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Close-up of a sunflower with vibrant orange and yellow petals. A bee covered in pollen is visible on the lower left part of the flower head.

Spotted on a neighborhood walk. 12th September, 2024.

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A textured brown faux leather wallet featuring a gold colored clasp sits on a wooden table. Placed on top of the wallet is a vintage black and white photograph of a man with a mustache, dressed in a collared shirt and jacket.

Twenty-five years in the US today.

I still have some of the items I brought with me, including this travel wallet with this photo of my late grandfather.

I continue to travel with these.

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A horizontal diptych: On the left side, there is an abundant growth of delicate white Baby’s Breath flowers surrounding a single pink rose. On the right side, there are large, green squash plant leaves with a large yellow-orange squash blossom.

Flora at home. 11th July, 2024.

📷 Hasselblad 500C/M
🎞️ Kodak Portra 160 (Expired)

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Please join me in supporting the non-profit Blue Sky Gallery. Blue Sky is a unique and wonderful place. They are solely focused on photography and the put on great exhibits every month. They have done this for a long time! And now they need our help, so please donate if you can 🙏

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A light blue house with white trim features a small porch with brown stairs and a black railing. A barbecue grill is situated to the left of the porch. A beige cat wearing a turquoise harness walks near the stairs.

Fifteen months after starting a project and realizing it was too much for me, I finally hired someone to do it. Our backyard access is a lot better now!

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A horizontal diptych: The left image shows a large, historic mansion with a red roof partially obscured by trees under a clear sky. The right image captures a cityscape at sunrise, with a distant mountain peak visible on the horizon.

Sunrise at Pittock Mansion. 10th July, 2024.

📷 Hasselblad 500C/M
🎞️ Kodak Portra 160 (Expired)

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A new Mimi Uploader beta is out; Generate alt texts for all photos in a batch!

This was something I’d considered but dismissed as I was working on the earlier versions of this feature. However a recent discussion has changed my mind.

Sometimes the stars align and eager feedback from 90% of users (i.e. 4 people) comes at just the right time when I have availability, and also the architecture of the app supports adding it quickly, so I built it!

A new beta with this feature is out now. Please try it and let me know what you think 😊

(Link to the video embedded above).

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Black and white photo of daisies in a garden. The flowers are illuminated by sunlight, with some tall and upright while others are bending towards the ground. The background includes foliage in partial shadow.

Portland, Oregon. 4th July, 2024.

📷 Hasselblad 500C/M
🎞️ Fujifilm Acros 100 (Expired)

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A distorted reflection of a street scene on a shiny, red metallic surface, adorned with rivets, creating a wavy and abstract visual effect.

Four orange pumpkins with bumpy textures, striped delicata squash, two red tomatoes, and several other fruits on a white wooden table outdoors.

An abstract reflection and some produce of home garden. August, 2024.

Halide Process Zero + some Apple Photos adjustment.

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Rejection of Computational Photography as the Sole Creative Path Forward for iPhone Photography

Over the last week I’ve explored Halide app’s new Process Zero (PZ) feature.

For the first couple of days I misunderstood what the PZ image was and how to get it. I even tooted a comparison of a RAW image processed by me along with an “Apple Processed” image, both captured in Halide. Apparently I wasn’t the only one confused, as per the discussions in the official subreddit.

I thought that the PZ adjustments were in the RAW file but they are actually only in the HEIC / JPG file, that is “developed”, and essentially redeveloped every time one makes adjustments in the app’s Image Lab interface.

Once I had this clarity I tried it in various scenarios, and finally appreciated the result instead of just the theory and examples presented in the announcement.

So far my favorite PZ images have been a couple of black and white photos I shared in this post a few days ago.

A black-and-white photograph of a room with a tufted ottoman in the foreground. A cat is lying and sleeping on top of the ottoman, partially illuminated by sunlight. Behind the ottoman is a wooden bookshelf filled with books and board games.

I also shared the one above on Glass and had a small conversation with Tom that started to crystallize my thoughts on it:

It’s a nice option to have in the toolkit but of limited use for someone like me. If I was a phone-only photographer I might be more excited. Also, I like the lack of computational photography but I have no nostalgia for older digital cameras.

Grain, in film, was a limitation that became an aesthetic, and in the digital age, an emulation. It appears that digital noise is going down the same road for some photographers and is part of their nostalgia for older digital cameras. The interest in that aesthetic is also a rejection of computational photography (with its artificial look) as the sole creative path forward for photographers on the iPhone.

While a photographer’s admonishment of computational photography is usually commentary, Halide’s admonishment comes in the form of Process Zero. It is a breath of fresh air in the current environment of computational photography. It embraces constraints, which is a powerful force for creativity.

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A black-and-white photograph of a room with a tufted ottoman in the foreground. A cat is lying and sleeping on top of the ottoman, partially illuminated by sunlight. Behind the ottoman is a wooden bookshelf filled with books and board games.

A black and white photo of a room with a modern table lamp on the left, a vinyl cover on the wall above a white textured cabinet, and a vinyl record player and small diffuser on top of the cabinet. Sunlight casts shadows on the wall.

Evening at home. 18th August, 2024.

Halide Process Zero (and Image Lab) + Desaturated. No other adjustments.

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A serene black-and-white image depicts a person walking with a dog along a calm reservoir surrounded by tall coniferous trees casting long shadows on the water.

Mt. Tabor Park, Portland, Oregon. 8th July, 2024.

📷 Hasselblad 500C/M
🎞️ Fujifilm Acros 100 (Expired)

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Cyclists are participating in the Providence Bridge Pedal event. They are riding along a closed-off city street under a large banner that reads “Providence Bridge Pedal: You Belong at Providence.” Event staff and spectators line the route.

Cyclists ride on a bridge under a partially cloudy blue sky. The bridge has traffic barriers and structures typical of an urban setting, with a distinctive arched, white bridge seen in the background. Buildings, including a notable orange and gray one, are visible near the bridge.

A large group of cyclists riding on a highway, with a cityscape and green hills in the background. There are also scattered walkers and a few other types of vehicles. The sky is cloudy with some patches of blue.

Biking workout summary with a duration of 2 hours, 27 minutes, and 12 seconds, starting at 7:31 AM. Distance covered is 22.35 miles (35.97 km). The user burned 781 active calories.

Another great bridge pedal ride today! We look forward to it every year.

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New version of Mimi Uploader with a redesigned upload flow is out 🎉

This version introduces a modernized, intuitive, and faster upload flow which takes you from uploads to recent uploads with zero taps!

The new flow unifies the uploads screen and the recent uploads screen into the main app screen. This provides immediate access to your uploads right after uploading for so you can move on to exporting or adding alt text right away!

I’m loving this new design very much and I hope you like it too.

This has probably been the longest beta cycle for any release as I ironed out the design and updated other parts of the app to match. So, thank you for your patience.

And as always, thank you for your support! 😊

Get it from the App Store!

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A mural on the side of a building depicting a person wearing a hat and looking at the viewer while holding a vintage camera. The background features a grayscale cityscape with vehicles, while the person is partially colored with vibrant, multi-colored stripes.

Stumbled upon this lovely mural of Vivian Maier while riding in a car a few days ago.

📍 Chicago, Illinois. 7th August, 2024.

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A person tending to a garden, surrounded by large green leaves, with a watering hose spraying water in the foreground. The individual is partially obscured by the plants, which appear healthy and thriving under the sunlight. The garden includes various types of foliage.

Portland, Oregon. 30th June, 2024.

📷 Voigtländer Bessa R2A + Leica Summicron 50mm f/2
🎞️ Lomography Color 800 (Expired)

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Close-up shot of a sunflower with vibrant yellow petals and a detailed green and yellow center. There’s a small dew drop visible on the center, and a tiny black ant crawling on one of the petals.

Portland, Oregon. 23rd July, 2024.

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A military ship docked in a city harbor, with decorated flags adorning its deck. Urban buildings and a distinctive tall skyscraper are visible in the background. The water reflects the ship and buildings. The sky is partly cloudy.

⬆️

📷 Voigtländer Bessa R2A + Leica Summicron 50mm f/2
🎞️ Lomography Color 800 (Expired)

and

📷 iPhone 15 Pro

⬇️

A military ship docked in a city harbor, with decorated flags adorning its deck. Urban buildings and a distinctive tall skyscraper are visible in the background. The water reflects the ship and buildings. The sky is partly cloudy.

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A serene park scene with tall trees and a walking path. Two people are riding electric unicycles down a grassy hill, while two others walk with their dogs along the path. In the background, there are more walkers enjoying the park.

Mt Tabor Park, Portland, Oregon. 7th July, 2024.

📷 Voigtländer Bessa R2A + Leica Summicron 50mm f/2
🎞️ Lomography Color 800 (Expired)

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A scenic view overlooking the Astoria-Megler Bridge crossing the Columbia River, surrounded by lush green trees. Fog drapes the distant hills under a clear blue sky.

Nighttime cityscape of Astoria, Oregon with illuminated buildings in the foreground and the prominent Astoria-Megler Bridge spanning the Columbia River in the background, against a twilight sky.

Astoria-Megler bridge at early morning, and just past sunset. Astoria, Oregon. June, 2024.

📷 Hasselblad 500C/M
🎞️ Kodak Gold 200