Ladies and gents, we have a winner!
From the comment contest last week, the winner it none other than Richard Hales – a.k.a. #4 from the Random Number Generator:
Congrats to Richard, and thanks to the folks from Easy Release for their contribution – if you could get in touch with me via email Richard, I’ll connect you both to arrange distribution of the license or discount code for iTunes. Thanks to all for their participation!
On Wednesday I put out a review on some very cool software that is available for both Apple and Android devices – Easy Release, which lets you take digital model and property releases out with you in the field and people can sign the release right on your mobile device, using only their finger! You can also email the release to yourself and the model as PDF files too! It’s pretty slick, and while you have likely read the review, perhaps you missed that there is a comment contest going on to win the app for your own phone/device! Priced at $10, and you can win it for free, just by throwing a comment up in the post!
Live Learning Webinar
In other news, the next Live Learning Webinar that Kerry Garrison and I are heading up for the folks over at Nations Photo Lab is ready for registration. We can take up to 100 registrations for this event. It sold out fast last time, and we expect things to go quick for this one too. Sign up here: http://livelearninglab.eventbrite.com For the inaugural one we covered some great stuff on Lightroom, and this go around, we’ll be talking ‘Shop (as in Photoshop)! It’s only for an hour and it’s completely free!, thanks to the sponsorship of Nations Photo Lab!
Last Chance Sale on 49 Photo Tips, Vols 1 and 2
This weekend is also the last weekend before the 49 Photo Tips books are pulled from the eJunkie store to be completely revamped for an entirely new product line, so get ’em while you can! The laundry list of tips (49 Photo Tips, Volume 1) is only $2.99 and the full color photo-included list (Volume 2) is only $7.99. Get them both and save $5 (that’s nearly 50% off…) using the coupon code FINAL !
That’s it for the Friday Freebies (and discounts) for this week. Be sure to get your own comments in for a chance to win! Gotta be “in it to win it”! Happy shooting and see you back here next week!
Easy Release! is designed as a model release application that lets you get model release signatures straight from your smart phone (either Android based or iPhone based, which in and of itself is pretty cool!). Some of the cooler features of the app include:
Having said the best features of the app, it kind of needs a few minor improvements though. In the next version, let me import pre-made release forms for specific purposes. While Getty and Alamy outlet acceptance is huge, there are other custom needs like TFCD and TFP that would be tedious to type out into the custom function area. Let me use a PDF of my own creation and add a signature field at the end for models to sign. Some photographers already have custom ones on file from their attornys (yes, I have a few) that are already created in PDF, and that import function would make this just about a perfect app! The interface for building one internally is a bit clunky, and this would make things a lot easier.
In order to appeal to a broader market, lower the price a little…$10 is a bit much for an app that only has two forms. Right now the appeal is there for those who do only model and property shoots, but the app marketplace seems to average around $5 for a high end app, so $10 is a little pricey. (It’s not insanely overpriced – after all I did buy this app, but I would have liked to see it lower) Yes, I know the ROI is lower initially, but you’d likely get more buyers from a lower price. $4.99 is about the max I’d think apps would go for unless they were super powerful or utilitarian. If the standard model releases covered more situations, then sure, but more and more, releases for things like TFP, exchange of services, and other variations are becoming the norm, not the “old fashioned” model releases, and the price is just a smidge high for my liking. Different strokes and tolerances for sure, so some may find this completely reasonable, while others may find the price something of a barrier.
Here’s my screen captures from installing it on my iPod:
For those that are interested in getting a copy of this app – I did contact the developers, and they were generous enough to donate a license for some lucky reader – so, here’s the deal:
Share your own thoughts on the app here in the comments below and at the end of the week – some lucky reader (as determined from the Random Number Generator, based on comment #) will win a license key for this app! Thanks to the developers for their generous donation, and thanks to everyone who takes the time to comment. Oh yeah, try to provide at least some value from your own comments as that is what makes dialogs fun in the first place! I’ll announce the winner Saturday on Twitter (you are following me on Twitter, aren’t yo?) and again here on the blog on Monday! Good luck all, and thanks again to the folks at Easy Release!
Having had the Touch now for about a week, I’ve had a fair amount of time to look at all the features, bells, whistles, and nuances of it to give a more thorough review. As this review begins, you surely must be asking, “How does this relate to photography?” An excellent question, so let me begin with the benefits relating to photography:
Photo Albums – this is a great way to take a portable portfolio with you where ever you go. Say you are in a grocery store, restaurant, or somewhere and a discussion starts about any good photographers. “Funny you should ask – I am a photographer…would you like to see a little bit of my portfolio?” Then whip out that Touch and pick an album to show them – the ooohs and ahhs could make the difference between landing the gig and having them respond with “We’ll let you know…” Having the extra advantage of being able to show at least a pocket-sized portfolio could make the difference between getting a gig or not. Interesting food for though…
Networking – the Touch has built in wi-fi, so you can stay up to date as long as you are connected to a wifi network. Here in Denver there is a free wifi network downtown so as long as you are within range, you can check email, update status on Facebook, and network the latest developments on Twitter or Friendfeed.
Applications – bar none, the best feature in my opinion. From here I was able to download an FTP client, a photo editor (very light in function, i.e. cropping brighten, darken, saturate, desaturate, etc.) and voice recorder. Other utilities include sunrise/sunset calculators, light meters, word/excel editing apps, etc. As the saying goes, if there’s something you want to do, there’s an app for that. With these utilities I can do things like record audio snippets for the blog, upload said content to the blog or other website, do quick photo edits, or even review documents on the fly. The built in email service is also very handy.
Music/Podcasts – Just like other ipods, you can listen to music, podcasts, and because of the nice glossy screen, watch videos, including TV shows and movies (pretty much anything the Apple Store offers). As a blogger and podcaster, for me it is particularly useful because I can listen to what others are doing, and either ensure that I am keeping up, or ensure that I am producing original content that is enjoyable to my viewers and listeners. If you are a fan of podcasts and other such learning resources to increase your experience and knowledge base, this can also be useful as there are many good podcast resources out there for aspiring and learning photographers. What I am not a fan of in this regard though, is the fact that with the ability to install “applications”, the Touch still requires connection to a computer in order to manage your content. You have to delete apps, music, podcasts, pics and such from the iTunes application on your computer and not from your ipod. What’s up with that? You’d think Apple would build their own applications into something this robust…but more on the cons in a moment…
Having started with the negatives a little bit, let me go into some of the drawbacks.
Software I – the iPhone user is very fortunate because when the software update from 2.0 to 3.0 came out, the upgrade was free. Touch users saw no such benefit. I bought this a week ago, and had to pay for the privilege of getting the OS update to 3.0. Because of the benefits of it though, as well as the low cost (it was only $10), I went ahead and bit the bullet, but seeing as I had just spent over $200 for something brand new, in principle it seems that it should have shipped with OS 3.0 already on it.
Software II – A couple of the built in applications seem quirky, like the iTunes music. There is a neat feature called Shuffle where you shake the Touch and it creates a random playlist for you from your library of music. The problem is that it will keep generating new playlists randomly any time there is a little bit of shake unless you turn it off manually (say for your morning jog). There must be a better way to toggle this on and off – but I am not a software designer, so not sure how to even go about doing this.
Photo Albums – One of the advantages of the Apple setup over Windows (I had always thought this anyway) is that you don’t have the same pyramid of files and folder structures where things can get lost. Not really. If you want to create multiple albums within your Touch (or any other iPod for that matter), the best method is to create a sync folder on your computer, then sub-folders within there and then connect the iPod and let it sync to that folder.
Deleting stuff – As mentioned above, I don’t like that you have to sync the iPod to the computer, then un-check the apps in iTunes on the computer to remove from the iPod. Lastly, you have to then remove the applications from iTunes before they will be gone completely. Give me an option to remove from the iPod directly. The same goes for podcasts, music, photos, and the like – give me a way to delete (triple tap or something) from the iPod without having to resync. Reason: If I am on the go and a new podcast for Photoshop User TV comes out, I’ve got to have a fair amount of disc space available to download that from the wi-fi. If I don’t have an iTunes instance on an available laptop or PC to connect up and delete manually, I am S.O.L.
Music – It’s similar to, but tangential enough from the delete/sync issue above that I thought the music portion warranted its own discussion. This is not so much that I want to be able to delete music files, but I would like the ability to create playlists depending on what’s going on. On the photo walk over the weekend, I actually did have about 20 minutes where there was no one in my immediate vicinity to talk to, so I was shooting around and decided to listen to some music to help with inspiration. If the music isn’t right for the mood though, it can be distracting, so let me do that w/out having to re-sync back to iTunes to create another playlist – that’s just silly.
Camera – This is the only hardware element I have a complaint with – why did you not include a camera with the iTouch? It seems rather odd that given the preponderance of built in cameras in things like phones, PDA’s, and Blackberries, Apple would say “no, just for the iPhone folks”. Come on now…the TOuch seems like the more appropriate device for the camera than the iPhone. After all, the phone has a utilitarian function, why would you bundle a camera into that and not the more accessory nature of the Touch? Just seems like backward logic to me.
Accessories – The headphones for the iPhone have a built in microphone, and I can understand why they have always been included by default, but with the Touch 2G, and the new OS 3.0, the ability to record audio seems to becoming more and more standard as a way to make notes, deliver content to others. Wit that, I think Apple should have included the headphones with built in mic wit the Touch. It was a $30 investment, which I reluctantly paid, and am now glad I have, but really think Apple just wanted their extra little bit of my wallet in that scenario. *sigh*
Of course I would be remiss if I didn’t at least mention the gaming and entertainment aspect of the device as many people do find the diversions an enjoyable activity. For me though, I have other venues for distraction and don’t find as much benefit in them, but if you are of that particular ilk, then by all means, check out the App Store part of iTunes for whatever strikes your fancy.
Overall though, the nits I have with the Touch are minor. It’s a great device that can give me content to listen to, the ability to create my own content, and stay connected with family, friends, and colleagues. The ability to listen to music while surfing the internet, catch up on Twitter, check email, and even record some audio content for the blog makes the Touch a valuable addition to my belt.
Well, that’s about it for today, as I can’t think of any additional feedback to give on the Touch – I’d give it one and a half thumbs up. Until tomorrow, keep the energy going from the Worldwide Photowalk and keep on shooting! We’ll see you back here again tomorrow!
Been fighting a bug that’s been going around for the past few days so don’t have much news or information from a photography perspective to share. On a personal note, I finally caved in and got an iPod for listening to the spate of podcasts that I enjoy during my daily commutes. The playback, interface, and storage capacity makes for a world of difference. For those that are interested in which iPod, I put together a little YouTube video to show the “unboxing”:
Enjoy and Happy Shooting! We’ll see you back here tomorrow (when I’ll hopefully have a podcast ready for all…)
