IOS 14.3 and ProRaw photography

 

Cold and windy outside.  High of just minus thirteen degrees Celsius today.  Took a few quick shots of the Air and Space museum located in Ottawa today.  I used the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max using iOS 14.3.  This is the baked in app on the iPhone.  Shot with the Camera app using the ProRaw option.   Absolutely love doing photography just with the iPhone.  No lugging around a camera body and huge lens.  The ability to shoot in Raw natively in the Camera app on the iPhone is very freeing.  Today was windy and cold.  Lasted maybe a few minutes outside.

All I need now for my landscape photography is my iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPad Pro.

It has started

 

So yesterday I grabbed my tripod and my newly acquired Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max with the 512GB of internal storage and went out for a short photo walk.  I photographed the Parliament buildings, the Supreme Court of Canada building and the National Arts Centre.  On my way back to the parking garage, I caught the above shot.  The building is part of the World Exchange Plaza located in downtown Ottawa.  Yesterday was a cool and brisk day.  I think the high was around -4 degrees Celsius with some wind.  I am totally impressed with the quality of the camera on the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max.  The HDR photos and video are simply stunning.  This photo was taken at about 3:30pm with a setting sun in the west.  I think today is supposed to be the same in the afternoon so I’ll just go around the Ottawa downtown core and just do some handheld photography with the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

The video sizes are simply immense coming from the iPhone 12 Pro Max.  On Saturday, the fiancee and I went up for drive up to the Ottawa Valley.  I decided to use the Filmic Pro app on my iPhone and do a whole video of driving from Arnprior to Ottawa.  The 50 or so minute drive was about a 50GB file.  This is the reason I got the 512GB storage option on the iPhone.  It also took a while to Airdrop the file from the iPhone to my iPad Pro.  The iPad Pro handled the 50GB HDR video file a champ.  It’s on my YouTube channel if you want to check it out.  Here is the link.

The malls are empty

 I’ve been picking up accessories for my new Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max this past week.  I’ve gone to one of the larger malls located in the west end of Ottawa this past week.  The mall is 90% empty.  There is maybe 10% of the people that are typically there.  It’s still a few weeks before Christmas but this particular mall and all the other malls in Ottawa are typically full of people.  But this year, all the malls are void of people.  You had a few thousand people in the malls at this time last year.  This year, it’s less than a few hundred.  There is hardly anyone there.  I went to this particular mall around 3:30pm on a Wednesday and Thursday night and it’s empty.  No one is doing any in person shopping.  The Apple store located in this mall is pretty empty.  You have maybe 20 employees if that and you got people lining up outside because they have one or two people at a time.

The rona virus is making people miserable and mean.  I think this is another reason I want to get out of Ottawa and Canada actually.  They say Canadians are nice and all, but in fact they are the complete and total opposite.  Just mean, grumpy a-holes for the most part.

On a brighter note, the above shot was taken with my new Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max with the ultra wide lens.  For me now, there is no point in carrying around my Canon PowerShot G7X Mark III or my Sony a7R Mark II.  I don’t think I’ll be using my camcorders either.  Next week, I’ll have more time after work to do some more photography and testing out the new iPhone for photography and videography.  I fortunately have the last two weeks of December off because the department is really slow and there aren’t that many people at work anyways.  Actually there aren’t any people in my building at work at all.  There are more security and cleaning staff than actual government employees.  

My fiancee and I are going to the Greater Toronto Area during Christmas to visit my fiancees sister.  So the iPhone 12 Pro Max (512GB storage edition) will be coming with me.  I think we’ll be hanging around Niagara Falls and the downtown core.  I’ll take my Sony a7R Mark II with me just in case.  It’s still a good camera for night time photography because of the full frame sensor.  We shall see.

So just one more thing

 

So I have one more thing to pick up today at the Apple store at the Bayshore shopping centre.  It’s the Apple wireless charger for my Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max with the 512GB internal storage option.  Then off to do photography with just the iPhone 12 Pro Max.  

With the iPhone, my photography style will change I think.  I’m going to be going more stealth mode inside shopping malls and office buildings.  Hopefully, if they get approved on Adobe Stock (probably not), they’ll start selling.  Those pesky property releases are a pain in the butt.  

I am also hoping iOS 14.3 comes out soon as well.  Can’t wait for the ProRaw option on the iPhone 12 Pro Max.  Raw files allow you to better edit your photography.  Gives you more options to edit your photography.  I’m hoping Apple Photos will be updated to handle the ProRaw files on my 2018 Apple iPad Pro.  

2021 has to be much better than 2020.  2020 is total gong show.  This year has totally sucked travel wise, freedom wise and every other thing.

iPhone photography. Just iPhone photography

 

I am thinking of selling off all my photography gear like my Sony a7R Mark II, my Sony FDR AX-53B, Canon Vixia G50 and my Canon Powershot G7X Mark III.  I haven't touched any of them in weeks since I don't like to carry so much equipment with me.

When Apple release iOS 14.3, all Apple iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max shooters will be able to shoot in Raw mode.  That is a huge improvement for iPhone photography.  I do mainly landscape photography right now along with cityscapes.  I hardly do any night time photography or early morning photography.  The iPhone 12 Pro Max has excellent lenses on the phone and they're only to get better.  I have enough storage on the phone and the iPad Pro that it won't be a hinderance at all.  I have the phone with me all the time.  I don't carry around the big cameras.  

I don't do photography people or animals.  I don't do any studio work.  Mostly I am outside in nature.  It will also help with the minimalism type of life style I'm developing.  By spring of next year I want to be out in western Canada and away from the miserable and bleak landscape of Ottawa and eastern Ontario and western Quebec.

I've noticed with the iPhone 12 Pro Max I hardly use the battery.   I use maybe 30% of the battery with all day use listening to music, checking emails and watching YouTube videos.  I am so engrained in the Apple eco-system, it's hard for me to leave.  My current 2018 Apple iPad Pro with the 512GH internal hard drive and the 12.9" screen is a fantastic complement to the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

I want to start creating more and more YouTube videos to sell my existing photography on the various micro stock sites and my own site.  The iPhone 12 Pro Max will definitely be useful for that.

Finally got everything I need

 So I got the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max with the 512GB of internal storage which is more than enough to shoot 4K/60FPS video.  It's also more than enough to do a lot of photography with the phone.  Yesterday I bought the Apple 12 Pro Max Clear case with Magsafe.  This case allows me to connect my external Shure MV88 microphone without any obstruction.  

The bad thing over the last couple of weeks is that the weather here in Ottawa has been a total crapshoot.  It's either raining or snowing.  It's been cloudy for pretty much everyday for the past month or so.  I think we've had maybe one or two somewhat sunny days here since October.  Up until 2 weeks ago, we had what's called a Bermuda warm front come through Ottawa so we had several nice warm days.  Now, not so much.  It's been just above 32 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and below freezing at night.  

When I leave for work at 7am, it's dark and when I go home at 4pm it's dark.  I hardly take breaks and my lunch is short.  So getting out do do any photography during the day is pretty much non existent.    I am not making any excuses but I've been off work since April 1st till the end of October.  So I kinda value my job for the income.  I'm going to do more photography now and I'll be doing YouTube videos as well.

iOS 14.2 is pretty solid and stable.  Just waiting for iOS 14.3 to come out as the native camera app will be able to support proRAW natively on the iPhone 12 Pro Max.  Currently I am using Camera+ 2 as my main photography app.  For video, I'm using the Filmic app.  All are pretty easy and functional apps to use on the iPhone.

Everything is edited on my 2018 Apple iPad Pro with the 12.9" screen and 512GB worth of storage.  Plus I have 4TB of iCloud storage which is pretty sweet.  This is the whole reason I cannot or will not leave the Apple eco-system.  I'm just too far ingrained and used to the Apple eco-system.  I just want to go out and shoot with the iPhone.  

I really want to go shooting with the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max

really want to go do some photography and capture some footage with the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max.  I ordered the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max on November 15, 2020 and got it on November 28, 2020.  It was supposed to take 3-4 weeks to get to me.  Luckily I got it in 2 weeks as I was able to pick it up at the FedEx depot near the Ottawa International Airport.  Didn’t get a chance to go yesterday as I was at my parents place for dinner as they are flying into Florida this coming Wednesday.  Today is Monday and I’m stuck inside a boardroom all day at work.  From the looks of the weather radar, it’s raining pretty hard outside.  I usually get out of work between 2 and 4.  The weather is gonna suck for the rest of the day as it’s supposed to rain pretty much all day.  I have plans to use the iPhone 12 Pro Max as my primary device for photos and videos.

I might actually just go home and shoot a talking head type video.  I do not like doing the talking head videos.  I’d rather be behind the camera.  Actually after work, I have to go to one of the two Apple stores here in Ottawa and see what I can get for my old Apple iPhone 8+.  Probably not gonna get a whole lot for it from Apple.  Probably about $210 or so.  That should get me a few things on an Apple gift card.  I need a new case where the bezel is free so I can connect my mic properly.

I've been only shooting with the iPhone 11 Pro Max (64GB)

 The weather has been miserable here in Ottawa for the past 2 weeks or so.  We've gotten another dump of snow this week. I haven't touched my Sony a7R Mark II or any of my camcorders in about 2 weeks.  I've been using my Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max (64GB) for all of my photography in the past two weeks.  I carry my iPhone with me everywhere I go.  I use to obviously keep contact with my family, my fiancee and work.  I'm currently listening to some music via my phone and my brand new AirPods Pro earphones.  That is another story for another day.  I don't know yet how I feel about the AirPods Pro.  They sound great in the ear.  The noise cancellation is fantastically amazing.  But back to photography.

There are multiple reasons why I upgraded to the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max with the 512GB of internal storage.  First, is the storage.  My current phone has on 64GB of internal storage.  For a Pro designated phone, it should come with a minimum of 256GB of storage and have the options of 512GB and 1TB of storage.  My new phone will have 512GB of storage which is enough storage to store all my music, documents, photos and videos that I plan on shooting.  Eventually I will run out of space on my phone, iPad and iCloud.  But not if I manage the storage with some logical thought.  For vlogs, I'm going to be deleting whatever footage I get after the vlog is updated to YouTube.  I will also be uploading the B roll to Pond5 or Adobe Stock for sale, if they get accepted.  

The phone will shoot 4K/60fps video.  On my current phone, I'd shoot for 30 minutes and I'd run out of storage.  Yes 30 minutes is a long time for video but when you don't have access to Wi-Fi or external storage, 30 minutes is not a long time.  512GB should be good enough to get the shot or video.  I'll be editing everything on my 2018 Apple iPad Pro with 512GB of storage.

I've been looking at videos of Apples own M1 based laptops and computers.  They seem to be very impressive.  Even the Macbook Air.  I want portability and all day battery life.  I get that with my current iPad Pro and I'll get it with the new iPhone 12 Pro Max.  

I think within the next 2-3 iterations of the iPhone, most DSLR and Point and Shoot cameras will be obsolete.  Most Point and Shoot cameras are obsolete now.  Along with P&S cameras, most camcorders are obsolete for public consumption.  99% of kids and adults have either an iPhone or an Android phone.  The phone operating system and hardware will just keep getting better and better.  As a photographer myself, I keep changing equipment every couple of years.  My current equipment will stay with me for quite a while I think just because it's so capable to meet my needs as a photographer and videographer.  

The iPhone 12 Pro Max with iOS 14.3 will give me the ability to shoot in ProRaw which will give me 25MB files.  That's more than enough information in the photo to play around with.  I just wish the phone came with a 70-200MM type lens for those close up shots.  Eventually I think Apple will be able to do that through software and hardware.  By then, mirrorless and DSLR cameras will not be needed and everyone will just carry around a phone with them.  

You can pretty much do 99% of stuff you need to do on a phone and a tablet.  Soon you'll be able to properly code on an iPad.  Laptops and desktops will eventually not be needed and everyone will be walking around with just a phone and iPad type tablet.  With 5G added to all new devices, we won't even need Wi-FI.  That's if the data plans increase and prices continue to fall.  Unless you're in Canada where cell phone plans continue to increase in price.

It is time for some minimalism

 

I don't photograph weddings.  I don't photograph people.  I tend to just photograph the world around me.  Cityscapes, landscapes, wild life.  Anything but people in general.  I'm usually in bed by 10pm.  Up in the morning at around 6am.  I have not touched my Sony a7R Mark II in weeks.  I have not touched my Sony or Canon camcorders in much longer.  Not that I have lost my interest or love with photography.  I've been back to work now for several weeks now.  It's just hard to bring all that equipment with you all the time.  I've ordered the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max with the 512GB of storage.  I literally bring my phone with me everywhere.  It's either in my pocket, my hand or right beside me.  I think the iPhone 12 Pro Max with the 512GB of storage will be the right device for me.

I need a severe location change.  I am so unhappy here in Ottawa.  Not that Ottawa isn't a great city.  It is.  It's very beautiful here in the summer and winter.  You can be in the country within half an hours drive in any direction.  There's a lot to do if you have a family.  I've been here for 37 years.  I've done all there is to do in Ottawa.  I've photographed most of it.  I've seen it all.  I need a location change.  I need to move out west to Calgary or even further west.  But east of British Columbia.  B.C is very expensive.  And as nice as B.C is in pictures, the people are not for me.  Not that I'm not a people person, I would rather just be by myself with my camera out in the mountains or by a lake in the mountains.

I think after this contract is finished in March 2021, I'll head out west.  I don't mind doing the camping thing in the SUV for weeks at a time.  I just would need the Canada/U.S border to open up in the winter so I could go down to the States to do photography.

I think once I get the iPhone 12 Pro Max and start using it for my YouTube channel and if the channel grows as I hope it does, I can just live off the YouTube and photography money.  I don't do the donation thing.  I would rather people buy my photography and support me that way.  I want someone to get something of value instead of just giving me money.  I would rather live off my work than live off someone else's hard earned money.

The most popular iPhone in history

I have gone to two Rogers stores and a few Best Buy stores and they cannot keep the new 2020 Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max with the 512GB internal storage on their shelves.  This phone cost $1949 before taxes here in Canada.  It is the most expensive phone you can get off the shelf in the Apple line.  I ordered mine from the Rogers online store this past weekend and it said it would take 3 to 4 weeks for the phone to be delivered.  Since I don’t have any patience to wait 3-4 weeks, I thought I’d go take a look around the various Rogers and Best Buy stores to see if I could get one earlier.  Even during the epidemic, you cannot get a $1949 iPhone.  So I guess I’m going to have to wait for a bit for the phone.

I’ve been looking at YouTube videos of folks walking around making videos with the HDR and Dolby video turned on and it looks simply fantastic.  Just amazing quality of video that you can get out of a phone.  I’ll be patiently waiting for the ProRaw update in iOS 14.3.  Than the phone will be a literal photo and video beast.

I have something coming in 3-4 weeks

So I ordered the 2020 Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max with the 512GB internal hard drive.  When IOS 14.3 comes out and support ProRaw, I think I’ll pretty much drop all my other photography and videography gear and just use the iPhone and iPad Pro as my two main devices.  I shoot Raw photos on all my cameras.  The iPhone support 4K/60fps which is another reason I am getting the iPhone 12 Pro Max with the 512GB SSD hard drive.  4K/60fps takes up a lot of space.  The 64GB iPhones fill up within half an hour with 4K/60fps data.  Now that the iPhone 12 Pro max will be able to shoot Raw natively in the Camera app, I won’t need my Canon point and shoot.  From the details I saw, the photo file size will be at about 25MB which is more than enough for photos to be uploaded to sites like Adobe, Shutterstock and other websites where you can sell your photography and videos.

I basically won’t need a physical laptop to edit my photography and videography.  I can use my 2018 Apple iPad Pro with the 512GB hard drive.  Three years ago, you couldn’t shoot and edit anything on an iPhone and iPad which would be usable.  But now, the hardware and software are so good and getting better, that a DSLR or a mirrorless camera are not needed.  Especially for YouTube or sites like Adobe Stock, Shutterstock, Pond5 or any of the online photo and video selling sites.

I used to photography a lot of wildlife at Parc Omega.  I’ve been to Parc Omega maybe twice this year.  The reasons I don’t go anymore is the pricing to get in is just ridiculous.  Way too expensive.  The last time I went, there were more people than animals.  Parc Omega is far more commercial than an actual natural habitat right now.  It used to be good up until about 4-5 years ago.  It wasn’t that well known but at the same time it was.  Now it’s way over commercialized.  It’s not fun anymore.

I think in March or April of next year, I’ll end up moving to Calgary, Alberta.  Since I got back in July of 2017, I haven’t been the same.  I miss the mountains.  I mill the lakes.  I miss the fresh air.  I miss being out in actual nature by myself.  COVID-19 has definitely proven that I don’t want to be around 99% of the people on this planet.  I would rather be out on a hike somewhere with my camera, away from the majority of the people on this planet.  I think that’s why the iPhone 12 Pro Max with the 512GB of internal storage will be such a good device for me as a person and a photographer.  Shooting in ProRaw will help a lot.  It will have to get better throw as this will be first generation software on the camera.  Eventually, probably in the next year or so, it’ll get much better with software and hardware upgrades.  Apple by far is doing a much better job on its hardware and software than any other phone manufacturer.

I think the iPhone 12 Pro Max paired with the Peak Design aluminium travel tripod will make an awesome photographic tool to take amazing landscape shots out in Alberta and British Colombia.  Once the border opens up, I’ll be able to travel to the western United States.  All I’ll need with me as far as photography goes will be my phone, iPad Pro and my lightweight tripod.  I don’t take portraits, I don’t do weddings.  I just do landscape and cityscape photography.  With ProRes and ProRaw on the iPhone 12 Pro Max and the ability of the 2018 iPad Pro to edit ProRes and ProRaw files, I’ll be able to do a lot more photography in the future than I can right now.  I can be total stealth.  

More photos for sale

 

Last night, someone bought a picture of a timber wolf I took several years ago at Parc Omega.  Fine Art America just paid for itself and then some.  Thank you to the buyer in Colorado.  

 The above photos were taken in the Ottawa Valley on October 10, 2020.  No one around and it was very peaceful.  Even went out for dinner.  Considering Ottawa is in another lockdown, we had to go out of town to get something to eat.  Gotta love the draconian levels of government in Canada. 

Both pictures are available for sale here and here.  Hopefully they'll be approved on my Adobe stock portfolio and my Deposit Photos portfolio.

Finally found the music site

So I finally found the site to get free music for my YouTube channel and it was right in front of me.  I hate the sound of my voice and I hate being in front of the camera.  So I’ll be creating videos for YouTube that I shoot and just put them together and add the music.  I have a few videos on my YouTube channel and they seem to be doing ok.  I have just one subscriber right now but I’ve only been adding a one video a week for the past couple of weeks.  I think I’ve been doing the YouTube thing half-heartedly for the past couple of weeks.  Now that I’ve found the right songs for my videos, I’ll be adding more and more videos to my YouTube channel and hopefully it’ll grow.  So check it out and subscribe here   

Fall is here

 

I went to Mud Lake today to do some photography.  Also needed the walk.  This was the only usable photography I got today.  I was just thinking about setting goals and finishing goals.  I don't want my life to be meaningless.  Just like a leaf in the wind.  Just set one goal at a time and complete it.  Don't worry about the money.  Money will come if you enjoy what you're doing.  75% of people hate what they do for a living.  I am one of the 75%.  Photography is what I love to do.  I saw a very inspiring video today by a former California governor.  I think he's a RINO but this is not about politics.  It's about setting goals and finishing your goals.  It's a short video.  Worth your time. 

So done with Shutterstock

 On June 1st, 2020, Shutterstock pretty much screwed over their contributors.  I used to make a minimum of $0.36 a download for any picture.  I used to make a minimum of $15-20 for a video download.  Now, it's $0.10 for a photo download and $0.34 a video download.  So basically getting screwed.  Under those new sales figures, I'd cash out maybe once every six months.  If I was lucky.  I disabled my portfolio immediately on June 1st.  Shutterstock basically became iStock which won the race to the bottom.  I even made a video which is published on YouTube.

If you are a contributor on Shutterstock, please consider disabling your portfolio until Shutterstock reverts its payment plan to contributors.  I had 15,600+ photos and 1,560 video clips.  6 years of hard work shooting, editing and uploading.  Shutterstock needs to understand that I do this as a passion. I love photography.  I love shooting video.  If Shutterstock doesn't change, I hope they go down in flames.  In the meantime, if you need photos, you can go to my Adobe stock portfolio.  If you need video, you can go to my Pond5 portfolio.

Why I love Sony mirrorless cameras

 

I've been shooting waterfalls the past couple of outings.  Ever since I got the 9 stop ND filter, I've been shooting long exposure waterfalls.  And I love it.  All my shots are taken during the day.  At least 6 second shots a ISO 50 and higher than f9.5.  Gotta love it.

Shooting long exposure photography

 

Some weather rolling in

 

Shot these photos off of the balcony on the 9th floor of our building.  We were supposed to get heavy rain and tornadoes but not even a drop of rain.  The sky was rather interesting non the less.  Both shots were shot with the Sony a7RII handheld.  Both will be available for sale on my site soon.

Time to go back

The above shot was taken last week at the 5 Span bridge in Pakenham, Ontario.  It was a warm and sunny Friday with a lot of people out cooling down in the water.  I was hoping there was no one there but there were maybe about 75-90 people there cooling off in the water.  Today is a hot and sunny Monday.  But it’s a Monday so I’m hoping I’m there alone so I could take photos of these little waterfalls from a different angle.  I really like shooting with the Sony A7R Mark II and the Sony f3.5-6.3 24-240MM lens and the 10 stop GOBE ND filter.  I can take really long exposure photos during the middle of the day and get the silky, smooth water.  The above photo was shot at ISO 50, f16 and an 8 second exposure.  Long enough for the water to freeze in motion.  Today I am hoping I can be there alone and take my time to find better compositions.  I’m hoping I can vlog it as well.  I hate being on camera and doing it in front of people whether I know them or not.

What are your Pro Photographer moves?

So what are some of your pro photographer moments?  Forgetting the lens cap on your lens?  Dead batteries in the camera? Forgotten batteries at home?  Full SD card?  You forget your SD card at home?  It’s all happened to everyone at some point.  Part of the job right.  Tell me what else has happened to you while you’re out with the camera.

The above shot was taken with the Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max.

Long Exposure photography with the GOBE 10 stop ND Filter

I really, really enjoy using this GOBE 10 Stop ND filter.  The above shots are ISO 50, f16, 13" shots of the 5 span bridge in Pakenham, ON and the waterfalls are located in Almonte, ON.  If you asked me to do this 15-20 years ago, I'd tell you it's impossible to shoot a 13" shot in the middle of the day.  But now with the 10 stop ND filter in front of the lens, anything is possible

I hope next year, my fiancee and I could go to Florida and see a SpaceX rocket launch and I could shoot the launch with the ND filter during the day.  This is one of the many reasons why I love photography.  I.T. can suck it.  LOL

Rainy day photography

I wanted to do some more long exposure photography with the GOBE 10 stop ND filter.  Today was a dark and dreary day.  Perfect weather for some long exposure photography like the picture above.  This small waterfall is located in Britannia Park located in the west of Ottawa.  I had forgotten about this park for about 5 years.  Rediscovered it a few weeks back Nd I wanted to photograph it again.  It’s really a small, beautiful and pleasant park with not too many people around.

I’ve had pretty much nothing to do since I can’t go back to my job because of the Kung Flu virus.  I’ve uploaded both of the above pictures to my own personal website.  Both pictures are available for sale there.  I’ve also uploaded both pictures to my Adobe Portfolio.  They are waiting for moderation. What I like about both shots is how crisp and sharp they both are.  I used ISO 100, f8 and a 30 second exposure.  Both were shot with the Sony a7R Mark II, the Sony f3.5-6.3 24-240MM lens and the GOBE 10 stop ND filter.

Hi If you are located in Ottawa or in the Ottawa Valley and would like to learn how to use your DSLR, give me a shout here.  I charge $50/hour.  If more hours are needed to learn your camera, we can come out to a deal.  I started doing pro photography back in 2008.  I graduated from Algonquin College as a pro photographer in 2012 and I’ve been shooting ever since.

Gobe 10 stop ND filter

I’ve been wanting to do some long exposure photography during the day with my Sony a7R Mark II camera for a while now.  I’ve been looking for a neutral density filter that is reasonably priced and does a solid job.  I found the Gobe 10 stop ND filter on Amazon. I bought this filter for $60 Canadian and I am extremely happy with this filter.  It arrived within 4 days and I got to test it this past weekend.  The above shot is shot at ISO 100, f16 and a 6 second exposure.  You read that right.  Six seconds shot at roughly 4:30pm on a really sunny day with some nice clouds in the sky.  The above shot is of Calabogie Lake in Calabogie, Ontario.  There are a few waterfalls in the Ottawa and Ottawa valley that would be nice to photograph during the day and evening.  That will be my goal for this week.

Comet NEOWise

Got this photo last week off my 9th floor balcony looking northwards over Gatineau, Quebec.  Hopefully this Saturday it will be nice and clear so I can go out of town to get a better photo.  I want to go to Moosecreek and get better photos and videos of the comet.  The photos are available for sale on my own website.  It’s also available for sale on my Adobe stock portfolio.  Since this is my only form of income right now, please consider purchasing something from either site.  Thank you and I appreciate it.

My only setup for now

2018 Apple iPad Pro.  Check.  Apple Magic Keyboard.  Check.  Apple Magic Mouse.  Check.  Sony a7R Mark II.  Check.  Canon Vixia HF G50.  Check.  Canon G7X Mark III.  Check.  Joby Tripod.  Check.  Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max (64GB model).  Check.  Apple EarPods (v. 2).  Check.  Best photography setup.  Check.  Apple SD Card to USB C adapter.  Check.

The 2018 Apple iPad Pro is an amazing device.  Edits my Sony a7R Mark II 85 megabyte files with ease.  Edits the Canon Vixia HF G50 4K 30fps files easily.  I do not have one complaint about this setup at all.  Extremely portable.  Once we’re allowed to travel, the iPad Pro and the Canon G7X Mark III will be my go to devices.    Just the iPad Pro and the small and powerful Canon camera.  Dream devices.

Oh how you disappoint me Shutterstock

Shutterstock!!!!!!  What did you do????  And why did you do it????  I think I known what the answer is.  Greed.  Pure greed.  Lowered our licenses to 10 cents a photo.  You have become the iStock of the micro stock world.  Shutterstock, I will no longer upload any photos or any footage.  I will go exclusively with Adobe Stock and Pond5.  I will be disabling my portfolio as soon as I can on Shutterstock.  $0.10 a photo download is insulting.  Apparently I made it to level 3 today where I get 25% of the download which works out to about $0.12 a photo download.  Considering I was making $0.36 a download before this hair brained scheme, this new scheme is a kick in the ass.

For any new contributor, do not even upload to Shutterstock.  It is not worth it.  Even living in a third world country, $0.10 a photo download is an insult.  Hardware, software, travel, editing, time.  Not worth the measly and paltry $0.10 a photo download.  I haven’t sold any footage yet under this new payment scheme and I hope I don’t.  All contributors should disable their portfolios immediately to send Shutterstock a message.

Photography in the time of COVID-19

Photography, especially, landscape, nature, wildlife, astrophotography is probably the best type of photography to learn and do while social distancing in the time of COVID-19.  You are surrounded by nature socially distancing from everyone.  No one is around you.  You’re out in the fresh air.  It’s fantastic.  

These four photos were taken in Moosecreek, Ontario which is situated roughly halfway between Ottawa and Montreal.  The sky glow in the bottom picture is actually sky glow from Montreal which is about 45 minutes east of the location.  It’s almost like photographing the night sky in daylight which is not good.

The shots were taken with the Sony a7R Mark II with the Sony f3.5-6.3 24-240MM lens.  Pretty good ISO at 1600.  Hardly any noise.  All photos were edited on the 2018 Apple iPad Pro with the 12.9” screen and the 512GB hard drive.  All pictures were edited on the 2018 Apple iPad Pro in Affinity Photo. I am using the Apple Magic keyboard to type this and it’s actually an amazing typing experience this blog.  My configuration consists of the 2018 Apple iPad Pro 12.9” using the Magic Keyboard to type and the Magic Mouse as my primary pointing device.  I am using the USB-C card reader made by Apple to get all my photography.  I also have the second version of the Apple Pencil for very specific editing.

I’ve gone out twice to do astrophotography in the last 2 months which is twice more than I’ve done in the last several years.  It took me a while to find focus since I’ve never used this camera for astrophotography before but I think the pictures came out very well.

I think this summer, the fiancée and I will head up to the Algonquin Radio Telescope for night and do some photography from there.  I haven’t been there in a few years and I need to revisit the place with my new photography setup.  

New Apple keyboard for the 2018 Apple iPad Pro 12.9”

I received my the new 2020 Apple Keyboard for my 2018 Apple iPad Pro 12.9” iPad Pro.  I have to say that the 2018 Apple iPad Pro 12.9” with the 512GB hard drive IS a laptop replacement.  Typing is simply incredible on the keyboard.  It is more tactile with the key travel being a lot better than with the keyboard folio made by Apple.  I’ve had the 2018 Apple iPad Pro for over a year now and I can now say, with the new keyboard, I am never going back to a Windows or Mac OS X based laptop or desktop.  As a photographer, this iPad Pro is a beast.  There is not much difference as far as horsepower goes between the 2018 and 2020 iPad Pros.  From what I hear, the 2020 iPad Pro is only 1% faster than the 2018 iPad Pro.  The only reasons I’d upgrade to the 2020 iPad Pro is if I bought the 1TB version for the extra 500GB of space and the extra 2GB in memory.  But with the iPadOS being so efficient with the memory use, there is no point in having 6GB of RAM.

If the next iPad Pro has 8GB of RAM and larger SSDs like a 2TB or a 4TB model with a better GPU, then yes I would upgrade.  But the 2018 Apple iPad Pro handles my 85MB RAW files from my Sony a7RII like a champ.  There is absolutely no lag in processing the Sony RAW files.

The only thing I miss on the new version of the Apple keyboard are the function keys.  Actually the only function keys I miss are the ESC key and the volume Up/Down keys.  Other than that, that is all I miss.  By the way, if you go to https://www.josefpittner.photos, you can purchase my photography from the St. Lawrence Seaway.  The border between Canada and the U.S.A is unfortunately still closed which isn’t cool.  Maybe next time we go down there, the border will be open and we can actually cross into upstate New York and do some photography there.

New website to purchase photos from

Opened up a new website hosted by Smugmug.  You can go to josefpittner.smugmug.com to purchase just photography at better prices I think.  If you’re a photographer needing a new place to sell your photos, Smugmug is great.  Here is a 20% discount code: https://secure.smugmug.com/signup?Coupon=R256Bb

Algonquin Park - Landscapes

It is 23:15 on Saturday night.  Just got home from Algonquin Park maybe half an hour ago.  I transferred all my photography and videos from my various SD cards and here are the first two shots that I edited from our day at Algonquin Park along the Highway 60 corridor.  Quite the successful afternoon from the park.  3 moose and lots of lakes that were photographed.

From looking at most of the photography today, it looks amazing.  Tomorrow will be more video stuff from the Tulip Festival here in Ottawa.  Thankfully they opened up the city parks this past week.  Most people are social distancing thankfully.  I still think this whole corona virus is way overblown as pretty much all the deaths are in long term care facilities which everyone knew was going to happen.  But that's just my opinion.

Shooting with the Sony a7R Mark II and the Sony f3.5-63 24MM-200MM

Went out again with the Sony a7R Mark II and the Sony f3.5-6.3 24-240MM lens today  I am really impressed with this camera and lens combination.  I went to Dows Lake which is centrally located in Ottawa, Ontario - Canada.  It's where the tulip festival is held every year.  Luckily this year, there aren't hoards of tourists from Toronto.  Typically there are 3-10 bus loads of Asian tourists and it's impossible to move.  Luckily this year the park is clean due to the lack of people.  Typically tourists just throw garbage everywhere and spit all over the place.

The Sony a7R Mark II comes with a 42.4 megapixel full frame sensor.  It outputs roughly 85 megabyte uncompressed RAW files.  So a lot of information to pay with.  I edited the above photos in Affinity Photo 1.8.3 on a Windows 10 based laptop.  The Apple iPad Pro 12.9" with the 512GB hard drive running iPadOS 13.3.1 has been acting funny the last two days.  I've reinstalled iPadOS once already and I'll give it another day or two to settle down.  The two images above are available for sale on my website. 

I really enjoy using the camera to take the photos.  I will post more photos once I am done editing them in Affinity Photo.

Mating Canadian Geese

Couldn’t set up my 4K camera in time.  Shot this on my Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max.

I’ve had enough with laptops/desktops

So I do my photography with a Sony a7R II, a 42.4 megapixel beast.  I shoot my footage with a Canon Vixia HF G50, a 4K/30fps camcorder and I edit everything on a 2018 Apple iPad Pro with the 512GB hard drive, the 12.9” screen and 4GB of memory.  I was thinking of upgrading the iPad Pro to the 2020 iPad Pro with the 1TB hard drive and 6GB of RAM.  From what I have read, the new 2020 Apple iPad Pro is only 1% faster than the 2018 Apple iPad Pro.  Is it worth upgrading?  Hell no.  Not for $1949 plus tax.  I did get the new Apple keyboard though for the iPad.  It should be here in a few weeks.  I have absolutely no need for a laptop or a desktop to edit my photography or my footage.  The iPad Pro is just a beast of a powerhouse.  Maybe I will upgrade in 2021 when they bring out the A14X chip.  The 12.9” screen is just fine.  I can edit fine detail in my photography in Affinity Photo or Pixelmator Photo.  Apple Photos is just fine for my video editing I believe.  I don’t do heavy edits in any app.  I just shoot in RAW for photography.  File sizes are about 85 megabytes and the iPad Pro has no problem handling these types of file sizes.  The Canon Vixia HF G50 outputs 500-600 megabyte files for a minute of 4K footage which is all I use to upload to Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, Pond5 and Storyblocks.

The only problem I can foresee for myself is file storage.  I may need to upgrade in a year or two for the 1TB hard drive.  If Apple puts a 2TB, 4TB or an 8TB hard drive into future iPads, there will be no reason to buy a laptop or a desktop.  Apple will just need to upgrade their online storage.  With the current 2TB cap for $12 a month is just not enough.  I’d probably need 4-8TB of online storage.  I would be willing to pay $20-25 a month for 4-8TB of online storage.

More social distance photography and videography

This past weekend, the fiancee and I headed out to the middle of nowhere.  Literally the middle of nowhere.  We actually headed out to a little town of Moosecreek which is situated between Ottawa and Montreal.  The site we went to was actually in the middle of a farmers field which is accessible by a public road.  This public road is known to a few astronomy clubs here in Ottawa and in Montreal.  

The above shot was taken with my Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max (64GB) Space Grey model.  I wish I bought the 512GB model but I'm not willing to pay $1999 plus tax for a phone.  

It was a beautiful night with some clouds in the sky.  You can check out my Shutterstock portfolio here to see the shots I got with the Sony a7Rii and the Sony f3.5-6.3 24-240MM lens.  I only uploaded 5 shots and they were all accepted.  I'm still editing the footage from that night and hopefully those will be approved soon.  The above shot is of my brand new toy, the Canon Vixia HF G50 4K camcorder.  I absolutely love the Canon Vixia line of camcorders.  The only thing this model is missing is 4K/60fps as it only shoots 4K/30fps.  

My goal now is to buy an Apple Macbook Pro 16 inch that is completely or somewhat completely pimped out.  I want to buy a Macbook Pro 16 inch with at least 1TB of internal storage, 8GB video card and 64GB of RAM.  I don't want the 8TB internal storage as it is too expensive.  I'd rather get two external drives with 8TB of storage.  If you want to help me out, you can go to my site and click on one of the links on the right hand side which will take you to one of my portfolios where you can buy some of my photography or some of my footage.  You can also donate via Paypal via the Paypal button on my site.  If you donate, I will send you a jpeg file of one of my photos that you can print or use wherever you like, just as long as you don't try and sell it.

A social distancing drive to a small Canadian town on the border

Plus 13 degrees Celsius with a blue sky and some white, puffy clouds in it and they want people to stay at home.  I don't think so.  This coronavirus pandemic is a total farce.  How many people die from cancer, lung disease, HIV, AIDS, old age?  There is no cure for death.  Death has a 100% success rate.  No one and I mean no one has come back from the dead.  Well, except maybe one guy.  But that was over 2000 years ago now.

The fiancee and I decided to goer a drive to Cornwall, Ontario today.  Cornwall sits on the Canadian, US border.  Not surprised that the border was still open.  We saw a lot of people with New York State license plates in Cornwall.  We saw a few cars with Ontario and Quebec plates heading towards the border.  I am pretty sure 99% of these border crossers were unnecessary.  This pandemic was created in a lab in Vuhan, China.  The Chinese of course have a cure for it but are not releasing it or are asking an exorbitant amount for it.  On the world scale, more than a few trillion dollars.  Would not put it the Chinese Communist Party to do this.  Anyone believing that the Chinese Communist Party is a benevolent government has their head so far up their ass, they'll eating Coronavirus for breakfast.

It's time to open up the economy in North America and bomb the shit out of Beijing.

Today's social distancing walk around Ottawa

Went out for my social distancing walk this afternoon in downtown Ottawa.  Ottawa is currently empty of government employees, locals and tourists.  Everything is being cancelled.  All the festivals and concerts are no more.  All the museums are closed.  Seems like the summer is cancelled in Ottawa.  The good thing is there are no people or cars in my shots.  If there are cars or people in my photos, I can remove them using Affinity Photo.  Today, I just had to remove some cars.  Some of these shots are available on http://josefpittner.photos/.  I know times are tough right now for everyone.  I was laid off from my job 3 weeks ago now because of this Covid19 virus.