As opposed to griping about people on their phones, it may be best to make use of my own iPhone and discover some of those benefits. Some use cases that works for me:
Blog and write with the phone
I use iA Writer on all my devices to write these articles, then press send. From there it is automagically published to my websites.
Process Images
Reviewing my images on Apple devices with Apple Photos is so pleasurable that it reminds me of the analog photo contact sheets. For quick edits of images taken from the phone, to again, publishing them to my website(s.)
Voice Dictation
Forget Siri. I’ll occasionally use this tool for quick Notes or in the Reminders app. Bonus usage in iA Writer too. Writing and blogging by voice is almost 90% accurate so I need to talk slower and enunciate.
Successful test
Reading
Apple Books or Libby
Reading digital books with these apps is a joy. What better way to spend your time when you are waiting in line in public?
My current creative workflow is simple, on purpose. I’d rather be out there shooting than processing or organizing.
I don’t have the time or desire to go out for that one shot that will make me famous. I want to create a body of work. I’m not interested in social media “likes” or new followers scrolling through their feeds quickly and not caring.
Innovate your new workflow by keeping it simple, self-host your own website, create digital, or e-zines in .pdf. Offer prints and downloads of your work instead. This will generate a more positive, direct response from potential followers.
Last year, Lomography teased the photo film community with images hinting that they were bringing back the Turquoise film. Development has been ongoing and is scheduled to release fall of this year, 2022. Pre-orders sold out and more have been pushed back until November. I can’t wait that long to experiment with this unique emulation. Below are the examples that Lomo gave us, followed by own attempts to duplicate the results.
Lomography’s examples
Oh well, back to the digital lab to fine tune the process and get those gorgeous colors!
“Do you ever know what the birds are singing? You don’t. But you listen to them anyway.”
Pablo Picasso
Picasso, when asked what his paintings meant.
Sometimes we create for the sake of creating and seeing what happens. There are times where I go out to shoot & don’t develop the film for months or post-process the digital photos in Lightroom for awhile. I do it just for the experience of creating and exploring.
After amassing about a thousand images of neon, murals and geocaches it is past time that I curate them into a searchable database. This is one of those “shoulda done it sooner” moments but who knew my latest photographic passion would have carried on this long?
I’ve looked around for some inexpensive, do-it-yourself software but I’m coming up with a lot of fluff. For now, I’ve settled on Google My Maps and Google Earth. I hate this.
Every photo taken with a GPS-enabled camera is geo-tagged in their EXIF file. This helps tremendously when my memory fails. GPS coordinates are great when importing/exporting data to the map layer overlays.
My current issue is documenting these locations whilst at the same time snapping more images almost daily to the database. It is a self-inflicted labor of love that only I can appreciate but to me it is worth it.
Each My Map will have a separate genre for neon, one for murals and the other for geocaches.
After those are complete, I will export the .kmz files into Google Earth as a master database wherein all waypoints will be tagged, mapped and displayed.
Google Earth alternative suggestions are welcome. Please!
Incomplete map of neon cities so farMy Maps screenshotGoogle Earth screenshot
One of my favorite tools on the iPad is importing my images to the Photos app. The simple act of sorting, organizing these photos like I used to do on a contact sheet of film negatives. Find the keepers and then develop them in the lab afterward.
Due to a variety of interests, there has been less writing here in favor of being outdoors with a camera. I’ve been out and about capturing a variety of topics including urban art, neon signs and more. I’m thinking of capturing a few new things as well.
My philosophy when shooting urban art: If I see something that is .001% interesting to me, I’ll shoot it and figure out what to do with it afterwards.
This is a huge benefit to digital photography in that there is no downside to capturing extra images. Film photography has its own creative, artistic skill but leaves little room for error.
Errors are costly and time-consuming. If I am in a photo flow, I don’t want to think about it. I can shoot 10,000 shots of the same topic without repercussions when using digital.
Over the past couple of decades I have acquired a lot of images and have failed to document them properly. Now I want to take on the enormous task of mapping my finds.
Just getting started
There are three categories I want to photograph, map and geotag for future reference:
Geocaches
Murals, wall art and sculptures
Neon signs
Geocaches
I’ve looked around a bit for an alternative to Google Maps and Google Earth but the fact remains- they have the best open-sourced mapping platform than anyone else. I can’t stand Google but damn, they make a good map system.
For plotting my found geocaches, I’ve downloaded all the .gpx files from geocaching.com and uploaded to Google Earth which can then convert to .kmz files for a map view of discovered caches. But, because importing and exporting data between two systems is hardly ever efficient as advertised, I am still doing some tweaking to format the data as I need to.
Murals, Street Art & Sculptures
I wish I was as organized as I want to be when out in the field. From here on out I promise myself to document names of the murals, artists, coordinates and any other bits of info to document. Because now I need to go in and add waymarkers to the map manually. This means going to Google My Maps, upload my image and plot it to the corresponding location.
36.16024, -95.99597
Neon Signs
Just like the street art images, I need to plot the waypoints of my neon images on to a map by hand. I have almost 500 images of neon so this may take awhile.
If you loosely apply Lomography’s ten golden rules, you’ll do just fine.
Take your camera with you everywhere you go.
Use your camera any time, day, or night.
Photography is not an interference of your life but a part of it
Shoot from the hip
Approach as closely as possible
Don’t think
Be fast
You don’t have to know beforehand what you captured
Or afterwords either
Don’t worry about any rules.
Number 10 may be the most important. Don’t listen to others, stay true to yourself and your artistic endeavor. There are plenty of rules that can and should be broken.
To those 10, I’ll remind you of another 10.
Luck, coincidence emergency and surprise are your friends.
Experimentation is exciting. Expect the unexpected. Or don’t!
Embrace the sensory effects of the street. Light, shadow, smells & sounds
Leave the grind behind. Focus on you and your subjects.
Street photos look better when printed. I prefer black and white.
Look again. If something spots your eye, but you pass on it…go back. Your first instinct is usually correct.
Let loose. Have fun.
Analog or film photography is making a comeback. Buy a cheap film camera.
Analog will seldom disappoint because it is unique and challenging.
Trust your senses over an LCD screen and electric sensors.
Urban, or street photography, combines what I love best. Walking, working with people, courage, risk-worthy opportunities and timing. Now grab your camera and start shooting!
How is your digital life? Feeling overwhelmed by all the clutter in your inbox, hard drive and cloud service? I know I was.
Though I consider myself to be a minimalist essentialist, there does come a time when I get lazy and the discipline slides. Clutter, digital or otherwise, can get distracting over time. Now may be the perfect time to clean up your digital room, so to speak. If not daily, then weekly because a well-organized computer will yield positive results for your state of mind and your workflow productivity.
Here’s how to get started:
Backups
When was the last time you backed up your data? If you can’t remember, then it has been too long. I set a calendar reminder for once a week, then plug in the dedicated external hard drive, flip on Apple’s Time Machine and let it do its thing-creating and preserving a snapshot image of everything on the MacBook’s drive. Before all that, I suggest sorting through your Downloads folder and assign to a proper folder or delete. How are your other folders? Photos, Music, Videos, Documents all need to be sorted. Toss what you have been holding on to for some reason. After all that, then take out the Trash and delete everything in that folder.
Cloud
Just as the computer gets cleaned up, so too your Cloud backups. My Cloud mimics the desktop with everything in place. Run Time Machine again and ensure good backups.
Software
If you have dozens of software programs and apps, it is time to have a think about what you are actually using. If you haven’t used a program in say six months, then uninstall and free up space on your machine. It will thank you for it. Do you really need four calendar apps, two music players, three browsers and who else knows what? Pick the right tool for the job and stick with it. Uninstall the rest.
Desktop
A cluttered desktop can be overwhelming and distract from your focus and productivity. A messy computer desktop is akin to a messy physical desk. Nobody wants to see that. Sort that clutter into their respective folders, empty your Trash can folder and enjoy the serenity.
The MacBook desktop
Web Browser
Now, wait just a damn minute, Chris. This is sacred. If I don’t have multiple tabs open or bookmarked, I run the risk of losing and forgetting them. I might even return to them…someday.
That mentality is an old way of thinking that needs to be corrected. You won’t go back to them. You don’t need it. One of these days, your browser’s memory will slow to a crawl, and you’ll be forced to reboot the thing and potentially lose all those open tabs you’ve been saving.
Inbox and RSS feeds
If you cringe every time you access your email inbox, then you are doing it wrong. Email should be assigned from an inbox to a folder, replied to or deleted. Don’t forget to take the trash out again when done. If the mail is piled up, and you are overwhelmed, most email applications have a search feature.
RSS feed readers are a remarkable resource to stay current on the websites and blogs you enjoy. Shameless plug inserted here- https://chrisdenbow.website/feed But how does your “Unread” count look? Either read the article or save it to the “Read It Later” folder. Everything else can be deleted. The same can be said for podcast episodes!
One Password To Rule Them All
I dislike passwords, and captchas and just about every modern day credential grabber. Who can keep track of them all? I used to and failed. Then I tried a third-party password manager. I only needed one password to log in to that, and every time I needed to sign in elsewhere, that application would pop up and log in for me. That was fun until their data center was hacked and everyone’s passwords were in the open. I currently use Apple’s Password manager.
I’m already signed in to an Apple account, so I don’t have to remember a password there. Any website I visit, the Password app is ready to log me in, or help me create a new username/password. Once credentialed, Passwords will retain the info and be ready to use again. All it requires is my Face ID or Touch ID.
The Takeaway
Our digital usage over multiple devices can overwhelm us, and we open ourselves up to clutter. Who has the time to organize when we just want to scroll a feed or watch a video? I find that currently we need to be more mindful. Digital simplicity, essentialism, and minimalism is more important than before.
