This is hilarious

So I took another contract in I.T with the government.  Third day here and still no pass.  I have accounts and an email address.  My admin account is unusable as I can’t install/uninstall drivers, software, updates etc.  I have found the last 4 of 6 contracts to be a total sh!t show.  Third day here on the current contract and my boss took the day off.  Emailed him already and told him about my admin account and not having a building pass.  I can do the job if I have the tools.  No tools, no job.  I just can’t believe how disorganized everything is. 

If you have an iPad

If you have an iPad and are thinking about upgrading to the latest and greatest software from Apple, don’t.  Just don’t.  It’s a buggy mess.  I upgraded today thinking everything would be fine.  It’s not.  When I have Assistive Touch on for mouse support, half my keys on the Apple Keyboard Folio do not work.  All the keys from A to H work but from I to Z do not.  If I disable Assistive Touch, all the keys work.  I have a USB mouse attached to an external dock so maybe the setup is what’s causing the bug.  I ordered a Bluetooth mouse off of Amazon and it should be here in two days.  Suprisingly or not, Apple’ own Bluetooth mouse won’t work with iPadOS 13.1 which is very underwhelming and to be expected from Apple.  Also the software keyboard keeps coming up in various apps even when I disable it since I use the external keyboard.  Apple has some serious coding to do to repair a shit tonne of bugs.  I’m sure I’m not the only one who is having this issue, let alone other issues.

On a side note, the good things about iPadOS so far are that you can connect external hard drives and USB drives.  Just make sure they are formatted in APFS or your iPad won’t recognize them at all.  Once Apple fixes the mouse support, it’ll be very handy.  Some of the apps need to be updated so that we can import photos and footage directly from an external hard drive or an SD card.  That would be very useful.  That shouldn’t take more than a week or two for all the developers to get fixed.  

I do photography on the Sony RX100 Mark VI and VII.  RAW profiles are available for the Sony RX100 Mark VI but not for the VII like I was hoping for.  But with the new files system, I can at least access the footage files from the Sony RX100 Mark VII and store them on the external hard drive which is attached to the iPad Pro.  So still waiting for updates on that.

So if I were you, I’d wait until at least iPadOS 13.2 or 13.3 is released to the general public.  Until then, stay with iOS 12.4.1 or whatever you’re at now.  Let schmucks like me go through the trouble of updating our iPads early so we can go through the shit so you don’t have to.  

Edit:  The Apple Bluetooth mouse does work with iPadOS 13.1 but it screws up the iPad keyboard folio again.

Apple iPadOS is buggy as hell

So Apples iPadOS came out today and so far it's a disaster as far as my experience goes.   i use the external apple case with the keyboard.  half the keys don't work.  I have to use the on screen keyboard to type this since the eternal keyboard is pretty much useless.  Also the Apple bluetooth magic mouse doesn't work with the new operating system.  What a shit show Apple.

IOS 13 is out and it’s...

...meh.  Dark mode is nice and all and that’s about it.  Couldn’t get my Apple Bluetooth mouse to connect.  It just kept searching and searching and searching.  I don’t know I’d need mouse support on an iPhone.  The App Store app kind of a step backward.  It’s got the Arcade button at the bottom right.  I’m 44 years old.  Haven’t played games since I was 14 or 15.  So that for me is a step backward.  My iPhone 8 Plus feels a bit sluggish compared to iOS 12.  Thankfully iOS 13.1 is coming out in a few days so hopefully it’ll speed up my iPhone 8 Plus.  The camera app has been upgraded to offer more options for shooting.  I use Camera+ 2 for 98% of my iPhone 8 Plus photography.  I barely use my iPhone for photography.  Instead I use my Sony RX100 Mark VI and VII for 99.999999% of any photography and videography that I do.  So far, iOS 13 seems like a meh update for the iPhone anyways.  I’m still waiting for iPadOS to be released in 4 days.  I hope that iPadOS 13.1 will be released.  I hope my Sony RX100 VII will be supported. At least the photos would be supported with the new RAW engine updates.  

I just want to access SD cards from my iPad Pro so I can import footage from my Sony RX100 Mark VII so I can import them into LumaTouch.  I hate using WiFi to import footage clips from my external hard drive that uses WiFi.  It’s so damn slow.  I am really looking forward to the iPadOS so I can ditch my laptops, both Windows and Apple.  I love shooting 4K and photos on my Sony RX100 Mark VI and VII.  

So I’m just waiting on clearance for two contracts for my last I.T position in Ottawa.  In April 2020, I want to be in Calgary, Alberta.  I am so sick of Ottawa and Ontario.  I am so depressed right now just waiting for government security get my clearance processed.  It takes them so long.  What good a day or two a few years ago now takes weeks.  It’s not like I have a name that is so foreign.

My last I.T contract

Took on my last IT contract in Ottawa.  Haven’t started yet because Procurement is completely inept.  I’ve found over the last 4 years that working for the Canadian government is becoming a nightmare.  So much red tape.  So much BS in stopping you from where you want to go and what you want to do.  I’ve basically reached my braking point.

I’m starting my YouTube channel and getting to do more photography which I should’ve been doing anyways.  Yesterday I had some regrets in selling my Sony a7ii full frame camera and lens combo along with my Canon Vixia HF G40.  Today I’m realizing that I only need the Sony RX100 Mark VII.  I’m hoping Apple holds its release date of Apple iPadOS to September 30th which is in a few weeks.  I hope the OS update includes drivers for the Sony RX100 Mark VII since the current version of iOS does not recognize the photos or the file system.  I have two external hard drives attached to the 2018 iPad Pro which are currently inaccessible.  IPadOS will change that of course.

In March of 2020, our lease is up on the apartment and it’ll be time to move.  I’m moving out west regardless if my girlfriend comes or not.  I just can’t stand Ottawa anymore.  I can’t stand the weather here anymore. The summers are hot and the winters are cold.  The humidity sucks here in the summer.  The bugs don’t help either.  Calgary doesn’t have that which is fantastic.  Hopefully I’ll be able to support us or myself on photography and YouTube.  I hope.  

5000

5 years and 6 months later.  I made it to 5000 sales on Shutterstock.  Should have taken me less than year.  LOL  But I will take it.  I have 15,261 photos and 1,544 footage clips on Shutterstock.  I should have started shooting footage a lot sooner.  Footage makes up about a third of my sales as far as dollar value goes.  

My next big milestone I would like to reach in the next year or so is get my sales to $10,000 so I get the final raise on Shutterstock.  I'm earning $0.36 a photo right now.  It would go up to $0.38 for the most basic of photos.

Tomorrow is my 44th birthday so this is a nice present to reach.  Hopefully on my 45th birthday I'll be over the $10,000 mark and the 10,000th sale.   Wishful thinking I think.

Finally on Youtube

So I decided for a different format for my YouTube channel.  I hate being on camera so I will just combine all my photos and video clips and put them into a video.  I don't have any experience with film making so I will learn along the way.  I hope you join me https://bit.ly/2kGDsso.

Apple has become a joke

I’ve been using an assortment of Apple products for the past 15 years or so.  I started with a Mac Mini.  I upgraded the hard drive and RAM in that machine.  Now, you can’t upgrade anything since all the parts such as the RAM and hard drive are soldered onto the motherboard of every Apple computer from the iMac Pro to the new Mac Mini.  That’s just the computer hardware side of things.  The iPhone lineup is a joke as well.  Minimal upgrades every year it seems like.  This years new iPhone Pro or iPhone 11 Pro Max is a joke.  If I want a real camera, I’ll grab my Sony RX100 Mark VI or Mark VII.  I don’t even consider using my iPhone 8 Plus as my main camera.  The Sony RX100 Mark VI is the perfect travel camera I don’t even use the iPhone for anything but making phone calls and watching the occasional YouTube video.  My iPhone is a phone and and iPod.

The thing that irks me the most now is the software upgrades.  The Apple software is buggy and unstable.  Almost unreliable.  I was hoping that iPadOS would come out when iOS 13 for the iPhone came out on September 19th, 2019.  Nope.  It’ll take an extra week and a half for iPad OS to come out.  More beta testing is needed for iPadOS 13.1.  iPadOS 13 is more than likely not going to come out.  Us iPad Pro users will likely get iPadOS 13.1 on September 30th, 2019.  Luckily I still have my Asus ROG gaming laptop to edit photos and videos on.

On another side note, I start a new job on September 16th, 2019.  It runs till the end of December 2019 with a good chance of extension.  I’m hoping I get extended until March 31, 2020.  Then we just move to Calgary, Alberta.  I am so sick of Ottawa.  It’s so depressing living here.  I want to pay off some credit card debt and then take a week or two to get to Calgary in April 2020.  I cannot stand Ottawa anymore.

I’m studying and learning how to use Affinity Photo for the Apple iPad Pro.  I have it on my laptop as well but I’m finding that I am using the iPad Pro more.  With Apple iPadOS coming out at the end of the month, I’ll be able to use the iPad Pro for 100% of my work.  Hopefully Apple will upgrade the RAW drivers to include the Sony RX100 Mark VII so I’ll be able to use the Sony RX100 VII with the Apple iPad Pro.

My most popular photograph

I was in Banff, Alberta when I took this photograph: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/rocky-mountains-on-spring-day-615715556.  When I took the photo, I thought it was just a generic mountain shot.  The lighting was harsh since it was taken at mid day.  I did not like the photo in colour.  I converted it into black and white.  I uploaded it to Shutterstock and hoped that it would be at least accepted.  It was accepted a few days later and at that point I thought it would never sell.  At all.  Today it sold 3 times.  It's sold for a grand total of 225 times since April 2017 becoming my most popular photograph ever on Shutterstock.  I have it on my own website as well if you would like to purchase it and hang it on your wall:  http://josefpittner.photos/featured/14-the-rockies-josef-pittner.html.  This photo is the reason I want to go back to Alberta as soon as possible and get more shots like this.  I do miss the mountains of Alberta.  I miss being outdoors in the Rocky mountains.  I want to go to all the national parks in Canada and the USA that are located in the west.  I believe it is my calling.

Become a Shutterstock contributor

Want to earn a passive income with your photography, sign up to be a Shutterstock photographer.  I signed up to Shutterstock back in May 2014.  I started off with 7 out of 10 photos being accepted.  Trying to get accepted was a lot harder back then, than it is now.  Currently you have have to have 1 out of 10 photos accepted.  I had to get 7 out of 10.  It took me a while to get accepted.  Back then I thought my photography was great.  In focus with no noise at all.  It took me a while to figure out what Shutterstock wanted.  Almost six years later, I have over 15,500 photos accepted and over 1,500 footage clips accepted.  I regularly make payout which is not hard to do.  Just sell $35 worth of photography or footage.  If you sell one clip a month, you'll make payout easily.  I think I haven't make payout once in the last 4 years or so.  You can sign up by clicking on this link https://submit.shutterstock.com/?ref=1070795.  It will take you to the Shutterstock website and all you have to do is create an account, upload some ID and then start uploading.  I've submitted photos from various cameras including my old Samsung Galaxy s7 Edge, my current Apple iPhone 8 Plus.  I also have pictures taken with a Canon EOS 350D which is an old camera by todays standards.  Equipment does not matter anymore it seems.  Just start.

Wow Apple,that was really...

...underwhelming.  Arcade, Apple Watch, new bands, retail?  New Apple iPhone 11 and the Apple iPhone 11 Pro?  I don’t use my phone for the majority of my photography, let alone shoot my footage.  I was hoping for more information on new laptops, the Mac Pro, iPadOS, iOS13.  But nothing.  Just new phones and services I have no interest in.  I am so disappointed with Apple right now.  No information or updates on iPadOS.  Nothing.

I was going to do a livestream of myself reacting to the September 10, 2019 event.  I’m glad I didn’t.

Just read on Macworld.com that iPadOS will be available September 19th.  A week from this Thursday.  IOS 13.1 will be available on September 30th, 2019 which is pretty specific for a dot one release.  Why couldn’t Apple say this in their presentation?  I want a fully functional 2018 Apple iPad Pro.  IOS 12 is a disaster.  IPadOS is much more feature rich and it’ll make the iPad Pro usable.

Edit:  iPad OS 13 will be available on September 30th of this year with iPad OS 13.1 being available the same day.  WTF Apple?  This is really confusing.  IOS 13 will be available on September 19th for the iPhones.  God!!!!! Another 20 days with iOS 12.4.1!!!!!!  I so wanted to only use my 2018 Apple iPad Pro with iPadOS 13 ASAP.

It’s happening again

So I’ve been looking for another job for the past few weeks.  Could not find anything at all.  Now I’m getting multiple calls for contracts.  Today I got three calls asking if I was available.  Of course I am.  The one job from SSC sounds interesting.  They’d fly me out to the maritimes for a week or so and out to Vancouver.  If I get his job, I’ll of course be bringing you Sony RX100 Mark VII and my 2018 iPad Pro.  

I just hope that Apple will release the new iPadOS by then.  I don’t like using my Windows 10 laptop.  It’s not bad but it’s just the form factor that I do not like.  I used my Canon Vixia HF R800 this morning to do a sort of introductory and RX100 Mark VII review.  I can actually import the HF R800 footage onto my iPad Pro and work on it in LumaTouch.  I just have to go home and upload the video.  I have 20 megabit upload at home which is about 10 times faster than the Timmies WIFI.  I did not know that the Canon Vixia HF R800 footage would import onto the iPad Pro.  Learn new things every day.  Now I have to learn how to use LumaFusion on the iPad Pro.  Too bad I can’t import the Sony RX100 Mark VII footage onto the iPad Pro yet.

I hope, I hope I get one job so I can pay off my credit card debt by March of 2020.  I don’t want to be in Ottawa anymore.  I totally miss being out in Calgary and the mountains.  It’s such a different lifestyle out there then it is here in boring Ontario.  

DJI Mavic Air

So now that I’ve got the perfect camera setup for me with the Sony RX100 Mark VII, I’m looking at getting an upgraded drone.  I currently have the DJI Spark.  It’s an ok drone.  It’s really a starter drone that you can learn on.  It shoots 1080p video at 30fps and it only does JPEG photography.  I shoot all my photos in the RAW format for greater control.  I also want to start doing 4K footage from a drone.

I have been watching a lot of aerial shots of the Rocky Mountains on YouTube.  Before I go out west for good, I want to get a better drone.  I have decided on the DJI Mavic Air.  If you like some of my photography, please purchase a print at my print site by going to josefpittner.photos. That would be greatly appreciated.

I made a mistake

When I got the Sony RX100 Mark VII a few weeks back, I ordered the mic which I thought was correct.  It was not.  Found the correct one, purchased it yesterday and it arrived  today.  Thank you Amazon Prime.  Will be sending the incorrect one back on Monday.  The new Mic works wonders.  :)

I miss the Rockies

I miss the mountains.  I was in Calgary, Alberta back in 2017 for work for the National Energy Board.  Came back in July 2017 and since then I've had a need to go back.  I miss the mountains.  I miss the lakes.  I miss the rivers.  I miss the forests.  I miss the mountains.

Yes, I'd miss stuff in Ottawa.  Friends and stuff.  Going to Parc Omega occasionally.  I think I've only been there a few times this year.  It's basically gotten to the point where it's unphotographable with all the fencing and the new design of the park.

I need to be out west.  Like yesterday.

I don't like being in front of a camera

I really don't like being in front of the camera lens.  I really don't.  I'm very self conscious.  I don't like the sound of my voice, let alone how I look.  I'm 43 years old.  I should not be this self conscious.  Especially in 2019.  I'm not a high school teenager anymore.  I went out today to do a video blog today for YouTube.  Unfortunately the little mic I bought off Amazon was the wrong one so no audio at all.  First world problems.  Ordered the correct one when I got home.  Should be here tomorrow.  Thanks free Amazon Prime.  😇

Patreon

Signed up to Patreon here.

Photo sales suck

Last month I only sold two footage clips for a whopping $79.20 and photo sales were a measly $41.62.  August sucked and September is looking like it's not getting any better.  This makes me hesitant to go out full time to be a full-time photographer.  I have 15,258 photos and 1,544 footage clips on Shutterstock.  On Pond5, I have 1528 clips and 2024 photos.  On Storyblocks, I have 2,148 items from photos and video clips.

I have a really, really strong urge to do the travelling photographer bug.  I've had it since about 2014.  I really, really want to do it but I have a fear of not being able to support the travel.  I want to travel full time in my 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport AWD SUV.  I want to do it in Canada and the United States full time.  I'm going to have a hard time in the States because of not having a work visa or a green card.  I will have to do a lot of research on how people support themselves on the road while travelling.  

If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

I forgot I have a...

...DJI Spark drone that I can fly.  Time to go out and fly the drone.  Take some ariel shots and some ariel footage.  I haven't flown the drone in months.  I think it's time.

Fireworks with the Sony RX100 Mark VII

Used some Sony software to edit these shots of the fireworks I took on August 21, 2019 with the Sony RX100 Mark VII.  I've uploaded them to all my portfolios such as Shutterstock, Pond5 and Storyblocks.  Hopefully they'll be approved soon and will be available for sale.  It was windy that night so all the fireworks were being blown to our left.  It added to the perspective for sure.

Finally pushed over the edge

I have been pushed over the edge.  I've been pushed to do the photography full time now.  After 19 years of doing the I.T. career thing, I'm done with it.  It no longer makes me happy.  Actually, I haven't been happy with it for about 4 years now.  

Back in October of 2010, I was diagnosed with testicular cancer.  That was a shock.  I had my first surgery in November 2010.  I had my surgery on a Wednesday.  The following day, I got a phone call from the agency that I was working for at the time that my employer no longer needed my services.  A few years later, I came to find out my boss, whom I worked for for 2.5+ years thought I did nothing anyways.  Her words.  Why keep me for 2.5+ years if I did nothing?  Had my second surgery in August of 2011 because the cancer had come back into my lymph nodes behind my stomach.  I was on the table for 9 hours being dissected like a pig.  I was told to basically stay home from November 2010 to September 2011 when I was going through the cancer battle.  

From April 2010 to May 2012, I was taking photography classes at Algonquin College.  From November 2010 to September 2011, I was battling cancer, chemotherapy and finally my 9 hour surgery.  I missed once class during this time.  The only reason I didn't go to that class was because I was stuck in a hospital bed.  I was in the hospital for 5 days.  I hated those 5 days with a passion.  I could not even wipe my own ass because I was being pumped with pain drugs.  They finally let me go because I could finally take a crap.  It took me three or four weeks to recover at home.  My license was suspended and my then wife had to go to work.  I was basically stuck at home alone with my dog which wasn't that bad having a perfect golden retriever at home with me.

All through that one year, the only thing that kept me was my photography and my dog.  My soon to be ex-wife was a complete bitch.  So was her mother.  Come 2015, I finally got a divorce.  Best thing ever.  Through cancer and my divorce, photography kept me going.  I miss my dog too.  

I am having a really hard time in 2019 again.  The last couple of contracts have been a farce.  Basically I come to do a certain job and it's the polar opposite of what I'm supposed to be doing.  The people I worked with were uncaring, unsympathetic bleep bleeps.  Keeping it PG here.  I'm basically done with the whole I.T. thing in Ottawa.

The only good thing about doing the I.T. thing is that in 2017, just as I was starting to date my current girlfriend, I got a short contract in Calgary, Alberta for 4 months.  That is when I fell in love with Calgary, Alberta and the mountains.  Since then, I've been wanting, needing to go back.  I can't stand it here in Ottawa anymore.  The weather and people suck.  No one will give you a chance.  You need to have 5-10 years experience before you're given a chance to prove yourself.  Even with nineteen years worth of experience in I.T, I have either too much or too little experience in doing something.

I really want and need to move out west to Calgary or somewhere close to Calgary and do landscape, nature, wildlife photography full-time.  I know it's going to be hard.  It's going to mean long hours but I've been through worse.  Damn, I beat cancer.  If cancer can't stop me, nothing else will.

If you're a photographer out in Alberta and you need help, hit me up.  Message me through the blog here or email me at joe @ joeknows.photos.  I'm a good guy.  My photography is pretty good I think.  It could always be better.  I could always sell more on Shutterstock, Pond5 or Storybooks.  I'm a good guy and a hard worker.  Just don't screw with me.  I hold grudges.  For a long, long time.  LOL

Apple and Microsoft need updates

Both Microsoft and Apple need to release their Digital Raw updates to support new cameras that have come out onto the market in the last month or so.  Apple is hopefully releasing their new iPadOS, their iPad Pro centric OS in the next two weeks.  I have the new Sony RX100 Mark VII camera and I can't use any of the pictures yet because they're not supported in any of the software such as Apple Photos on the iPad Pro or ON1 Photo RAW 19.5 running on Windows.  I've had the camera for 2.5 weeks now and it's basically unusable for me on the iPad Pro.  I can grab the videos from the RX100 VII and import them into Wondershare's Filmora 9.  I really just want to actually start using the camera at 100% of its capabilities  Hopefully all the necessary updates will be released in the next couple of weeks.

Photography equipment

Throughout the past decade or so, I’ve used various photography equipment to take various photos,  If you look at my Shutterstock portfolio, you will not be able to tell what camera body and lens took what photo or piece of footage.  Camera equipment is now ubiquitous.  I’ve been photographing the world around me for over 10 years now.  I’ve used various camera bodies and lenses from various manufacturers such as Sony and Canon.  The best camera I’ve ever used is the one I carry with me all the time.  No it’s not an Apple or a Samsung phone.  Although I’ve used them for some of my micro stock agency work and I’ve sold a few iPhone photos, the majority of my photos have come from a DSLR or the Sony RX100 line of cameras.  Back in 2017, when I was in Calgary for an I.T contract, I sold all my Canon DSLR equipment and went fully Sony Hybrid cameras. Particularly the Sony RX10 Mark II.  I did not want to lug around 25-30 pounds of equipment on my back while on a 20km hike through the Canadian Rocky Mountains.

It’s not the equipment you use.  Equipment gets upgraded by manufacturers monthly who come out with new features in their cameras.  Through out my 10 plus years of being in the industry, I’ve gone from the Canon Rebel line of cameras to full frame Canon bodies and Canon f2.8 lenses to just using a Sony RX100 Mark VI point and shoot camera.  Yes, the Sony RX100 VI and VII cost $1600 Canadian.  I fell victim to the “I have to have the latest and greatest” philosophy to compete with the neighbour.  I’ve had other photographers come up to my while I’m shooting with just the Sony RX100 Mark VI and tell me that I absolutely need this camera body with this lens combination to get the perfect shot.  They tell me the Sony RX100 VII is not a real camera because it can’t do this like their “pro” camera.  If you think you’re pro because you have this camera/lens combination, you are not a pro.  You’re just some guy or girl who has this camera/lens combination.  I’ve seen photographers run circles around other photographers with an Apple iPhone while these pro photographers use a 45 megapixel body with a 200-600MM lens that cost $14,000.  

A camera is just a tool like a hammer or saw.  It’s the person using that tool that makes the difference.  Always has been.  Always will be.  If you go to my Shutterstock portfolio, you will not be able to distinguish what camera and lens combo shot what photo.  And in the end, you won’t care.  As of right now, I have 15,255 photos and 1,544 clips on my Shutterstock portfolio.  All shot with different equipment.  If you’re looking for a photographer right now and they tell you that they have the latest and greatest equipment, tell them it doesn’t matter what they have.  Ask them if they know how to use it.  You’re hiring the photographer, not the equipment.