Cameras, camcorders, and photography advice.
Photography and Video
How Can I Share Videos With Family?
Episode 1713
Ed fromEd converted a bunch of home movies into digital format on a USB key. He wants to share them with family, but he has to convert them. What does he do? Leo says that as long as the USB key is formatted for FAT32 or ExFAT, it should be compatible with both. NTFS won't work for most macs. Then there's the video format. If it's WMV, Macs can't play it back. But MP4 is modern and ubiquitous. What if the person he's sharing with has a mobile phone? Leo recommends sharing them on YouTube. Set videos to private and then send them a link to share. That's the easiest way.
Chris Marquardt ... from the Shadows
Episode 1712
Chris joins Leo to talk about shadows in photography. Where there's light, there are shadows, and they come in all shapes and sizes. Shadows can also create texture in a picture as the light plays with what it falls on. Shadows can also be long or short, depending on where the sun is in the sky. Low in the sky and the shadow is longer, higher in the sky; it's shorter.
Tik Tok May Get Banned in the US
Episode 1712
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced that the US Government may be banning Tik Tok within weeks due to national security issues. The app is already banned in India, and Wells Fargo has banned it as well. The US government has banned it government-wide as well.
Tik Tok is subject to the authority of the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party. The app has deleted posts that are critical of that government. But it also has a feature that looks in your clipboard, which could be a security issue due to data snarfing.
What Happened to My Photo Thumbnails in Win10?
Episode 1711
Mark fromMark has pictures on his Windows 10 PC, but he doesn't get the thumbnail to see what it is. Leo says Mark needs to rebuild the thumbnail cache. The Windows Disk Clean-Up tool will do it. Windows Key + disk cleanup and return. Select This PC, Drive, and Properties. Check the thumbnails option and it will rebuild it. It'll take a while, but it'll do the job.
How Can I Better Stabilize My Camera for Photos and Video?
Episode 1711
Mark fromMark is interested in a good camera gimbal for his mobile device. Leo says that DJI has a great line called the DJI Ronin for DSLRs and other cameras, and the Osmo For smaller cameras. He can even get them for action cameras and mobile devices. Or, he can go with the DJI Osmo Pocket which has its own camera built-in. So it largely depends on the budget. It's generally more affordable to get one for a smartphone.
There's also a great one for vloggers called the ZVb1. But it's not a gimbal per se. takes advantage of the camera's internal Optical Image stabilization.
Chris Marquardt and the Outside Assignment
Episode 1710
Here's the OUTSIDE assignment review.
Review photos:
https://flic.kr/p/2jfnS4V - Great Perspective
https://flic.kr/p/2jiPujt - Must've waited a long time for all the pieces to come together. Timing is a key element in photography.
https://flic.kr/p/2jeFsWx - Shows a lot of tension, along with symmetry. Great photo composition with good lines.
All 55 photos:
How Do I Automatically Upload Photos to Amazon Prime?
Episode 1709
Mike fromMike wants to know how he can automatically upload his images from his Google Pixel 3 to Amazon Prime. Leo says there's a setting in the prime photos app that will upload what's on the phone and upload it. Anything that's in google photos, however, will need to be moved over manually. But there's a way to do that in batches.
What's a Good Camera for Livestreaming on the Net?
Episode 1709
Sheryl fromSheryl has a 24/7 live stream of wildlife on Twitch.tv called Hoot House Live Stream. She uses a Wyze cam but it's not made for live streaming and glitches out from time to time. Leo says to look for a POE (power over ethernet) or PTZ camera. NEST cams are also good.
Sal calls to let Leo know about WyzeCam's latest outdoor wireless cam, was just released. Leo says that's a cool design, but it's designed to be battery powered and only turns on with movement, to conserve battery life.
Chris Marquardt ...Pick One Photo
Episode 1708
Chris has a new website called PickOnePhoto, where he talks to people about their pictures one on one. And then there's why they chose the photos they do. What triggered them to take it? You can learn a lot about photography and why people take the pictures they do just by talking about them, and you can also learn some great stories behind them.
Chris Marquardt ... Starlinked
Episode 1706
Chris joins Leo to talk about how Elon Musk's Starlink satellites are causing problems for astral photographers and astronomers. The satellites are congesting the night sky, even though SpaceX says that they are putting sunshades on the satellites to prevent light reflection and make the satellites more invisible. But Chris says that instead, they are reflecting infrared, which is also problematic when scanning the sky and taking long-exposure photographs. Chris says at least SpaceX is listening and is trying to engineer a solution to prevent light noise from reflecting down from the sky.