A rare Weekend

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It’s a rare weekend for me.  I’m almost caught up on work (except for marketing) and our beach rental house in Mission Beach is open.  So after a long day Friday I loaded up food, tools for the never ending maintenance and Zoey and headed to the beach.  Friday was still a work day for Pez so she arrived in the early evening.  We had a great evening drinking wine, walking with Zoey and catching up on reading.

Sometimes you just need a break.  The weather is beautiful, the beach still somewhat quiet and I’m ready to just enjoy it all.  I have two shoots next week and I’m not going to think about them till Monday.  I hope you all have a good weekend.

And now the ad:  Need a good place to getaway.  Check out the Shores 2 where we’re staying this weekend:  http://www.vrbo.com/124652

Techy stuff:  Images from an iPhone 5.  Images downloaded from iPhoto and edited in Lightroom.  My real work stuff is at:  www.zwink.com

Apple seeks patent to eliminate lousy photos

A patent application filed today by Apple could see smartphones capture a series of images of the same scene and then automatically pick the “best” one.

(Credit: CNET)

Snapping bad pictures with your iPhone could become a problem of the past if a new Apple patent ever sees the light of day.

Published today by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the patent application dubbed “Image Capturing Device Having Continuous Image Capture” envisions a process in which your smartphone camera captures and processes a sequence of quick images of the same shot.

That by itself may not sound too innovative. But taking it a step further, your smartphone would then automatically pick the best image of the bunch based on exposure times and other factors.

The idea behind the patent is to work around a frustrating flaw of many smartphone cameras — shutter lag. There’s a delay between the time you press the button to take the photo and the time the photo is actually taken. Such a lag can result in blurry or poorly composed photos, especially if you’re trying to shoot a fast-moving object.

Human errors, such as a shaky hand on the camera, can also lead to bad photos.

The process described in Apple’s patent would allow you to keep your finger on the camera button to quickly snap a series of shots in succession until you release your finger. Those images are stored in a buffer. The technology would then review the buffered images, choosing the best one based on a variety of factors. You’d then have an opportunity to review that choice to see if you agree with it.

As the patent explains it:

The method can automatically select one of the buffered images based on one or more parameters. For example, the selection may be based on an exposure time of one of the buffered images and optionally an image quality parameter (e.g., image contrast). Alternatively, the selection may be based only on the image quality parameter. The sequence of images can be captured just prior to or concurrently with receiving the user request. The method can include automatically displaying the selected image on the display of the image capturing device.

So my big question is:  Do you want the camera to decide your best photo?  Will this affect or eliminate your “arty” work?  Next will be a patent to tell you when to take the photo.

Originally posted at Apple then CNET

Take the Road less Traveled

I was coming home from a two day job in Santa Maria the other day by myself.  It’s a 300 mile drive.  One thing you quickly notice is not only how tired you get but also how beautiful and different the area is than southern California.  My original intent was to drive straight through.  Counting LA traffic nearly a 6 hour drive.

Then something wonderful happened.  I remember seeing an old steel structured bridge spanning a valley along the coast near Gaviotas.  So, I decided to become an explorer and see what surprised awaited.  A short drive down a narrow winding road opened up and I found myself at the Gaviotos State Beach parking lot and the structure I had seen the other day.  An added treat was that right between the iron and steel beams was a pathway to an empty beach.

After shooting for a half hour and enjoying my new found subject I remembered I still had a long trek home.  I reluctantly left but content with my discovery, refreshed to continue the drive and the desire to look for new places to explore.

techy stuff:  Iphone5, capture in Hipstamatic app and processed in Snapseed.

The Big Kahuna

Lumihana Beach in Kauai.  My wife’s favorite beach.  Last Thursday it was mine.  Lumihana as the beach Hollywood used for the old WWII movie the South Pacific featuring Lana Turner.  Normally there is a gentle surge in the beach area but this day a western swell hit creating 12 – 20 feet waves.  As we were walking about 100 yards down a secluded path we could increasingly hear the roar and pounding of the waves on the volcanic rock ledge surrounding the beach.  I’ve never heard anything so intimidating and violent at the beach.  We sat down in our beach chairs and just watched the show nature played out for us.  Needless to say we didn’t go into the water.

techy stuff:  shot with the Iphone5 on the regular camera mode and processed in the Snapseed app.

Is it Art?

I was in SF last week on an extensive corporate photo shoot for Swinerton.  When I was leaving I decided to take the Treasure Island exit on the way back to the airport.  The last time I was on TI was in 1975 when it was a Navy Base and I was a naive young seaman in Electronic Warfare school.  So many memories……  I first decided to do a quick photo shoot of the skyline which was etched in my memory.  I first shot it with my Nikon D3 and then decided to try my iPhone on Hipstamatic mode.  Ugh…… it looked as flat and hazy as the skyline.  So then I opened my new favorite app. Snapseed.  With a few adjustments and then a frame adjustment the above photo is what I ended up with.  I know, it looks grainy and it does.  But, the end result is that I’m going to print it on watercolor on my Epson inkjet printer.  A few years ago I did a similar series that I printed on the watercolor paper and it looked great.  Now, we’ll find out how IPhone photos hold up.

The techy stuff:  camera:  iPhone 4 (the 5 is on order)

Apps:  Hipstamatic and Snapseed by Nik

My real work is at:  http://www.zwink.com

View of San Francisco from Treasure Island

The Quest for the perfect Photo App

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Happy Birthday to my daughter, Tiffany.  She has made me a proud Dad and a prouder PoppaZ (what my granddaughters call me and name of my other blog).  But I digress.  I was swamped with my commercial and architectural work and feeling over burdened.  Then, while in Seattle for a shoot had an epiphany……  Pull out the iPhone.  All at once my world calmed down.  When I shoot with my iPhone I’m not working or shooting for acceptance from anyone else.  It helps remind me of why I love what I do.  It’s fun, creative and I make a living at it.

Again, I digress from the topic at hand.  I have some of my best iPhone memories when I use the Hipstamatic app.  But, it’s very inconsistent.  Even with the same lens and “film” combination it’s hard to get a fresh capture that is what you want.  So, I’m now looking for a good companion app.  I’ve used the Abobe App PS Express, TiltShiftGen, and 100 Cameras but they all leave me a little empty.  Then I tried an old app I had on my phone but hadn’t used, Snapseed.  Very Nice.  A lot of options and a workflow similar to other Nik Software.  Try it, I think you’ll like it.  In the meantime if you have any good photo apps let me know.

Techy stuff:  shot with my iPhone 4 (waiting for the 5) and all images were processed in Snapseed.

More of my non iPhone work can be seen at:  www.zwink.com

Is it Hip anyMore?

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I love my iPhone (did I say that before?). I just saw a post on another forum questioning whether the Hipstamatic look is relevant any more. Has its extreme popularity diluted it’s value as art? It was a pretty good argument. One side led by my good friend Pat Downs argued that it’s style, similar to the Diana (a cheap plastic camera), has become so prevasive and overused that there is so much trash being posted/published by the Histamatic app. that its now becoming boring (my words). Then Pat added a great analogy that the popularity is similar to certain forms of music (techno to name one) that had their day and then people gravitated back to “normal” sounds.

Will people with cell phones start shooting “normal” photos again? It is a good argument but I think it comes down to the argument about digital photography in general. There is a lot out there, but it’s not all boring. It a great way for a lazy person to make a photo or a creative person to just play and stimulate their senses when they hit on a good one. As someone famous once said, “I’m not an artist but I know art when I see it”. I think the “hip” look is here to stay till the next great app shows up. The crowd in general is trendy……… follow the leader.

btw, I use Hipstamatic…… Thanks to Kevin Lock and Patrick Downs for the inspiration for this post.

my other blog: http://poppaz.wordpress.com, website: www.zwink.com (no there’s no iPhones photos there)

The Replacement Dog

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Meet Zoey.  I admit.  For the first time in my life I’m really entranced by a dog.  Zoey is our second french bulldog my wife, Patti wanted to replace Dixie.  Dixie, our fawn boxer, lost her battle to cancer last year.  Louie, our first frenchy, was supposed to be a replacement for Dixie but he had a birth defect and we had him less than three months.  Now Zoey…… she’s a character, we love her and she’s already a part of our family.  Enjoy her portraits as we go along.

I C U……..

What a stupid title……  This is my first post in this blog.  I have another cool blog (at least I think it is) that is a little more serious look at how photography interacts with my life.  I have used my Iphone regularly since they first came out.

I love to shoot, to capture life around me.  Everywhere I turn I see photos ready to be shot or created (a big difference).  I want to use this to showcase some of my more interesting images shot in different situations.  Some I’ll explain and some will have to speak for themselves.  Hope you enjoy.

My other work:  website, www.zwink.com  blog: poppaz.wordpress.com