Now that new iPhones from the iPhone 15 have USB-C it makes it a lot easier to copy files to and from the iPhone. This means you can connect memory sticks and external drives. I often connect a card reader so that I can copy photos I’ve just taken directly to my iPhone, it then also saves it to the iCloud. If you are going to do that just be aware of your data allowance, you don’t want to be using it all up.
Once I’ve copied these files I can then send them or even load them into an app like Lightroom where I can edit my files.
You can also copy files from your iPhone so that you can save space or use them on another device.
This has been something you’ve been able to do for a while with iPads that have USB-C so you can do that there too.
All this makes using your iPhone even more useful.
If you are a photographer, beginner or professional, then the chances are you use Lightroom. It is very popular. It does a great job of organising your photographs and of course it also does a great job in processing and editing them.
It works across different devices and they sync together. It also means you can make a change on one device and appears on the other. I often do the bulk of my editing on my Mac and then might just have a look on my iPad to see how they look there. I then also have a copy on my iPad and iPhone that I can share or show others. I’m aware that I’m mentioning all Apple products but these work on Android devices as well.
I do sometimes load my photos on to the iPad and more recently my iPhone 15 Pro as it now has a USB-C port so easier to copy files. The iPad then syncs the files with my desktop version. In the meantime I can edit on the iPad. This is useful on jobs where clients want their photos in a hurry but also on holiday, so I don’t have to lug the laptop with me.
Once I have edited the photos I want I add them to an Album. In Lightroom Classic they call it a Collection. They are the same thing. So if you create an Album on one of your devices it will show up as a Collection in Lightroom Classic and vice versa. Cool huh!
And then the great thing is you can share that Album, I’m going to call them Albums from here on. You can give them the option to download JPGs, they are medium res but high quality. They can also comment on them, which is useful if you are collaborating.
Anyway here is a video I made to show you how to do it.
Working at conferences, that would be recording and live streaming them, I see Slido used quite a lot to engage with audiences whether they are right there or online or both.
Slido is an interactive tool used to create polls, quizzes, Q&A, word clouds, text based questions and more. It can be easily embedded into a PowerPoint presentation and the audience can see the results right there as they vote or enter questions.
You can send them a link and they don’t event have to login. Slido creates a QR code so they can do this directly from their smartphone or tablet.
Q&A can appear right there on the screen and others can like the question so it gets up voted. The chair or moderator can use this to choose the questions to answer.
Having seem Slido in action I decided to have a go myself and found it pretty straightforward.
There are a number of pricing options and does include a free version, so at the very least you can try it out and see if it is right for you.
If you are using Zoom or Teams it integrates there too, but if you are sharing a PowerPoint presentation in your webinar then you can use it in there.
Here’s a video I made to show you how it works and also how to set it up.
Log video recording is something many haven’t heard of unless you are a video enthusiast or professional. Professional and more and more mirrorless cameras have got log as a format.
But what is log? Well log is short for logarithmic. So the video is recorded using a logarithmic format rather than linear. Right now I could go in to the mathematics behind it but what you really need to know is why.
Why use log? Well it gives you more flexibility when editing in being able to make adjustments to exposure and colour. This is known as grading. If you ever look at the credits of big television productions of movies you will see a Colourist listed there.
I use log all the time when I’m using my mirrorless camera as I can do so much with adjusting the exposure and colour, often there is nothing or very little to change.
Now when you switch log on immediately your image you see on the screen looks washed out, don’t worry there is nothing wrong. This is how log records in a flat format but it gives you the ability to bring that all out and that can be done with the click of a button.
To see what it looks like you need to add it to an editing application such as Final Cut for iPad, Final Cut Pro, iMovie, Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve. Here in this video I show you how it works in Final Cut for iPad.
What happens is a look is applied and this gives you a starting point, it will bring out the colours, you can make further adjustments but you might not need to. This look is called a LUT, lookup table, it has the settings to give you that starting point. Each manufacturer has their own LUTs and other people make them too. When you put this into Final Cut for iPad it automatically adds the Apple Log, same for Final Cut Pro and iMovie, there is a drop down box and you can choose others to see if they might be better. Others like Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve you might have to make the adjustments to get the look you want.
Now this might be a bit different but if you want to be able to do more with your video then give it a go.
If you are a filmmaker like me you must get asked to do green screen. This means more setup time, making sure the lighting is right and that there are no shadows on the screen. Also reducing the creases helps.
Now with Final Cut Pro you can remove the background using the Scene Removal Mask effect. What you have to do is have at least a frame at the beginning or end without the presenter or other things in the foreground, as you will see in this video I discovered I should have removed the laptop in the foreground.
Anyway, it seems to work well as long as you don’t blend in to the background.
PowerPoint is not only useful for doing a presentation in front of an audience but can be useful as a continuous presentation on a stand. Or perhaps you want to have something looping at a conference in the auditorium as your audience arrives, could be upcoming events or more information about the conference. This is not only a useful way to keep your audience informed it is engaging.
The good news is that you can create a presentation and then tell it to loop indefinitely.
We all love our apps on our iPhones and iPads, they are really useful tools that make our lives easier. It could be checking on public transport, sharing on your favourite social media or just a game for some fun.
Now wouldn’t it be great if you could have those apps you love on your Mac, well you can, kind of. If you have an Apple Silicon chip in your Mac you can. It is the same type of chip you now find in your iPad so guess what, you can use those apps. Except some developers don’t enable it so you can’t. However, I have found quite a few I like that work on my MacBook so I’m happy. Perhaps more will be available.
Camtasia a popular way to record what you are doing on your computer as it records the screen and the webcam.
Being seen on the webcam, or even another camera if you choose, helps add engagement with your audience. The thing is we like to have a different background or remove the background so that you appear over your screen recording.
Until now the best way to do this was using a green screen, but now Camtasia has the background removal effect, no more green screen. I tried it out and I’m impressed. The thing that I found that helps is to make sure you stand out from the background. For example, if you have a dark background and you are wearing dark clothes it might not work so well.
You can’t look at social media without seeing selfies, nothing wrong with that, but what if you could get a better photo without having to reach out with your iPhone at arms length. You could prop your iPhone up on something or a small tripod and use the timer to take a photo.
But if you have an Apple Watch you can use it as a remote control for the camera on your iPhone. You can even see what you are taking and zoom in and out. And yes, it has a timer so you can press the button on your iPhone and have time to get ready.
I have to say I do use this quite a bit when I have to get group shots or maybe something a bit out of the way.
By the way, you can do this with starting a video recording too, great for vlogging.
So the only thing I would say is be careful. Don’t put your phone where someone might grab your phone and run.
Gary Schwartz's Blog 