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The endless quiet of the Elk Refuge in Jackson, Wyoming. Winters in this part of the world are my favorite and I can’t wait to go back next year.
Due to unavoidable circumstances, I missed the visit this year. This photo is also a testimonial for iPhone and its ability to capture amazing details in raw and then let me play around with it in Photoshop.
March 22, 2022. San Francisco
Last week when Apple’s iPhone 13 models went on sale, I asked Twitter followers which model they planned to order. An overwhelming majority voted for the iPhone 13 Pro, followed by the iPhone 13 Pro Max, followed by the Mini and the Basic. Interestingly, those are my personal preferences, especially now that I have perused all four iPhone 13 models that Apple sent out for review.
In addition to these phones, Apple sent out an iPad Mini for review — and given my bias towards the iPad, not surprisingly, I have spent most of the past few days mucking about with that device instead of digging into the iPhones. I intend to write my review in time, but I highly recommend John Gruber and Joanna Stern if you want to get some good intelligent reviews.
Like all reviewers, they emphasize two things that have improved across the entire line-up of new iPhones — cameras and batteries. And candidly, it is all that matters to an average person: great cameras to capture daily moments and selfies. Given how much we all are addicted to our phones, battery capacity and performance are pretty high in feature lists for most people.
Last year, I preferred the iPhone 12 ProMax because it had a better camera –, but this year both Pro and Pro Max have the same camera configuration. The 13 ProMax has longer battery life — Apple says it is an additional 2.5 hours compared to the 12 ProMax model — but (Read more...)
Through most of the pandemic lockdown, I was religious about my morning walks. It was the only time of the day I felt comfortable going out for a walk without a mask. Lately, that habit of going out before the sunrise had fallen off the wayside. I started to walk (and bike) during the day — sometimes to get coffee or just some exercise.
Earlier this month, however, I left home early, walked down the Embracadero, and then up the Market Street and turned right on the Second Street. I wanted to make a two-mile loop. While walking up the empty street, I spotted a visual composition that caught my eye. It was enough for me to interrupt my walk and stop.
The LinkedIn building on Second Street is such a perfect rectangle of rectangles. Its dark glass exterior further enhances the building’s clean edges and many right angles. I had an iPhone 12 ProMax, so I knew I would capture the image in Apple’s ProRaw format. Further, I knew that Adobe’s Super Resolution would help me enhance the file to get a good quality crop. The shapes, angles, and mood of the morning deserved a B&W treatment.
I found the best angle from an alley leading to the SF Transit Terminal. I made two images of the LinkedIn building using the telephoto lens on the iPhone. And while searching for the right angle, I ended up capturing a side angle of the bridge that links the terminal (Read more...)
A visual journey through Northern California’s Coastal Redwoods and it’s wild coastline.
The world, we are told, was made especially for man — a presumption not supported by all the facts. — John Muir
No matter how much you try, the mind and circumstances tend to conspire in ways to unsettle your soul. And when that happens, you need to find a way to reset, recalibrate and replenish. And for me, that usually means a few days of landscape photography.
Let’s go back and begin at this past Sunday…
Along with two photographer friends, I drove up the 101, so far north, that the highway typically seen carrying the venous blood of urban blight eventually gives way to a beautiful, two-lane road, sinewy and taut, slipping through mountains, valleys, tall trees, vineyards, and orchards. It is as if the world ends and life begins. Seven hours later, I find myself on the border of California and Oregon.
Crescent City is one of the many small towns on the Pacific Coast. It doesn’t boast of many niceties. It is pockmarked with fast-food restaurants, a handful of motels, and the occasional hotel. The marina, the beach, and the lighthouse are the main attractions. There is a certain unpretentious quality to this town. It looks tranquil, laid back, and even pastoral in places.
Still, all isn’t alright. Parts of it are very rundown. You can see traces of the same problems that infect most of America. The impacts left (Read more...)