Seminar Description - Spring 2018

This semester we are trying online registration, meaning you might find yourself on the waiting list. Previous participants will be enrolled but new participants will still have to talk to me or email me to be sure they have prerequisite equipment/skills and understand how this studio-participant seminar works. Expect a phone call or email from Melissa before Rendezvous.

New participants - Read and step through the details on the Prep page of this site. Play with your iPhone to check against Prep info - iOS version, available space and apps. Explore information on Apple's Shared Photo Albums - a critical service to support this class. Watch video playlists linked on the Videos page. Later we suggest watching the videos again to see what you missed the first time. Review other pages to see seminar approach. Revised apps will be ready by January 31st and sent by email to registered participants.

Pages revised on 1/18/18. 

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Seminar description:

This seminar has evolved from leader-led demonstrations to participant-led demonstrations where experienced photographers use multiple iPhone apps to create print-ready multi-layered artwork. in-class demonstrations and online shared albums are our critique and learning platform. Visit our website for activities, demonstration videos, additional information and examples of our artwork at https://rsiphonephotostudio.blogspot.com New photo artists should expect to purchase $25 in apps. Requirements: iPhone 6, 7, 8 or X; iOS 10 or 11. This is not a beginner photography seminar. Six meetings on Thursdays, 10 am to noon. 

Meeting dates: 2/8/18, 2/15/18, 2/22/18, 3/1/18, 3/8/18, 3/15/18
Location: See online catalog or leader emails

Remember, we often go to lunch after class. 

Field Trip - Last Class

This semester's last class will be a field trip into the countryside. We will get close to horses and other livestock. Carpools are encouraged and a great way to set expectations on the trip out and get closure for all the learning experiences on the trip back.

Shared Albums are inspiring

For two semesters we have used Photos Shared Albums to post our photos and evolving images. Two real benefits are that these online spaces are hidden from outsiders and we can add comments, questions and praises for one another. I hope you are feeling comfortable with Shared Albums and you will use this feature for family and friends in the future.

In-Class Table-Top Photos

Still Life Practice
Work around the room with various camera apps to take pictures. Hint sheets are available. How about inspiring each other by sharing your vision of what is possible. Or just go along with the chaos - oops - I mean "go with the flow."

If you want to practice Tabletop Photography at home, then here is our classroom hint sheet handout - use for your own discovery. Please post examples of your work to our Shared Photo Album.

Hold Off on iOS 11 Update!

If you are a confident iPhone / iPad user, ignore this article. Others, read on.

Don't purchase anymore apps on the class list for this week. In addition to introducing how to combine images, we will share strategies on how to prepare for an iOS update.

Go to Settings > General > About > Applications to see the list of apps that will not be compatible with iOS 11. If any on this list are critical to your enjoyment of your device -- delay in installing the update. (I will be sad to lose PhotoGene, i3DSteroid, Filterstorm Pro, Nikon D7000, PhotoMoon - not on our class list.) FrontView, for correcting perspective, is one of the apps not crossing the finish line. This MacRumors article explains the 2-year transition from 32-bit to 64-bit processor chip - starting with an iPhone 5S and later! So "old" apps will no long be available to our newer faster devices.

How will you approach this update? Or any iOS update. Or preparing to purchase a new iPhone. Let's talk on Thursday. Wired has a brief article on how to prepare for the iOS 11 update but the Apple mothership gives the best information.

Time Mag - "Firsts"

Just cruzin' after class and reading Twitter on iPad. Found new link about Luisa Dorr's iPhone photographs on the cover of Time Magazine. Check out the back story at TIME iPhone Covers of Hillary Clinton and Women Firsts | Time.com and check out Luisa Dorr's Instagram feed - no login or account needed. Here is a reminder about the Reading View of Safari - on iOS devices and on Mac computers.

In-Class Hints

It is wonderful to meet in library community rooms where we can configure the tables and chairs as a classroom setting or as a photo shoot laboratory.

Hint #1 Wear layered clothing because we cannot control the AC temperature. 

Hint #2 Fully charge your iPhone and iPads before class but have a charge cable and power adapter in your car. 

Hint #3 Bring a small tripod if you have one. If you are new to the class and do not have a tripod, ask others about the features that work well for iPhone photography.

Hint #4 ... I'll think of another one, check back later!

Sale Note - Costco members can save on iTunes Gift Cards until 9/11/17; paying $21.49 for $25 card. Use iTunes cards for the App Store or iTunes Music -- and -- even for iCloud Storage Space. 

First Meeting - Fall 2017

It has been great to connect with you during Rendezvous and the first week for seminars.

Our group is composed of returning iPhone Artists from last semester and new aspiring artists willing to join in this adventure.

Review this website and the links found on the Prep, Videos and Day 1 pages. If you have a computer, compare how the website looks on an iPad and iPhone as well.

The Shared Photos Album "Studio Day 1" still has photos from last semester for us to review and add  "Likes," Comments and new photos from this semester. Images that have been posted will be the inspiration for shooting new photos in class and stepping through the upload process. I hope everyone will post to our Shared Photo Albums.

Follow along at your own pace

There are many reasons people don't attend this seminar. For example, your travel schedule conflicts with our meeting dates. Or your skill-level with iPhone Camera and Photos apps needs to be fine tuned. Here are three thoughts:

1) LURK.  This is not a bad thing! If you are interested in this seminar but not yet ready to dive in to our chaos, you can still watch updates to this website throughout the semester. New pages will appear for each class day with direct links to purchase the apps we use, recommend and discover. 

2) APP STORE app has videos on iPhone 7 photography. Find these resources by opening the App Store app and under the Discover screen scroll down to videos. The topics are good for general photography use and earlier iPhones as well: 

• How to shoot a great portrait
• How to shoot with street light
• How to convert to black & white

3) APPLE STORE ACTIVITIES. Have you attended any workshops in the Apple Store? Well, they have really upped their game! Workshops are in a new format since summer. I can't say they are easy to find on the website, but you are looking for Today at Apple > then navigate to either the Sacramento Arden Fair store or the Roseville Galleria store. Current photo topics include: 

• How To: Shoot Photos with iPhone
• How To: Edit Photos on iPhone 
• How To: Organize Your Photos 
• Photo Walks: Telling a Story in Your Photos
• Photo Walks: Manipulating Light and Shadow
• Studio Hours: Photo Projects 

The best way to find these activities is to open the App Store app and under the Discover screen scroll down to Today at Apple and nearby activities will show up. Be sure to see what else is happening for additional activities over several days. 

Don't forget to download the Apple Support app.  

Welcome to Fall 2017

REGISTRATION happens after you talk with seminar leader to confirm your background in digital photography and iPhone skills are appropriate for this activity. This is not a seminar for beginners. 

Read the PREP page for hints on how to prepare for this seminar. 

Please refer to the printed or online Renaissance Society catalog of seminars for contact information. 

Seminar Feedback

We would love to get your ideas on the MOST and LEAST effective aspects of this seminar and field trip or classroom activities for the future. Here is the online form to submit your ideas. Thanks!

BTW you can add comments anytime, filling out all the questions on the form or returning just to add new field trip ideas later.

Fall Schedule

REGISTRATION happens after you talk with seminar leader to confirm your background in digital photography and iPhone skills are appropriate for this activity. This is not a seminar for beginners.

The FO Library has our request for using their Community Room next fall from 10 am to Noon on Thursdays:  09/07/2017, 09/14/2017, 09/21/2017, 09/28/2017, 10/05/2017. Plus 10/12/2017.

I am hoping you will continue to explore iPhone photography and share your discoveries with this seminar group.

WiFi Flash Drive

During class last week I mentioned the San Disk WiFi USB Flash Drive that three devices can simeotaneously connect to it's local wifi and view, download or upload files. (In class, it is used as a 'bridge' for the Apple TV and my iOS devices using AirPlay.)

If you are interested, look at Best Buy for the San Disk Connect 32GB USB Type A Wireless drive. at $25 on 5/8/17. It also comes in 16GB, 64GB, 128GB and 200GB sizes with prices adjusted to storage capacity.

This type of device can help you on road trips to save photos to an external drive without having to pack your laptop along for the journey. Using cloud storage is a good idea as well, you will always want a backup!

You Inspire Me & Printing Hints

I've just finished uploading all submitted photographs to Costco's Print Center. You are having such fun with your iPhone and the apps we've used this semester.

There are several things we want to dig deeper into next semester. 1) Emailing photos has an option to send at full/medium/small size. Printing requires full size. 2) Uploading to Dropbox and share files.  3) Work with Shared Albums (only upload photos). 4) Set the canvas size for photographs or crop to a specific size. 5) Monitor resolution of your photos.

You will want to process your own photos for printing at home or at a service bureau like Costco.

Notes:
First batch - Email images saved to computer hard drive (Dropbox folder). Used web browser to login to Costco Photo Center and upload photos. One image is marked low resolution so all prints will be 5x7. Select photos and send to shopping cart. Confirm print size and cropping. Submit order.

Second batch - Email images saved to computer and uploaded again. Some photos do not fit 5x7 crop. Stop and re-think process. Open Photoshop on computer and open new document at 5x7 inches, 150 ppi, 16-bit. Use File > Place to add emailed photos as individual layers and fit to canvas size. Save individual layers as jpeg images at 12 max quality. Upload to Costco, select images for shopping cart. Confirm photo size and cropping. Submit for printing (next day delivery).

The Mpix app, downloaded the first week, helps visualize canvas size, cropping and resolution.

I'm sure you have questions and ideas we can explore next semester.

Apps in our future

We had a quick conversation about Apple moving to 64-bit iOS architecture with iOS 11 sometime in September 2017. Oh, my brain hurts! To check if your device has apps with any issues with the next generation of the mobile operating system, AND you have already upgraded to iOS 10.3, you can go to Settings > General > About > Applications > to see the list of apps that need to be updated by their developer. Read about this near future How to check which applications are still 32-bit on iPhone and iPad at iMore.com and get ready to email the developers of your favorite apps.

There are times when apps disappear from the AppStore because of a buyout. Anyone with the app can still use it, but these apps will not be updated in the future. AutoStitch is my example panoramic app. Purchased by Google, the app works wonders on my iPhone and iPad but you can't get it anymore. Actually, following the steps mentioned above, many of the apps on my device have disappeared from the AppStore. It is May, time for spring cleaning!

Landscape Inspiration

Check out this article at PetaPixel site This Photographer Put a Giant Mirror In a Salt Flat an inspiration for landscapes and long exposure stars capes.

Do you use the Apple News app? You can customize the articles to your interests. News could be a hidden app on your device. Read this article on Apple News for iOS.

Day 5 Activities

Time to add more apps to our workflow mix. First, correcting for perspective. (Some of you might prefer to distort reality ...) Also, still working with image distortion and pattern or texture making.

FrontView will straighten lines and ProCam 4 has twisted edit features. Let's dive in!

The Videos page has been updated with tours of these two apps.

Day 4 Activities

This is a classroom demo and work day. The three apps we use are Big Lens, Color Splash and introduce Leonardo. On the Videos page you can see quick introductions to these apps.

I have a fun slide show to share about how layers and editing techniques in Leonardo will help you be wild and crazy (as if you need help!).

Where are my pictures?

I asked you to use two or three camera apps in Class 3, and two of them have an in-app gallery that might hide shots you've taken. Especially Camera+. vividHDR also has a gallery but my suggested settings saved to Camera Roll and it's gallery.

Galleries allow you to edit your photograph or make several version of a photo then save to the Camera Roll where the real workflow begins.

In Camera+ look in the lower left corner for a daisy-like flower icon, tap it to open the Lightbox (aka in-app gallery). In vividHDR swipe from the left edge of the screen to reveal your saved photos.

Our site now has a new page called Videos where the Playlists will be updated. This one page will make it easier to find new videos or watch reruns on demand ;-)

Class 6 Show & Tell

Meeting location TBA

We will have a show and tell session - where participants email me two pictures - Before and After. The Before shot will be simple, a photo taken with any camera app before any adjustments (even cropping). The After shot will be edited, enhanced, stylized or modified in some manner with any iOS app or computer application. Please do not add a watermark to identify your photographs.

Submit by Monday, May 8th at 6 pm so that I can print the pictures.

During class session 6 we will look at the photos and through secret ballot choose 1st and 2nd most interesting photographs. Prizes will be awarded! Everyone goes home with their prints.

After the voting, the telling part where you claim your photo and tell the steps to produce the After photograph.

Day 3 Activities

After a demo or two, you will break into teams of three to use your iPhones at five stations setup around the room. Suggestions on what apps to use and the camera settings to try will be posted. Teams will rotate to at least three of the five stations in 45 minutes.

(By request) Bring your tripods, lenses, cases and other hardware supporting tabletop photography. Be sure your devices are fully charged before class begins.

The photographs you take will be used in Classes 4 & 5 to explore selections, masks, layers, and blending modes.

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A review of posting to Shared Photo Albums will be included.

Do you have a project in mind?

Brief discussion of the editing processes you often do on your photos (using a computer or mobile device).  For example: Crop, straighten the horizon, adjust contrast, saturation ... Some have iPhone 6s, 6s+, 7 and 7+ devices and can shoot RAW images. What have you learned about iPhone RAW quality and editing (on your computer)?

Demonstration of TouchRetouch for removing distractions in your photos.

Demonstration of Snapseed for editing color image and converting to black and white. The online help for Snapseed covers most features, but it is an ever-evolving app and new features are added constantly. Included is a detailed page on RAW image processing.

Progress Review

Day 3 of 6: We are at mid-point in this class. Time to assess where we are and at our current speed ask if we can hit the finish line. Or maybe we shift the finish line and the make some apps optional, introduce a new app or two and do the RS thing -- relax, enjoy & chill.

Are you making screen snapshots to help document your camera feature choices?

I've revised the Express Yourself iPhone Apps 6 Day handout to reflect a slower pace for the next three classes. Included is a blank page where you can write notes from your own app discovery activities or add apps mentioned by other participants. The last page mentions three apps I use to document my workflow.

The pages of this web site mostly match the revised handout.

Just posted a new video - Seminar Website Tour using an iPhone's tiny screen is a challenge. In this 17:35 minute video you will learn about Safari's three views and two important tips that are universal to other websites as well.

How to transfer files back to your iPhone

This new video is targeted to Windows computer users in class and still a good lesson for Macintosh computer users.You could say: "There's an app for that."

New video> Transfer photos from iPhone to computer and back. In the safety of your home network, use the Photo Manager Pro app to turn your iPhone into a web server. Open a browser on your computer and type the PMP displayed web address. Create folders, download photos from iPhone to computer and upload edited photos back to your iPhone so you can post to our Shared Photo Albums.

Hardware options ...
There are two types of USB flash drives that will work on iOS devices and computers. SanDisk is a reputable product, look at their new iXpand Flash Drive with a Lightning and USB connectors.  Storage sizes range from 16 to 256GB and will fit without removing protective cases. Online price of 32GB iXpand at Best Buy is $40. Also check out the SanDisk Connect Wireless Stick for wifi connectivity up to three devices. Online price for 32GB at Best Buy is $28.

There is strong brain power in our class and more ideas will bubble up. 

Take Control eBooks on Photos

Great discount offer on Take Control eBooks this week. They are great references at full price and 50% off might encourage you to get two or more! Current sale ends Sunday, April 9th.

Read book descriptions here. Explore the entire library of Take Control books here.

iPhone User Guide Notes

Reviewing the iPhone User Guide, a free iBook, for information related to photography, camera use and sharing images is condensed to 10 pages. Read my notes from this guide or re-read this guide. You are guaranteed to find new information and solve some of the mysteries of iOS devices.

The link above was added on 4/19/17 and should go to user guide for the 10.3 iOS. By the time you visit this link the iOS will have updated. Look at the titles for the user guide and pick the one for your iOS.

Day 1 Updates

The Day 1 iPhone Photo Flash Mob activity in Old Town Folsom was a hoot! You will find two additional instructional videos have been posted on the Day 1 page along with an example journal following the photo shoot activities, editing and posting to the class Shared Photo Album.

Be sure to post a before and after photo. Review the work of classmates and write positive comments about their work. See the latest YouTube video showing start to posting workflow.

Getting Ready Emails

If you have saved this website as a home page icon on your iPhone, then the site is a one-stop-shop for class information. Here are links to the two emails sent before class started.

Greetings, we are a month away ...

Greetings, we start next week ...

Cheatsheet reference added for camera settings.

Photo Shoot Location

By special arrangement we will meet in Folsom. Registered participants should check your email for the location specifics and what to bring. After class, let's go to lunch and continue to share the experience.

Our second meeting will be at the Fair Oaks Library. 

1st meeting March 30th

We begin on Thursday, March 30th. Location to be announced the week before! We will be shooting pictures, using the Apple Camera, Camera+ and ProCamera (click the links to visit the download details). 

Here are some demos discovered on the web:

Camera+
http://camera.plus 

Shoot Better Pictures with Camera+

Long Exposure Photography with Camera+

Use the Camera+ App on iPhone


ProCamera
Shoot Manual and in RAW (iPhone 6s and later)

ProCamera on Instagram get inspired!

PhotInfo - EXIF details
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CQNP8nyLpsE

Another camera app! Why?

How many camera apps do you need? Many apps offer access to the camera, but you’ll want them for their effects, filters and user interface. 

Some apps are one-trick ponies - making it fun to shoot > edit > share. Other apps include powerful editing features and it takes time to process your images, time to get comfortable with the user interface and move the image from one app to another to another. Hence the term “workflow.” 

Consider making a plan that organizes your apps based on workflow. In our seminar, you might organize them in a folder with apps on six pages, one for each meeting. You can see a jpg of how I’ve done this on my iPad. This is an option to help you see process. 

Later, individual folders might be named Camera, Catalog, Editing and Styling (or anything that works for you). Move your favorite apps to the first page of each folder. The Camera folder can go into your Dock for easy access!