PaperLike for the 2018 Apple iPad Pro 12.9”

I just installed the PaperLike screen protector on my 2018 Apple iPad Pro 12.9” and all I can say is it is simply amazing.  It cuts down on the glare by 90-95% and I cannot see any finger print smigges on the screen.  It even feels different when touching the screen of the iPad Pro.  I don’t see any air bubbles when looking directly head on.  There are a few small ones when looking at the iPad from different angles. I will use my plastic cards to get rid of the air bubbles over time.  Even writing on the iPad Pro using the Apple Pencil 2 feels very realistic when compared to writing on paper.  All in all, it feels nice.

From the best month to the worst

So sales on Shutterstock completely tanked this month.  Compared to January of this year, sales in February are abismal.  Didn’t even make payout this month.  The only thing that saved me this month were two sales on Fine Art America.  You can click visit the site here.  I sell a lot of prints and other products that you can display wherever you wish.

In other news my contract with my employer is finished today.  I have tomorrow off but I’m supposed to start a new contract with the same employer on Monday.  We shall see what happens.  Tomorrow I want to buy an air mattress, two sleeping bags and two pillows for the summer for the 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe.  This summer I want to do a lot of camping on the weekends in the vehicle.  We will just need to buy a cooler for the food and drinks.  Otherwise we really don’t need a tent.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately that I want to quit the I.T. field and just focus on the photography.  Starting a YouTube channel maybe.  Definitely do a podcast.  I have the equipment and the software to do it so I don’t see a reason I can’t.  I have to increase my photography sales.  I want to write on my blog as well.  Get the blog more focused on the photography and the business side of photography.  Thankfully I have tomorrow off so I can do some more work and actually concentrate on the photography aspect of my life.

Niagara Falls in black and white

One of the many shots from the previous weekend.  Saturday was really nice.  Sunday turned out to be really windy with 125KM wind speeds.  A tour of a chocolate factory was in order instead.  Shot this with a Sony RX100 Mark VI.  And just used Apple Photos to do some light editing.  Not that much.  I hope you enjoy.

The only problem with the 2018 Apple iPad Pro

This weekend, my girlfriend and I visited Niagara Falls, Ontario.  I took my Sony RX100 Mark VI and my 2018 Apple iPad Pro with 512GB.  I shot a lot of photos and footage.  We got home around 7:30pm on Sunday.  I uploaded the pictures off of the SD card I use with my Sony RX100 Mark VI.  The iPad Pro, specifically iOS 12 cannot read the Sony file system.  It can get the pictures but not the video because most manufacturers store all the pictures in the DCIM folder.  Sony uses a different file structure.  I think from now on I will have to use my Canon Vixia HF G40 camcorder to shoot my video. I only shoot 1080p as I think 4K video is overkill.

I think my solution will have to either bring my Canon Vixia HF G40 with my tripod or buy a smaller Canon camcorder like the Canon Vixia HF R800.  I’m supposed to get a nice tax return next week hopefully so I’ll go to my favourite camera store here in Ottawa and pick it up.  It should be only $300-$400 to pick up a small camcorder like that.

On a complete side note, Niagara Falls is way overpriced as far as your stay and food.  Going to a restaurant is not worth it if you eat close to Niagara Falls.  A complete tourist trap.

No need for a laptop with the 2018 Apple iPad Pro

I can print from the iPad Pro.  I’ve even completed my taxes and sent them to the Canada Revenue Agency on the Apple iPad Pro.  I can edit my photos and my footage on the Apple iPad Pro.  I can pretty much do everything on the iPad Pro with carrying around a 5 pound laptop and all the other necessary hardware that you need with a laptop.

The battery life on the 2018 Apple iPad Pro is simply amazing.  I can go at least 12 hours without needing a charge.  And that’s going hard on the iPad Pro from editing photos and videos to watching YouTube on it.  I am really impressed with Face ID after being sceptical about it.  I had my doubts about FaceID working properly and slowly but it’s fast and reliable.  The 512GB hard drive is enough storage for myself since I pay Apple $12.99 a month for 2TB of backup storage.  

Apps are plentiful and most cost less than $10 and do what I need.  Affinity Photo cost less than $30 (one time purchase) and is a great Adobe Photoshop replacement.  LumaFusion is fantastic for less than $30 as well and replaces FCP X or any Adobe product.  I’m not a full time video editor or movie type so I don’t need all the bells and whistles.  I just use the iPad Pro for photo and footage editing for my small photography business and basically media consumption.

The Apple Keyboard Folio is great as well.  Keys are awesome and it feels well built.  It is no backlit which makes it hard sometimes in a dark place.  You know where to place your hands if you know how to type.  I was taught in high school way back in 1990 how to type so having a backlit keyboard is not that big of a deal for me.  The special functions keys are missing as well but I am not missing them whatsoever. 

Honestly the only thing that is missing is support for external hard drives.  I wish the iPad Pro did have another USB-C type port as I’d like to use more than one external device at a time.  Other than that, the 2018 Apple iPad Pro is a fantastic device.

The 2018 Apple iPad Pro is a computer replacement

I abosulutely love it.  It is truly an amazing device.  I have not needed to get onto a laptop since I purchased the 2018 Apple iPad Pro with the 512GB hard drive.  My only regret is not getting the 1TB hard drive with the 1GB of RAM version of the iPad Pro.  Over the past weeks I’ve purchased 4 dongles for my iPad Pro.  I’ve purchased the USB-C to USB-A dongle.  I actually bought two.  I bought the USB-C to headphone adapter so I can listen to music and I bought the USB-C to SD card adapter.  I also bought the Apple Pencil 2 along with the Apple Keyboard Folio which by the way is awesome.  It’s not back lit like other keyboards and it doesn’t have the function keys which I really don’t miss.  I thought Face-ID was a gimmick but once it’s setup it works flawlessly for all my apps and websites that I visit that have passwords.  I don’t even need to type in my passwords after the first time.  I like how Apple thought that out.

I have purchased apps for photo and footage editing.  Affinity Photo and LumaFusion are both amazing apps.  The rest of the apps were either free or or costing less than $6.00.  I can attach my Yeti mic to do podcasts.  Found a free podcast app today thanks to the Apple website.  Yes I am going to do podcasts.  I hate being in front of a camera so podcasts will do.  They will be short and will deal mainly with photography.   

I honestly don’t need a mouse.  I have eight fingers and two thumbs that I can use to write and touch the amazing screen on the iPad Pro.  For finer detail work in my photography of when editing my footage, I can use the Apple Pencil 2.  I don’t think I even need an external hard drive as I pay Apple $12.99 a month for 2TB of storage.  If need be I can always purchase a wireless 4TB hard drive from Western Digital

For my photography, I use a Sony RX100 Mark VI which I can attach through the supplied Sony USB cable and and a USB-C to USB-A adapter.  I can use the Apple USB-C to SD card for my footage shot with the Canon Vixia HF G40 camcorder.  There is absolutely nothing else that I need.  No laptop, no desktop.  The iPad Pro comes with me everywhere along with my Sony RX100 Mark VI.  I tell ya it’s a great combination for a single shooter type photographer.  The less I have to carry, the better.

I am one happy guy with the 2018 Apple iPad Pro.  I purchased the PaperLike screen protector which is in the mail and should be here soon.  Once that is applied to the iPad Pro, I will be secure in knowing that the iPad Pro is secured in practically every way.  I am so happy with this device.  

2018 Apple iPad Pro

I cannot be more happier than I am right now with the 2018 Apple iPad Pro.  I’ve been using it for almost three weeks now and I haven’t even thought of using my Windows 10 laptop or my Apple MacBook Pro.  The iPad Pro does everything I need from photo and video editing to writing my blog to any and all media consumption.

Even though it’s lacking external hard drive support, which I expect to come with iOS 13 or iOS 14, the iPad is magnificent.  The screen is a fingerprint magnet but I can clean it and once my Papermate comes in, in a few days that issue is to be resolved.  I don’t even miss my mouse as I either use my fingers or the Apple Pencil 2.  I use my fingers 99% of the time.  I bought the Apple keyboard folio and although it is not backlit and does not have any speciality keys like you get on a regular PC or laptop keyboard, I have not missed those keys whatsoever.

I have edited photos from my Sony RX100 Mark VI.  They get imported into Apple Photos and I can edit the photos in any application such as Affinity Photo, Snapseed or Pixelmator.  I use the Shutterstock app to upload said photos and I can even use Apple Safari if need be.  I haven’t shot any videos yet and I haven’t had an opportunity to edit short clips on the iPad yet.  This weekend, the girlfriend and I are headed to Niagara Falls, Ontario for a short trip away so I will be taking my Sony RX100 Mark VI with me to shoot photos and footage.  Editing video on the new iPad Pro should be interesting, if not new.  I will report on whatever happens when it happens.  

I may also start vlogging with the iPad Pro using the Camera App that comes with the iPad Pro.  I can attach my Yeti mic to the iPad and use it for audio recording.  I still hate appearing on camera as I do not feel comfortable on camera.  I really have to get over that

The 2018 Apple iPad Pro - Total computer replacement

I got the 2018 Apple iPad Pro about two and a half weeks ago now and I have not touched my early 2013 Apple MacBook Pro or my Microsoft Windows 10 gaming laptop since.  The iPad Pro does everything I need and faster.  Today after going to morning service with my girlfriend we decided to have lunch and go for an afternoon drive in the country since we haven’t done that in months.  I took my Sony RX100 Mark VI with me to do some quick side of the road photography.  

After coming home and changing I took out the SD card reader USB-C dongle I bought from Apple and inserted the SD card into the reader.  I plugged it into the iPad Pro via the USB connection.  And nothing.   No application opened up and nothing happened.  I unplugged the card reader from the iPad Pro and took out the SD card.  I replugged in the SD card reader and re-installed the SD card.  And nothing.  A quick online YouTube search and I have to plug the Sony RX100 Mark VI directly into the camera.  When I got the iPad Pro, I purchased a USB-A to USB-C converter.  I plugged my USB-A cable into the camera and into the USB-C to USB-A converter and voila.  On the Sony  line of cameras, you have to set the camera to be a mass storage device for the Apple iPad Pro to recognize the camera and SD card where the pictures are stored..

I have yet to try using my Canon Vixia HF G40 camcorder with the 2018 Apple iPad Pro but I am assuming that it’ll just as easy if not easier to import video files.  Yesterday I purchased 2TB of online storage with Apple as I plan to only use the iPad Pro for the foreseeable future.  I am hoping that iOS 13 will support external hard drives.  I a m so hoping for that.  I can actually do with out a mouse for the Apple iPad Pro.  The Apple Pencil 2 does the job of a mouse just fine.

The apps I use mostly are LumaFusion for video editing which I haven’t used yet.  I of course use Apple Photos to manage my photos along with Pixelmator, Affinity Photo and Google Snapseed to edit my photography.  To upload photos to Shutterstock I use Shutterstocks own app or if I have more than 100 photos to upload at one time I use FTP Client Pro to upload photos and footage to Shutterstock, Pond5 and Storyblocks.  For writing the blog I use BigTouch Pro.  For other documents like my resume I use Apples own Apple Pages.  For spreadsheets it’s Apple Numbers.  For music, it’s Apple iTuens of course.  Yes iTunes needs a rework but it suits my needs just fine so far.

The only downsides of the 2018 Apple iPad Pro are all the dongles and support for an external hard drive.  In hind sight I should have probably purchased the 1TB Apple iPad Pro.  I know there are other options out there for external storage like wireless hard drives and I probably will look into that at some point.  But right now storage is not an issue.

In conclusion, the 2018 Apple iPad Pro is just an amazing device.  It is not perfect but it’s close to being a full computer replacement for most people who just consume media, surf the net and check emails.  There are pretty much apps for everything.  For the every day mom and pop photographer, an iPhone and an iPad are pretty much all you will need.  Maybe some storage with Apple, Google, Dropbox, Amazon or another provider and you’re pretty much set.  The girlfriend and I are planning on traveling a lot this year so it’s much better for me to just carry around an iPad and one or two cameras.  Currently I am shooting with a Sony RX100 Mark VI, a Sony RX10 Mark II and a Canon Vixia HF G40.  For most photography I will be using the Sony RX100 Mark VI.  For time lapse, I can use the Sony RX10 Mark II.  For sit down stuff I can use either the Sony RX10 Mark II or the Canon Vixia HF G40.  All will work wonderfully with the 2018 Apple iPad Pro.  I cannot wait for the spring, summer and fall to come.

The perfect computer that really isn’t

The perfect computer that really isn’t a physical style like computer but is a computing device.  Of course I am talking about the 2018 Apple iPad Pro.  I’ve been using the 2018 Apple iPad for a week now as my daily driver to check and reply to emails, media consumption and photo and footage editing device.  I have not even touched my Windows 10 based PC or my early 2013 Apple MacBook Pro.

What I love about the iPad is the portability and accessabitilty.  It is always on and always with me.  I can be setup in less than 15 seconds.  Just pull it out of my carrying case and plop it onto a table.  I have all the apps that I could possibly want.  And the apps are totally inexpensive.  I think I pad $20 Canadian for Luma Fusion to edit footage.  I bought Affinity Photo for $29 for the iPad Pro.  Those are the most expensive apps that I’ve purshased for the iPad and they are all that I really need.  I bought some blogging software for $7.  I’ll have to buy an FTP app to upload footage to Shutterstock, Pond5 and Storyblocks.  The Apple Pencil 2 is now my mouse.  It’s exactly like a mouse except in a different form factor.   I can take my iPad Pro along with my Sony RX100 Mark VI with me anywhere and I can just blend in without carrying a huge DSLR and laptop with me.  Just my iPad and my pocket camera.

The downsides of the iPad is the dongle life and no support for external hard drives connected via USB-C.  Hopefully iOS 13 will at least fix the external hard drive problem.  You can already connect a 4K monitor to the iPad Pro   I really don’t want to connect to a WI-FI external hard drive.  While working with the iPad, I’ve found workarounds and solutions to the iOS 12 file system.  I haven’t tested my SD card holding my Sony RX100 Mark VI shots yet.  I plan to do that this weekend.  I’ve read somewhere Sony and the iPad file systems are incompatible but that’s just a rumour so far.  I want to test it out for myself.

Now time to go do some photography.

40+ centimetres of snow

This morning we woke up to 40+ centimetres worth of snow on the ground with a few more expected for today.  If I still had my 2015 Hyunday Elantra GLS, I’d still be digging myself out of my subdivision.  But because over a week ago, I purchased a new SUV I was able to get to work on time.  Actually I got here early.  I got the 2018 Hyunday Santa Fe Sport.  What a beast of an SUV.  Plowed through the snow with no problems.  Didn’t slide all over the place.  Just stuck to the road and the snow on it.  It just simple went and didn’t stop through a foot of snow.  It was great.

Since there is literally no one here at work, I think we’ll just go home early.  I want to go get my Sony RX100 Mark VI which I forgot at home this morning and I want to go do some photography with it.  Last night I uploaded 700+ photos to Shutterstock and I have to keyword and describe them right now.  So while I do that, you enjoy the great outdoors..  

An end to an era

It’s truly an end to an era for me.  I bought my first Apple product probably back around 2005 or 2006.  Since then, I’ve always had an Apple computer beside my iPhone or an iPad.  I’ve actually only had one Samsung product since about 2008.  I’ve always had an iPhone beside my MacBook Pro.  Now that I have the 2018 Apple iPad Pro with the 512GB hard drive, I no longer need the Apple MacBook Pro.  I bought it in early 2013 just before my now ex wife and I went on a trip to Prague.  Later in 2016 I bought the 5k Apple iMac.  Both computer served me well.  I sold the iMac back in January 2019 and now I’m looking to sell the 2013 MacBook Pro.  It’s a great computer, don’t get me wrong.  It’s got 16GB of RAM and an SSD hard drive.  It’s great at editing my 1080p/60fps footage and my photos that I shoot with the Sony RX100 Mark VI.  It does have a hard time editing 4K footage.  Considering it’s now 6 years old, I don’t think it can handle the 4K footage I’d be throwing at it if I was shooting 4K footage.

I still have a Windows 10 laptop that I bought back in November 2018.  I’ll be using that for printing and scanning my timesheets for work and doing my taxes.  But I think for 99% of my daily needs, I’ll be using my 2018 Apple iPad Pro.  I create and consume a lot of media.  I find that I can carry my iPad with me anywhere with my Sony RX100 Mark VI all in one bag and I can be setup in literally less than a minute.  The iPad is always on unless I’m doing an iOS install that needs a reboot.  Apps on the iPad don’t need to reboot the tablet like a program many need to reboot a laptop or a PC.  I haven’t ran the iPad the whole day yet as I’m at work pretty much the whole day.

The apps I currently run are Luma Fusion for footage editing and Affinity Photo for photo editing.  I also use Snapseed and Camera+ 2 in a pinch.  I use the Shutterstock app to upload any photos I shoot with my Sony RX100 Mark VI.  I actually haven’t even had a chance to test that out yet as work has been very busy the last few months.  

I’m currently sitting at a coffee shop writing this post on my iPad Pro just relaxing, writing and listening to music.  It is truly relaxing. Got the ear pods in and just typing away.  Not that I couldn’t do this with my MacBook Pro but this is just more convenient.  I just open up the iPad and open my app and start typing.  I have iTunes running in the background pumping out some cool tones that I relax to.  And considering I live in Canada, I’m sipping on some really warm Timmies steeped tea.  No coffee for this bad boy.

I am really impressed with the 2018 Apple iPad Pro and my Apple iPhone 8+.  I don’t think for most of my productivity on a regular day, I won’t need anything else.  My iPhone, iPad and Sony RX100 Mark VI and I’m all set.  I am truly mobile.  I don’t need to carry around a 4-6 pound laptop.  This iPad weighs less than 2.5 pounds.  I’m pretty sure, in the next ten years, Apple will make the iPad into just a clear sheet of glass that will bend.  On purpose.  ;) 

Blogging off the new 2018 Apple iPad Pro 12.9”

This will be my first blog post from the brand new 2018 Apple iPad Pro 12.9” with the 512GB hard drive and the 4GB of RAM. I can tell you that this thing is truly amazing. It is incredibly fast. It feels blazingly fast compared to my early 2013 Macbook Pro and my 2018 Asus Windows 10 laptop. I finally got the keyboard folio today. I went to the Apple store today again and asked if they had the keyboard folio and neither Apple store in Ottawa did. Best Buy doesn’t even have any keyboards available for the 2018 iPad Pro. I went to one of the local Staples stores and they had none either. They did mention that one of the other Staples stores half way across the city had two and that was the only Staples store in Ottawa to have any. I rushed to the Staples store in the South Keys neighbourhood to grab one. The iPad doesn’t come with anything except a USB C cable and a power brick. That’s it. I so far have purchased a dongle for my earphones which work with my external speakers. I had to buy a USB C to USB A dongle to attach my Blue Yeti mic which works flawlessly. I still need to buy an SD Card dongle so I can transfer my photos and footage from my Canon Vixia HF G40 and my Sony RX100 Mark VI point and shoot camera that I use for my photography business. Now I have to find a proper blogging software since this software I am using now is very limited in its abilities. Also I have to find some voice editing software to remove hiss and clicks from my sound files when I do voice overs for my videos when I actually start doing that. My desk is also littered with cables for these various attachments I have for the iPad Pro. The screen on this is absolutely amazing. The sound quality coming straight from the speakers are truly fantastic. It’s amazing the technology that is in the 2018 iPad Pro. The Apple keyboard is actually pretty good. I can get buy with it. I don’t mind that there is no true multitasking on the iPad Pro. I can actually concentrate on doing just one thing and not multitasking on a few things at once. The fact that there is no mouse is ok. The Apple pencil v2 does all that I need so far and more. I haven’t had a chance play with the Apple pencil yet as I’m still learning the ins and outs on the iPad Pro. The work flow is different for sure than working on a Macbook Pro or a Windows PC. The only limitation that I can currently see is that there is absolutely no support for an external hard drive. I am hoping that with iOS 13, support for external hard drives will happen as I only have the 512GB hard drive in the iPad Pro. Work wise, my contract with CMHC is coming up in 3 weeks and my boss is trying to get us into Shared Services Canada. I also have my name for a deskside support position with Global Affairs Canada which I am not fond off. I do hope we get into Shared Service Canada. I’m 99% sure my girlfriend will get into Fisheries and Oceans which means she’s staying in Ottawa. I still want to go out west to Calgary. I cannot stand Ottawa. I hate this province. I hate this city. I need to get out.

April 1st is coming soon

When you hire someone based on their skin pigmentation or there lack of, you are asking for nothing but trouble.  Hire someone based not on skill, work ethic, personality but rather the colour of their skin you're an idiot.  

I am looking forward to the last day of my current contract.  I started this contract back in April of last year.  It was good until this past January when the team took on a member that is arrogant, ignorant and totally uneducated.  He talks down to team members and clients.  He is technically illiterate yet is tasked with resolving technical issues.  The team has to correct his mistakes and hand hold him when showing him something new and doing it for a client.  The team has asked our supervisor to get rid of him as he holds the team back.

I do not run my photography business like this.  I need people that are technically savvy but can also deal with co-workers and especially my clients.  I need my people to know what they're doing but continually learn on the job and on their own time.  I vet my people properly and if they continually make mistakes, they are let go.

With this affirmative hire, politically correct crap I look forward to April 1st when I'm planning on moving out of Ontario to Alberta.  I do like Alberta.  It's so beautiful out there with really nice people.  No more leftists or a lot less of them.

Niagara Falls - Canadian side

Yes, the Canadian side of Niagara Falls is much nicer looking then the U.S. side.  The girlfriend booked a hotel in 3 weeks so we're going to Niagara Falls in the winter.  It's hopefully going to be warm but I doubt it with this polar vortex hanging around eastern Canada.  But it's only going to be the weekend and we'll be in the hotel for the most part.  It'll be nice to take pictures of the frozen falls and something that's not photographed much by anyone else as it's too cold.  

That's why I love the Sony RX100 Mark VI.  It's such a small and versatile camera which shoots fantastic footage and photographs.  It's actually a better camera when the person using it knows how to use it and take magnificent footage and photos.  I want to shoot the falls in 4k.

I think in the next week I will be buying the 2018 iPad Pro with the 1TB hard drive and the 6GB of RAM.  My early 2013 MacBook Pro can't handle 4k video files and my 2018 Windows computer doesn't have the software to edit video.  And I really don't want to spend money on the Windows laptop to upgrade the memory and second hard drive from a 5400RPM 1TB HD to a 1TB SSD.  I could also upgrade the RAM from 16GB to 32GB.  But I really don't want to spend another few hundred dollars on the laptop.

But yeah, I'm looking forward to shooting Niagara Falls and spending some time with the girlfriend.