Day One v2

Day One 2 for OS X

Day One was released in 2011. An outstanding journaling app, it quickly won the hearts of many including receiving App of the Year in 2012 from Apple. It has been one of my favorite apps both on iOS and Mac. It is both a powerful and beautiful application on both platforms.

While this isn’t really a post about photography or filmmaking, per se, I find the journaling app to be a valuable asset to me as a photographer. My photos tell my story or I tell a story with my photography. Wherever I travel, whatever I am doing, I find ways to fit photography into my life. One of my most favorite activities when I travel is simply to roam around photographing the places I go. Day One is a companion for a photographer to journal particularly special photos and places one has been; a map view will show you locations where one was when the entry was created of the geotag of the photo. 

I find it relaxing to write down a few thoughts, add a photo, or even just geotag my entry for later review. Journaling was never part of my life until I had the access to a digital one; no matter where I was or what device I had with me, I could add an entry. As Day One has a sync service, I can quickly add an entry from my Apple Watch, just a sentence or two or a location. I can write from my iPhone or my iPad. Or, if I need to write even more, I can do it from my Mac and all my entries will be found on all my devices. Sometimes it is just a photo, sometimes just text, and sometimes a combination of the two.

An entry in Day One 2 for iOS

I write this post on the day a new version of Day One is released. Day One 2 rebuilds an already great app. I have only had moments to work with it but it has already proven to be a worthy upgrade. Probably my favorite new feature is the ability to add multiple photos to an entry. Before, it was only one but so many times I found that I my journal entry was incomplete, not telling the whole story with only one image. Now these entries are more dynamic with a digital scrapbook feel. Perhaps a landscape photo where I travel can remind me of the beautiful site while another photo reminds me of the time with friends or family. Day One 2 becomes not only a journal but also a living news feed of life.

As one goes through daily life, it is easy to think we’ll remember everything when, in fact, we won’t. Day One helps piece together our lives with photos, written entries, geo-locations, weather, and even what kind of locomotion at the moment of the entry (train, car, walking, sitting, etc.). A year, ten years, or decades from now, one can open their digital journal and time travel to remember photos, places, faces, and more from long ago.

I highly recommend Day One 2 for Mac and iOS to anyone but for us photographers, this journaling app is a close connection to our passion. Both can be purchased now; the Mac version here and the iOS version here. A timeline of life is something that one can appreciate forever. It is always a pleasure to rewind and reflect on something that might have been forgotten.

P.S. They are 50% for the next week. Ge them at the discounted price while you can!

Abstract Update

My projects tend to be numerous but my 2016 iPhone Photography venture is flexible. Having my iPhone 6s with me at all time, anytime, anywhere inspiration hit, I can continue this abstract photo series.

Abstract ACG (2)

Light, shadow, blur, and motion the foundation for this project. It has been great fun looking ay literally anything and gaining inspiration to capture an image. There are many things in this world worth photographing but many, many more that are not. When it comes to shooting abstractly, one find a great freedom in both what has the potential for being interesting.

Some of my images from the Abstract series have simple been captured while sitting at work, visualizing a pattern with motion and blur, or looking up when others are looking down. General composition withstanding, many common photography practices are lifted and definitions of "what photography is" (whatever that even means) is not necessarily applied.

Shot on iPhone 6s

The New Olympus 300mm f4 PRO Super Telephoto Lens as Reviewed by Robin Wong

Tiger by Robin Wong, © Robin Wong 2016 

I am not a nature photographer. Or, perhaps more accurately, I'm not a telephoto nature photographer. I imagine it is more or less because I don't have the right gear to do it. I don't own a 600mm f4 for my Nikon (it's a $12,000 lens!). I also don't have a 600mm equivalent lens for my iPhone or Olympus E-M5. 

Come to the rescue: Olympus 300mm f4. If you've followed me, I really enjoy shooting with Micro Four Thirds. One of its advantages is the "crop factor" (though I dislike that term; it is a bit of a misnomer). A rule of thumb is multiple by 2 the focal length of a Micro Four Thirds lens to give you the 35mm equivalence focal length. You'll read a whole lot of nonsense about this but it gives you a general idea of the field of view between the two formats.

Coming in at about $2400, the Olympus 300mm f4 gives you the field of view of a 600mm but super (or relatively) compact. And as Robin Wong writes:

“If you have scrutinized the sample images as shown above, I think you can predict what I am going to say about the lens sharpness. It is extremely sharp. The sharpness was so incredible you can immediately tell the difference in terms of details clarity just by reviewing the images on the camera LCD screen (was on an E-M1). The level of fine details captured was beyond anything I have witnessed so far coming from Olympus lenses. Yes, someone will ask how does this 300mm PRO lens compare with the two sharpest lenses from Olympus, the 75mm F1.8 and 40-150mm F2.8 PRO. The 300mm F4 PRO beats both the aforementioned lenses.”

— http://robinwong.blogspot.com

While I haven't shot with this lens, as a fan of incredible technology, this lens is really impressive. Perhaps it is the sharpness of this lens, the image stabilization that will synchronize with you E-M1 or E-M5II camera's 5-axis IS, or that it is both compact (relatively) and weather sealed, or it is a pseudo macro lens with its 1:4 magnification (at 300mm!) but the enthusiast in my would dearly appreciate using such a lens.

Whether you shoot with M43 or not, I'd highly recommend reading Robin's site and read his review and view is impressive photos. While Robin is an Olympus employee, his reviews always seem quite even handed an overall objective. Is casual writing style and qualified observations always give me an impression of non-bias and high-quality reviews.

I hope one day to have my hand at this lens and put it to the test. However, I've always been impressed with Olympus lenses and can't imagine that this lens could possibly disappoint me. Of course, the equipment isn't what takes the picture, the photographer does but having some bad ass equipment always does seem to help!

Head over to Robin's review and give his site some traffic to say thanks for allowing me to share some of his photography and review on my site. 

All images in this post were shot by and are the property of Robin Wong and viewable here.