Scan and Visit: Accessing a URL from a Saved QR Code on Your iPhone

Scan and Visit: Accessing a URL from a Saved QR Code on Your iPhone

Open the QR code image in your iPhone photos

CLICK the recognize icon at the bottom right

CLICK the photo

CLICK OPEN IN SAFARI

YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://youtu.be/FjmAxO5I2Q8?feature=shared

OTHER OPTIONS AVAILABLE ARE:

- Add to reading list

- Copy link

- Share… 

The Google Pixel 5: First Impressions

The Google Pixel 5 

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS:

Charging

This smartphone can even be charged with the new Apple charging disk, AND it can charge other Qi-certified devices by placing them on it’s back. 

Photos

My initial testing showed the this smartphone takes excellent photos including the ability to easily take guided panoramas, and portrait photos.

Body

The phone body itself is cool, with glass front and a leather-like back.

Security

The smartphone uses fingerprint security, with the touchpoint on the back of the phone. At first it seems like a weird place to have that, but after a while it becomes second nature to use. 

SIZE

This smartphone is small, compared to the Apple Phone 11 Pro Max. At first I found the font too small o read, but you can adjust font size in the settings, and after I made it LARGE, I was able to read the green much easier.

APPS

Finding popular apps is easy, with Facebook, Instagram, Netflix, Zoom, Twitter, HBO Max, Spotify, Amazon Prime Video, NY Times, Facebook, Messenger, easily downloadable from the Google Play store.

VIDEO OUT

Although the phone has a USB C port on it, the USB C to HDMI adapter that I tried to use to stream video to an external projector did not work. The Google Pixel 5 does not support this.

LIVE on XFINITY MOBILE with 5G on FACEBOOK

Thanks to Xfinity Mobile for the SIM chip to test out Live streaming to Facebook over the local 5G network.



CINEMATIC PAN

Testing out the Google Pixel 5 Cinematic Pan with video stabilization, which gives you a smooth pan at half speed, and mutes the audio.

CardStore.com Shut Down and Suggested Replacement American Greetings.com Doesn't Print Paper Cards

I’ve used CardStore.com for years, and their online address book, to send customized Christmas cards. They handled everything including addressing stamping and mailing out the cards.

They suggest joining their parent company site. Americangreetings.com, but after going over there, I don’t see any way for them to mail cards for you.

After reviewing the backs of this year's Christmas cards, I've decided to replace CardStore.com with Minted.com.


Image: Nailed it by Jackie Crawford, Durham, NC

Minted had some very artistic designs that carry over to addressing your envelope, and can include coordinated stamps. The only thing that's different is that they will pre-stamp all of your cards, and then bulk mail them, in a box, to you. You then mail them. I'm not sure why this extra step is there, but it's no big deal. ;-)

Here's a deal for you:

$25 off $100 at Minted

“Your friends get $25 OFF their first order of $100 or more. You get a $25 reward to be spent on orders of $100 or more.”

Join: https://refer.minted.com/steve350

#AD

Other options, that also address envelopes for you, include Shutterfly and SimplyToImpress.

Note on EXPORTING CardStore.com ADDRESS BOOK: CardStore Exports a .csv file with your addresses, BUT does not maintain the LEADING ZERO in ZIP CODES. #FAIL

Note on how to cancel your American Greetings.com 7 Day Trial Membership:

How do I cancel my subscription?
American Greetings memberships renew automatically. If you do not wish to have your membership renew, please visit the Manage Membership page in the My Account section of the site. You will select the “Do not renew membership” option, and your membership will expire at the end of your term. Please note, charges already incurred may be non-refundable under the terms of your membership. You may continue to use your membership until it expires.

To cancel your trial membership, please contact us within your 7 day trial period. Our Customer Support Representatives are happy to assist you. You can call us at 1-800-711-4474 between the hours of 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. EST (Monday through Friday) or if you prefer not to call, you can email us at help@americangreetings.com

#MPB2B Photo Walk at #NationalHarbor

It was my pleasure to lead two photo walks at the Marketing Profs B2B Forum, at National Harbor, MD this year.

Prior to the walk, I gave photo tips to attendees using the MPB2B App. Then, prior to each walk, I gave a brief review of photo taking tips.

We had one walk at midday, and the second, first thing in the morning.

These walks are a great way to casually meet other conference goers who share an interest in photography, or who just want to walk around with a bunch of photographers.

We had all levels of photographers on the walks. The majority were wither using photographers in social media posts, or shooting photos for fun.

HASHTAGS
Do you use hashtags?

Prior to the walk, I monitored the #NationalHarbor hashtag on Instagram to get a feeling fpr popular photo stops. This was in valuable for me to make sure our walks hit all the highlights.

I suggested the use of these hashtags for our walks:

- #MPB2B , the conference hashtag
- #MPB2BPhotoWalk, a hashtag specific to our walk
- NationalHarbor, the hashtag manhy people use for the area

Here are the TOP INSTAGRAM POSTS using the #MPB2BPhotoWalk hashtag:



Looking at the MOST RECENT POSTS using the #MPB2BPhotoWalk hashtag you can see some photographers followed my suggestion to make a mosaic using letters to spell something.



GET SEEN
One thing I like to do when traveling is to get the attention of venue I am visiting. Here, the @NationalHarbor Instagram account shared one of my photos.

View this post on Instagram

What is your favorite thing to photograph at National Harbor? #capitalizeonitall #Repost @stevegarfield The handoff. @carolfletchergarfield to #theawakeningstatue at #nationalharbor #mpb2b #mpb2bphotowalk

A post shared by National Harbor (@nationalharbor) on Oct 19, 2019 at 4:04am PDT

We have a lot of fun on these photo walks. Hope to see you at the next one in San Francisco at the Marketing Profs B2B Forum 2020.

Flickr Now Includes Creative Commons License in Embedded Photos

Wow.

I just noticed that Flickr Now Includes Creative Commons License in Embedded Photos.

You can see the Creative Commons License if you hover yh our cursor over the photo.


IMAGE: Creative Commons License in Embedded Flickr Photo

Amazing.

I think we've been asking for this for 10 years.

Boston Harborwalk Photowalk with #NX1 for #MPB2B

Note: Photos shot with Samsung #NX1 in AUTO mode.

Buy on Amazon.com (affiliate link):


Disclosure: Samsung supplied the Samsung NX1 28.2 MP Wireless SMART Mirrorless Digital Camera with 16-50mm f/2.0-2.8 "S" Lens to me on loan to play with and requested a short write-up and/or photos shared with the #NX1 hashtag.

Great Night at Fenway

Flickr's New Camera Roll View is Magic

Flickr's new Camera Roll View has a new feature called Magic View.

With Magic View you can look at all of your photos that have a certain subject in them, like Animals, Plants, Cars, Trains, etc.

Here's a look at my Flickr Camera Roll where all the photos have a boat in them.

Pretty cool.

Removing Dust and Scratches from 35mm Slides

Select Photos from My #TeamLumia Experience in Boston with the Nokia 1520

BEER BOTTLES


CITGO


CRANBERRY JUICE


THE OLD SPOT


SALEM OMEN CANDLES


SALEM WITCHES' CANDLES


Samantha Stevens Statue in Salem Massachusetts.


BLUE vs. GREEN


Nokia Disclosure:

Photos taken with Nokia Lumia 1520. CC BY-NC-SA Thanks @NokiaUS for the review unit.

Buy Nokia Lumia 1520 on Amazon.com.

Affiliate Link.

Testing out the lumolens 0.4x Wide Angle Lens for Smartphones

Image: lumolens

I first saw the lumolens as a sponsored Facebook post. I don't know how they figured  out how to show me a sponsored post but in this case it was perfect because those other lens systems that use the magnetic rings never really worked well for me because the additional metal has to stick on your smart phone and would always fall off so I was looking forward to testing this one.

Image: lumolens and iPhone 5

Image: lumolens photo shoot

Here are some before and after iPhone photos.

I'm having fun seeing how best to use the lumolens.

An exaggerated selfie seems to be a good use case.

You can get the lumolens on  Amazon.com.

iPhone lens instant clip on attachment that works with your case with no need to glue metal rings - Not just wide angle, this is a super 0.4x wide angle lens that lets you capture 60% more - For iPhone 4S, 4, 5, 5C, 5S, Android devices and tablets like the iPad - Retail packaging with full 5 year guarantee by lumolens

Update:

A couple of set up tips from lumolens.



Update 2:

Just took this cool shot while skiing.



It takes few moments to get the lens attached correctly so that it stays in focus. Also, if you bang it up against something it moves, and you have to readjust it. I hope they come out with a stationary lens holder that allows you to clip the lens on without having to adjust it or worry that it's not attached exactly right.

[Photos] Cape Cod and Nantucket and Paper Artist

On my recent trip to Cape Cod and Nantucket I played with the Paper Artist App on my Samsung Galaxy Phone.

Here are a few of the photos:


Nantucket: Red Boat


Nantucket: Brant Point Lighthouse


Chatham Bars Inn Seagull Railing


Chatham Lighthouse Beach


Monomoy Reservation Chatham


Nantucket: Brant Point Lighthouse and Building

All photos CC BY-NC-SA and taken with Samsung Galaxy Camera. Thanks @SamsungMobileUS for the review unit.


Samsung Galaxy Camera EK-GC100 8GB White, Android OS, v4.1 (Jelly Bean) 3G Unlocked HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 by Samsung from New Generation Products

How to get the perfect wedding photo with video

One of the jobs that I never wanted to do was to be a wedding photographer or videographer.

Too much pressure.

If you miss a moment, then it's gone forever.

I've even heard stories about weddings being recreated because the photos didn't come out.

So when I go to a wedding, I take photos for fun and share them.

At my cousins Ally and Joe's wedding, I was shooting video of the wedding ceremony with my Samsung Galaxy Camera. I was capturing some beautiful moments and then this happened:


Image: Ally and Joe, Married!

The perfect end to a fun ceremony.

This image is really one frame from the video I was shooting at the moment.

Some photographers use video to capture moments that they might have missed with a still camera.

When I was reviewing the video on my computer, I decided to share this as an image.

I was reviewing the video using Quicktime, so here's how I did it.

HOW TO SAVE A VIDEO FRAME AS AN IMAGE [Mac Version]

1. PAUSE video on frame I want to capture.

2. Take a screen shot by pressing [Command] [Shift] [3]


Image: Screen Shot

Note: The reason I take a screen shot is that when you try to capture the Quicktime window alone the 'player controls' are saved too and overlayed on top of the saved image.

3. Open the saved screen shot and CROP and SAVE with SKITCH, or another capture program.

4. UPLOAD to Flickr.

There are many other ways to do this.

One way would be to do it all on the Samsung Galaxy Camera.

HOW TO SAVE A VIDEO FRAME AS AN IMAGE ON A SAMSUNG GALAXY CAMERA

1. PAUSE the video in the VIDEO PLAYER


Image: Paused image

2. Make the screen image Full SIZE.

3. CAPTURE the image from the screen.

Galaxy Camera: How do I take Screenshots on my Samsung Galaxy Camera?

Note: When swiping the screen to capture the image, a video control pops up, and that will have to be edited out.


Image: Samsung Galaxy Screen Shot

4. SHARE TO Flickr.

Photos taken with Samsung Galaxy Camera. Thanks @SamsungMobileUS for the review unit.


Samsung Galaxy Camera EK-GC100 8GB White, Android OS, v4.1 (Jelly Bean) 3G Unlocked HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 by Samsung from New Generation Products

Bonus for reading this far: Don't use a drone to take wedding photos.

[Video] BBC: Vivian Maier - Who Took Nanny's Pictures?

I'm really impressed with this BBC documentary on Vivian Maier.


Part 1/5.

First broadcast: Tue 25 Jun 2013.
The incredible story of a mysterious nanny who died in 2009 leaving behind a secret hoard - thousands of stunning photographs. Never seen in her lifetime, they were found by chance in a Chicago storage locker and auctioned off cheaply.

Now Vivian Maier has gone viral and her magical pictures sell for thousands of dollars. Vivian was a tough street photographer, a secret poet of suburbia. In life she was a recluse, a hoarder, spinning tall tales about her French roots. Presented by Alan Yentob, the film includes stories from those who knew her and those who revealed her astonishing work.

Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5



Vivian Maier: Street Photographer

I loved seeing how the Rolleiflex camera was used.

Square images. Sounds familiar?

One part of the documentary showed a Vivian Maier exhibit in Chicago, where they displayed every shot from one of her 12 shot film rolls. Maier made every shot count and hardly ever took the same shot twice.

Reminds me of the days when I had a film camera.

You never wanted to waste a shot, and you never knew if you got a good shot until the film was developed.

Inspired Walk
I watched this video before taking my morning walk about the pond. It inspired me to take a few B&W shots with Instagram. Here they are.

These moments taken together tell the story of my morning walk around the pond.



Here are some of my Instagram photos for sale.

More:

Vivian Maier Maloof Collection, Ltd Website

Vivian Maier Photography

Vivian Maier on Wikipedia

Vivian Maier: Her discovered work

My Instagram photo featured by NBC News on Instagram

Boston at Night

Boston Common


Paramount


Wigs

Instagram Update Enhances Tilt-Shift and Fixes Mirrored Selfies

Image: New Tilt-Shift

Seems like the edge between the focus area and the edge is less harsh.


Image: Selfies are no longer mirrored.

Yay!

Finally.

Buy selected Instagram photos on my Instacanvas gallery.

My Instagram photos on INK361.

My Instagram photos on Instagram.com.

More here:

Mashable: Instagram Finally Introduces Crop and Scaling Tools

Update:

I don't see Scale and Crop.

Boston MBTA Marbleized

Created with MarbleCam By Daisuke Suzuki on iPhone 5.

"MarbleCam takes pictures that look as if you had focused on a glass marble with a macro lens."

Video: New Media Tools you can use to tell your story RIGHT NOW!

Steve Garfield's "New Media Tools you can use to tell your story RIGHT NOW!" session from the Social Media Jungle: Boston.

Thanks Jeff Glasson for taping and posting this!

She didn't copyright the images before posting them

A seal of approval - The Boston Globe:

"'Yes, folks, I witnessed John Mayer in a man thong. It pretty much made my life,' (Erin ) Horgan wrote on her blog. But Horgan's not so happy that she didn't copyright the images before posting them. Now, 60,000 page views later, her pictures are popping up all over, and she's not getting paid. 'I just wanted to show my girlfriends some funny pictures.'"

Aren't they copy-written by default?

Borrowing Images from the Web: An FAQ