Category Archives: Vest

Flickr

Flickr used to be one of the most popular imaging websites, but then it began to falter a little bit. It hoped to make a bit of a resurgence when there was the big to-do (which was really much to do about nothing) about Instagram changing their privacy policies to match Facebook’s privacy policies. Flickr introduced their own Phone App complete with, you guessed it, filters.

Flickr had the advantage over Twitter in actually being an imaging website, but I think their foray into the filter world is actually worse.

The Flickr app does come with its own camera, which is decidedly worse than most default phone camera apps. So thankfully, it does give you the option of choosing between their camera or your default camera. However, part of the problem with the Flickr app is that its navigation is so painful. If you want to upload a photo to Flickr that already resides in your gallery, you can’t do that from the main screen. You have to navigate to their camera, and then select one of the options on the camera screen. This seems like a ridiculous way to do things.

The Flickr camera has next to zero control options.


You can change flash setting and change the aspect ratio of your picture from a rectangle to a square. That is really it. No zoom. No exposure controls at all.

Another drawback of the app is that their filter names don’t give you any kind of clue what it is that they are going to do to your image until you select them. They are inexplicably named after cities:

  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Cairo
  • Java
  • Miami
  • NYC
  • Paris
  • Rome
  • Sydney
  • Tokyo

 

I know this sticks with a theme of Flickr’s but it is still somewhat frustrating. Something that makes it even more frustrating is that it is extremely slow in applying the filter effects. My phone as one of the most robust processors on the market and it still takes several seconds to apply the filter. An eternity if I’m just trying to quickly capture an “artistic” phone rendering of a tenderloin in St. Olaf, Iowa.

One other drawback is that there are no other editing features besides filters. No cropping. No auto-“enhancing”, of images.

A look at the filters:


No Filter. No Auto-enhance.
No Filter

Beijing
Beijing

Berlin
Berlin

Cairo
Cairo

Java
Java

Miami
Miami

NYC
NYC

Paris
Paris

Rome
Rome

Sydney
Sydney

Tokyo
Tokyo

It isn’t all negative with this app though. Flickr does save the images at a decent size of 1632×1224. It will simultaneously upload your image to Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr. It will also let you share your image via email. Which is a nice little addition.

Flickr also is pretty nifty at navigating around their website from inside the app. That is probably the app’s biggest strength is navigation and not in creation.

Instagram Checkup

Now might be a good time to check in to my Instagram feed.

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen these all before.
If you follow me on Twitter, you’ve seen these all before.
If you follow me on Flickr, you’ve seen many of these before.
If you follow me on Foursquare, you seen a few of these.
If you follow me on Facebook, you’ve see a few of these as well.


Not sure where next week’s Wednesday randomness will take us.

365 Day Photo Project: 127-133

Christmas-type pictures have proven more difficult for me than I would have imagined. Last week’s collection:


Day 127 - Something You Held
Day 127 – Something You Held

Day 128 - Bokeh Christmas Tree
Day 128 – Bokeh Christmas Tree

Day 129 - A Grinch
Day 129 – A Grinch

Day 130 - Holiday Reflection
Day 130 – Holiday Reflection

Day 131 - Outdoor Lights
Day 131 – Outdoor Lights

Day 132 - Candle Light
Day 132 – Candle Light

Day 133 - Out and About
Day 133 – Out and About

I should point out two things:

1. Vest isn’t really a grinch, just a dynamite actor.
2. The people who get to see me next Friday are very lucky people.

Next week’s themes:

Day 134 – In a Tree
Day 135 – Sweet
Day 136 – Hat
Day 137 – Lights
Day 138 – A Mustache
Day 139 – An Ornament
Day 140 – Something You Made

Personal Photo Project of the Week #99

I only had time last year to make a handful of calendars. If you didn’t get a calendar this year, I am sorry. I only had one left and I gave it to Nader because he actually called and asked for one. If somebody begged I suppose I could print another one off, but who would want a calendar that is almost 25% useless?

Here are the images from this years Photography 139 Calendar:



Front Cover


January


February


March


April



June


July


August


September


October


November


December

As usual, Mike Vest helped finish up the calendars with his hole punching and binding skills. Thanks Mike!