Video Settings

For our class we will use the following Camera settings (based on iPhone 13 Pro): 

• Settings > Camera > Format > High Efficiency 
• Settings > Camera > Record Video > 1080 HD at 60 fps 
• Settings > Camera > Record Video > HDR Video > ON
• Settings > Camera > Record Video > Auto FPS > Auto 30fps
• Settings > Camera > Record Video > Lock Camera > ON
• Settings > Camera > Record Slo-mo > 1080 at 240 fps
• Settings > Camera > Record Stereo Sound > ON 
• Settings > Camera > Preserve Settings > Camera Mode > ON 
• Settings > Camera > Preserve Settings > Exposure Adjustment > ON
• Settings > Camera > Preserve Settings > Night Mode > ON
• Settings > Camera > Preserve Settings > Portrait Zoom > ON
• Settings > Camera > Preserve Settings > Live Photo > ON 
• Settings > Camera > Use Volume Up for Burst > ON
• Settings > Camera > Grid > ON
• Settings > Camera > Photographic Styles > Standard 
• Settings > Camera > Lens Correction > ON
• Settings > Camera > Macro Control > ON 

If your settings are different than what is suggested, make a screenshot of your settings so you can reset to your preferences after our class project is completed. 

The settings above allow for high quality of video clips that will be exchanged with class members. Your future projects might benefit from recording at 4K and Apple ProRes but storage space will be consumed at alarming rates. Workflow matters. 

There are other cameras you might use to take video clips and include them in an iMovie project. Your DSLR/Mirrorless camera, an action camera like a GoPro and other point-an-shoot cameras. Review the settings on these cameras and match the options for size (1080) and FPS above if possible. The clips will be saved to an SD Card and can be imported to Files app or Photos Library on iPad. 

Notes from more reading and watching: 

• Screen recording on Mac, set display video resolution to 2560x1440 @ 60.0 Hz, “essentially 2K” says David Sparks, so the on-screen text is easy to read - not too small, not fuzzy. 
• iOS Gadget Hacks  This iPhone Setting Instantly Improves Video Quality When Shooting in Low Light offers interesting insights about low-light video shooting:  When taking photos on any iPhone 11, 12, 13, or 14 series model, the Camera app can intelligently detect whenever the scene is too dark and kick in Night mode to help improve image quality. The iPhone 12 Pro, 13 Pro, and 14 Pro models can even do that with portraits. But Night mode won't activate when shooting videos unless it's time-lapse videos on iPhone 12 and newer models. When shooting at 60 frames per second (fps), less light can come in through the shutter since it takes one frame every 16.67 milliseconds. Less light in dark situations contributes to grainier footage with the loss of extended dynamic range. It also means the codec works harder in fast-moving scenes, which increases the file size. The result looks more like a cheap home video instead of a high-quality recording you might expect from an iPhone. 
• More to come  




Compare that to 30 fps, where one frame is captured every 33.33 milliseconds, letting twice as much light through the shutter. With more light coming in, dark scenes will look much better. Drop that to 24 fps, and you get 41.67 milliseconds for light to do its thing, so your darkly lit video will look even clearer. And all of this applies to whether you're shooting in 4K, 1080p, or 720p resolution.

 

Check Your Storage

Photos in heif are optimized. Jpeg images are larger, TIFF and RAW files are huge. Live photos are 6 seconds of motion and sound so they are big. But video takes even more space. Video projects with audio and soundtracks are ... beyond the pale... as in overflowing. 

Time to check your on-board storage for iPhone - where you will make video clips, iPad - where you will edit iMovie projects, and iCloud where the photos and your devices Backups are stored. 

I am at the edge of 200GB in iCloud storage but both devices have plenty of on-board space.

• Settings > General > iPhone Storage 
• Settings > General > iPad Storage 
• Settings > Apple ID > iCloud > iCloud+ > look at GB items for hints of where to archive off-device if needed 

iCloud storage is a monthly subscription - if you want to increase your storage temporarily (maybe when going on a trip) you can go to the next level for the 4 weeks and then manage your photos, files, etc when you get back home. Then drop back to a lower storage subscription, 200GB is $3/ month, 2TB is $10/month. 

Remember that apps, books, podcasts, music that you purchase on-device can be deleted and redownloaded at no cost. 

Show Off Opportunity

Attention iPhone and iPad photographers! Thanks to Cynthia for the heads up about submitting your work to the IPPAWARDS for 2023. The deadline is March 31, 2023. Categories in the 16th Annual iPhone Photography Awards: Abstract, Animals, Architecture, Children, Citylife/Cityscape, Landscape, Lifestyle, Nature, People, Portrait, Series (3 images), Still Life, Travel, Other. 

Checkout the Winners' Galleries since 2007. 

Even if you do not enter this competition, review the rules and limitations and practice for the next opportunity to show your work. Name each photo. Original size or not less than 1000 pixels in height or width. Format as JPEG. 

Collecting Inspiring Examples

A new page has been added to this site to track videos shown in class and shared as distractions. The Chat Report page link is also visible in the navigation bar. 

If you attend our zoom sessions on iPad or iPhone you'll not be able to save the Chat to your device. On a computer, at the bottom of the Chat panel are ... > More > Save Chat. 

We will post the information here for easy access. 

Setting the tone for Spring 2023

Email sent to all participants:

Greetings all — We meet on Zoom to begin and will set dates and locations for field trips then. Zoom meeting details in the signature of this message and as a comment on an image added to our Shared Photo Album. Thanks to JoEllen for stepping up as my Tech Host this semester.

Have you found fun clips to share that inspire you about photography, videography? I’ve had emails with examples from Cynthia, JoEllen, Mike and Marilyn. I’d like to post links on our website for easy access. (Social Media can be challenging for me…)

This semester’s tag line is iPhone Studio Multimedia Collective and we will share in the experience of learning new things, scoping out the playing fields and starting to wrap our heads around the potential of moving pictures with and without sound. There are more buttons on our iPhones than Pano, Portrait and Photo. There are modes to explore like Live and Burst. This semester we will explore the other buttons: Video, Cinematic, Slo-Mo and Time-Lapse. We can put our iPhones in places where big camera fear to go (in the fridge, under water, etc). Our iPhones move with us while shooting scenes. We are storytellers, showing photos on our phone, framing prints and sharing online clips.

Oh, and so much more. Remember, all this sounds terrifying and yet this class is keeping us young! Accept the challenge -- no iPhones will be harmed this semester. Making a slideshow of your photos, adding a soundtrack and playing it for friends and family is a basic goal. Writing a treatment to tell a story and working together to create clips and experience the post production assembly is where we are heading. This journey begins tomorrow ...

Zoom and Face-to-Face Meetings 10am to Noon - March 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, Apr 6

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.