Sometimes the photo you get isn’t the one you take but the one you make. “This was not exactly the composition I wanted, but I just didn’t wanted any people in the shot”, Miroslav Petrasko […]
iPhone 6 Plus Review
Sometime within the next few weeks, Apple should announce successors to iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, and my review of the latter device is long overdue. Let’s get to it finally and present the key finding first: If size matters, as in you want a phone with larger screen but that doesn’t feel humongous, the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus is a worthy choice. By measures that matter most—benefits from apps, calling, camera, data, performance, screen, and storage—the phablet is best of class.
As expressed in my iPhone 6 review, I regretted not buying the larger device after handing it. The Plus is big, but not overly large for my tastes. Hell, I bought Motorola-made and Google-branded Nexus 6 in January 2015 to replace iPhone 6; the screen is even bigger than Plus, at whopping 6 inches. I gained great value using either of the larger handsets, but gave up one for the other.
Flickr a Day 221: ‘Comma Butterfly’
All Rights Reserved is the copyright barrier this series cannot cross. Let me show you what I would rather feature from the photostream of Marilyn Peddle if licensed Creative Commons: Hedgy is cute, eh? Instead, […]
Protesting Greenpeace?
The weather is perfect here in San Diego—what my wife and I call a Maine Day: 22 degrees Celsius and breezy. We hauled off to Ocean Beach, where navigating people busking or begging for money takes almost as much talent as negotiating a kayak through rocky rapids. Sure enough, I looked left and missed the approaching, friendly fundraiser from the right. Smack!
The singing circle of happy people distracted me. Oh no! Greenpeace? Again? Just cut an artery why don’t they and bleed me? But this dude—the one holding the yellow sign—had a different pitch. Greenpeace hires for two-week jaunts, he claimed, and those who don’t meet their quotas are dismissed from service. There be women with kids about to lose their livelihood. Yikes! The small cadre raised money against Greenpeace.
Flickr a Day 220: Chat
For some people, photography is a way of life. For shooter Erik Hagström, it is a way of living—of expressing himself in ways his body otherwise limits. There is a cool, somber ambiance to his art I could see, before learning his story, that captures more than just images in around the French Alps, but essence.
About himself, Erik explains: “After two cerebral accidents vascular in 2007, making me lose most of the control of my members, reconquered gradually, not being able more to play of musical instruments, or use pencils to draw and paint, I turned to the photograph”.
Flickr a Day 219: ‘The Skater’
Street portraits are rarely as appealing as our selection, which wins the Day for perspective. Sometimes you got to go low to get the moment. Eye level is the way for studio portraits, but on the […]
Microsoft’s Hollywood-style Redemption Story
Satya Nadella is a man with a formidable challenge. Microsoft CEO’s predecessor, Steve Ballmer, squandered the company’s mobile fortunes. From smartphone platform leader a decade ago, the software-and-services giant is a category also-ran in 2015. Microsoft has no independent mobile platform future. The war is over. There remains this: Making alliances with old enemies to preserve existing territory, while using the foothold to reach into new frontiers.
Made available August 5th, Outlook for Apple Watch is a very smart move and metaphor for what went wrong on Microsoft mobile platforms and what has to go right to preserve and extend the legacy applications stack. While Windows 10 makes its way to Lumia devices, the future is Android and iOS and how the company supports them with contextually meaningful cloud-connected apps and services.
Flickr a Day 218: ‘Looks’
Somebody is fascinated by owls, for there are plenty of them in the photostream of Riccardo Cupidi. Self-titled “Looks” makes the Day for composition and for being interesting. C`mon, that is one fraking big bird. […]
Flickr a Day 217: ‘Finally the Expected Photographer Arrived’
If not for the Nike, this photo could easily be the 1940s rather than the 2010s. Look at the woman’s outfit to the left and those sunglasses on the lass to the right. This ambiance […]
What I Don’t Like About Apple Watch
About two weeks ago, I shared how Apple Watch tickles my fancy. From likes, we go to dislikes, and keeping with the other I purposely limit the number to five. Quick recap: I bought the aluminum model on June 18, 2015 from the local Apple Store. Seven days later, I exchanged for the stainless steel variant. Except to charge or to shower, I’ve worn it constantly since.
Broadly, my feelings about the smartwatch are mixed. The delivered benefits are excellent, but they aren’t enough to justify the lofty price. If not for using MacBook Pro and iPhone 6 Plus this summer, Android Wear and iOS incompatibilities, or the promise of watchOS 2 coming early autumn, I would not have purchased the device. I’m not dissatisfied with Apple Watch, but want more from it. As I explained on July 18, the measure of success or failure isn’t sales but returns. I kept mine. How many early buyers didn’t?
Flickr a Day 216: Ghoulish
I look at the photostream of Matthias Lueger and think “horror movie stills”. The pics are so damn evocative, and they capture a mood don’t they? Hehe. Our selection purposely contrasts yesterday’s pretty portrait. There’s […]
Flickr a Day 215: ‘Do You Know What a Model Test Is?’
The question that Alba Soler poses, but more importantly answers, matters to anyone interested in fashion photography. A brand ambassador for Profoto, the fashion and advertising photographer works from London and Spain.
She posted self-titled “Do You Know What a Model Test Is?” to Flickr on Jan. 8, 2014, stripping out camera info from the EXIF. She uploaded the portrait to two different accounts—one associated with her “The Thinking Hat” website. That one is All Rights Reserved. The other version, which I selected, is Creative Commons. Hehe, she has yet a third Flickr, too.