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!

Sunrise at Pittock Mansion. 10th July, 2024.

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

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).

Portland, Oregon. 4th July, 2024.

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

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

Halide Process Zero + some Apple Photos adjustment.

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.

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.

Evening at home. 18th August, 2024.

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

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

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

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

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!