Damn, it’s hot out

You could cook an egg on the hood of my car.  When I drove home from my first day of work at EDC, it was 32 degrees Celsius in the sun before the humidity.  Got home and turned on the air conditioning and brought it down to 18 degrees Celsius.  It’s so hot photography is not worth doing.  Just walking downtown would melt me.  If it’s 32 degrees Celsius in the burbs, it’s probably hotter downtown with all the buildings and the pavement. 

On a side not, I downloaded all the videos off my Canon Vixia HF R800 camcorder.  I wonder why I ever got rid of it a few years back before I bought the Canon Vixia HF G40.  The R800 is a great little camcorder.  Fits right into your hand and right into your pocket when not in use.  Just an awesome little camcorder.  And it lasts forever too. 

Not having social media

I have no social media to advertise my stock photography.  No Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter.  They’re all pretty useless as far as I’m concerned.  They’re all full of fake news, frauds, con artists etc.  Facebook pretty much spies on you 24/7 and sells your data to pretty much everyone.  Google is censoring everyone who they disagree with.  If you have wrong thought, you are pretty much banned and making any money on their platform.  I come from a communist country and this is exactly how the communists acted.  Put everyone who disagreed with them in reeducation camps or goulash.  Patrion, PayPal are pretty much the same.  All of these California type oligarchy, communist, crony capitalist are all the same.  You and I are just peons in their little game.

July 2, 2019

I spent this morning at Parc Omega.  I left the park at about 1:15pm.  It was so hot out today.  About 27 degrees Celsius.  I paid $35 to get into the park.  I remember paying $26 a day to get into the park just a few years ago.  It was a lot cheaper and a lot better back then.  They’ve increased the prices and pretty much made the park unphotographable with fences everywhere.  The other people coming into the park drive like they never took a driving lesson.  The park is located on the Quebec side so that’s one reason why it’s harder and harder for me to go there.  Summer is really not a good time to go to the park because it’s so damn hot out.

I have basically decided that for the remainder of this year I want to pay off my credit card debt so I can do some travel next year.  I want to actually move out west in April of next year.  I am so sick of Ottawa and Ontario.  There is nothing to do here and it’s so damn expensive to do anything.  I have also decided not to sell my Sony a7ii and my Canon Vixia HF G40.  Next year I want to upgrade my drone to something better than the DJI Spark.  It’s an ok drone but it only shoots at 1080p/30fps and photos are only shot in JPEG.  So no Raw photos and no 1080p/60fps or 4K on the drone just because the sensor on the drone is so small.  I think the drone I want is about $2030 before tax.

I have everything I want as far as vehicle goes.  I have the 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport AWD which I can sleep in and have enough room for all my equipment.  I am saving some money as well.  I’m putting $50 a paycheque into my TFSA.  All my photography money is staying in my Paypal account.  With the new job I’m starting tomorrow, I’ll be making some good coinage to pay off my debt.  We just have to stop going out to restaurants every second day.  I want to also start eating healthy.  I want to lose at least 50 pounds by April 2020.  I also want to restart reading my Affinity Photo book and learn Affinity Photo.  For my Apple iPad Pro to say the least.

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.

This is not hype

CI have been watching a lot of YouTube videos on the new iPadOS lately and I cannot wait for the new O/S to come out.  It will completely get rid of my need for a laptop or desktop.  Just the ability to access portable hard drives via USB-C is a game changer.  I can edit footage, photos and music anywhere.  In the car, in bed, on the couch, in a park, on a plane.  I have the 2018 Apple iPad Pro with the 512GB hard drive.  Honestly, it’s the perfect device with a perfectly sized screen and internal hard drive.  

Apple typically releases a new O/S once a year in fall.  This summer cannot go fast enough.  I will not install any beta software on my main production machine.  I need the software and hardware to work flawlessly.  I also want to do a lot of travel this summer and fall so that’s another reason for the Apple iPad Pro 12.9” iPad with the 512GB hard drive.  It is so portable.  I can travel easily with the iPad, my Sony RX100 Mark VI and my Canon Vixia HF R800.  

I am honestly thinking of getting rid of my Sony A7ii with the 24-240MM lens and the Canon Vixia HF G40 camcorder.  Yes, they are more pro level devices but I shoot mainly for stock agencies and in the end, it’s not the equipment that makes the photographer.  It’s the photographer that makes the photographer.  I’m thinking of just replacing the Sony camera and Canon camcorder with another Sony RX100 VI.  Just to have a backup.

I could also shoot 4K with the Sony RX100 Mark VI since I only shoot 30-60 second clips to upload to sites like Shutterstock, Pond5 and Videoblocks.  Honestly the Sony RX100 VI is an awesome point and shoot camera that fits into your pocket.  The 24-200MM lens is honestly all I need for what I shoot.  I can shoot landscape, wildlife, architecture and portraits with the camera and the Canon Vixia HF R800 shoots at 1080p at 60fps.  So its all good for me.  

And yeah, the new operating system for the iPad can’t get here soon enough.

I need to get out

I miss Calgary.  I miss Calgary a lot.  I miss going to the mountains.  I cannot stand Ottawa any more.  The people, the weather, the ineptness of the local government.  There is absolutely nothing to do here in Ottawa.  I was supposed to start a job with Export Development Canada but I never got a start date.  I got the job back in April of 2019.  It’s the end of June as I write this and still no start date.  Luckily they don’t know I’m working right now so I’m not hurting for cash.  Well I am but I have pay coming in.  

I love photography and shooting footage.  I’ve done it all here in Ottawa.  I’ve been here for 36 years and I’m bored.  The girlfriend and I signed a lease for an apartment back in March 2019 for a year.  That’s basically the only thing that’s keeping me here.  I miss the mountains.  I miss actually doing stuff outside.  Parc Omega near Ottawa blows monkey penis’.  It’s no longer photogenic.  Too many obstructions.  Too many idiots.  And they keep raising prices.  I need to move back to Calgary.

I honestly cannot wait

Apple typically releases a new operating system every September.  THis year, a “new” operating system is coming out specifically made for the Apple iPad.  Two of the most important things within iPadOS are going to be external hard drive support and mouse support.  ON a lighter note, dark mode is also coming.  See what I did there?  ;) 

I will no longer need a laptop wether it’s Windows or MacOS or Linux.  Not that I used Linux before but it’s hardly used for photography or editing videos.  You can do it but 99.9% of the people I know use either Windows or Mac.  I cannot justify spending a minimum of $4500 on a MacBook Pro where the keys are crap and the O/S is buggy.  MacOS used to be good under Steve Jobs because Steve actually took quality control seriously.  Tim Cook, not so much.

Once iPadOS comes out in September, I am thinking of lightening my load with my camera gear.  The Sony A7II is a great photographic camera.  It’s a 24.4 megapixel full frame sensor camera.  But it is kind of heavy with the battery grip and the 24-240MM lens on it.  I am absolutely in love with the Sony RX100 line of cameras having owned the RX100 Mark II, IV, V and the VI.  I am thinking of trading in the Sony A7II camera, the grip and lens for another Sony RX100 Mark VI.  I’m also thinking of getting rid of the Canon Vixia HF G40 camcorder as it’s too big for me size wise for me.  I have the Canon Vixia HF R800 camcorder as well.  I mainly capture wildlife with the Canon Vixia HF G40 and I don’t video much at night so the Canon Vixia HF R800 is good enough for me.  It’s also about half the size of the G40.  I know the G40 has a lot more controls on it so I may just keep it.  I just want to do a lot more travel this year and next and I don’t want to carry around a lot of equipment with me.  Shoot me a quick email or leave a comment telling me what you think or giving me suggestions.  

But yeah, time to think over the next two to three months to see what I will do once Apple iPadOS comes out in September.

I think I need to upgrade my drone

So I bought a DJI Spark last year and 3 months later, the remote control lost connection with the actual drone.  So I got another one and it's been functioning ok.  I don't fly it like I did anymore.  I won't fly it more than a 100 meters away from me and definitely not over water.  Someplace accessible where I can retrieve it if it goes berserk again.  It only shoots in 1080p at 30fps and photos are only in JPG.  Not RAW or 4K.  

I think I'll get a DJI Mavic Pro 2 in the spring of 2020.  I am saving my photo money until I get the new DJI Mavic Pro 2 which costs about $2000 Canadian.  One day.

Native American Pow Wow

I don't typically photograph people but today I stepped out of my comfort zone and I photographed some people.  My girlfriend, her sister and her kid went to the pow wow and I grabbed the camera.  I hope at least some of the photos are accepted onto my portfolios.  They've been pretty weird lately in accepting stuff.

Wondershare Filmora 9

Wondershare Filmora 9.  For about $85 Canadian I'd say this is by far one of the easiest and best NLE editors on the planet.  I was able to pick up what I needed to learn in literally a few minutes.  The stabilization and color correction features are just amazing.  It was able to stabilize my DJI Spark footage with ease.  I find the color correction so much better than FCP X.  It also edits the clips amazingly quickly just taking about ten seconds or so on my Asus ROG 502 laptop.  I have the Intel i7-7700HQ CPU clocked at 2.8GHz with 32GB worth of RAM.  My main hard drive is a 256GB NVME SSD and I have a 1TB SSD I use to store my video clips and photos. 

I am completely switching from my late 2013 Macbook Pro to my Windows 10 machine till iPadOS comes out for my 2018 Apple iPad Pro.  Then I'm dumping both laptops and just editing everything on the iPad.  

Wondershare Filmora 9 is very easy to use.  Much easier than FCP X for the Mac.  It is a lot more intuitive to use.  Just the color correction is fantastic.  I will have to make a more detailed review of Wondershare Filmora 9 at a later date when I start using it more.

The new Apple iPadOS

I honestly cannot wait until Apple releases Apple iPadOS.  It’s honestly the updated every iPad owner has been waiting for.  So far my four favourite things about the operating system are dark mode, mouse support, external hard drive support and the ability to import files from an SD card directly onto the iPad or an external hard drive.  I just have to buy an external USB-C hub and I can attach my earphones, a hard drive, an external mic and an SD card  with the SD card slot.  This OS is why I bought the 2018 Apple iPad Pro in the first place.  With the exhorbitant prices Apple is asking for their laptops, the iPad was a better choice.  The keys actually function properly and the iPad doesn’t underclock the CPU when it’s put into heavy use.  I just hope that my apps will be updated to use the new iPadOS functionality.  I only use LumaFusion for video editing, Pixelmator Pro, Affinity Photo  and  Darkroom to edit my photos.  I also use the iPad as a media consumption device.

I can finally get rid of my late 2013 MacBook Pro and the Asia Windows laptop I got last year.  I won’t need the laptops anymore.  The 2018 Apple iPad Pro will be able to do everything I want.  

The list of software I currently use is Affinity Photo, PixelMator Pro, Darkroom and LumaFusion for my microstock agency business.  I of course use iTunes for music and AppleTV and YouTube for videos.  When the Apple TV service is started in September I will of course subscribe to it.  I already subscribe to Apple Music and Netflix.  I’ll probably end up killing of Netflix when the Apple TV subscription starts.  Netflix sucks right now and has been sucking for a while now.

I’m just thinking about what Apple announced at WWDC2019 and I have to laugh at their arrogance charging $999US for a damn monitor stand.  It’s a monitor stand!!!!!!!!  With what they’re charging for a monitor, they should have included the damn monitor stand.  It’s unreal what they’re charging for the new Mac Pro, the new monitors and the stand that they just announced.  I get it.  It’s high end and it’s for companies that make a killing in movies, commercials and that stuff.  But for me, it’s far overprice.  In the end, I’ll probably just end up buying an iPad every three to four years and spend $2000 on it.  I already have the needed accessories like the keyboard and Apple Pencil.  Now that the iPad is going to have mouse support, I probably won’t even need the Apple Pencil.  I can’t draw worth a damn.  I might just use it to write notes to myself.  But that’s about it.

Finally. Apple iPadOS 13.

Better file support.  Mouse support. External hard drive support.  Apple iPadOS 13 looks to be awesome.  I just hope Apple will port over Final Cut Pro X to the iPad and it will be a total computer replacement.  I can't wait till September/October when Apple releases the new OS.

Our trip to Algonquin Park

We wanted to go see some wild moose and Algonquin Park is a great place to go and see them.  Within 5 minutes of entering the park we got to see this yearling and it was the only moose we saw the whole day.  Not even a fox, coyote or anything.  It was a dreary day anyways and I got to fly my drone too.  So it was a good day.

I flew the drone again

DJI has some of the worst products on the market.  Their customer service is atrocious and their stuff is probably spying on us  and sending it back to the Chinese government.  I wish there was a Canadian or American company that made good, inexpensive drones.  The last time I flew my DJI Spark, I nearly lost it twice in a span of 5 minutes.  Do I trust the drone?  Hell no.  It's my second DJI Spark since I lost the first one last year somewhere near Pakenhanm, Ontario because my remote lost connection with the actual drone. I think next year, I'll actually spend more than $1,500 on a real drone that shoots raw and 4k videos and use that for my microstock photography business.  In the mean time, the above shot was taken with the DJI Spark and edited in ON1 Photo Raw 19.5.

Milestone

Just 2 weeks over 5 years after joining Shutterstock, I sold $6,000 worth of photography on 4,822 sales.  Considering 3 years ago I didn't even shoot video cause I wasn't a videographer, videos make up about 30% of my sales on Shutterstock.  I'm not the best or worst photog/videographer out there but it's kinda nice that people buy my stuff.  Just need another $4,000 to get another pay raise from Shutterstock.  You can see the links on my website to my various portfolios by clicking here.