I just got a complaint about my #photography posts, which I concluded came from a troll, but perhaps I’m actually coming off in a way that rubs people the wrong way here.
The complaint was that by posting high resolution images and describing in detail the processes used to create them, I’m merely “showing off” in a way that isn’t useful to most people.
I indeed do rather niche photography, using relatively esoteric gear. I think some people are interested in process and enjoy the results.
I’m once again reminded of how deeply I despise the default behavior of this (and damn near every other) social media platform to crop photos to a pre-set aspect ratio in previews. (Some clients allow viewers to disable this, but that’s outside the control of the poster, who has no way to predict how your work will render)
The reasonable behavior to conserve screen real estate in previews is to downsize. Cropping alters the image, often in ways that destroy its meaning.
For new Mastodon users, you likely aren't seeing art and photos fully. Most instances crop images by default, and if you don't want to have to click on images to see them fully, you need to turn off the setting.
Turning off the setting makes the Mastodon experience better.
Go to your settings. Find Post Layout. Uncheck the box next to "Crop images in non-expanded posts to 16x9." Enjoy art and photos fully.
Okay, on to my dad's masterpiece(s) #photography. You've asked to see some.
I snapped 8 of them, a very insignificant random sampling that don't translate well because the light reflected off of them no matter where I tried to take the pics. So they're even better than this.
These 1st 2 are from an album he labeled "L.A." That's all I know. I don't know the year or the locations other than Los Angeles.
AT&T Long Lines Oak Hill Tower, San Jose, CA 2021.
This unusual Brutalist tower was part of the former AT&T terrestrial microwave network that once carried the bulk of US long distance telephone traffic. The (long since disconnected) horn antennas are too big and heavy to remove.
I was just thinking about learning how to drive. I learned how in cars with manual transmissions. Now days we are hard pressed to find new cars with manual transmissions. I'll bet most people born in this century don't know how to operate a manual transmission, probably most towards the end of the 20th century as well. Here's another thought, try to find a new car with windows that you crank up by hand. Hmmm ... I remember the first car that I bought where the dimmer switch was on the column instead of the floorboard, it took me a while to figure that one out.
“Cars are evolving to match the new paradigm. Soon, things like steering wheels, pedals and rear-view mirrors will seem ancient. More practically, we will all be better able to optimize our time and attention to focus on more important tasks, family, work, and self-care.” - Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr
Former Philadelphia Inquirer Building, Philadelphia.
Image made during the liminal period between the Inquirer slipping out and the Philly police colonizing it as their headquarters. Purpose-built office buildings are like the shells of hermit crabs, but for organizations.
Tomorrow, Apple will shut down My Photo Stream, after 12 years of service.
I wrote the code that ran the service on iOS devices back in 2010, and it has been faithfully syncing hundreds of millions of photos between iPhones and iPads and their respective macOS Photo libraries for more than a decade. It survived the introduction to iCloud’s Shared Photo Streams (I also wrote its client software), the shutdown of Aperture, and the introduction of iCloud Photo Library. And today, we finally bid it goodbye.
It’s been a good 12 years. 1000 photos, hosted for 30 days, for free, so you can save them on your Mac—those were the days, eh?