On my morning walk, a great blue heron and a beautiful flowering Japanese cherry tree. Lovely start to the weekend!
Read about a 1,200 year archive of Japanese cherry blossom dates in Japan.
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Sakura
Category: Photography
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Take Better Photos on iPhone
I recently attended one of the new Today at Apple workshops that was all about taking better photos on your iPhone. I attended the session at the Apple Park Visitor Center which is just adjacent to the big “Apple ring” building in Cupertino.
I’m a very experienced user of the iPhone’s Camera app and also am very familiar with editing images in the Photos app. But I was curious to see how Apple was teaching photography in this new workshop – and I’m glad I went! There were about 15 others also participating (in a very busy venue filled with folks looking at all manner of Apple products before tomorrow’s kickoff of WWDC week at Apple Park.
The workshop began with a review of the Camera app that walked through all of its capabilities for both photos and videos. It was a great reminder about some of the features (and important settings) in Camera.
Next was a workshop breaking out how to take various kinds of images. Most interesting was the discussion and practice using portrait mode with suggestions like always shooting portraits using the Mac telephoto lens to cast your subjects in the most favorable way.
The session ended with a review of the editing capabilities of the Photos app. The workshop was taught in a fun and positive manner that made it quite enjoyable. I’m glad I participated!
I came across a fun experiment being done by Mitchell Lensink which he shares on one of his blogs.
He takes one of his photos, feeds it into one of the AI large language models and asks the LLM to produce a detailed description of the photo. He then continues by asking the model to create a new image based upon the description it produced as part of its analysis.
I tried this out on a few of my images and enjoyed seeing the results. Here’s an example…
Prompt (taken from one of his examples): Please describe the attached image as well as you can. Don’t skimp out on details and make sure you will be able to understand what’s in the image when you read the description. You need to be able to form a mental picture of the image, without actually seeing it.
Here’s what Google Gemini 2.0 Flash produced:
Imagine a serene lake bathed in the warm glow of either sunrise or sunset. The sun, positioned towards the upper left of the frame, casts a brilliant light that flares slightly around the edges of the tall trees lining the left bank. These trees are silhouetted against the bright sky, their dark shapes contrasting sharply with the golden light.
The lake itself occupies the majority of the frame, its surface reflecting the sky and the surrounding trees like a mirror. Gentle ripples disturb the otherwise smooth surface, creating subtle patterns of light and shadow. In the middle of the lake, a fountain sends a spray of water upwards, catching the light and adding a dynamic element to the tranquil scene.
The far bank of the lake is also lined with mature trees, their foliage appearing lush and green where the light touches them, and darker in the shadows. A low wooden fence runs along a portion of this bank, suggesting a pathway or boundary.
In the foreground, along the near edge of the lake, there’s a patch of vibrant green grasses interspersed with delicate white and yellow flowers. These plants are in sharp focus, drawing the viewer’s eye into the scene and adding a touch of natural beauty in the immediate foreground.
The overall atmosphere is peaceful and picturesque, a moment captured in time where the natural elements – water, trees, light, and flora – come together in a harmonious and visually appealing way. The air likely feels still and the sounds would probably be soft – perhaps the gentle splashing of the fountain or the rustling of leaves.
Wow! That’s a description that goes well beyond anything I might have written to describe my photograph! Lots of details and new insights that help us see more deeply into what’s in that image.
And here’s the next step – the image it produced when I asked it to create a new one based on the description above:
That’s a very different image but I can see how it got there!
This little experiment is worth playing with some more I think!
A few days ago the Friends of the Atherton Library held a special speaker’s event with one of my favorite photographers, Robert Buelteman.
I first came across Rob’s work years ago when all of the a set of his beautiful black and white photographs were hanging in the Village Pub restaurant in Woodside. I always enjoyed seeing those photographs on the walls of the Pub – they helped set the mood of the place for me.
Those photographs hanging on the walls of the Pub came from a unique experience he had over the course of a decade when he had unusual private access to the lands of the Crystal Springs reservoir area – what he calls the Unseen Peninsula. Later he had similar access to the Jasper Ridge Reserve on the grounds of Stanford University. In other words, his images in this series aren’t of places you’ve seen before – because you’ve never been where he’s been!
(Unfortunately, a few years ago, in a change that perplexed me frankly, the Pub took down his work and switched to a more eclectic gallery group of photographs.)
Buelteman lives relatively close by over on the Pacific coast. One fall weekend I noticed he was holding an Open Studio event at his home so I headed over to meet him and learn more. He’s quite an originalist when it comes to sticking to film for his photography and eschewing any use of digital image enhancing tools. He prints his own black and white images in his home darkroom. He also has another whole separate body of work of very colorful and more abstract images based on an unusual technique he pioneered using high voltage to illuminate patterns in leaves and other natural materials.
During his recent talk at the Atherton Library, Rob told the backstory to his gaining access to Crystal Springs and of his many experiences exploring that otherwise off limits area. I very much enjoyed how he told that story!
Please be sure to checkout his work at his website where you can also add yourself to his mailing list to learn of future events.
On my morning walk, I’m often surprised and delighted by some moment of serendipity that pops up and pulls my mind out of whatever rut it’s in and opens it up to what’s happening in the moment. Always a delight when it happens. Often becomes the highlight of my morning!
Here’s what popped up on my walk when I turned a corner and moved up a walkway…
Wow! Those light beams shining down. The woman standing right in the center. And the. A few moments later her companion joined…
I almost couldn’t work my iPhone fast enough to capture the moments but I got lucky.
I often enjoy exploring an image in black and white. Not sure it’s the best for this image given the color of the sun’s rays but worth a try…
She left before I could walk over and say hello leaving me behind with that delightful sense of wonder that occurs when moments like these come along in my life.
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Powers of Ten
We are coming up on almost 20 years from the launch of the iPhone and just passed ten years since the introduction of Apple Watch. Hard to believe it’s been that long for both of these devices but I certainly respect the profound impacts they have had on my life.
The iPhone and, in particular its camera system, are superb at what they do. A supercomputer in my pocket. A superb camera system that’s essentially eliminated any desire I might have to use larger cameras. My “big” cameras have been languishing in my camera bag since before COVID when the iPhone became the best camera of my work as a street photographer. Having all of my images at hand and stored securely in the cloud is another big benefit.
But the little brother Apple Watch is also remarkable at what it does and how it complements the iPhone. I had one of the original Watches with its sluggish performance, poor battery life, thick body, etc. Many people have argued that it shipped before it was ready. But over the course of ten generations Apple has in a Kaizen way steadily improved the watch such the my latest Series 10 model is just a delight! It’s got refined capabilities, is speedy and crisp with battery life that is excellent.
I’ve dismayed a lot about Apple of late what with an abandoned car project, a poorly thought through product concept with the Vision Pro and its underwhelming response to AI. But I continue to appreciate every day my iPhone and Watch as they have more than delighted me with their impact of daily living.
My good friend Doug and I got together yesterday to visit the latest photography exhibition – “Turning the Page” – at the wonderful Pier 24 on San Francisco’s Embarcadero, a venue that’s an old friend of ours.
From the exhibition description: “Turning the Page…celebrates the photobook, a medium that has undergone its own renaissance parallel to our years in operation. Each of the galleries presents works from a distinct photobook, whether an iconic volume or a recent monograph. The content, sequence, and design of each selected book guided our approach to that particular installation, aiming for a thoughtful translation of its overall tone and intent.”
In this exhibition, the works of several photographers I know are combined with many works from photographers I haven’t known, making for a very varied but interesting exhibition. One, in particular, I enjoyed was Donavon Smallwood.
As has happened each time we’ve visited exhibitions at this venue, we came away with our spirits lifted and new insights gained from studying these photographs. The idea of featuring a photobook in each of the galleries was unique and delightful. (Note: If you want to view this exhibition, you need to make a reservation on the Pier 24 website. One of the wonderful things about Pier 24 is how they use the requirement for advance reservations to limit the number of visitors in the museum at any time – making for a very nice, unhurried browsing experience! Just be sure to book well in advance of when you want to attend – and the museum is only open Monday-Friday so keep that in mind as well!)
The current exhibition – “Turning the Page” – runs through January 2024. Unfortunately, it will be the last exhibition in this wonderful space for photography, which opened in 2010. As discussed in this news release from January 2023, The Pilara Foundation, the sponsor of Pier 24, has been unable to successfully negotiate a lease extension with the San Francisco Port Commission after trying to do so for five years. Sadly, the Commission is demanding a tripling of the current rent charged to the Foundation for the space at Pier 24. As a result, the Foundation has decided to close the museum when its lease expires in July 2025.
This is such a sad event for photography aficionados in the San Francisco Bay Area. There is simply no other venue that has done such a superb job displaying photography exhibitions as Pier 24. I’m very disappointed in the actions of the Port Commission, which are forcing the closing of this exceptional museum.
Here’s another great video that I really enjoyed watching. It’s photographer Todd Hido talking about his life in photography, how he’s moved through various generations as he’s continued to explore making photos. William Verbeeck made the video and did a great job with it – just letting Hido talk about his life and work.
He has one stern recommendation for young photographers in particular: print your work! He talks about how images don’t really live until they exist on paper and you can hold them in your hands.
I first came across Hido’s work when I discovered his photographs of homes at night. These photographs reminded me very much of my high school years in Daly City – foggy nights, streetlights, homes with a light in one window, etc. Hido’s nighttime images evoke those moods. He collected much of that work in his book: House Hunting.
His work is currently on display in the gallery at the Leica Store San Francisco: A Series of Small Decisions – Todd Hido | April 15 – June 8, 2023. The store is located at 463 Bush Street, San Francisco, CA 94108.
In the late 2000’s I bought my first “big” camera – initially a Canon 30D digital SLR (Single Lens Reflex) from Keeble & Schuchat, a large camera store on California Avenue in Palopho Alto which closed back in October 2016.
As I was getting back into photography and learning my way around, I discovered a podcast and blog from a writer and photographer named Derrick Story. At the time I came across him, he was working for O’Reilly Publishing where he wrote books on photography. In parallel he was developing his own business as a commercial photographer, blogger, podcaster – and workshop host.
In 2010, I became interested in one of the fall photography workshops Derrick was offering which was going to include a visit to Safari West, a private wildlife preserve located outside of Santa Rosa, California. I had taken a few other photo workshops earlier that year but this one with Derrick at Safari West was a real highlight. I captured some of the very best wildlife photographs I’ve even taken during that weekend workshop! Here’s my earlier post from 2010 where I wrote about it!
Early this morning I opened an email from Derrick announcing his upcoming 2024 photography workshops. The last one he’s doing next year is going back to Safari West – and reading that and looking at his description of that workshop brought back these memories of mine!
Derrick’s a great teacher. I’ve taken several other workshops with him and recommend them highly!
Street photography captures candid, unposed shots of people in public places. Unlike posed portraiture, street photography relies on spontaneity, serendipity, and impulse. The street photographer must have a quick eye to capture fleeting moments. As such, street photography is fundamentally an art of observation.
Henri Cartier-Bresson is often considered the father of modern street photography. His concept of the “decisive moment” emphasizes the photographer capturing the perfect instant within a scene. Famous examples like Behind the Gare St. Lazare show his knack for capturing those transient moments brimming with visual energy. His street photographs play with geometry, reflection, and movement in a lyrical way.
Helen Levitt was a pioneer of street photography in New York starting in the 1930s. She captured the daily life, humor, and grit of the city’s neighborhoods. Levitt often photographed children at play. Her work poetically captures the transitory joys within urban life. She had a gift for uncovering whimsy amid the mundane.
In the 1960s, Robert Frank’s seminal book The Americans cemented street photography as an art form. His work stripped away romantic notions of America through raw, gritty, ironic photographs of real life. Frank traveled across the country and captured strangers, cities, cars, and open roads with an unwavering eye. His photographs reveal underlying emotions through powerful composition.
The work of these photographers matters because they transformed street photography into an artistic medium of observation, social commentary, and subjective expression. Their ability to capture visually arresting moments imparting deeper meaning put street photography on the artistic map.
Importantly, street photography is fundamentally about the eye of the photographer, not the camera itself. Many iconic street photographs were shot on nothing more than compact cameras or even modern smartphone cameras. The key is the photographer’s ability to see and capture meaningful moments in public settings. A great street photograph has more to do with vision and timing than expensive equipment.
Several years ago, I’d go out on the streets of San Francisco with a camera bag filled with a fewo Fujifilm cameras. I enjoyed shooting with those cameras – but, frankly, the gear became a hassle – one more thing to worry about. Increasingly, I found myself just pulling my iPhone out of my shirt pocket and capturing the moment with my iPhone camera. Perfectly adequate for almost any kind of street photography. In fact, shooting bursts is so easy with an iPhone that I might do that and then select one image out of many that I shot in a second or two of shutter time.
One other advantage of street photography compared to, let’s just say, landscape photography, is that you’re usually just steps away from a spot where you can take a break, sit down, have a cup of coffee or lunch, etc. before getting back out on the streets. It’s a much better pursuit for older folks like me, rather than hiking the hills out in some national park somewhere to capture one of the iconic vistas! I’ve attended many photo workshops over the years, and I’ve come to smile at how there’d often be a line of us workshop participants with our cameras on our tripods, shooting essentially the same scene! So, so different from street photography. Both certainly have their place, but I’ve outgrown my early interest in landscape photography and now enjoy street photography much more—at least when we’re not in a pandemic and people are actually out on the streets!
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