Step Out in February

Michael sent me a note for an upcoming exhibition: Carol Mott-Binkley of Curtis Park is making a name for herself in the art world through iPhone photography. Describing herself as “the Forrest Gump of iPhone photography” to the Sac Bee for having a “charmed hobby,” Carol’s work will be on display at East Sac’s Archival Gallery from Feb. 1-25 at 3223 Folsom Boulevard in East Sacramento (near N Street intersection - east of Alhambra Blvd.). Gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 am to 4 pm. 

https://archivalgallery.com/exhibitions/ 

I think we can all agree about "having a charmed hobby." 

---

Another visit might be take you to Folsom's 48 Natoma Gallery (at 48 Natoma Street ;-] next to city hall) to see an eye-opening show featuring fabric art - not exactly quilts, not exactly ... what you expected. Stretch your imagination and hold on for a Pixeladies display and fiber sculpture by Susan Else. Gallery hours M-F 9 am to 4:30pm, Tu & Th 6-8 pm until April 6th. Carolyn and I checked it out - Wow! 

Visit pixeladies.com for a "telling stories in cloth" teaser. Digital images of analog art is OK, but if possible, you want to see this display with your own eyes. Explore their website to see details about printing on fabric and resources. 

Pages Archived

Some of the information on this site is changing dramatically for Spring 2023 and pages you might want to review are no longer in the navigation bar under the header at the top of the page. So visit this post to see links to those pages. 

Videos - created as demonstrations for class use 

Apps - the long list of apps we've used since 2017. This page needs some serious edits because more developers are going the subscription route or the products have shifted. Let's talk about your favorite apps - and cull this list to the best ones. 

Prep - current studio participants have been through this drill each semester 

The details of our six meetings have been archived with live links in DRAFT - Fall 2022 All Pages and includes references for video production. 

Privacy Issues and Smart TVs

Privacy is popping up all over my news feeds lately. I guess the algorithm is tracking my curiosity. So many services make suggestions based on recent activities. Buy an app and then you will see other related apps. Binge watch a television show and see similar recommended series. Like a Tweet and see more about that topic or by that same poster. 

Interesting read in Apple News from The Atlantic. Check out Justin Pot’s article “The Hidden Cost of Cheap TVS” from the January 3, 2023 issue. 

‘Smart TVs are just like search engines, social networks, and email providers that give us a free service in exchange for monitoring us and then selling that info to advertisers leveraging our data. These devices “are collecting information about what you’re watching, how long you’re watching it, and where you watch it,” Willcox said, “then selling that data—which is a revenue stream that didn’t exist a couple of years ago.”’ He is quoting James K. Willcox, the senior electronics editor for Consumer Reports. 

Apple devices cost more because Apple does not subsidize their products by selling us out. Or so the marketing campaign declares. I’ve bought the story. 

A smart tv has apps - like our iDevices - that can connect to subscription services Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu, ESPN, YouTube, etc. when you connect them to your home Internet. How wonderful to have one remote control to access cable TV shows and your other apps! 

Well, there is another way if you can stand to have multiple remotes.  We have a “smart tv” purchased several years ago but never connected it to our Internet service. Instead there is an Apple TV box that connects to the Internet with HDMI connection to our big screen TV. Most of the same apps and subscriptions available to smart tvs are offered on the Apple platform: Netflix, Prime, YouTube, PBS, etc. at the same subscription price. I have to trust that Netflix or Prime is not selling my watching habits. 

What does this have to do with photography? Let’s talk about it.