At Home with Tech

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Category: travel

August 18, 2019

Here’s a Trick to Quickly Share a Camera’s Best Vacation Photos

If you’re not using your smartphone to take your vacation pictures, you may quickly get the feeling that they’re trapped on your camera’s memory card. Here’s how to quickly get them ready to share with family and friends…

So my family and I were visiting friends across town and catching up, since they had just returned from their vacation visiting relatives in Italy.

Of course, the major topic of conversation during dinner was their big trip. And what’s a good story without a few accompanying photos?

Inevitably, an iPhone XS materialized, and the Lesters were transported to the streets of Pompeii. My wife and I leaned in and our nine-year-old son ran around the table to see the images of our friends standing in an ancient city, frozen in time by the brutal force of Mount Vesuvius.

The impromptu presentation was effortlessly supported by the mom’s index finger flicking through her photos’ app on her iPhone. Some of the photos were absolutely amazing. And this raw collection completely captured their experience.

Several times, I turned my gaze to the dad who was sitting on the other side of the table.

He peered at me and said with a smile, “I’ve got better pictures.”

I nodded and returned the smile.
(But I wondered if he was experiencing a feeling of slight betrayal by technology that hadn’t quite lived up to expectations.)

And then we all turned our gaze back to the glow of his wife’s iPhone.

Time is Your Enemy
Here’s the backstory… The dad had traveled to Italy equipped with a brand-new Sony RX-100 VA camera as well as a GoPro HERO7 Black. I believe those are among the best tools available to visually capture a family’s vacation.

And I had complete faith that he had, in fact, captured a collection of outstanding photos that would have humbled any iPhone’s camera.

But in that moment at the dinner table, I knew that my friend had fallen victim to one of the classic limitations of the strategy I usually follow on how to handle a fresh crop of vacation photos…

  • Take loads of photos with a high-quality camera
  • Download them onto your computer at home
  • Choose the best ones
  • Tweak them to make them even better with software like Adobe Lightroom
  • Then share your winners with your family and friends to enjoy

The crippling limitation to this plan is that it takes time.
(Depending on your post-trip availability, that could take days or weeks.)

The Unbeatable Smartphone Experience
The mom’s iPhone (which arguably took pretty good pictures) effortlessly made mincemeat of the dad’s superior photo gear due to the immediate shareability of its photos.

Sure, I guess you could try to whip out the RX100 VA or GoPro and flick through your photos, but it’s always easier to use a smartphone that’s right next to you.

So, how can a noble family photographer with all of the right gear and best intentions beat the instant satisfaction that smartphone photography provides today?

Tick Tock
First off, I think it’s okay to say that this is not only about immediate gratification. Amazing photos not born from smartphones can still find their moments to shine… in photo frames…. in photo books…
and in cloud family photo archives.

And if you work fast enough, you can still get them ready for prime time in time to ensure they’re still relevant for your social media feeds and even, dare I say… your next dinner party.

But it’s always going to be an uphill battle fighting time…

Don’t Fight It
All of this said, there’s a solution that will mostly solve this conundrum.

The trick is to willingly give into the power of your smartphone. For a moment, think of it not as a device that takes instantly-sharable photos, but only as a tool that can instantly share any photo file. If you could wirelessly add photos from other cameras into your smartphone, then you’d be able to instantly share those as well…
(Do you see where I’m going?)

Yes, you may feel like a young Jedi giving into the ‘Dark Side’ or a misguided sorcerer drawing power from the Dark Dimension like the Ancient One did. But hey, you’re not in the Marvel universe… you’re just trying to share some vacation photos!

I say ditch all of your post-vacation photo organization plans and do this instead while you’re still on your trip…

Transfer Your Photos Wirelessly to Your Smartphone
Many of today’s standalone cameras have Bluetooth or Wi-Fi capabilities that allow you to tether them to your smartphone. Once you activate that feature, you can easily transfer some of your key photos from your camera’s card onto your smartphone.

The key word here is ‘some.’
(I don’t think you want to be transferring hundreds of photos over.)

And once they’re on your smartphone, it’s a game changer, baby!

Now, just find a few opportunities during your vacation to quickly review your photos and simply pick out a few winners. Then send them over to your smartphone, and BAM! you’re in business…

If you miss a few winning photos, it doesn’t matter… You’ll find them later when you ‘officially’ go through them.
(Warning: May require weeks of work)

When you get home, you’ll already have a few of your best photos ready to share at the dinner table with your smartphone simply serving as your projection device.

A Solution Forged from the Power of Your Phone and Camera
So really, it boils down to simply taking a few minutes while on vacation to move a few photos from your camera over to your smartphone’s ecosystem.

And by doing that, you’re marrying the power of your superior camera with the unbeatable convenience that any smartphone provides.

I imagine there’s a day coming when one device will be powerful enough to do both…

Until then, just remember this trick, and you’ll always be ready to show off some of your best vacation photos at a moment’s notice!

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August 4, 2019

How to Be at Home without Tech While Camping

If you don’t really understand the allure of camping outdoors, I know exactly how you feel. That said, my family and I camp every summer. Here’s how I get through it… and dare say… even enjoy it!

I confess… I am not at home without tech. So what then do I get out of camping in a cramped tent on the hard ground with my family without the power that organizes my day-to-day existence? I’m a born and bred city boy from Manhattan. Not that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but running wild in the ‘wilderness’ for a weekend isn’t exactly my idea of a good time.

Unexpected Pleasures
We’re just back from another Lester camping adventure. This time up in Preston, CT at the Hidden Acres Family Campground.

So why do I do it? Well, partly because my better half loves camping. Should civilization start to break down and you’ve got to fend for yourself, I highly recommend you leave me behind and follow her.

Our nine-year-old son has also enjoyed our family camping trips (and that makes it a quorum).


He especially loves staring into a fire after dark and blasting marshmallows with intense heat to create yummy s’mores…

And even I’ve got to admit it’s a lot of fun when there’s a river nearby, (the Quinebaug) and you can just wade in and tube down part of it… letting nature float you around the bend to some magical, unseen destination.


And experiencing that feeling of triumph after climbing that giant rock in the middle of the river.

And what fun floating over the micro-rapids created by unforgiving rocks that possess the power to shred apart the underside of your inflatable tube.
(That said, the Intex Water Float tubes we picked up from Amazon survived just fine.)

And I can’t tell you how much I always enjoy brewing a fresh pot of coffee the old fashioned way on a Coleman propane stove.

Enjoying the Art of Survival
Some folks crave just ‘being’ in the great outdoors. But I think I fall into another category… I’m something of a survivalist… but not exactly like that word means. For me, I’ve found a certain amount of pleasure figuring out how to simply ‘survive’ the experience of camping. (And don’t forget, our car is only feet away to make a quick getaway if ever necessary.) So, in a less extreme way, I have simply accomplished a certain restructuring of my existence for these few days at a time.

And sure… leaving it all behind for a while may seem ‘freeing.’ But in today’s always on, digitally connected world, how easy (or advisable) is it to simply to disappear from the rest of your life, even for a few days?

Pack Battery Power
So, I still typically bring along some tech to maintain a communication tether back to civilization… and my responsibilities… like keeping in touch with my 86-year-old father.

And that requires taking along some extra battery power to fuel my iPhone.
(Yes, you also need a bar or two of cellular coverage.)

You Don’t Need to Be a Camping Purist
Okay… so I’m cheating a bit and I bring along some technology during these ‘tech-free’ weekends. But hey, I’m not trying to be like Grizzly Adams. We’re solidly within the Camping 101 skill set. And you know what? I think I’ve got it down!

And it does satisfy some instinctual need to know that I can take care of my family next to my Toyota RAV4 and my REI Kingdom 4 tent that I can finally remember how to pitch. And I can build the pit fire… fueled by the chopped wood (and fire starter) that we bought at the family camp ground store.

No, we’re not really out in the wild without a soul for miles around.
(But after dark, I can pretend that we are!)

And let me tell you, I’ve come a long way.
(Ask my wife.)

Discovering Self-Reliance
Yes, I’ve learned to be a ‘decent’ camper, and I can free myself from the shackles of technology with a little help… from technology. Perhaps most importantly, I can make a mean cup of coffee in nature with the early-morning sun illuminating my new day.

For this city boy, that’s a successful recipe for happiness.

And that’s how to be at home without tech!

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July 28, 2019

How to Build a Cloud Family Photo Archive for your Smartphone

It’s time to release the power of your best family photos! Here are four steps to help you create a family photo archive that you can carry around in your pocket.

Remember how your parents and grandparents liked to carry around wallet-sized photos of you when you were a kid? I think some folks still do that. How quaint… how silly…how unnecessary!

With smartphone tech that can house thousands of photos, why would anyone want to carry around a tattered physical family photo in a wallet?

Well, for one reason… you know exactly where that photo is. And when someone asks you about your family, you can pull it out on demand and show it off.

Can you boast that same super power?
…Right now?

Stop Looking for a Needle in your Visual Haystack
Yes, this topic may fall under the category of ‘super obvious,’ but you can’t simply hope to swipe through a mess of photos in your smartphone representing years of moments and successfully pull the desired image out of a hat whenever you need to.

You’ve got to tuck away a few of the really important ones in a place where you can easily access them (beyond your wallet).

And I’d say the best way to do that is to create a family archive photo album in the cloud that you can access from anywhere, including your smartphone.

Here are four easy steps to help get you going…

Step 1:  Create a Shared Cloud Photo Album
In the Apple ecosystem, of course that’s really simple to do…

You can create a ‘Shared Album’ either on your iPhone or in ‘Photos’ on your Mac and then simply pop in your top 50-100 pics that represent the entirety of your family and your life to date.
(Keeping the number down is much easier said than done, because you’ll find so many choices that you’ll want to include!)

The trick here is to only choose a small number of pics among the thousands you’ve got. Remember, you’re trying to essentially simulate the tattered wallet photo experience… with some obvious improvements. Simplicity and easy access are paramount.

Then after the heavy lifting of curating your little photo collection, simply share the album with your partner and whoever else you’d like…
How considerate of you!

Step 2:  Choose only a Few Photos
So which photos are you going to include?
Well, think about which pics best represent your family’s ‘story.’

Yes, that may take you some time to figure out…
(Our ancestors had it easy with only having to manage through a shoebox of disorganized photos.)

But once you go through your digital collection and pull together this new group of archive-worthy gems, you’ll realize the awesomeness of your accomplishment.

Step 3:  Include the Major Moments
I don’t think there’s one particular recipe to follow… you just need to take a little time to decide what those exact photos are…

For me, I wanted to include some of the obvious milestone family moments…

  • Our wedding
  • Our son’s birth and first days

 

Then show off a little of the ‘where…’


And then I realized, beyond the several landmark moments in life and fun places that anyone might want to display a picture from, there’s a blur of countless other experiences over the years that you really don’t need to consider.
(That’s sobering, right?)

So, what’s left…?

Step 4:  Focus Mostly on the ‘Who’
Well, it’s the people in your life… your family and friends.

The “who.”

Yes, we’re back to essence of the wallet photo phenomenon.

You’re going to want to carry around the pictures of the people in your life who have mattered most.

Those images are what I immediately felt the need to collect into my own cloud family photo archive…

And so I put those photos in a cloud folder titled ‘Family Portraits.’

Some were candid pics, but most were posed group shots taken at family events. The organic organization of the people in these photos nicely framed much of my family’s history.

Carry Your Family History in Your Pocket
Remember when I said that your photos have expiration dates and that your family and friends only care to see the most recent pics from your life?

While that’s certainly true at one level, some of your pics will defy that phenomenon and retain their long-term value as foundational explainers for your family’s history.

Just make sure you don’t lose them in the endless mass of digital freeze frames from your life.

Sure, they might be properly archived in a portable hard drive somewhere, but if you can’t immediately access them when you want to on your smartphone, you’re going to miss most of the opportunities to share them throughout your life!

A cloud family photo archive that lives on your smartphone is a strategy lightyears ahead of using those tiny wallet photos.

You’ve just got to build it!

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