family photos | At Home with Tech

September 2, 2018

4 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your GoPro

I’ve enjoyed carrying my GoPro around in my pocket on vacation to capture the moments my other cameras wouldn’t be ready for. Here are a few tips I’ve discovered to help ensure your GoPro gets it done!

I recently returned from a week’s vacation on Cape Cod where I put my new GoPro HERO6 Black to work documenting my family’s beach and lake adventures. I especially enjoyed capturing my 8-year-old boy underwater.

But there was one problem…
A crack somehow showed up on the back LCD screen!
(There was no moment of impact that I was aware of.)

Previously, I had attached a plastic screen protector to the LCD in anticipation of this kind of unsettling moment.

The question was whether the top-to-bottom crack was on the plastic protector…
…or on the screen.

Phew!

Protect Your LCD
I think it clearly makes sense that if you’re going to put your GoPro in harm’s way, you have to give it some additional ‘armor.’
(They’re not tanks.)

I originally went with a lens and LCD protection kit made by GoPole. It comes with a lens cap and two clear covers for the lens and LCD. These near-invisible shields are made out of ‘shatterproof, tempered glass.’

But, clearly, they’re not ‘crack proof.’

Not that anything is… but I still decided to choose a different manufacturer for my second attempt at GoPro protection.

I landed on a similar kit made by Deyard.

It’s received good reviews on Amazon and costs less than half of the GoPole kit. Plus, it comes with two sets of screen and lens protectors and two lens caps.

$8.99 on Amazon
Click.

The Deyard protection plan may not necessarily be any better than GoPole’s. The fact that there are backup items in the Deyard kit perhaps reflects the reality that any screen protector is not impervious to in-the-field abuse.

As for having multiple lens caps… that’s a super idea, because lens caps have their own special way of disappearing…

If you want to avoid risking unnecessary damage to the glass on your GoPro, you’ll probably need to spend a few bucks every so often replacing these protectors, no matter which manufacturer you go with…

Minimize Ghosting by Turning Off HDR
In a portion of my vacation photos showing people, I ran into the problem of ghosting, where certain body parts displayed echoes. It was as if my GoPro had trouble locking in the action.

It’s so weird, because this happened in bright sunlight where most cameras don’t have this kind of problem.

So, I had originally turned on the HDR mode when I set up my GoPro. I figured… “Why not?”
HDR quickly takes several photos at different exposures and stitches them all together to create the best image possible.

But that extended sequence can lead to the ghosting problem… which makes total sense.

So, turn off HDR if you’re having issues freezing the action in your GoPro photos.
(And don’t forget to hold the camera steady!)

If you continue to use HDR, you’ve also got to pay attention to whether you’re moving!

Did I mention you might want to turn off HDR?

Keep People Towards the Center of Your Shot
I’ve previously mentioned my infatuation with my GoPro’s wide angle lens and how it reveals so much more of an image’s story.

The challenge is keeping your subjects out of the distorted fringes of the wide angle. Otherwise, they’ll look like aliens with warped heads.

This can be especially challenging when you’re snapping a photo with multiple people crammed in. Those on the ends will be at risk.

The good news is the wide angle lens should naturally provide plenty of safe space around everyone in your shot unless you intentionally try to fill the frame by walking up really close.

Even if you’re going for a group selfie, you should be fine as long as you keep the shot centered.

Download a QuikStory Video
I’ve also talked about how impressed I am with GoPro’s QuikStories video-editing smartphone app, which quickly throws together and shares a short music video using your GoPro’s action videos and photos.

The only glitch you may experience when sending out web links of your Quikstories to your family and friends is that they may not know how to ‘save’ them.

Your videos will play back online embedded in a GoPro web page, which I believe will eventually disappear when you delete the specific QuikStory project from your smartphone.

So, the web link is not forever…
Some folks may want to save your video file for their ‘happiness’ archive.

To do that, they need to click on three really tiny dots on the bottom right of the page with the video. Doing that will reveal the download option.

Not that all of your GoPro QuikStories are forever masterpieces… but it could be important for someone to know how to save one of them…

The Human Factor Still Matters
My GoPro HERO6 Black has proven it has many tricks up its sleeve. But like any piece of tech, it’s not magic.
(Nor indestructible)

A little human care and operating knowledge can really make all the difference when you take it on your next family adventure!

August 5, 2018

How a GoPro Opens the View on Family Life

My new GoPro was so much more than a little tank of a camera. It changed my whole view as the family photographer. Here’s how…

All of this time I thought it was about how to capture a tight family photo. Or how to freeze the action of my speedy 8-year-old boy with better lenses and bigger sensor sizes…

Last year, I invested in the high-end Panasonic LUMIX LX-10 compact camera in the hopes of really improving the quality of my family photos. But I was often forced to keep it packed in my beach bag on vacation to protect the camera from the damaging effects of salt water and sand. (Those little grains can easily fly right into the crevices of a motorized zoom lens and jam the mechanism.)

This summer, I decided I needed a different plan.
And yes, a different camera…

So, last month I bought a GoPro, because I was tired of worrying about ruining my gear during our beach vacations and not taking the photos I really wanted.

Worry-Free Durability
Using a GoPro easily solves the problem of taking your camera into all the action at the beach. It doesn’t have a moving lens to ruin, and the whole thing is waterproof. It’s actually designed for a little abuse.

No, I didn’t really need an ‘action cam’ to replay and slow down any crazy stunts my son was practicing (at least not yet). But the idea of more freely following his action with more ‘durable’ gear in the outdoor elements was totally appealing.

Selecting the Right GoPro Model
I bought the more expensive GoPro Hero6 Black as opposed to the older ‘Hero5’ or the newer (but stripped-down) entry-level ‘Hero’ in an attempt to future-proof my investment. That’s usually my strategy with these types of tech purchases. If I end up using the gear for an extra year or two before wanting an upgrade, I feel that makes it worth the extra upfront cost.

Even though I don’t currently need all of the frame sizes and high-speed frame rates that the Hero6 Black offers, I’m generally committed to capturing content in 4K. And the Hero6 is much more capable living in 4K.

The Parent Test
So, I’m just back from a week at the beach in the North Fork of Long Island, and I’m happy to report that the maiden voyage of my new GoPro was a big success.
(And by ‘voyage,’ I mean… full water immersion!)

I didn’t use my GoPro in the ‘traditional’ ways by bolting it somewhere ahead of an impossible athletic stunt. Instead, I carried the tiny device in my swimsuit pocket throughout the week, as a traditional dad… ready to start capturing family photos and videos at a moment’s notice.
(Yes, I also attached a little floating hand grip to prevent my GoPro from sinking into the ocean if dropped.)

And I’ve got to tell you…safely snapping away at those ‘found moments’ was like being a kid in a candy store.

And my GoPro’s ability to capture my son underwater was impressive… most impressive.

Wow

Your Family’s Life in Wide Angle
But I realized something unexpected as soon as I started working with my GoPro Hero6 Black…

The wide-angle orientation of the camera’s lens opened up a whole new view on my family’s life…

First off… the wider range made it so simple to shoot family selfies. Then, using the GoPro ‘3-Way’ selfie stick/tripod helped to eliminate the prominence of my arm in the selfies. And saying, “GoPro, take a photo!” to the camera’s voice sensor was wicked cool.

Although once my son learned my Jedi voice trick, he thought it was so much fun to take over the camera’s functions with his own voice right as I was crafting the perfect selfie.
(Note to GoPro designers: I think the next GoPro model needs person-specific voice recognition!)

A New Angle on Storytelling
More importantly, using the wide angle lens for front-facing photography reveals a whole new side to family storytelling. It provides more context with the entire environment enveloping your subjects.

So, your goal is no longer about how tight you can shoot. It’s about how wide!

And don’t worry… you’ve already got thousands of tight shots of your family!

In fact, I enjoyed my newly found perspective so much that I shot my family vacation almost entirely in wide angle!

The GoPro Hero6 Black can also shoot in a more ‘linear’ format without the edge distortions that wide angle brings, but I rarely chose the traditional view.

I was loving seeing the world (and my family) in wide angle… all of the time, baby!
(Moving forward, I’m sure some balance will return to my photography.)

Expand the Edges of Your Photography
I know I’m just scratching the surface of what my GoPro can really do. But it’s already taken me to so many new places and empowered me to snap away without fear….

On the windy beach
Underwater as my boy explored unusual rocks (Yes, a bit like a Jacques Cousteau documentary)
“Hauling” in our first snapper on our little fishing excursion

Note to other ‘boring’ parents out there – Using a GoPro can also make you feel like the coolest kid on the beach.
(After I spent 20 minutes videotaping our son underwater, my wife walked up to me and mentioned that she overheard another parent on the beach whisper to her spouse, “That’s a GoPro.”)

Clearly, I’m on to something…

Sharing Your Media ‘In the Field’
The Hero6 Black is also designed to enable quick and easy sharing of all your cool content…

It has the capability to generate a little ‘hotspot’ and tether to my iPhone… and then wirelessly hand over all of my photos and videos via the GoPro app. From there, I was able to quickly upload a few of my best pics to my shared Apple ‘Photos’ album.

But that was only the first part of GoPro’s one-two punch when it comes to clever media management. GoPro also offers a companion QuikStories app for smartphones, which can whip up a complete music video with your photos and videos in minutes.
(What?)

Well, sure… It takes some time for any smartphone to render out video transitions and the final video to share, but the whole app interface is designed for minimal human involvement. And I mean minimal.

Stand By for QuikStories
How good is this little video editing platform that lives in your pocket? Was I as blown away as I was with the photos and videos generated by my Hero6 Black camera?

Let’s find out next time on At Home with Tech!

February 11, 2018

My Life in 10 Seconds

We snap birthday pictures to celebrate the passage of time. So why not string together all of those birthday photos to create a visual story of your ongoing life? And then how about creating a fast video sequence that captures it all in 10 seconds? Would that actually work? I decided to find out…

I had this crazy idea a few decades back that I would pose for a photo on every birthday and hold up my fingers to identify each new age I was sporting. And then at some point, I would stitch together all of these pictures into a blistering fast video montage.

Decades of my life to date in 10 seconds. Whoa! How cool is that?!
Well, it’s my birthday. And this year, I’ve decided to give it a go…

Are you ready? Here it is…

So, first off… while collecting my photos for this sequence, I realized that I didn’t have access to many of my pictures from before Y2K. The ones I could locate were hidden in buried photo albums and photo boxes… in the attic… in the basement. Many more are still in my father’s apartment in New York City.

And if you think I’ve complained about digital photo organization, my jaw has been hanging open at the disarray of my analog-only photo prints.
(I switched to digital photography in 2000.)

Sure, my mom created some great photo albums when I was a kid, but I haven’t yet digitized most of those pics.
(That’s going to be quite the project!)

All this said, I feel somewhat satisfied that I was able to pull together all of my birthday pictures from 30 years old on and a few from my earlier years.

And I’ve come to the realization…
…that my little visual opus is actually not as interesting as I had anticipated.

Birthdays are for the Moment
Experiencing birthdays can be exhilarating, because they’re your special day. I remember how important those early parties that my parents threw for me felt. Even the birthdays I’ve had as an adult have been lots of fun.

But looking at this montage just doesn’t capture any of that energy.

Perhaps once I get all of the years together… Version 2 may take on a more time-travel-like quality. But the reality is many of my birthdays took place at home. Cozy, but hardly revealing of anything more.

At best, you get you see my aging process. And that I can count on my fingers.
(Actually in some years, I reversed the numbers on my hands.)

This sequence doesn’t tell the story of my life.
At all.

What’s the Background?
I thought a bit and realized that the missing ingredient is context. Each of these pics only represent me at the same moment year after year, but they don’t say much else.

A series of the photos that captures my various ‘adventures’ should reveal multiple chapters in a larger story.
(Where am I? What am I doing?)

So, I turned to my Adobe Lightroom photo library and poked around to pull together a separate set of pictures from my adult years, and this is what I came up with…

Well, this certainly provides a lot more visual depth, but which photos to choose can become a mind-boggling process, even if you had organized access to every photo ever taken of you.

And the time it takes to intentionally pick only a few from the hundreds of choices…
To do this thoroughly, it could take someone a whole lot of time to do.
(So, let’s regard this as an early draft.)

But before moving forward to properly complete this multi-decade project, I still felt the design was not complete. There was something else missing.

It’s Not Only About You
Anyone’s life is defined by the people around them. You need to include your own personal community to build out your visual story with any sense of authenticity!

So, I went back again to Lightroom and pulled together a third set of photos that didn’t really focus on me, but on some of the people in my life…

I know it’s mostly a blur with way too many faces to focus on.

At best this version provides just a feeling. An impression of a life to date. Of the many folks who’ve been on the journey with me at different points in time.
(And this version is absolutely incomplete with lots of missing family and friends)

But I think this third design has the most potential…

Which one do you like the best?
(Perhaps a combination of all three?)

Look Back Before Looking Forward
So clearly, I still have more work to do on my “life in photos” project.

But you might be asking yourself why you should also commit to such a complex archival endeavor.

Well, first off… I think a photo sequence housed in video or animated GIF form (especially if it’s slowed down a bit) can be an amazing way to organize and share your most important pictures.
(My 10-second exercise can easily be adapted into a more leisurely pace.)

If you want to find a way to tell your story, this is absolutely one method to use!
And if you’re not sure about your story, this can be a great process to figure it out.

The truth is anyone’s story is constantly evolving, and a little context is always helpful. And this type of project forces you to evaluate your journey on an ongoing basis.
(Or at least every year)

I think it’s always important as you look forward to take some time to look back.
You might remember a few things… a few people… a few moments.

It can help remind you who you really are.
…Who you’ve always been
And who you will be…

And isn’t that the best birthday present you can give to yourself?

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