I am back

So it's been a while ride the last several years.  My girlfriend and I moved to an apartment in April of 2019.  The Rona hit in March of 2020 and it was a disastrous 2  years.  From about May of 2021, something happened between Blogger and Godaddy.  The two sites stopped working nicely together and I couldn't figure out what.  So I stopped posting to the blog and I started a YouTube channel instead.  During the 2 year pandemic, I didn't realize it then, but I fell into a deep depression.  Didn't do hardly any photography or videography.  Just basically went to work and came home.  Didn't go to the gym, didn't exercise, didn't do any photography at all.

Then on May 10, 2022, I witnessed a car accident where I saw a woman die from her injuries.  May 13th was also my last day at work until my contract was renewed a month later.  On May 12th of the same week, my girlfriend decided to leave me.  So that was a wonderful week.

I am back at work now thankfully.  Have been since June 13, 2022.  I'm trying to keep myself busy.  I'm going out more, though I'm trying to pay off some debt.  I'm doing more car camping.  Next weekend is a long weekend and it's supposed to be nice and clear.  So time to do some astrophotography and wildlife photography.

I also managed to fix this website.  Got it back up and running.  I of course lost over a year of ad revenue from Google.  I've decided not to date anymore.  I've been single 2 years out of the last 25 years or so and I've found that I just don't want to date anymore.  This is the first weekend in years where I've slept peacefully.  I got a full night, uninterrupted sleep for 2 straight day.

I'm bringing my Sony a7R III with me after work and I'm taking more pictures and I'm doing a lot more video with my Sony FDR AX700b camcorder.  In just over two weeks I'm gonna be going to Nova Scotia for a week long trip.  No hotels, motels at all.  Just going to car camp the whole weekend.  I want to save up some money for next year when I move to Alberta.  

I am single now.  I have no family here in Ottawa that I have to support and see if they want to move with me to Calgary.  Ever since I came back from Calgary 5 years ago, I've always wanted to go back there.  Now that I'm single and I'm gainfully employed at Fisheries and Oceans, I'm actually enjoying my time alone.  I'm glad this blog is back up and running.  I'm glad I can write again.  I'm glad I can do my photography again.  I'm glad to be back.

2021 Apple iPad Pro with the M1 chip, 1TB ssd and 16GB of RAM

So riddle me this.  Why would Apple put the M1 chip with 16GB of RAM into the new 2021 iPad Pro if they weren’t going to put pro apps on the new 2021 Apple iPad Pro?  That’s why I bought the 1TB option with 16GB of RAM.  If and when they do release Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for the iPad Pro later this year, I will be one of the first to buy both products.  I’m not a music guy at all but I think you can use Logic Pro to edit voice overs.  Final Cut Pro is an amazing video editing piece of software that I already own for the 2013 MacBook Pro so I’m used to editing with the software.  Mind you, LumaFusion is just as good, if not better.  I hope some of the plugins are ported over to the iPad Pro for Final Cut Pro.  The Denoise plugin from Neat Video is the only plug in I use.

I will be using the 2021 Apple iPad Pro as my daily driver.  I already use the 2018 iPad Pro as my daily driver.  I’m so used to the iPad OS and most of the apps that I use on a daily basis.  I just can’t wait for iPad OS 15 and some of the pro apps to come out in September.  I think WWDC 2021 in June will be a major stepping stone for the OS and the iPad Pro hardware.

Dell XPS 17" 9700 with Windows 10 Pro

 

So, I've had the Dell XPS 17" 9700 Windows 10 Pro laptop for a couple of weeks now.  The only upgrade I've done to this machine is add a second 2TB NVMe solid state drive.  I ordered the laptop with 64GB of memory which may be overkill for now but I wanted to be future proofed.

The computer runs on an Intel i7-10750H processor.  At the time of ordering, Dell did not have the i9 variant of processors available.  Also, I could have gotten the i7-10875H variant but it cost about $500 more with that processor and the upgraded video card.  I'm thinking I'll be getting a new laptop in 4-5 years.  At that point I'll max out the CPU, RAM and video card options.  Another reason why I love the Dell XPS 17" 9700 is the 17" 4k screen.  It is a touch screen but you can disable that in the BIOS which I have done.  I don't see a point of having a touch screen on a laptop.  Sure, an iPad or an iPhone type device but not on a laptop or a desktop.

My two favourite pieces of software for photo and video editing are Affinity Photo and Davinci Resolve.  Affinity Photo is really fast on this Intel based system.  Photo editing is a breeze on this system.  

Davinci Resolve runs smoothly on this system as well.  No lag or hick ups at all.  I've only edited one 75 minute video on here and it took a few hours to export the video.  It was a 4k/60 video shot on an Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max.  

Today after work I will be going to do some video work for myself.  I want to edit 4k/30fps videos shot on my Canon Vixia HF G50.  I want to see how quickly the computer edits 4k/30fps videos that are only about a minute long.  It's supposed to be nice and warm today with a lot of sunshine today.  We shall see.  I will update you at a later date as to how the computer performs. 

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.  

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.

I thought I could do it with just the 2018 Apple iPad Pro

So I thought I could just run the photography business with just an iPad Pro and the Sony RX100 Mark VII.  The iPad Pro is a great device as is the Sony RX100 Mark VII.  I'm still using the Sony RX100 Mark VII as the main camera for now.  But the iPad Pro, not so much.  The only issue I'm running into is the space on the iPad Pro as I use the Apple Photos app to store all my photography shot with either the Apple iPhone Pro Max and the Sony RX100 Mark VII.  I think for now I will be using the early 2013 Apple MacBook Pro as a sort of server to store my RAW photo files so I can edit them on the 2018 Apple iPad Pro.

I'm noticing that a lot of my photography now is getting rejected for noise issues.  I honestly love the Sony RX100 Mark VII but for low light situation, I find the Sony A7 II is really good.  That is why I bought it again.  I will use it for my landscape photography.

More and more I’m using the iPhone Pro Max for some of my photography

Some time ago.  Maybe a few months back in 2019 I was reading a blog about photography.  The entry was basically about how the equipment we use affects photography as hardly anyone is buying “Pro” gear anymore.  You can check online how the big camera companies are losing market share to the smart phone market and how the computer market is losing sales to either smart phones and devices like the iPad.  I kind of had to laugh as I started out just using a Canon 2MP Point and Shoot camera and using the desktop to edit said photography.  This was maybe 20 years ago.  Since then I’ve went through the point and shoot and upgraded my equipment to DSLR cameras.  First it was a Canon EOS 350D which had an 8MP sensor.  Then I upgraded to the Canon EOS T1i series of cameras.  Then the full frame Canon EOS 6D camera with the Canon EOS 7D cropped sensor lodged in between there.  Then I went to the Sony line of bridge cameras along with Sony RX100 line of cameras.  

In that time I had an assortment of phones as well.  I never really used those phones for photography until my trip to Arizona back in 2016.  I took my Samsung s7 Edge to Arizona with me.  I shot a few photos on that phone and uploaded them to Shutterstock. I haven’t sold one yet selling a few photos and videos shot on my Canon EOS 6D and a few videos shot with my Canon Vixia G40 camcorder.  I later sold all that stuff while in Calgary for a Sony RX100 Mark V and a Sony RX10 Mark II as lugging all that equipment around the Rockies was a little much.  I bought and sold my Sony a7II full frame camera and ended up with a Sony RX100 Mark VII as my primary photo camera.  I’ve sold a few hundred shots with that camera.  I also use a Canon Vixia HF R800 right now as my primary camcorder.  

Recently, and I mean recently, I’ve been using my Sony RX100 Mark VII and my Apple iPhone Max Pro (64GB) as my photo and video devices.  I have sold photos taken with the Samsung s7 Edge phone and my Apple iPhone 8 Plus and the Apple iPhone 11 Pro Plus.  Honestly, if you are reading this blog on an iPad or iPhone type device, you cannot tell what the photos or videos have been shot with.  The equipment is getting much, much better along with the software.  I bet you in 5 years, point and shoots will be all but gone and DSLR cameras are one photo in the grave and going down quick.

The DSLR will always have it’s place with a very niche market.  Most people will just use their phone or iPad type device to stay connected and take their pictures.  Advanced photographers like myself with use various type of equipment.  I shoot mainly for stock agencies.  I can shoot with my iPhone Pro Plus for my photos and footage.  For quick snaps I’ll use the iPhone Pro Plus for quick shots.  I’ll use my Sony RX100 Mark VII for the more advanced photography I upload to the various stock agencies.  I think now the iPhone Pro Plus will be my main go to for footage clips as it shoots in 4K/60.

I will also be using my 2018 Apple iPad Pro with the 12.9” screen with the 512GB hard drive.  It’s just so easy to use for photography and footage editing.

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.

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

More Fireworks photography with the Sony RX100 Mark VI

I have decided

I started a new job this week that pays really well.  I mean really well.  Enough that I can save my photography money and put away some money into my TFSA account.  I'm making enough money to pay off my credit card debt and save some money.  

July 2019 has been off to a good start so far.  In the first 7 days, I've sold roughly $200US of photos and footage.  The drone I want is roughly $2030 before tax.  So I'm looking at about $2333.00 with tax for the drone.  Hopefully, if sales are going the way they are now, I'll have the money in about six months.  So, by my estimates, I think I'll have a new drone in December.  And if things go well as well, I'll have my credit card debt paid off by then so I can buy the Sony a7R III body.  I want to do my landscape, wildlife photography on a more serious basis so I need a higher resolution camera body.  If anyone at Sony reads this, I switched to Sony last year from Canon.  The technology in a Sony camera is so much better than in a Canon camera.

I love the high megapixel count on the full frame sensor in the Sony a7R III.  I also love Affinity Photo on my 2018 iPad Pro.  Once iPadOS comes out in September I am ditching my Windows and Mac laptops and sticking with the iPad Pro.

May 16, 2014

May 16, 2014.  That was the first day I got accepted at Shutterstock to sell my photos.  Today I had my 4800th sale.  I sold my first photo a few hours after my photos were accepted.  It was an exciting time for me.  I had 7 photos that were accepted.  This is my first photo sold.  This is my 4800th download that a buyer bought.

As of 16:36 EST, I have 14,462 photos accepted and 1,527 clips accepted at Shutterstock.  I cant believe it's been five years already.  I only now post to Shutterstock, Pond5 and Storyblocks.  I really, really enjoy photography and videography.  It's so much fun.  Please support me by buying from either my microstock portfolios or my website.

My favourite photo from the last 2 years

I can’t believe how time flies.  2 years ago, I was in Calgary, Alberta ready to come home.  Not knowing I was to be extended for another month on my contract for another month and I wouldn’t be in Ottawa until July 2017.  My girlfriend was going to fly out from Ottawa to Calgary and we were going to drive back to Ottawa together.  We were gonna go through the northern states and see some of the National Parks in Montana, Oregon, South Dakota etc. That didn’t happens as I got extended by a month.  Honestly I really miss Calgary and being in the mountains.  I remember getting a smile on my face every time I headed out to the Rockies from Calgary.  It was only about a 45 minute drive.

I took the gondola up the mountains when I was in Banff, Alberta one weekend.  I remember the wind was howling up at the peak of the mountains.  The light wasn’t good as well.  The sun was to my left casting a shadow over the centre mountain.  It had blown out the sky and clouds.  I didn’t think much of the shot at all.  Certainly not one of my favourites at the time.  I decided to turn it into a black and white and throw it up onto Shutterstock thinking it would be rejected.  If it was accepted, it would never be bought.  It would just get lost in the millions and millions of photos.  As it turns out, I sell it once every 2-3 days on average and it’s turned out to be one of my very photos.  I’ve been told by acquaintances that it’s their favourite photo of mine.  You can purchase it here here from my Shutterstock portfolio or here to hang on your wall.  I would really appreciate your support.

My girlfriend and I have pretty much decided that next spring, probably in April, that we will be moving to Alberta permanently as neither of us speak the French language and it’s virtually impossible for us to get permanent government jobs here in Ottawa, ON Canada.  With everything that’s going on with federal politics, and if the current guy in charge federally, we believe, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta will eventually separate from eastern Canada as the two are so different from each other.  But that’s another story.  

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.