Working with iPad Only (part 2)

Leave a comment

This weekend I went on a short 2 day trip to Helsinki. And I thought it would be a good opportunity to try how it would be to for the first time not bring my MacBook. One reason for the trip was to do some photographing with my new Leica Q. Now I could try a workflow including only my camera, my iPad and the Lightning to SD Card connector. So how did it turn out?

Well, not very good. Ok, but I didn’t find it too useful for a couple of reasons. But I learned something in the process.

  1. With the Lightning to SD Card Camera Reader you cannot import RAW files to the iPad. Something I already had learned when writing the previous article. What I learned though is that it should be possible with a Lightning to USB adapter if I connect it directly to the camera. So the connector I bought is basically useless to me. Well in any way as long as I need the RAW files for any reason. For example, this time I chosed to photograph in monochrome as an excercise to better see the Lightning of the scene. This means that the JPG’s will be monochrome, and you can’t import the colored RAW files. So I would need a Lightning to USB, and connect directly to the camera and maybe get the option to get the RAW’s.
  2. The import with the Lightning to SD Card Camera Reader connector is too slow, and you cannot preview the picture before importing them. Sure, you can choose to import all and they will end up in your Photos app. It will probably take some time though. Then you can view them there and delete the ones that are not good. In this case it might be better to use the Leica app on the iPhone where it’s possible to preview before import.
  3. Editing in Lightroom Mobile is ok. It’s not great in my opinion, but it works depending on how good the picture is coming out of the camera. In other words, if you’ve done your job while shooting. For example cropping is not so smooth. It can be hard to do fine adjustments. When you use touch to drag the cropping to desired position and release it sometimes jump at bit further. Also I found that updating the screen while adjusting exposure, shadows etc lagged a bit, making it hard for fine adjustments.

Maybe most of the above is something I can handle by getting used to it. But at the moment it feels like it’s not 100% ready for ditching the MacBook. I might try with the Lightning to USB and connect directly to the camera. I also ordered the iPad Pro 9.7″ today. Maybe some more processing power will make Lightroom Mobile smoother to use.

One thing that I’ll guess needs to be handled by an IOS update sometime is the possibility to import directly to a different app than the Photos app. I don’t want to clutter my library there with maybe a 100 or more pictures taken during a day, which will also sync to all my other devices.

Update: Just read that the Lightning to USB cable is included with the purchase of the iPad Pro. Great!

Previous article in this series: Working with iPad only (part 1)

Advertisement

Working with iPad only (part 1)

1 Comment

In my continuing project to try and use only iPad instead of the laptop (MacBook) for everything I need to do (writing blogposts, importing and editing pictures, etc) I today bought a Apple Magic Keyboard, and an Lightning to SD Card Camera Reader adapter.

The keyboard is very nice to write on. Using it to write this post on the iPad mini.The keys are full size, so I find it very fast to type on it. After also learning some keyboard shortcuts it’s even better.iuThe Lightning to SD Card Camera Reader cable also works fine. Something I didn’t consider though is that it doesn’t enable you to import RAW files directly from the card. To do that you need a Camera Connection Kit, and connect the iPad directly to the camera if I understand it correctly. Still I can import the JPG’s into the Photos App, and then import them into Lightroom Mobile. I cannot import directly into Lightroom from the card, which would have been ideal. Still I think it’s workable. I can always delete the pictures from Photos after the import to Lightroom if I want.

One problem regarding the photos workflow is that I need to keep the all photos on the SD Card until I can import them on a computer later. If I am out traveling for a few day, and only want to bring the IPad, I am not sure if it’s enough with one 32 GB SD Card in this case. Probably need at least one more depending on how long I am gone.

The editing in Lightroom Mobile is pretty OK though. I think I can manage with that. I would miss my Silver Efex and Color Efex plugins though.

But anyways, small steps forward. Maybe one day there’ll be direct RAW import from SD-card into Lightroom Mobile.

A photosession in a cold Stockholm

Leave a comment

A couple of days ago I was asked if I could take a few portraits of a friend of mine. She wanted some new pictures of herself. Maybe to use as profile picture and such.

I am not very experienced in photoing people like that. It’s one thing to be out in the streets taking photos of strangers in different situations. But quiet different to for example take good portraits. But I like when I get the opportunity to learn by doing. Most people I know, don’t like to be photographed. So not much training there.

We went out for a little while. It was a bit cold and wet, so we didn’t keep on for too long. But got a few pictures. This one here I processed a bit afterwards in Silver Efex Pro and Lightroom.

Vernissage – Viewpoint Europe

Leave a comment

Thank you to all of your that came to the vernissage yesterday! Here are the pictures that was shown during the exhibition.

Using radial filters in Lightroom

Leave a comment

For this picture, also taken in Gothenburg this week, I used some Radial Filters in Lightroom too keep the light as it were inside the oval, and darken everything else. To make it a little more natural I used some more radial filter instances in front of the Tram. No color is added in Lightroom. It is what came out of the camera (Leica Q). Just did some adjustments to exposure, contrast, highlights and shadows.

Click on the picture to see a larger version on my Flickr page.

Tram in Gothenburg, Sweden

A trip to Gothenburg

Leave a comment

This week I tool a trip to Gothenburg for a two day training. Before the train was leaving to get me home, I had an hour of spare time. I walked around a bit near the Central Station, and took a few photos.

Gothenburg Central Station

My first time in Paris

Leave a comment

I have been to Paris just twice in my life. The first time was in 2013. It was a big thing for me, since I never believed I would be able to go there for some reason. It was rather overwhelming when I suddenly got off the bus and stood somewhere around Les Invalides. Almost a little unreal.

I didn’t know where I was supposed to hop of the bus to get closest to the hotel I was booked for. I turned out that Les Invalides was not the best place at all. My hotel was at Grands Boulevards. And even if a really long walk would have taken me there, I am not sure I would have found it. Also I had some luggage with me. So I started to try to get a taxi, which turned out to not be so easy. The few cars I saw, seemed to ignore me. When in the end I found someone that could drive me to the hotel, he drove like a criminal, swearing at the other drivers and was frequently using the horn.

In any case he got me to my hotel in the end. I got to check in to the room and drop off my bags. Then began the adventure of discovering Paris for the first time, which included taking a lot of pictures. This one below I took on my second trip to Paris, which was in 2014.

Eiffel Tower

Yesterday’s photowalk

Leave a comment

A couple of times per year I meet up with a some friends that I met via Google+. Yesterday was one of those occasions. We went to Långholmen in Stockholm, which is an island where there used to be a prison. These days it’s a museum, hotel, restaurant etc.

Where ever we go on our walks, it seems we always end up in Old Town, Stockholm at last. No exception this time. This is a picture I got from there.