Farking IPADS!

[ennuipoet]

I am booked by an artist to do hi-res shots of her work for a book she having printed. I show up do the entire shoot, get my check and head home to process. I send her the first draft edits, white balanced, cropped, color corrected and basically ready to go…and I get back an email:

“Just got this and the link, I was doing an ipad photo shoot since it was all set up just to see the difference, then I got caught up with photoshop touch… Sigh.

The photos look great. That camera sure picks up detail! Which may make this even more work to fix the glue spots. I know this sounds crazy, but your camera might just be too good. Before you spend more time adjusting color I would like to try something.”

It goes on to suggest using the Ipad shots rather than the hi res shots I took.

Really?

I wrote back a LONG email explaining resolution, file compression, software rendering and pixels per inch in printing and how high resolution shots are always needed in print work. I nicely pointed out that a five megapixel camera and five dollar photoshop app really can’t compare to 16 mgpxls and actual photoshop.

I hope I talked her down. I mean, I got paid already so she can use whatever she wants…but really?

[Yugoboy]

Welcome to the new normal.

[staplermofo]

It’s crazy, but the ipad’s camera compares very well to early D-SLRs with the fanciest of lenses. SACD is never going to catch on because even most recording artists don’t care that much about sound quality. “We sound better on your headphones than we do live, what more do you want?” I’ve tried to make other people care, but you can’t talk people into having emotions or principles they don’t have. Maybe the ipad’s camera is better than most people can see, or care to see. I’ve sure spent more on glass for my camera than I have on all my polycarbonate internet glasses.

Hey, somebody take their camera in to their optometrist, I want to know what a modern fancy camera’s vision is. I bet it’s way better than 20/5 or whatever.
So yeah, it’s your fault for trying to out-vision GOD! Put down you bow and get off the tower of Babel!

[ennuipoet]

It’s crazy, but the ipad’s camera compares very well to early D-SLRs with the fanciest of lenses. SACD is never going to catch on because even most recording artists don’t care that much about sound quality. “We sound better on your headphones than we do live, what more do you want?” I’ve tried to make other people care, but you can’t talk people into having emotions or principles they don’t have. Maybe the ipad’s camera is better than most people can see, or care to see. I’ve sure spent more on glass for my camera than I have on all my polycarbonate internet glasses.

Hey, somebody take their camera in to their optometrist, I want to know what a modern fancy camera’s vision is. I bet it’s way better than 20/5 or whatever.
So yeah, it’s your fault for trying to out-vision GOD! Put down you bow and get off the tower of Babel!

True, and I was reasonably impressed by the quality of the Ipad camera, but here is the same image area cropped and zoomed to 100% (obviously I can’t show the entire image as it is a client job) first from my camera:

and now from the Ipad

The shot from my camera is color corrected and slightly sharpened to bring out texture in Lightroom. The Ipad image was sharpened and color corrected in the Ipad app.

Where is Apples God now? 😛

[orionid]

zOMG! You can see the flaws! You can see her wrankles and moles! Nobody will ever want porn in HD if you can see the actresses flaws!

Seriously, you’re client is full of balogna. If she’s worried about the fact that you can see flaws and glue spots in her art, maybe she ought to focus more on her skills.

[ennuipoet]

zOMG! You can see the flaws! You can see her wrankles and moles! Nobody will ever want porn in HD if you can see the actresses flaws!

Seriously, you’re client is full of balogna. If she’s worried about the fact that you can see flaws and glue spots in her art, maybe she ought to focus more on her skills.

Actually, I think the blobs and blurbs give the work a sense of reality which is missing from digital artwork. Photoshop and Illustrator are amazing tools and create some stunning images, but there is no texture, no accidents, no variations which give the work character. I like the parable about Persian rugs, the weaver intentionally placing a flaw in the work because only god is perfect. (This may be apocryphal, I’ve never known a Persian weaver) If you got to the trouble in these digital days to work in an analog medium, I say embrace the little flaws.

Edit to add: After I sent the above images to my client, she sent me back my new slogan:

The images and then:
“Why not just use my ipad camera?”
“That’s why!”
Free Verse Photography.

[staplermofo]

That’s way more dramatic than I expected.
You should make a site comparing “mmmyeh, this’ll work” photography with “I LIVE FOR THIS! GRAWR!” photography.

[ennuipoet]

That’s way more dramatic than I expected.
You should make a site comparing “mmmyeh, this’ll work” photography with “I LIVE FOR THIS! GRAWR!” photography.

To be fair, that is a and EF 50mm 1.4 at f11 mounted on a tripod versus a hand held Ipad. It is probably isn’t an entirely fair comparison from a technical point of view but from a practical standpoint it is right on.

[emiliogtz]

I wrote back a LONG email explaining resolution, file compression, software rendering and pixels per inch in printing and how high resolution shots are always needed in print work. I nicely pointed out that a five megapixel camera and five dollar photoshop app really can’t compare to 16 mgpxls and actual photoshop.

Why even bother? There was a time when I would invest some of my time trying to help/educate other people. Now I’ve come to realise that they don’t want or need any help at all, and that’s just fine. They *are* happy. So maybe I’m the one in need of (psychiatric?) help. I’ve pretty much given up on the subject.

These days when somebody sees one of my pictures, likes it, makes comments/questions about it, I just tell them that I got lucky. That’s what they want to hear. That’s all it takes son, never mind technique, gear, its physical limitations, etc. You don’t need skills at all, just point and shoot. And shoot a lot, the more you do, the more likely you are to get lucky. What phone you said you have? I have that same one too. Ignorance *really* is bliss.

It’s crazy, but the ipad’s camera compares very well to early D-SLRs with the fanciest of lenses. SACD is never going to catch on because even most recording artists don’t care that much about sound quality.

And why should they care? This is what happens when people think MP3 files sound good.

Just a few months ago a friend of mine put his entire CD collection (hundreds) for sale for a ridiculously low price. I asked him why. He told me he already had way more music in his iPod and that CDs have been *out* for years.

SACD has been on a rollercoaster since its introduction, on again, off again, which saddens me since I really enjoy HD audio.

(I’m not an audiophile or a hi-fi snob, I just have a couple of average speakers that when properly placed can make a notable difference.)

Sorry for the grumpy/pessimistic/realistic mood, it’s been a hell of a week. ^_^

[fluffybunny]

Sorry for the grumpy/pessimistic/realistic mood, it’s been a hell of a week. ^_^

Sorry to hear that, we all have them from time to time. Hope it gets better.

I too am tempted to give up on “people” in general but I try to remain optimistic. So my strategy has become to lead off with the deflection if needed (“lucky” being one subset of that suite of strategies), however I try to remain a good observer. The more interest or talent a person displays the more likely I am to engage with them. Most people want to talk about themselves, that’s neither good nor bad. People in general do not learn or change unless they want to. We see and hear what we want. Sometimes in the extreme. Being objective is (IMHO) the single most difficult this a human being can attempt to do.

[Yugoboy]

Re: DSLR vs. iPhone/iPad – depends on what people want. If it’s vacation photos (Honey, remember that amazing time we had at the beach?”) vs. wall art, or digital catalog vs. printed magazine, the differences may or may not be important. It all depends on the purpose of the photo. Obviously, I’m way biased towards making even the most mundane photo as artistic and beautiful as possible, but I ain’t (normal) everybody. I can say that having shared some photos with colleagues this year (only the best and only a few) people CAN tell the difference when it matters.

Re: various audio output – due to a congenital moderate “high-pitch hearing loss” (I should wear hearing aids but don’t… it’s the little sounds I don’t miss – they’re bloody annoying!) it takes a really quiet environment and intentional effort to hear much difference at all. I’m sure there is a difference, but mostly for people with better hearing than I. I’m keeping my CDs, but mostly due to the possibility of the mp3 files getting zapped as well as the fact that my car stereo’s still radio/CD only. That, and I haven’t the disc space to rip them all (yet).

[emiliogtz]

Sorry to hear that, we all have them from time to time. Hope it gets better.

Thanks, at least it’s coming to an end.

I too am tempted to give up on “people” in general but I try to remain optimistic. So my strategy has become to lead off with the deflection if needed (“lucky” being one subset of that suite of strategies), however I try to remain a good observer. The more interest or talent a person displays the more likely I am to engage with them. Most people want to talk about themselves, that’s neither good nor bad. People in general do not learn or change unless they want to. We see and hear what we want. Sometimes in the extreme.

I think there should be at least one, probably two persons in my RL microcosm genuinely interested in learning/sharing something, strictly speaking about photography. I just haven’t met them yet. On the other hand, I’m becoming a better observer, now I can almost instantly sense it when people just want to talk about themselves. Yes, that’s not bad or good, it just is. It occurred to me that maybe I too wanted to talk about myself, which is why I decided to just play along, and if/when needed, engage.

Being objective is (IMHO) the single most difficult this a human being can attempt to do.

You are absolutely right. =)

[fluffybunny]

I think there should be at least one, probably two persons in my RL microcosm genuinely interested in learning/sharing something, strictly speaking about photography. I just haven’t met them yet. On the other hand, I’m becoming a better observer, now I can almost instantly sense it when people just want to talk about themselves. Yes, that’s not bad or good, it just is. It occurred to me that maybe I too wanted to talk about myself, which is why I decided to just play along, and if/when needed, engage.

I have a few people that I enjoy being around and conversing with when it comes to photography IRL and I consider myself to be very fortunate (this community of course is outstanding but does not count for IRL because internets and all).

[staplermofo]

I have a friend with hypomania who got prescribed adderall. If you don’t know what that means, imagine the most energetic person you know on amphetamines.
He’s shown me a lot about life, but what stands out the most is how much enthusiasm matters. My friend will notice that model airplanes exist and 2 hours later explain to anyone who won’t run away why they are the most awesome thing in the world. You would be absolutely amazed how many people won’t run away. There’s a childlike joy in it which assumes everyone would want to hear this because it’s so awesome.
I don’t like being a talking textbook. Problem solving is ok. Helping is enjoyable.
My friend enjoys being all three equally, maybe they’re all the same to him.
People probably pick up on that. If I saw all of it as helping people, and enjoyed it, and felt I was making the world a better place, some of that would rub off on the person I was talking to.

One thing I really enjoy that I mention a lot, that I’ve honestly never found another person outside of forums dedicated to it, is the hilarious struggles of minor Japanese idol groups. For example: one company, Up Front Works, created a group called “Up Front Girls” and put them on the indie circuit. They were recruited from girls who were in their idol farm league H!P Eggs, but got too old. UFW was displeased with them shortly thereafter. So they kicked them out of Hello! Project (which is all UFW is known for). They even added “???” [roughly: subject to change] to their names, and OUTFITS, changed their name to Up Up Girls???, then kicked them off their indies label, cut the budget for their music videos, and cut their budget for everything. Even the low level groups UFW support barely make a living. So they’re around 20 years old, have been doing concerts and such for around 5 years on average, and are washed up and still brand new. Some of their songs are pretty catchy, if you like up-beat pop. HOW COULD ANYONE NOT THINK THAT’S AWESOME!? Oh, everyone agrees it’s not awesome? I STILL FEEL BETTER MENTIONING IT AGAIN! … … But the joy of that just waned, and now I’m depressed and just disproved both points I was trying to make. @#$%!
Here’s one of their videos. They take a break from 2:31 to 2:42. THEY ARE ON BREAK FOR 1/24 OF THE SONG!
I’ll never give up hope! NEVER! The view count was at 5991 when I got the link, if it’s > 5992 later tonight then my life has meaning.

[ennuipoet]

I think there should be at least one, probably two persons in my RL microcosm genuinely interested in learning/sharing something, strictly speaking about photography. I just haven’t met them yet. On the other hand, I’m becoming a better observer, now I can almost instantly sense it when people just want to talk about themselves. Yes, that’s not bad or good, it just is. It occurred to me that maybe I too wanted to talk about myself, which is why I decided to just play along, and if/when needed, engage.

It’s odd, I know a lot photographers here in NYC but none of them are people I socialize with, we are almost friendly competitors. We talk a little shop at events but when it is all said and done we go our separate ways. I like it that way. Most of my friends are writers, designers or academics and the infusion of their out of field creativity is way more stimulating than a bunch of photographers sitting around grousing over equipment, which is what most of the other photogs I’ve hung with spend their time doing.

Some of them are down right dicks about it. I’ve never heard a writer cut another writer down because of the pen they use, but I hear it with cameras.

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