcement. The computers and gadgets were a means to an end… self publishing, photo editing, podcasting, webcasting/video conferencing, app development and so on. I will also miss hearing his catch phrase delivered only as he could say it:

One More Thing…

One final note, if you have yet to see this then I highly recommend setting some time aside to watch Steve’s Stanford commencement speech from 2005

Rest in peace Steve and thank you.

Technorati Tags: Apple, technology, Steve Jobs

To conclude my monthly series “Thoughts on the iPad” where I previously discussed future audience trends in Where Will Your Audience Be Next Year? and developing eCommerce trends with mobile apps in Cracking the Code to Web Revenue? I wanted to discuss the web marketing potential of mobile apps. With all signs pointing toward a shift in user adoption with mobile devices and eCommerce trends highlighting an increase in mobile app consumption, the natural questions are “How is this relevant to me? ” and “How can the potential of mobile apps be realized?”  The answer to these questions are most certainly subjective, but here is my take.

How are mobile apps relevant to me?
The earliest adopters of mobile applications (service & content publishers) have by and large been larger brands with deeper pockets or small tech companies looking to capture the attention of early adopters with novel products & services. For some mobile apps have been a way to establish an image of hip or cool, a means to create PR buzz or to push the envelope establishing a new business model. As it relates to small business owners, such as photographers, the question inevitably arises how is this new platform relevant to me?

Mobile apps provide a very interesting solution to a challenge faced by all businesses regardless of size, namely generating revenue online. Don’t get me wrong there are multiple approaches to generating revenue online including straight sales (ex. books, prints, ebooks, etc), freemium (ex. MailChimp, my email marketing service of choice, offers limited free service with expanded services costing money), advertising, subscription, etc. Each of these business models can be accomplished outside of the realm of mobile applications through a standard website. Unlike the standard website mobile applications excel in revenue generation because:

1. There is an understood expectation that apps at some point cost money
2. They’re mobile and your audience can make a purchase virtually anywhere
3. They facilitate instant sharing of online testimonials between customers and prospective customers via social media & email
4. Transaction conversion rates by app customers are trending higher than standard web customers
5. They can unify existing web properties (marketing and commerce) into a powerful sales tool

Realizing the Potential of Mobile Apps
Depending on your business model there are numerous ways to realize the potential of mobile applications. I can’t claim to know the exact answer for everyone, but the clues to finding the right answer for you are in the list above. Personally I feel the most novel aspect of mobile apps is the ability to hone marketing and sales efforts into a razor sharp tool. Utilizing a mobile app to act as a lens that focuses ones online presence is an incredible opportunity. Such an approach not only pulls together disparate online efforts it reinforces brand, messaging and product/service offerings.

On that note, look out for my next post later today for an exciting announcement that will show how I’m applying such theory to my business online.

Technorati Tags: technology, mobile, app, application, photography, iPad

In my previous post All Eyes Are On The iPad. Are Yours? I noted how the iPad was setting the stage for a publishing revolution with its transformational user experience. How have I come to this bold prediction? Three key signs have led me to the belief we’re on the cusp of a publishing revolution in short order.

1. Tablet computers are currently the next must have device.
2. Touchscreen interaction / navigation will be spreading to traditional computers
3. Touchscreen interaction / navigation is defining an entire new branch of user interaction & user experience

Must Have Device
If you haven’t noticed already there are iPad giveaways around every corner. Apple’s iPad has captured the imagination of millions of people by changing how they interact with content on the web. This same fervor hit consumers in the 80’s with the mouse and here in the 2010’s touchscreen technology is making online viewing less abstract and physically more interactive. Apple’s ability to hit it big with the iPad, as with their other successful product launches, inevitably results in competitors releasing cheaper takeoffs. Odds are if you know someone who wants a gadget for Christmas they’ll be asking for an iPad. If an iPad isn’t in the budget you can bet that your local retailer like BestBuy will be selling a variety of competitors to fill the void.

Expect Touchscreen Interaction on Your Computer
Mobile devices are an intuitive place to utilize touchscreen technology. Mobile devices with their small footprint must be compact for portability while walking a fine line to provide an easy to view screen with easy navigation capabilities. Ask a child to view something on a computer and their first reaction invariably will be to point to the screen. This exemplifies the simplest navigation tool available… our fingers. As mobile devices become ubiquitous amongst younger generations such navigation is not only going to become intuitive, but expected.

The difference between a 3.5 inch (9 cm) and a 9.75 inch (24.5 cm) diagonal touchscreen of an iPhone & iPad may seem less than notable, but the increase in real estate to present text, images and video is huge. Everything (navigation cues, graphics, buttons, etc.) becomes easier to identify, touch, and move. Larger screen sizes also create greater opportunity for new and innovative navigation and presentation layers.  This type of content interaction is not likely to be lost on traditional computers with even larger screens, as recently surfaced Apple patent filings of a touchscreen iMac confirm we’ll be seeing more of this style of interaction on future computers.

Evolution of Web Use & Design Standards
In a recent edition of Wired magazine it was prognosticated that the web is dead.

Over the past few years, one of the most important shifts in the digital world has been the move from the wide-open Web to semiclosed platforms that use the Internet for transport but not the browser for display. It’s driven primarily by the rise of the iPhone model of mobile computing, and it’s a world Google can’t crawl, one where HTML doesn’t rule. And it’s the world that consumers are increasingly choosing, not because they’re rejecting the idea of the Web but because these dedicated platforms often just work better or fit better into their lives (the screen comes to them, they don’t have to go to the screen). The fact that it’s easier for companies to make money on these platforms only cements the trend. - The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Internet

How the data is parsed to come to this conclusion is questionable in my book (video is not considered the web? really!? What about YouTube?), but this Wired article in general raises an interesting premise and should make you think twice about how you’re experiencing the web today and how you & your audience might be experiencing it in the future.

The iPad, being the first out of the gate, will have a disproportionate amount of influence on design standards and user experience trends for the touchscreen oriented content. Knowing these standards and understanding how users are interacting with online content is critical whether  that content resides in a web page, app, peer-to-peer site, etc.  The question then raised is how does your web site translate to a touchscreen device like an iPad? In case you were unaware iPadPeek is a great way to see (just be sure you disable Flash on your browser first).  The even bigger question is how will your audience be viewing the content you produce and publish online?

Will traditional web sites hold up? Will apps be the dominant channel of online publishing? Will mobile viewing overtake traditional computer viewing? I have a notion of how things will play out in the future and it centers on a maturing model of revenue generation, but details to this thought will have to wait for the next post in this series Thoughts on the iPad: Cracking the Code to Web Revenue? Stay tuned…

Technorati Tags: photography, Apple, iPad, publishing

Recently I had an opportunity to spend some time using the Canon 800mm f/5.6 lens via BorrowLenses.com and had a blast capturing some nature and travel photos in the San Francisco bay area. Below is a video review of the lens with some example photos from my limited time with the lens. The review is not tech heavy and deals with the practical use of the lens. Overall the lens was a dream to use. I only wish the weather had cooperated a little more so that I could have photographed a wider variety of subjects with less atmospheric distortion.  Bottom line  I can’t wait to get my hands on this lens again.

Basic Tech Specs

Max Aperture: f/5.6
Min Aperture: f/32
Field of View: 3.1 degrees
Closest Focal Distance: 19.7 ft./6.0m
Weight: 9.9 lbs./4,500g
Diameter: 6.4in.
Length: 1.5 ft.

Technorati Tags: photography, review,

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve grown increasingly concerned about the color accuracy of my monitor.  While finalizing work on a large set of images I noticed that my monitor was looking noticeably dim. For average use I doubt anyone would notice, but seeing as I’m a stickler for color accuracy (a big understatement) it appeared to me that my whites were looking rather grey. At that point I ceased all post-processing of my images until I could verify what was up with my monitor.

Monitors die one of two ways, Read more…

A lot can be and has been said about the transformation of the publishing world. In the last few years photographers have been given the power to self-publish through PDF based e-books and through self-publishing services such as LuLu and Blurb. In a short period of time I’ve seen numerous photographers, amateur to professional, experiment with these avenues of publication. With the announcement of the Kindle DX another step has been taken in the evolution of how readers consume content. How does this translate to the creators of photographs?

While I’m all for technological development the Kindle still strikes me as having a lot of room to grow particularly when it comes to real world use beyond text heavy books. Boasting a 16-level gray scale display it reminds me of the limitations, yet promise of the old Macintosh 512K and Macintosh Plus computers. While each product is technically sophisticated in its own right for its time, both are limited by their early stage of product development and availability of advanced components. Don’t get me wrong I know the Kindle DX and Kindle use innovative parts, but compared to what is to come it will look quite primitive. Much can be said about any product I suppose, but in this case the best is yet to come particularly with flexible OLED displays poised to become mainstream.

Would anyone in their right mind buy a photo book on a Kindle or Kindle DX today? Not likely and for that reason its highly unlikely that Amazon will be producing any photo books anytime soon. Even a B&W photo book would need a more robust display. From the availability of instructional books like The Digital Photography Book, Volume 1 (Kindle Edition) the future might be closer than you’d think. I’d imagine the display of this type of book will certainly resonate with early adopter technophiles, but for true fine art photo fans it would seem the technology has a way to go.

E-books for photographer or fine art photography fans focusing purely on the electronic display of photos still seem to be a faint glimmer in the distance, but it would be a wise decision to keep your eye open for developments on the horizon or just over it. It’s beginning to look like the pieces are coming together to make this avenue of publishing a reality leaving two questions…

1. Will photographers be ready to provide e-book content?
2. Will people adopt viewing fine art photography through e-books?

Question 1 would seem to be dependent on question 2. Most photographers don’t waste time and energy unless they feel there is a market for their efforts. What’s your take? Will people adopt a Kindle or Kindle-like product to view photography books or photo rich media and for that matter what about video? Given the demand existed today how does publishing your photos in the medium sit with you?

A Photo Comparison of Kindle Klassic and Kindle 2 – A Kindle World

Hands-On: Kindle DX Is a Pricey Pleasure — Despite Many Flaws – Wired

Hands-on: Amazon Kindle DX – CrunchGear

Technorati Tags: Kindle, e-book, ebook, photography, self-publishing, publishing, Blurb, LuLu

These days its hard not to hear about doom and gloom news with the economy and for many photographers part of the “fix” they get with photography is picking up gear. While it may not make sense to pick a couple thousand dollars in gear in this economic climate there are things you can buy for under $30 that will certainly help you when in the field or studio. Here are 5 products that fit the bill and will keep you swimming in biodegradable foam peanuts.

invisibleSHIELD Camera LCD Screen Protector
For the sake of truth in advertising if you have a cell phone, digital camera or even a laptop I would recommend the invisibleSHIELD product for it. I’ve had a screen protector on my camera LCD screen from the first day I got it and it was the best thing I ever did. It cost me $12. When compared to other screen protectors my friends have purchased, mine is the only one that hasn’t been messed up by some weird age related effect. My screen isn’t dimmed by it, there’s no fogging and its virtually indestructible keeping my screen from getting chipped or scratched. I liked their product enough I forked out $55 for their MacBook Pro 17″ product. Definitely money well spent.

Lens Cloth
A good microfiber lens cloth is so cheap its worth getting two. Keep one in your camera bag and one in your jacket or wallet. This should be your first line of defense to keep dust specs from polluting your digital photos. Clean the front and rear element of your lenses to be sure that you’re not picking up clearly defined dust specs when shooting at f/22 or beyond.

Giottos Rocket Air Blower
The large version is under $20 at B&H, Amazon.com, etc. and its the fastest and least invasive way to rid your sensor of dust particles. I’ve owned one since 2004 and it’s never let me down. I should also add its my dogs favorite camera accessory. No matter where my dog is when I’m using it he runs over thinking its a toy. Dog owners beware.

Bubble Level
If you’re looking for a quick way to determine if your camera is level this is the way to do it. A hot shoe two axis or three axis bubble level is easy cheap and effective. It’s not uncommon to find these on sale so keep your eye open.

Multi-blade Screwdriver
This is the latest addition to my camera bag. I recently noticed that one of my lenses was working loose from the camera mount ring near the rear element. I was lucky that I didn’t break or lose my lens. Using a key or fingernail is no way to tune up camera equipment. In short order I got one of these multi-blade screwdrivers and now use it on my lenses and tripod.

Have any other must have accessories that you can pick up for under $30? If so share’m here.

An interesting encounter on Twitter got me thinking about the subject of permanence in relation to digital photography. Humorously @pogue (aka David Pogue) was noting the grammatical error in Outdoor Photographer referencing the “sense of permanency” of digital photography in books.  David Pogue, a New  York Times technology writer and Internet celebrity, while making light of this grammatical faux pas got me thinking perhaps the writer made a Freudian or even blatant slip revealing the underlying opinion that digital photography lacks permanence.

Numerous articles, including more than one on my blog, have discussed the critical need to back up digital photos as hard drive failure and natural disasters are inevitable. The question remains, is digital photography any less of a permanent medium than film photography?

Any artistic medium is subject to disaster, small and large, and the elements. Often we delude ourselves thinking that what we create will last forever. We’re inundated with marketing for archival material (ex. 100 year ink or paper, film, gold DVDs, etc.) but this in itself is an illusion when you think beyond the context of a single lifetime. I suppose for many of us a single lifetime is more than enough to ponder. Anything more would be presumptuous. For more on this in relation to prints I recommend listening to Brooks Jensen’s take in relation to Archival Madness. None the less many creatives do think in this way. For the few lucky enough to be considered influencers and masters, thinking this far ahead will pay off.

For the rest of us how realistic is the expectation that our digital photos taken today will be useable in 10, 20, 30 or 50 years? While digital photography provides great upside in immediate access, dynamic range, clarity, etc. here and now its longevity is questionable. CD’s and DVDs erode or get lost, hard drives fail, file formats change, backup formats change, computer operating systems change… everything changes with digital technology. The strength of film and why it feels safer to some is that over decades the formats varied very little and definitely less than digital has in its very short lifetime.

If you’re thinking that your work holds permanence think again. It might be best to reset your expectations knowing that you’re bound to experience a failure and loss of your work whether in digital or printed form. It’s just a matter of time. Or is it?

And just for David… be sure to you choose a smart approach to ensure the permanency of your digital photography. The same goes for you film photography dinosaurs.

Technorati Tags: Photography, permanence, digital photography, film photography, back-up strategy