Apple Pencil Reboot

This might not be an issue for you, but here is my story. The Apple Pencil is a great tool, a stylus, that is responsive to pressure and tilt angle on the glass. The Procreate app is very responsive to the Pencil. 

My Pencil often lies dormant in a case with other adapters. So it is not charged often and it is not paired to the iPad Pro occasionally. But it does not work! Urggh. Do I need to buy a new one? 

Discovery: using the MagSafe iPhone Charger is one way to maximize the charge on the Apple Pencil. My experience - not that I've read this is suggested by Apple. It took several tries and now the Pencil will pair and work on the iPad Pro. Not only to do drawing but also to handwrite text on a Notes page and then the scribbles become words (like "editable" words. 

Revised Tracking Device Details Worksheet

I've been tracking my devices every year, and especially at a time when I expect to purchase new devices. This is for your own information, so printing and filling out the form is voluntary. 

The current worksheet is iOS_device_details_ios16.pdf and I will sent it as an attachment to the email for our first class. The next version of our operating systems will be available in the next six weeks and the Settings > hints on this form will be revised (not immediately). 

Fall Check-in

A quick review of current camera preferences, devices, iCloud Subscription and workflow so you can exchange techniques with participants using the same devices. What new photo adventures have you tried out? What social media environments are you active or lurking on?  

Melissa: Apple Camera, Slow Shutter, ProCamera, Camera+, Obscura. iPhone 13 Pro until 15 Pro is released. iPad Pro 12.9" 5th Gen. iOS and iPadOS 16.6. iCloud now at 1 TB. Not using PhotoManager Pro to move images out of Photos Library and rate or add captions. Mark photos to print with "Mpix" caption and when printed change caption to "Xpix". What's new: Printed photos on towels and tiles. Purchased magnetic wood frames for easy swapping out of printed photographs. Struggling to learn about stacking astrophotographs through YouTube and Reddit. SM Active: Apple Shared Photo Albums, Google Photos. Lurking: Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter. 

Carolyn: Using iPhone to make phone calls!

Chad: iPhone 13Pro will go with 15Pro. ProCamera and Camera+2, Obscura. Spectre for slow shutter. Missing 645Pro. New app Camera M.  iCloud 2TB plan, Amazon & Google photos. Pinterest is helpful. Facebook lurker; Instagram for family, Twitter is unused. Wants to print again. Taking lots of pictures and not editing. 

Charlene: Pixelmator & Photomator. iPhone 15Pro and using Sandmarc telephoto lens as needed. Beastgrip to hold iPhone for video and still images; Joby tripod; Apple Watch to control Apple Camera. No SM. Private Browsing in Safari and DuckDuckGo as search engine. 

Cheryl: Diptic collages, Camera+2 Macro, (frustrated with Slow Shutter). Percolator and blending with Image Blender. SM Instagram & Pinterest, Facebook. ImageSize app to upscale.  

Colleen: Trip to Ireland with iPhone 14Pro Max. Looking for iPhone 15Pro Max with periscope telephoto feature. Portrait Mode, Camera+2 Macro. SM lurker Instagram and Pinterest. ReTouch and Photos editing. Obscura - watching for current install vs next update with subscription. 

Cynthia: Slow Shutter, Apple Camera. Scotland trip with just iPhone! Instagram posting - ICM and other photos. Self-Standing acrylic 1" block prints: 1 inch acrylic block prints: www.bumblejax.com

15% off for new orders Code: Metalprints20off - thru 9/10 @9pm; Snapped with double exposure, Pixelmator, DistressedFX. 

Debra: Cinematic mode for grandchild and grand-dog; musician hands; PicCollage. Facebook locked me out after FB account was hacked.  

Irene: iPhone photos. Holiday card booklet project at Minted. iPhone for car navigation is great! SM lurker. Facebook for book club. 

Jim: (Mac M1 & iOS apps?) iPhone 14Pro. Printing is new - 11x14 print?? What's App for messaging to other countries. Slide Scan app was not great - personal setup to use Macro on iPhone to take photos. Telescope adapter for iPhone. 

JoEllen: iPhone camera for bat documentation uses Lightning connector so will not be upgrading to 15Pro. Facebook poster. 

Karen: Nikon shutter is cranky. iPhone lenses inverted; Portrait mode for selfies in different poses, Panorama mode for vertical shots. Examples from Facebook Reels of family and friends. Uses PicCollage to collect images for posting. ReTouch, Slow Shutter, some Live mode shots then Long Exposure to make people disappear (screenshot). 

Linda: Procreate app, Waterlogue, Apple Camera. Web page. Watercolor with ink. Show at 17th & I Street. post to Instagram and Facebook. https://artbylinda.my.canva.site/ and https://lindazempel.com  

Marilyn: 

Mike: iPhone 14 ProMax. SM lurker on Instagram for photo techniques, jokes. Snapseed, Pixelmator, Image Blender, iColorama, Graphite for B&W, Retouch, iMovie. Acrylic blocks at Bay Photo. 

Niel: Travel photos and editing with Camera+2. 

Roe: Sony camera & iPhone; iPadPro w 256GB 5th Gen, Apple ONE iCloud, Adobe Creative Cloud; Slow Shutter, ProCamera. Facebook Marketplace. HomePod Mini. Siri is always listening. Mike's Camera is offering a Lightroom class online. (Mike recommends  

Linda: Sac Open Studios 260 artist showing their work September 9-10 and 16-17. 

Irene - field trip suggestions - SMUD Rancho Seco or Organic Farm.  

Mike - some large prints are mailed rolled and need to be unrolled for 24-48 hours before print lies flat. 

Melissa - MPIX delivers print packed flat. 

Mike - classes for photographers - McKay Photo Academy, Gold River David and Ally McKay. 11344 Coloma Road suite #346. They have a Groupon discounted class and also 20% off other classes. https://McKayLive.Com  

Charlene: recommended Derrick Story Nimble Photographer classes based in Santa Rosa. Read and listen to podcast episode on Photomator app. 

Melissa: Get inspired by iPhone Photography School quick camera demos. 

Melissa: Get inspired to create video from Apple's 2013 Christmas Commercial. 

Waitlisted for iPhone Studio Multimedia Collective?

Please read and view the video demos on the App Stack Frenzy page. This one page is no substitute for a full review of all the pages in this website. Take your time to read, play, explore and share with others. In SCUBA class the main lesson was: Don't Dive Alone! So take some friends on this adventure. 

Something is different. Have you noticed too?

Using my iPhone and iPad with iOS 16.6 and there are little changes that have happened. More to be expected with iOS 17, due out in late September or October. 

What changes have you noticed? Add to a new Notes page and maybe event take some screenshots and use Markup to identify changes. 

What are your frustrations with current apps? Right now I'm fighting with the Apple Mail app and the search feature which is not showing me the message displayed on my Mac. Oops, my bad. One email account is only on my computer and not on iPhone. But still, tokens should work in Mail Search! 

Are you diving deeper into an app and see features previously ignored? Please get ready to share your discoveries. 

When Captions Become Descriptions

You've probably seen the movie "When Harry Met Sally" and all you need to know is this post title is a weak attempt at title plagiarism. 

Back in iOS 14, fall 2020, Apple added the Captions feature to Photos. Similar to adding keywords to Photos on MacOS, Captions are text added to metadata. The Search feature in Photos will find images marked with these words. Captions on photos are also reported when using Spotlight Search at the Home Screen view on iPad and iPhone. 

My summer print project, Camellia Tiles, had me dig deeper into iOS Captions and MacOS Descriptions. 

The original photos were taken in 2022 at the Camellia Festival competition, where each bloom had a tag with cultivar name and the competitor. After taking each (almost) photo, I paused to add the cultivar as photo caption. If you remember, captions also appear as text when posting a photo to a Shared Photo Album. 

The flower photos were processed in Pixelmator photo and TangledFX which meant there were multiple images taking up lots of iCloud storage. Pixelmator app was chosen to isolate each bloom, while making a collection (each flower on one layer) by color: pink, white, red, variegated. Each layer exported and renamed by collection. Now both the filename and caption have been lost! The stylizing in Tangled FX could have modified the original exported Pixelmator photo, but that is not my workflow, save another new image. Now the Caption has the Tangled FX recipe and not the original cultivar.  Sometime in Fall 2022 all these images were moved from iCloud Photos to an archive on an external drive. 

Easy to find the folder of images and select three for the printing as 8" x 8" tiles. But what were the cultivars? When offloading the photos, did the metadata retain the captions? Yes, but ... can the stylized image be matched to the original to recover the cultivar name? Yes. But future workflow might speed up this recovery process! 

In any Finder window on your Mac include a Search option, and you can type text to locate file by name, date, tag and ... Description (aka iOS "Caption"). Interesting to view Get Info for image files and see the metadata and Description (also "Instructions" repeats the Tangled FX recipes). 

For one image the cultivar name was MIA. Have you used Google Image Search to do a reverse lookup? Try it at https://lens.google.com 

Last word here: keep track of captions when app stacking and stylizing images. 

Lost in my archives

Truly, I have two left feet and continually trip over my toes. Especially when stuck at the artificial limit of 200GB for iCloud storage. This choice forced me to regularly offload images, the biggest color on the ribbon of iCloud content, to either my Mac or USB storage. But I was not consistent in how the files were stored since starting this class in 2017. Another place/app for my files is PhotoManager Pro. With the ability to stow images in folders, rename, assign star rankings, search and sort, plus offload to FTP/HTTP servers. Hey, do as I say – not as I do! With the many camera apps we've purchased many scenes are repetitive with both HEIC, TIFF, RAW and even JPEG files. Edited files might also be in PNG format and are sometimes stored under the Files app umbrella based on the editing software used. I like to keep the HEIC files in Photos (and iCloud) but move the large file formats to offline storage. Huh? What is happening with the edited images - with many layers that grow in file size? 

The majority of photos are edited on my iPhone and iPad. But the big screen attached to my Mac is a siren song to view and edit photos. So, four possible edit locations, original and edited options and a handful of external storage devices. Oh, what a tangled web we weave ...  

So to participate in the ACAI photo show this summer, I needed to dig into my archive mess. What a waste of creative energy! This is an opportunity to try something new and my stylized camellia photos stuck in my head as a three-tile series. Tile. This is a new concept for me, where no frame or mat is needed and has repositionable mountings. Sounds good. MPIX did not offer this format at the time of my Eureka! Archive Discovery so a new vendor was chosen, Happy Tiles. The 8" x 8" format is ideal for the show and the order of 8 tiles let me experiment with additional images. My disappointment is with the delay in free shipping, maybe because of holiday order time. 

One of the additional printed images is of Alpine County mountains, a panorama of the peaks above Hope Valley with some afternoon light highlighting the forest taken from Hwy 88 on Carson Pass. Whew! This photo has been printed 11" x 14" but finding it again for tiling was mind boggling - a creativity numbing experience. Spanning one panorama across three tiles was an interesting challenge. Additionally, an iPhone photo comes to mind, sunset at Folsom Lake during drought years - spanning five tiles. 

How much space to leave between the tiles? Maybe thinking about canvas wraps where extra margins are used for the sides. After Googling and YouTube searching, no space is needed for a first trial print. Discovered that photos can be printed on ceramic titles! Yikes! Another adventure! 

Since this blog is my brain-trust diary for the future me to find past processes, let me report on ...

Finding Files - iOS/iPadOS 16.5

In the Photos app, use 

• Captions feature to note print goals or archive locations 
• Locations feature to find related photos to isolate remembered images
• Share button to identify metadata (file name) to help identify editing apps 

In the Files app, use 

• Search by file name 
• Review contents by list or icon 
• Review content in iCloud or device (individually on iPhone then iPad!)
• Browse by folders by app name 
• Browse by Tags ("MPIX" or "printed") 

In PhotoManager Pro app, on both iPhone and iPad, use 

• Browse for folder and images better archived on external drive
• Rethink use of this app after upgrading to 1TB iCloud storage
• Return later to delete images or archive to external storage
• Evaluate star ranking, rename features for best use of app (stylizing, compositing, etc) 

Tile Layout (watch for videos soon) 

• iPad rehearsal using Graphic for iPad app from Picta, Inc for 3 tiles
• MacOS rehearsal using Flying Meat's Acorn app (cheap Photoshop alternative) for 5 tiles

Ah Ha! Next steps even though iCloud storage is at 1TB

1. Need to review Files app and the folders where edited images are stored, duplicated, exported 
2. Need an archive plan and move image files ... where they can be found again! 
3. Need to track photos printed, gifted and on-display 
4. Need to make plans and tracking a monthly habit 
5. Need to re-read current process and revise periodically

May, June, July and Fall News

With spring in the air, watch for studio tours by local artists. Review your local listings. 

Debra reminded me to look for the El Dorado Hills Arts Association 2023 Studio Tours set for Saturday and Sunday, May 20th and 21st. 

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RenSoc photographers (you!) are encouraged to participate in the June Black and White (and Shades of Gray) or the July See What I See photography shows and sales at ACAI Gallery.  Watch for email with contact information and begin to review your Photos Library for this summer adventure. 

For the July show, personally, I am thinking of stylized camellias printed on square tiles at 8"x8" size. The original iPhone images were taken in 2022 at the Camellia Show and processed with TangledFX. MPIX's giclee prints are ready to frame, but tiles are "frameless" and seductively simple to hang on the wall. A year ago I was exporting images out of my iCloud space to stay under 200GB. I am no longer in that straight-jacket, now at 1TB! Now I just have to find the stylized images on external drives and print in new ways. 

Time to step out of our comfort zones. Review your photos and images and consider contributing to the B&W or See shows. More info to follow from Laurene Fitzpatrick, ACAI Gallery and DigiCam Photo Group member. 

The photo show last July from the DigiCam class was fun as we slowly emerged from pandemic status. ACAI might focus on "ceramic" but the gallery shows welcome all art forms.

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Fall 2023 iPhone Studio description and dates have been accepted: 

Thursdays, Sep 7 to Oct 12 (6 weeks) 10 am to 12 pm

 

Past studio enrollees are encouraged to register as this seminar transitions into participant-led activities oriented towards video production. Continuing to use familiar apps and expanded studio workflow, this semester we add emphasis on the iMovie app. Online shared albums are our critique and learning platform. While six meetings are scheduled for Zoom, presenters may plan in-person photo walks instead. Our public website continues to provide informative articles, demonstration videos, and examples of our artwork at http://rsiphonephotostudio.blogspot.com, please stop by to see what we are all about.

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Check for Today at Apple sessions - in Roseville. Use the Apple Store app or go online. Look for Photography and Video topics and invite friends to join you. iMovie is a 30 minute table-top hands-on class offered at different times during the week.