At Home with Tech

In the same way that an iPhone’s Live Photos functionality can add motion to a frozen photograph, digital photo frames can perform an even better trick if you load them up with short videos. Here’s how I do that.

I’ve never completely understood the value of the ‘Live Photos’ mode on iPhones. These moving photos are tiny videos that represent 1.5 seconds of action before and after you snap your ‘photo.’ So that expanded capture range gives you the flexibility to later select your perfect frame (Key Photo) during those 3 seconds.

Of course, I want to improve my iPhone’s pictures, but working through every Live Photo to identify that one ‘perfect frame’ takes some patience. By the time you do all that, the person next to you can snap the same picture the old-fashioned way by tapping their screen a couple times, quickly select the best (non-Live) one and then share it on social media. (And all this while you’re still carefully identifying your new Key Photo from the original Live Photo.)

The Live Photos feature is a nifty trick but working to maximize each one is not a speedy process.

The Limitation of 3 Seconds
If you just want to enjoy the magic of a Live Photo that contains some action, I suppose that’s fine. But I don’t think three seconds is necessarily long enough. It can be frustrating to only get three seconds to capture a moment. But of course, any longer would make it… a video… which it really is to begin with.

And after taking thousands of Live Photos, you’re going to inevitably eat into your iPhone’s memory reserves.

So, I generally try to leave the Live Photos feature turned off unless I really want to use it.

Still, I think Apple is onto something here.

Creating Extended Live Photos is Even Better
When the Live Photos feature was first introduced, it felt like magic… like the wizardry of the live paintings represented in the “Harry Potter” movies. The only real difference is these live-action framed images lasted for a bit longer… maybe five or six seconds.

These extra few seconds can be important, because they allow for enough time to let the story of a particular moment play out.

And if you didn’t know it, this little magic trick isn’t that fantastical anymore. You can do it today on digital photo frames which have the capability to play videos.

I’ve tried this feature on my home digital picture frames made by Nixplay. They allow for up to 15-second video clips. Their ‘Plus’ subscription plan lets you play up to 2-minute clips. But I think 15 seconds is more than enough.

I’ve purchased a few Nixplay digital frames across the years. I think their current Nixplay 10.1” Wi-Fi Photo Frame is a good place to start.

As for the audio part of the video files, I’m not interested in hearing the sound. (That turns the digital frame into a TV.) I just want to watch the action of a moving photo. And 5-10 seconds is usually plenty of time to properly capture the action of a scene.

I experimented with this extended Live Photo idea a few years back, and the results were eerily cool. That said, getting my short videos onto my Nixplay frames wasn’t exactly straight forward. It took a few steps and required Nixplay’s mobile app. I’ve documented the process in this blog post here.

A New Way to Capture the Moment
Recently, I expanded my practice of intentionally shooting short videos for my Nixplay frames to display alongside regular stills.

I’ve begun shooting 10-15 second videos during family events. These videos are designed to capture what you might think of as “B-Roll” in a documentary. During these moments, ideally no one will look at my camera. But if someone wants to playfully pose, that’s okay too.

And after trimming and adding these new short videos into my frame’s playlist, these clips have immediately transformed my digital photo frames into little time machines that seemingly allow you to peer back into more realistic reflections of the past.

It’s wild.

Turn your Digital Frames into True Memory Portals
In the same way that Apple has evolved the definition of a photo into a Live Photo, why can’t digital photo frames more fully evolve into memory portals that better connect you to the past through 5-10 second video clips?

I’m certainly going to maximize this opportunity on my own digital frames moving forward.

And I’m happy to offer this uncommon pictorial presentation strategy for your consideration.