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Happy New Year and a Winter Product Review of NuTouch Touchscreen-Compatible Gloves

HAPPY NEW YEAR, and all the best to you and yours for a Happy and Healthy 2017 and beyond!

I thought it would be fitting, as we enter 2017, to share a photo from about a dozen years ago. It’s a photo of our son Tyler with my Dad (his Grandpa Mark) when Tyler was just two months old. It’s my version of “Father Time w/ Baby New Year!” Below the photo is the image info.

Image Info: The lighting was entirely from a table lamp and a halogen torch lamp. Both of those lights had the same color temperature, so it was easy to balance them in Lightroom when I prepared the final image. Camera Data: Camera: Fuji FinePix S3 Pro; Lens: Tamron 28-300mm XR Di f/3.5-6.3 @ 60mm; F-stop: f/4.8; Exposure: 1/250 Sec.; ISO: 200.

I have a lot to be thankful for this past year. I was able to work with many new and longtime clients and workshop participants, and I was able spend quite a lot of time with family in 2016, especially Tyler, who just turned 13 (oh my!). My wife and I (and his teachers at school and at a weekly social class he attends) have been helping Tyler to become more independent and outgoing each day. If you haven’t seen the special GoFundMe page I set up recently about our upcoming week-long intensive therapy for Tyler, which I believe will have very positive results based on the techniques we are already implementing, you can take a look at it here. In the photo below, I included a photo of Tyler at 10 months old with a photo of me, Tyler and my wife, Belinda a few months ago at my wife’s Mom and Dad’s 50th Anniversary.

We are extremely thankful to everyone who contributed and shared the information. I generally don’t share such personal family matters, and I’ve never requested assistance in this way, but I had a feeling that our story would help others who are experiencing similar family situations, and I was right. The outpouring of love and thoughtful comments have been very heartwarming.

QUICK PRODUCT SUGGESTION FOR SMARTPHONES or CAMERAS w/ TOUCHSCREENS

Cold weather in many parts of the world brings cold hands and fingers when outside (or in a cold car), and that can pretty easily be solved with gloves. However, most gloves are useless on touch-screen devices, and if you have an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus, you may have noticed that the home button is even more finicky when using gloves (assuming you are not using Touch ID, which recognizes your fingerprints on the home button).

That being said, I found an inexpensive and comfortable set of gloves that work very well (even while pressing the often difficult to press buttons on DSLRs when using many different gloves). They are called NewerTech NuTouch Gloves, and they are currently priced at under $10 at Other World Computing (see above). You can find them in a few different sizes here. You can also find them for about $14 on Amazon.com here. The Other World Computing links are not affiliate links, but the one to Amazon.com is, which helps to support our publishing efforts.

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Please let me know if you have any questions about Image Backups, Lightroom, Photoshop, etc. and I might just answer them here on ImagingBuffet.com (or privately if it’s a quick answer). You can reach me here.

All the best, and I hope to be back soon with more tips and techniques!

-Andrew

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How to Take a Screenshot on an iOS Device with a Single Screen Tap

There are many reasons why you might want to take a screenshot on your computer or smartphone. One of the main ones for those who love taking pictures is to crop a photo quickly (just pinch to zoom, take a snapshot of the photo, and a new cropped version of the photo will appear in your “All Photos” list.) The problem I was having recently was that I kept putting my iPhone 7 Plus into sleep mode instead of taking a screen shot when I pressed the sleep and home buttons at the same time (that’s the traditional way to take a snapshot on an iOS device). It seems more difficult now for me than it was when I used an iPhone 5S as my main phone.

Below is a step-by-step procedure for setting up your iOS device so that you can take a screenshot in one screen tap (well, I should probably write “screen push” or “extended tap.” If you have a chance to try it out, you’ll know exactly what I mean.

I was also looking for a way to “bookmark” my favorite podcasts while on the go by taking a screenshot of the episode that’s playing in the Podcasts app. Taking a screenshot shows the exact place in the audio file or stream where I would like to return in the future. I was hoping Siri could help me with this, but I don’t think there is a way to take a screenshot using Siri (please let me know if you know of a way to do that). When I asked Siri to take a screen shot, she told me: “That may be beyond my abilities at the moment.”

Here are the steps to take a Screenshot on an iOS Device with a single Screen Tap (Please note: A Device with 3D Touch is needed for a single screen tap, but any iOS device with Assistive Touch should work fine if you are willing to tap twice):

STEP 1: Go to Settings>General>Accessibility. (See Fig. 1)

STEP 2A: Scroll Down to AssistiveTouch and Turn it On. (See Fig. 2 and Fig. 3)

STEP 2B: One More Thing Re: 3D Touch

If you want to make the 3D Touch “Push” action more sensitive (it takes less effort to make a screenshot), choose Light from the “Light, Med, Firm” scale in the 3D Touch menu. I find that Light is perfect whether I’m holding the phone or whether it is in a holder/mount.

STEP 3: Turn on AssistiveTouch, then press Customize Top Level Menu. (See Fig. 3)

STEP 4: Under 3D Touch Action, Choose Screenshot from the menu items. (See Fig. 4)

Fig. 4

STEP 5: You will then see a white button with a black square background around it (about the same size as an app icon) appear on every screen you use (See Fig. 5). When you touch it, it gets much more contrasty, and it will then fade back to about 20% opacity. You can place it just about anywhere along the border of your device’s screen. Quick Tip: You can delete an app in the space where you place the button (or reorganize your apps in iTunes so that it doesn’t overlap with any of your apps).

STEP 6: If the white button is annoying or you just want it to temporarily disappear, you can set up a triple-click action to turn it on and off under Accessibility>Accessibility Shortcut (it’s the last item in the list, as shown in Fig. 6). Then choose AssistiveTouch and triple click to your heart’s content!

If You Don’t Have 3D Touch on Your Device

Many iOS devices don’t have 3D Touch (you can tell that you don’t have it if the 3D Touch Action line is not shown on the screen in Fig. 4). However, you can achieve almost the same result, but you will need to press the screen twice. Once to open the Assistive Touch control (by pressing the white button) and once to choose Screenshot. You won’t be able to see the Screenshot icon by default in the menu (shown in Fig. 4), but you can add it quickly by pressing on any of the icons there (or add a new one by pressing the + key). Then choose Screenshot from the list of items.

Here’s an example of a screen shot captured during the show (at 11:28) from one of my favorite Podcasts, Mac Geek Gab (I highly recommend subscribing to the show (or just listening online) if you use any Mac or iOS device). The show is packed with practical advice, tech tips, gear reviews, etc.

I hope that this was helpful to you and I welcome your comments!

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PhotoPlus Expo 2016 – Show Floor Highlights

As usual, I had a great time at the PhotoPlus Expo in New York City. There was so much to see that my head was spinning! It was also nice to reconnect with many familiar faces. And as usual, I have a long list of companies and products that I’m racing to share with you so that you can see what I saw if you are attending the show on Day 2 or 3 (Fri. 10/21/2016 or Sat. 10/22/2016).

Here is a page on the PhotoPlus Expo site with a full list of exhibitors in case you’d like more info about the ones below or any others at the show.

Also, if you’d like to read my other article about the Expo, which includes info on how to get a free Expo only pass, here it is. So without further ado, here are about 25 companies in 20 booths (listed in alphabetical order) that I’d like to highlight.

AcrylicPress.com 
Booth 361 – This company (according to their website), is the largest manufacturer of acrylic photo decor and full-color personalized acrylic keepsakes in the world, and they truly know how to face-mount to acrylic. Their prints and photo blocks are stunning, and one of the things that sets them apart is that they offer the option of having the edges of their acrylic prints beveled, which gives them a very nice look. The hanging options they offer are also very elegant and strong. They are also giving out cards at the show with discount codes for their services.

Adobe.com  (The Adobe Theater)
Rear of the Expo Hall near the PDN Gallery and Booth 170 – I could have stayed here most of the day learning new tips and tricks from experts who really know their stuff. Below is a photo with the full schedule of presentations.

Canon U.S.A.: Power of Print Pavilion
Booth 973 – Canon is making 17×22 inch prints for any attendee who stops by the Pavilion with an image from your phone, flash drive, or memory card. For best results, I recommend that you prepare a file at about 200-300 ppi at about 16×20 inches. Prints will be output on papers from either Moab by Legion Paper or Innova Art. I would try to get there as early as possible to minimize wait times. They are also featuring an impressive group of speakers there on all three days.

Epson America Inc
Booth 707 – Epson’s booth is always impressive, and this year is no exception. Seeing so many prints on so many papers can really help you decide which one might be right for your work. You can also see their newest P-series line of printers.

Hahnemuhle USA
Booth 437 – Hahnemühle’s booth is another favorite of mine to visit each year, primarily because you can browse printed samples of so many of their papers. They have a new limited edition black portfolio box for the Super A3/Super B size only (also known as 13×19 inches) with three fine-art paper options. You can find out more about it here. The boxes have a notched area that allows for the paper to be easily removed, which is a nice touch that combines stability and convenience.

Hoodman Corporation
Booth 1055 – Hoodman is constantly innovating, and in addition to their loupes for DSLRs and video cameras, they were showing quite a few hoods for use when flying drones. They even make a hood for GoPro units called the H-200 (about $20).

Innova Editions
Booth 1148: This is another great company who makes inkjet papers. Here is an overview of two new art papers developed in cooperation with Fabriano, as well as information about their new Editions Line of inkjet papers. Their booth also features some stunning large format prints of Marilyn Monroe photographed by Milton H. Greene.

LumeCube
Booth 948 – LumeCube launched with a Kickstarter campaign in 2014 and their main lighting product is nothing short of amazing. It’s a small cube that produces super-bright daylight-balanced light. You can even control the LumeCubes with an iOS or Android device, which allows for much more control. They also offer a 5-Pack Colored Cap Kit for about $10 that interfaces with the app so that you can easily tell one LumeCube from another. They were also showing new aluminum “cages” for gels and other light modifiers. And for drone owners who want to light up the sky, they recently released mounts without lights as well as custom lighting kits for specific drones that include two LumeCube units.

MagMod
Booth 948 – Last year at the show I purchased quite a few MagMod accessories, which are designed to work with just about any shoe-mount flash or continuous light. What makes their system unique is how the accessories connect via a magnetic system to the lights. I highly recommend stopping by to see their innovative products, and you can even bring your own flash to test out their products.

Manfrotto Distribution
Booth 555 – Manfrotto has so many outstanding products, from tripods and “video monopods” that have small retractable feet, to bags that can carry many light stands and other equipment. 

Moab by Legion Paper
Booth 848 – Moab has a very large selection of high quality inkjet papers and the prints they show in their booth are truly stunning, including a panoramic print of a glacier and ship by Joshua Holko which he photographed in Antarctica. It must be seen to be believed! For more of his incredible work, visit this page.

Modibooth
Booth 558 –Photo booths are extremely popular, and this company has a number of affordable solutions that impressed me. They simplify everything and their hardware looks great. You can even test it out and walk away with a print and/or a 4 frame animated GIF!

My Case Builder
Booth 1069 – This company does something truly amazing: they custom cut foam inserts similar to the open case that’s in the photo below in the Nanuk booth photo. In fact, the company resells Nanuk cases as well as other cases so you can choose both a case and a custom insert at the same time. They recommend you actually ship your gear to them so that they can properly fit everything, but if you have standard cameras, etc., you can have them create an insert online without having to send any gear in. 

Nanuk
Booth 170 – This company makes some super-strong hard cases for a very wide range of devices. Some even have extension handles to make carrying them through airports and other locations much easier. They also have cases that are perfect for light stands.

OWC (Other World Computing)
Booth 462 – If you are not familiar with OWC, you should first take a look at their site, macsales.com. If you need an empty enclosure for any hard drive, a RAID system with drives, a new SSD drive, a dual hard drive “bay” to run bare hard drives/SSD drives in, or if you are looking for a reconditioned Apple laptop, iMac, or other Mac, they are definitely a place to check out.

Peak Design
Booth 661 – Peak Design is a company that I’ve been very impressed by for years. I’ve been using their Capture Clips (Capture and Capture PRO) since their first Kickstarter campaign in May of 2011. Since then, they’ve done a few more hugely successful Kickstarters, and recently, they really hit a home run with over $6 million raised for a number of new camera/gear bags. Here’s a great story about Peter Dering, the company’s founder and CEO. Their booth at the show is very well laid out, with all of the gear at eye level and on tables just in front of the items. 

PhotoFlashDrive.com
Booth 949 – This company’s booth is truly spectacular! They specialize in custom flash drives as well as boxes and related items that hold prints, USB thumb drives, etc. They also recently introduced slip-in mats that they call “Simply Slip-Ins Archival.” They are also running a “Virtual Trade Show” during the PhotoPlusExpo on their site at PhotoFlashDrive.com.

Photofocus (Featuring Four Exhibitors: Perfectly Clear by Athentech, Platypod Pro, and Plotagraph)
Booth 869 – I give the folks at Photofocus a lot of credit for putting together an awesome booth packed with great hardware, software and friendly people answering questions about photography, Lightroom, etc. I’m honored to have written quite a few articles on Photofocus.com, and I highly recommend the website.

Re: the companies whose products are being featured in their booth, I watched an impressive demo of the Perfectly Clear plug-ins by Levi Sim (see photo below). With just a few presets and slider adjustments, he was able to dramatically improve an environmental portrait.

The Platypod Pro products are so simple, but powerful. They are essentially weighted plates (currently there are three options) that can hold all types of gear, including ballheads, cameras and lights. At the booth there are a number of them set up with different equipment. You can even thread some webbing (a.k.a. strapping) or a tension strap through the Platypod Pros’ belt slots and wrap them around trees, strap them to railings, etc. Levi Sim wrote a great article about how he used the Platypod Pro Max while hiking, and Richard Harrington, also from Photofocus.com, wrote a very good article about the Platypod Pro Max here. This Facebook post from Platypod Pro shows how you can even use cable ties to secure the Platypod Pro (not sure if you can do this with all of them, but you can see how it is done here with a Platypod Pro Base Plate).

Plotagraph is a software that’s truly amazing. Essentially, you can turn a still image into one that has motion. Picture a scene with clouds that can be animated to look as though they are moving. I had a demo with the inventor of the software and CEO of the company, Troy Plota, and I look forward to testing it out for myself soon. Below are Troy Plota’s hands using an iPad Pro to make adjustments to one of my photographs using the software. I learned that fireworks photos take some expertise to animate well!

And for those interested in attending a photo walk Friday evening, 10/21, Photofocus will be meeting in Times Square at 7pm. For details, visit this page. There is no need to sign up to attend, but if you do register (as long as there are still free tickets remaining), you will be eligible for prizes from the three companies listed above who are exhibiting in the Photofocus booth, as well as ThinkTAP Learn.

Booth 519 – Sony’s booth, like usual, is very impressive. They have a number of model photography areas, and the photos on the wall taken with Sony gear also look great. You will also find a café inside the booth serving coffee and other beverages, which was a nice touch!

Westcott
Booth 124 – I always like visiting the Westcott booth to see their lighting and modifiers, such as their Rapid Box, which is available in a number of sizes. Below is an embedded post from Instagram from their booth:

A photo posted by Westcott Lighting (@westcottlighting) on Oct 20, 2016 at 9:12am PDT

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All the best, thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoy the show if you attend!