Ask Dave, March 23rd

'Ask Dave' week six... I get tons of questions each week, and I respond as quickly as possible, and this is week number six of answering them here too. If you have questions you can email me at Learn@DaveShumway.com.

Question:
From James and many others...
What are your favorite iPhone Apps?

Answer:
I am now in the middle of my second month of owning a Verizon iPhone 4, and I love the phone; but I might just love the apps more. I'll break out my favorite apps, by the folders I organize them in, and share a little bit about why I use the apps that I do. (I am not listing all of the apps, just the ones I really like/love)

Utilities:

• iHandy Level - When don't I need an extra level?
• Speed Test - Is my 3G or the hotels Wifi faster?
• MyWi - Don't tell apple; but I have this app so that I can facetime when I am on 3G (it broadcasts a Wifi network and then joins it, so the iPhone thinks that it is on Wifi not 3G.

Media:

• Netflix - No explanation needed.
• Pandora - No explanation needed.
• TED - Some of the worlds best sharing their thoughts/ideas/beliefs.
• Remote - No explanation needed.
• FLPR - When paired with the accessory it is my remote control for everything. (pick it up at Best Buy)
• Ustream - If you like to watch Ustream on the go.
• IMDb - When you just need to know who was in that movie, and what else they were in.

News/Weather:

• Snow Report - By REI, you want to know what is happening, so your only excuse for missing a powder day is that the boss would not buy into another bad case of "Powderitis."
• Mammut Safety - All kinds of great stuff for backcountry skiers.
• FOX Chicago - Hometown news.
• BBC News - World view of the world's news.
• NYTimes - No explanation needed. (iPad one is really cool)
• BGazette - From time to time it is nice to read some articles from the good old Billings Gazoo.

Maps:

• Google Earth - No explanation needed.
• GPS Drive - Motion X offers cheap, reliable, up to date driving GPS. While we wait for Google to make an iPhone turn by turn version.
• iTrailMap - Trail maps for all of my favorite ski resorts.
• Trails - Trails.com, if you are a subscriber you need this app. If you are not, you should be. Tons of great tools and guides all in your pocket.
• Ski Tracks - Simply the coolest GPS ski tracker available. Turn it on, let it run as you ski, and recap your day when you are done. All kinds of cool features.
• iMapMyRide+ - Same as above; but this one is for biking/running.

Stores:

• App Store - iTunes - Apple Store - Groupon - Pizza Hut - Patagonia - REI - Sierra Trading Post - Steep&Cheap - B&H Photo

Games:

• Audi A4 - A fun accelerometer controlled driving game.
• Touareg - Another fun accelerometer controlled driving game.
• Checkers - No explanation needed.
• Chess - No explanation needed.
• MarbleMash - A classic that is always fun to play.
• Accel Blocks - Another classic.
• iBowl - Real bowling for the iPhone.

Misc:

• Urbanspoon - Simply the best restaurant choosing app in the world.
• CheckPlease - For those friends who don't trust/can't do "simple" mental math.
• Cocktails - More drink recipes than you can afford to consume.
• Skype - No explanation needed.
• Google - No explanation needed.
• QRReader - No explanation needed.

Books:

• iBooks - No explanation needed.
• HHB - National Geographic birding book; simple, accurate, and cheap.
• Knot Guide - No explanation needed.
• Bible - Any version, any time, and free.
• Classics - the pre iBooks free book solution. (I think Apple stole iBooks feel from them)
• Kindle - No explanation needed.
• eReader - No explanation needed.
• Dictionary - No explanation needed.
• Constitution - No explanation needed.
• Spanish - I learned French; but you never know when you will need an easy to use Spanish translator.

And now for what all of you care about...
Cameras:

• ProCamera - The best camera app that I have found yet. It gives the controls needed to do a decent job cell snapping with the iPhone; but I still want one that I can manually control the exposure setting (Av-Tv-ISO).
• Camera - The iPhone stock app, it works.
• 360 - A very cool 360 pan camera. It uses video resolution, so it is quick and easy; but low resolution and often messes up some alignment when you go full 360.
• TimeLapse - It does a great job. I want it to do higher resolution and show me where it is going to crop the image; but it runs great and gives good frame rates at 720P.
• Precorder - Does what it says, pre-records. Point it at something, when the event you desire to fill happens hit record. It starts recording and also records back in time for as long as you tell it to go back in time. (think planet earth and sharks taking seals)

Photo Editing:

• PS Express - Photoshop for the iPhone; but it is very stripped down.
• AutoStitch - Full resolution panorama stitch software for the iPhone. Take the photos (use a good camera and shoot them as HDR if you want) then run the app, it does a great job putting the images together (unlimited numbers of images).
• Toy SLR - Think LensBaby for iPhone photos.
• Filterstorm - More like Photoshop than PS Express.
• 100Cameras - Tons of effects for you iPhone photos.
• Picture Effects - Much like 100Cameras; but even more options (different).
• Photo Splash - Make an image all B&W except what you color back in.
• Adobe Ideas - Great sketch pad for sharing quick ideas (even better on iPad).
• PhotoSketch - Turn you photos into pencil sketches (great for those who cannot sketch)..
• iMovie - No explanation needed.

Photo Tools:

• SmugShot - Upload to my SmugMug site.
• SmugWallet - Have selected galleries loaded onto my phone, so I can show off when I don't have an internet connection.
• SmugView - A great way to browse your SmugMug site; but it is far from ideal when you do not have an internet connection.
• PhotoCalc - Simply the best exposure calculator, sun/moon rise/set calendar, depth of field calculator, hyperfocal calculator, flash calculator and it is pared with a great "photo term" glossary.
• Exposure - Some nice exposure guides to common scenes.
• ID Release - Model/Property releases made easy. It email myself and the model a PDF copy of the signed release and embeds model/property snaps (no need for a polaroid camera and a stack of forms).
• U-Broadcaster - Ustream broadcast tool that works great on 3G or Wifi (this is how I do my live broadcasts).
• iSolunar - Sun/Moon tables and hunting/fishing predictions to go along with it.
• Sun Seeker - Know where the sun is going to be at an exactly time and place. A must have for photographers.
• Star Walk - For those of use who don't know where the stars are, or what they are called (great interaction).
• Astro - Same as above; but it is the gGogle version, not quite as nice of a user experience.

If the app name is not linked it is because I could not find it on Apple's internet directory of apps (check the app store itself).

If you have app suggestions for me, I would love to hear about them.

Happy Shooting

Easy Release, a very cool app.

I came across a very nice iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch app. today.

Easy Release is its name, and you can see it here.

We all know that as photographers we need to get property and model releases all of the time, and this little app makes it much easier to do.

Now if only AT&T had 3G coverage in Montana, or if Verizon had the iPhone...

A Question for Apple...

I have a question for Apple...

Are you going to add support into Pages or iWeb for average folks to be able to create real multimedia content to fully utilize what the iPad can display?

Here is my thinking. If the iPad is going to replace newspapers/magazines/books and at the same time put our entire digital lives at our finger tips, while making the web fun; what is Apple going to do to help expedite that transition on the family scale?

I can see iBooks being a hit. (heck I may start reading books again ;)
I can see the comfort form of the internet, especially if Flash support is added, doing great things.
I can see using an iPad to have all of our digital media at our finger tips.
I can see us using iPad to control our TV's someday soon. (networks give in and let apple do subscriptions)
I can see Newspapers and Magazines getting better at web capitalization and getting folks to buy subscriptions via Apple for content. (note that magazines and newspapers will have to make the experience even more interactive than they do online currently)
I can see a Verizon version of the iPad that also has a web cam so we can chat with our friends and family around the would.
I can see this device really changing things in the future.

But I think Apple needs to make the iLife and iWork suites ready for moms/dads, aunts/uncles, and grandparents to be able to create a WOW experience for friends and family to share their lives and to be able to specialize that to the iPad/iPhone.

iWeb is easy to run and do all kinds of cool things, Pages is very easy yet helps create stunning documents. Any reason not to merge them and allow them to make content for the iPad/iPhone that mobileMe can serve up?

My Mom needs to be able to start up her Mac and make a family newsletter that in a few pages (idealized for iPad/iPhone) can share the family news in a way that could never have been done before. The content needs to be all that the iPad/iPhone allows and at the same time be easy to create. A quick newsletter layout that has photos turn to video with one click or an entire slideshow rather than just the one image that fit. A story about a game that can have audio play in the background. A question field that can display answers from others in real time (i.e. who is attending the family reunion). Grandma and Grandpa should be able to simply tap a button and play the embedded photos on the iPad/iPhone like it is a picture frame. Media needs to be able to be served up to family around the world by people who can't tell you what HTML is. I know this is all easy to do with web technology (it is what I do for a living); but Apple has a history of making this easy for average people to do. I also know that much of this can be done in iWeb for a web site; but this is not a web site for the masses this is a simple newsletter "subscription" for families (one page at a time flip the pages, no need for "site" navigation). It is all about brining a new level of WOW to families and friends all while putting more WOW into a great new piece of hardware.

While the iPad device is taking off, assuming it will, this is the time for Apple to let average people make great content for friends and families. If you have already seen what the iPad/iPhone can do for family content will you not be more willing to consider paying money to have a subscription to National Geographic for iPad?

I wont even go into the fact that small businesses could use these same features to grow in a time when small business growth has never meant more to our economy.

This is just one example, of many, where Apple has the chance to make iPad/iPhone full multimedia content creation obtainable to the common man. And I think it will just help Apple in the end.

Just a thought.

I assume Apple is already ten steps ahead of me, I just hope in thinking big they have not forgotten to think small. I could also be off of my rocker and ranting about things people don't care about too... Sorry.

iPad for Photographers

When I work on a blog post I tend to search the web to be sure that someone else has not already written something very similar. This is another time where The Luminous landscape has taken the words out of my mouth.

I have been very open about the issues I see with the iPad, and while it has shortcomings it will change things as to how the average person reads books, newspapers, and magazines. So it changes how I, as a photographer, must be prepared to deliver content.

The full essay by The Luminous Landscape is here.

Enjoy