My 2018 Apple iPad Pro setup

Just missing the Sony RX100 Mark VII and the Apple iPhone 8 Plus which actually took this photo and you’d have my complete setup.  I think next week when Black Friday comes around, I’ll go to Best Buy and get a new Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max with the 256GB hard drive.  Yup, life is good.  I think I’ll be using the iPhone for a lot more of my landscape photography.

This is scary Shutterstock

Going on the 4th day with absolutely no sales on Shutterstock.  I've added a few new photos and vids but nothing.  No sales!!!  Nothing.  This is the longest dry spell I've had in a few years.  Sometimes I go one or two days, typically weekends without a sale.

I've taken my Sony RX100 Mark VII to work with me the last week or so.  There is absolutely nothing to photograph around the place I work at.  It's a pretty drab area of Ottawa I work at.  Nothing but buildings from the 1950's.  The area consists of buildings built in the 1950's that were used as a hospital.  Home dwellings were built in the 1950's as well so they are pretty old.  Maybe I can go for a walk tomorrow and do some black and white photography.

I am so looking forward to moving out of Ottawa and Ontario to Calgary in 2020.  I can't stand Ottawa anymore.

But, back to Shutterstock.  I a stuck at 8 sales for the month.  8 measly sales with a portfolio of 15,000+ photos and 1,500+ footage clips.  It is kinda sad.

Update:  I wrote this post and within half an hour, sold 4 photos to someone in San Diego, California.  Went to bed at about 10pm and sold another 4 photos overnight to someone.  Yup.  Thanks shutterstock.

HyperDrive 6-in-1 USB-C Hub — for iPad Pro 2018

So the HyperDrive 6-in-1 USB-C Hub — for iPad Pro 2018 came in today. It’s a pretty snazzy little device.  I wish it just had another USB-C type connector so you can hook up two USB-A devices like a hard drive and Blue Yeti microphone.  Now to make the 2018 Apple iPad Pro an almost perfect device, I need for the iPadOS to come out.  I cannot wait for September when the operating system comes out.  I am missing external hard drive support so I can import my photos and videos to an external hard drive via the HyperDrive 6 in 1 USB-C hub.  I guess one USB-A port is ok.  I don’t think I’ll have my hard drive attached to the iPad on a constant basis.  I want to start podcasting with the iPad Pro and the Blue Yeti Mic.  I have the silver Blue Yeti Mic that I’ve had for years.  I think it goes well with the iPad Pro.

I got the HyperDrive 6-in-1 USB-C hub for the 2018 Apple iPad Pro today.  I rearranged my desk today and put the Canon printer on the ground.  I can connect to it wirelessly whenever I need to print or scan something.  I am amazed by this 12.9” iPad.  It is so fast.  And the new OS is supposed to be even faster.  I think once every 3-4 years I will buy a new iPad.  Once iPadOS comes out and we get mouse support, external drive support and dark mode, I will be very happy.  I will have no need for a Mac, Windows or a Linux based computer or laptop.

I just wish there were two pieces of software that will be ported to the iPad.  Final Cut Pro X and Audacity Audio Editor.  Audacity is already available for Windows, Mac and Linux.  I wish they would port it over to the iPad.  I can stick with LumaFusion for video editing.  It seems feature rich enough for what I do with video.

So in summary, I wish September was here tomorrow and iPadOS was being released today.  Now I wonder if I can do all my photography and shoot video with just my Apple iPhone 8 Plus and edit everything thru the cloud?  

Happy Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day to all the Canadians out there.  Wish we had a better prime minister but he/she/they will be out in October.  Anyways, back to Canada Day.  Decided to stay home for the majority of the day.  Gonna go see a movie later today and then come home and just relax.  In no way are we headed to downtown Ottawa with all the crazy, drunken and high dopers.  No thanks.

I’ve decided to keep the Sony a7ii and the Canon Vixia HF G40.  I need the pro camera and camcorder.  I need the control.  Made that decision on Thursday when we had thunderstorms pass to the north of us.  I could have used the Sony RX100 Mark VI but it’s such a small camera.  It fits right in your pocket.  It has all the controls I need but the Sony a7II feels really good in your hands.  It’s easier on the tripod as well.

Happy Canada Day anyways.

Pixelmator on the 2018 Apple iPad Pro

I went to Parc Omega yesterday to test out my new Sony a7ii camera with the new lens.  Took about 1800 or so shots.  I’m just processing them right now and I cam up to this shot of an American Field Buffalo with an American Field Buffalo calf.  As you can see from the photos above, one is more pleasing than the other.  The bottom shot has the result of what appears to be a very good meal.  With Pixelmator on the 2018 Apple iPad Pro, I was able to get rid of said poop and the image is more pleasing.  

I find it incredible that in 2019, I can sit at a local Tim Horton coffee shop and edit a roughly 47MB photo on a slab of glass that is roughly 5.7MM thick.  This slab has a 12.9” screen, 4GB of memory and a 512GB hard drive.  I wonder what we’re going to be using for photography in another 10 years and what we’re going to be editing on as well.  We live in interesting times.

My full 2018 Apple iPad Pro setup (Well, almost full setup)

So this will keep me pretty mobile since it all fits in a slim laptop bag.  I have my 2018 Apple iPad Pro with a 512GB SSD hard drive, my Sony RX100 Mark VI camera and a WD My Passport Wireless Pro (4TB) hard drive.  I just got the WD hard drive yesterday so I am still learning how to configure it and how to use it with the 2018 Apple iPad Pro.  It seems like the WD wireless hard drive is pretty easy to setup over the network.  I’m sitting at a Tim Horton’s coffee shop right now and I’ve backed up a few thousand photos to the hard drive already.  It takes a while to upload all the photos and videos from the SD card used by the Sony RX100 Mark VI but it’s actually fast.

LumaFusion, my footage editing software actually has direct wireless access, once setup of course.  I still have to learn how to use LumaFusion as I’m coming from Final Cut Pro X on an early 2013 MacBook Pro.  I have to of course start watching some YouTube videos on the software.

But this setup is simple and easy to use.  I can set it up quite easily and be up and running in about a minute.  You can of course always email me here.  I am still learning how to be a film maker and such.  I never actually went to school for it.  Just took accounting, computers and photography in school.  This I will pick up on my own.  Oh yeah!  The photo was taken with an Apple iPhone 8 Plus.  Another tool in the pocket of a photographer.

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.

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.  

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.

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..  

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.

Year in review of Micro stock sales

So last year I had 72 downloads for a whopping $64 on Shutterstock in January.  In January 2019, I've had 4 downloads for a whopping $94.68.  So far, 2019 has been much better.  I hope it continues this way for the rest of the month and rest of the year.  2018 sucked as far as sales.  I sold $1178.76 worth of photography and footage just on Shutterstock alone last year.  I had 741 downloads alone on Shutterstock.  In 2017 I had 1153 downloads for total sales of $1638.17.

In 2018 I had a rough a 28% decrease in dollar value sales and downloads were down roughly 36%.  So I made $460.31 less on Shutterstock last year with 412 less downloads last year.  I increased my portfolio by about 3000 photographs and clips.

In 2017 I was selling on average of $136.51 a month of footage and photography.  In 2018, it dropped to $98.24.  An average loss of $38.28 a month or roughly 28% drop in revenue per month.  This I think is due to me not shooting as much as last year and the increase in competition since Shutterstock now accepts 1 out of 10 photographs rather than 7 out of 10 photographs when I first joined in 2014.

This is just one site that I use.  Pond5 and Storyblocks are two of my other sites.  It's much harder to sell on those two sites as I think they're much smaller stock sites and sales are less frequent.

On Pond5 I had $618.63 worth of sales with 7 sales all year.  On Storyblocks I had 3 sales worth a total of $99.03.  All sales are in U.S dollars so I get a slight conversion bonus when I convert to Canadian dollars which helps.

	2017 Sales	2018 Sales
Shutterstock	1639.17	1178.86
Pond5	587	618.83
Storyblocks	330.1	99.03

	2017 downloads	2018 downloads
Shutterstock	1153	741
Pond5	7	8
Storyblock	10	3

So as you can see, the only place sales and downloads increased is on Pond5.  Basically I only photograph and take footage of wild animals and landscapes.  99% of my portfolio is editorial free.  I don't like photographing people much.  I think for this year I will go to the Ottawa market more often and start photography people more.  Do some more editorial work in black and white and see if that starts selling more.  Thankfully I can be more inconspicuous with the Sony RX100 Mark Vi and its 24-200MM lens since the Sony RX100 Mark VI is an awesome pocket camera. 

Another month. Another year.

December 2018 was my third best month of all time on Shutterstock.  A lot of video sales propelled me to having the best month of the year as well.  Although the end of the month was a real disappointment with no sales for three days, I was happy with the month over all.

I hope 2019 is a lot better for photo and footage sales.  Pond5 and Storyblocks were down in sales.  Especially Storyblocks.  I have not sold anything there in months and I've more than tripled my inventory there in 2018 by adding more footage and adding photos there.  Pond5 was OK.  Sold a few hundred dollars worth of footage.  No photo sales, but that is to be expected.

April 2019 is coming up fast which is kind of scary considering I'll be moving permanently to Calgary.  At least I hope.  I need to find a job there first.  I only have two weeks left on this contract but I'm being told I'll be extended again.  I don't know for how long.  We shall see.  I'm hoping to get a permanent job in Calgary.

I am finally doing it.

I've got my big 2015 Apple iMac formatted and at some point later this week, I'll format my early 2013 MacBook Pro and bring both to the Bayshore Apple store and get some credit for both computers to get my 2018 Apple iPad Pro.  I'm only going to get the 512GB model as I have two external hard drives that I can use to back up my photos and footage.  There is a small device you can buy online that can be used with the iPad to attach external hard drives to backup my photos and footage.  

I am so excited.  I need to upgrade my computer equipment.  When I get my tax return in March I will buy my Sony RX100 Mark VI.  My Sony RX10 Mark II is a fantastic camera that I am using right now.  I just want the Sony RX100 Mark VI as a backup camera or main camera when I'm going downtown to photograph street life.

I cannot wait for 2019 to come.  I think there will be a lot of new and exciting changes next year.

2018 Apple iPad as a computer replacement

So I'm 100% sure I'll be replacing my early 2013 MacBook Pro and late 2015 Apple iMac with a 2018 Apple iPad Pro later next year.  Considering I only write this blog, visit a few websites, edit photos and videos on my laptop and PC, I'm pretty sure the 2018 Apple iPad can handle all of my needs.  I visit maybe 10 websites that I can use Safari on.  I'll need an FTP client upload my videos and photos to sites like Shutterstock, Pond5 and Storyblocks.

I want to get the 12.9" with the 1TB HD and the 6GB of RAM model.  Go big or go home as they say.  I don't who "they" are but "they" are right.  From the benchmarks that I've been seeing on Youtube videos, the 12.9" iPad outperforms both of my computers by a huge margin.  The only thing I'm worried about is space because I do shoot a lot of photos and videos.  I'm sure I can find a work around to upload my raw files to an external hard drive.  Apple will have to give the iPad some support for external hard drives.  I can use the Apple Pencil 2 as a mouse.  iOS still has to be upgraded to access a better file system.

I will also be using an Apple iPhone for the foreseeable future.  As much as I like Android phones, the Apple ecosystem is much better.  I find the apps in the Apple ecosystem are much better built and provide much more enjoyment and entertainment.  Youtube, Netflix are my go to media consumption apps.  I use a few astronomy apps such as Star Walk 2, PolarAlign, Solar Walk to name a few.  There are a few apps I would like to get once I buy the iPad such as Affinity Photo for the iPad and Luma Fusio to edit my footage to upload to my micro stock sites.  

All in all I think I'll get the Apple iPad in March of 2019 once I get enough money saved up.