GeekSugar

Macworld 2012 Recap: Photo and Tech Tips From the Pros

Kristy Korcz — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 03:12:27 PST

Apple hasn't had a presence at Macworld since 2009, but the show must go on. And go on it did this year at the Moscone center in San Francisco. Though the expo was smaller than years past, there were a number of tech talks and expert panels that focused on life with Macs and the amazing art you can create from them. Get a quick recap on everything we learned while sitting in on the panels - from photography must-haves to Twitter secrets - from one of our favorite geeks.

9 Quick Tips For Better iPhoneongraphy

Kristy Korcz — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 09:20:39 PST

After sitting in on the photography session at Macworld, I'm even more committed to following through on my New Year's resolution to take better photos. This includes iPhoneography. If you've become obsessed with capturing images on your mobile phone, here are nine quick tips from Stephanie Roberts to maximize your shooting style, efficiency, and effectiveness.

Discover your go-to shooting app and keep it within thumb reach on your home screen.
Get comfortable shooting with one hand.
Play with lighting and exposure effects by tapping on different areas of the screen.
If the image is well composed, don't delete it! You can work wonders with apps!
Capture different patterns and textures and consider using them as layers in various apps.
Few apps meet all your creative needs. Use multiple apps to create your own personal style.
Back up your photos often and keep your apps up to date!
Go to "Settings" to adjust photo app settings for maximum image quality on capture and save.
Keep a charger or battery pack handy. Taking photos and editing in multiple apps is taxing on the battery.

Source: Instagram user KristyKorcz

Best Apps and Tools For Serious Photographers

Kristy Korcz — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 11:21:19 PST

Serious photography requires a serious camera, but that doesn't mean you have to be chained to a laptop or desktop to process them. Paul Pierson, app designer and photo nerd, tossed his laptop aside for six months in order to find out if the iPad and iOS apps could handle a professional photo work flow. He found that the iPad is actually quicker and more efficient in processing photos than the traditional setup of a computer and Photoshop software, not to mention a lot less expensive.

At this year's Macworld, Paul shared some of his favorite tools and apps to help you create a love match between your DSLR and iPad. First tip? Get a Card Reader from Photojojo ($30) so you can get those beautiful images captured on your DSLR to your iPad and, thus, your camera apps. Duh. Also you'll probably want an iPad with lots of storage - 64GB ($700), please.

Load up your iPad with the apps below for professional photographers, and experiment with more than one to create stunning images with less equipment.

Sunseeker ($5) - Helps you find where the sun is, or it will be, with the help of augmented reality. Great for landscape photos.

ioShutter ($70, coming Feb. 12) - Turns your iPhone into an intervalometer. This tool plugs into your iPhone and SLR, allowing you to fire your SLR again and again with the app and help you create beautiful time-lapse sequences.

Ollo Clip ($70) - This clip-on lens gives your iPhone or iPad an advantage with three different lenses built right in - fish-eye, wide angle, and macro.

ACDSee Camera Flash ($1) - Brings out details in underexposed images.

Snapseed ($5) - Won Apple's App of the Year because of its variety of filters, edit tools, and selective adjust tools like edge detection that applies changes to objects within the perimeter.

Ready for more? See the rest of the list after the break.

iPhoneography Tips From the Pros: Stephanie Roberts

Kristy Korcz — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:03:26 PST

We headed out to Macworld earlier today to sit in on an interesting and informative tech talk that featured Stephanie Roberts, founder of Lens on Life Foundation and author of The Art of iPhoneography: A Guide to Mobile Creativity, who shared some helpful tips on mobile digital photography and some of her favorite apps for the craft.

The iPhone is now the most popular camera in the world, partly thanks to its small, portable, and discreet form. While you don't have much fine-tune control while you're shooting, you have lots of options when it comes to postprocessing apps to tweak and share your photos on the go. Below, a few ways you can use iPhoneography to your artful advantage, and some apps to download now.

Let your creative instincts guide you - Think of iPhoneography as a daily practice. Keep shooting and keep perfecting your craft. Since you'll want to be shooting throughout the day, collect moments that move you - whether it's colors, images, shapes, or scenes. Then, study your work over a period of time to find your true vision. It's also a great way to document your daily life and keep you connected to the practice of photography.

Craft your toolkit - Don't be shy about loading up your iPhone with photography apps. Learn about some of Stephanie's favorite apps after the break.

Geeks We Love: Susan Orlean Shares Her Tech Secrets

Kelly Schwarze — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 06:34:14 PST

As a New Yorker staff writer, author of nonfiction books on subjects ranging from Rin Tin Tin to orchids, and woman with an all-around awesome job, Susan Orlean spends a lot of time alone writing from home on her latest reporting venture. So when she wanted to find all the camaraderie of an office no matter where her travels took her, guess where she turned for comfort . . . Twitter.

In an event at this year's Macworld in San Francisco, Susan explained that Twitter changed the way she worked, thanks to conversations with strangers, and helped to solidify her place with the geeks. Here's more of what we learned from our favorite tech-obsessed writer, including how to work efficiently with technology and deal when a loved one won't convert to your favorite gadget brand.

Keep the analog - Though Susan was speaking from her perspective as a writer, her tip to always keep a little part of your work in the offline, analog world can apply to so many other fields. It's a reminder to rely on our wits in the face of fast information. Don't Google every question that pops up, go out into the real world and discover the answer for yourself.
Don't skip the human part - Twitter serves as a natural extension of friendships, but it certainly doesn't replace the subtle nuances that occur in face-to-face interaction. Keep your curiosity (and relationships!) intact by picking up the phone or meeting for a coffee chat.
Download Evernote! - When asked about her favorite app, Susan emphatically responded, "Evernote." Its functionality across desktop, browser, phone, and tablet platforms lets you stay productive from anywhere and never forget the digital content that matters.
A united tech household is key - As someone that's "hopelessly obsessed with new gadgets," Susan understandably is an Apple evangelist, a brand known for its enthusiastic early adopters. The new products and industrial design beauty only goes so far, though, when half of the house is living in a different world - a PC world. After coping with a home office filled with piles of cords and multiple printers for the different operating systems, Susan half-jokingly finally convinced her husband to switch to Apple products when she simply stopped packing the bulky cords for his PC. Now they live in OS harmony.

Are you someone like Susan who has found a way to make social networks help you develop relationships and achieve work goals, rather than let them distract?

Five Techy Places Where the Men's Bathroom Line Is Worse Than the Women's

GeekSugar — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 09:15:59 PST

One of the perks of being a geek girl at CES is getting to hang out with the boys. A lot of them! As such, techy events may be some of the few places that the lines for the men's room outlast those for the women's. Here, a list of five awesome bathroom line experiences we've seen in the recent past.

CES After running around the corner for a quick bathroom break at this year's CES, I was greeted with a huge line. . . for the men's room. The ladies' was smooth sailing the whole way through.
WWDC Apple's developer conference, held in San Francisco each year; again, it's a welcome sight to see lines out the door for the gents and manageable or even empty for the ladies.
Apple's campus On an average non-event day, there are plenty of women on Apple's Cupertino, CA campus. . . but there are more guys. During one visit around lunchtime, I noticed some wait time for the guys but hardly any for the women.
MacWorld Since it's sort of like a mini-CES, MacWorld experiences a similar bathroom situation. Except once, I saw some women's restrooms being changed to accommodate men - talk about a funny role reversal!
E3 There are very few girls at this gaming conference in Los Angeles. . . that means easier access to all of the bathrooms, mirrors, sinks, and hand dryers.

Macworld 2010: Professional Sounds For Your DIY Recordings

GeekSugar — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 11:00:44 PST

I'm an admitted fan of Blue Microphones, not only for their power, but also for their beauty - a few of these stacked on your mantel could totally double as art. While cruising the Macworld show floor, I got an up close look at a few of their new desktop mic models which would be perfect for recording on the go, or creating your podcasts and video blogs. The Snowflake (pictured here) ($45) is a high quality mic to capture your recordings, but there's also a 2MP web cam-enabled version called the Eyeball ($65). Both of these are easy as pie to set up - just plug them right into your Mac or PC's USB port, follow a few prompts, and you're set to go.

The Mikey ($100) is a sweet little microphone to capture sounds right on your iPhone. Record concerts, lectures, and studio jam sessions on the go with its three recording levels - from loud to quiet - and transfer the audio right to your computer with a USB adapter. Plus, there's a free app that partners up with your Mikey to get the most out of your recordings. Check out a few more photos of the beautiful Blue Mics in the gallery below.

View 5 Photos ›

Urban Performer Unit: Love It or Leave It?

GeekSugar — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 10:00:31 PST

I finally got my hands on the UrbanTool Urban Performer Unit that I've had my eye on yesterday at Macworld, and although it didn't disappoint -coming with a secure place to store my phone, an adapter so I can play my tunes as I'm on the move, a compartment for a wallet, lush leather, Swarovski crystals - it did come with sticker shock: $500! This clutch is great, but way out of my price range. After getting an in-person look, I'm still in love - it even has iPod controls on the outside so I don't have to open the clutch to switch tunes! - however, it's just not meant to be. What do you think about it?

View 5 Photos ›

Macworld 2010: Bone Keeps Your Gadgets Safe While You Sweat

GeekSugar — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 03:47:38 PST

Taking a walk around the Macworld Expo is like walking into a massive Apple store. Minus the computers, of course. One booth that caught my eye was Bone Collection, which was stocked with iPod and iPhone armbands, skins, and protectors. First up: the armbands. Not only are the Bone armbands made from a tough, rubbery material to protect your gadget from accidental drops, but its strap is silky smooth and comes with ventilation holes so you don't sweat the band off your arm. The best part is the bands are thin, so you don't have to worry about a bulky band banging against your arm while you work it out.

Bone also features some sweet silicone skins that come with an attached cord manager, so you can rock out on the move and keep tabs on your earbuds when you're done (instead of losing them to the depths of your bag). Add in some tiny (but fashionable) silicone iPod Shuffle sleeves, a cute cord manager in the shape of a bone, and you have a one-stop shop for all your iPod (or iPhone!) needs.

To see more of Bone's armbands, sleeves, and cord managers, just

View 10 Photos ›

HyperMac Battery Packs Keep Your iPods, iPhones Rockin'

GeekSugar — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 01:47:19 PST

I passed by the HyperMac booth while at Macworld yesterday, and although I have my own pics, these photos are way better than the ones I took from the expo. That's not to say they aren't great looking pieces of machinery in real life, it's just that the contrasting colors in these promo pics are so fab, I just had to show them off. Who knew batteries could look so great?

The ultra-portable HyperMac external battery packs are the perfect size to toss in your bag in case you need some extra juice for your iPod, iPhone, iPad, or any other USB device that may need a charge while you're out and about. Appropriately called Nano, Micro, and Mini, these guys can fully charge an iPhone from up to three to six times via their lithium ion cells and look great doing it too. Prices range from $70 - $120, and you can get your own online now.

To see more photos, just

View 10 Photos ›