We loved living in Arizona, but there is no denying that we have a fantastic view from our home in Oregon. Over the last few months I have switched from Aperture to Lightroom which makes photos like this even easier. Given that, I have stuck with my MacBook Air, I owe my readers several posts.
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If you are lucky enough to be in the market for a new notebook, Apple just made your choice a lot more difficult. Last year I gave up my MacBook Pro and switched to the MacBook Air and have not regretted it one bit. I use my Air primarily for photography1 but from time-to-time I do use Final Cut Pro X to create small family videos. I still use a MacBook Pro for work which is a major bummer because it really isn’t any faster but feels like a giant brick. Which is why I am so very torn on which notebook to buy: the next generation MacBook Pro with a Retina display or the new MacBook Air.
If you currently have a MacBook Pro (or any other non MacBook Air model) your choice is easy…get the MacBook Pro with Retina display. However, if you currently have a MacBook Air I would say upgrade to the Air unless you do photography and/or videography. Or if you are driven mostly by money, it sounds like the 11-inch MacBook Air is the best bang for your buck.
Let’s first look at the numbers where emotions can’t play a part…
| Feature | MBA (my current) | MBA (new) | MBP (Retina) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | 1.8GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7 | 2.0GHz Intel Dual-Core Core i7 | 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 |
| Memory | 4GB 1333MHz | 8GB 1600MHz | 8GB 1600MHz |
| Storage | 256GB Flash Storage | 256GB Flash Storage | 256GB Flash Storage |
| Price | $1699 | $1699 | $2199 |
A couple of points about the new MacBook Air that may not be obvious:
I was very surprised that the MacBook Pro didn’t run hotter or noisier2. All the MacBook Pros I have owned seemed to run hotter than the MacBook Air, but it seems Apple has made some progress with regards to this issue. When I first picked up the MacBook Pro it seemed very heavy; just as heavy as any other MacBook Pro. However, it was noticeably thinner. And of course, I could fly through photos in Aperture, open and close apps at lightning speeds and shutdown/startup times were screaming. BUT THAT DISPLAY. That absolutely stunning Retina display. Amazing. I simply do not have the words to describe, one must experience themselves. But…
Surprisingly, there are a couple of drawbacks to a Retina display: non-optimized apps and non-optimized Web images. Like using non-Retina apps on the iPad, using apps that have not been updated for Retina displays often have blurry user interfaces. Text in Google’s Chrome browser is even horrendous, though their latest build browser, Google Canary text is beautiful. Honestly though, that does not bother me as much as the weight and form factor of the MacBook Pro.
After a week at WWDC seeing a lot of people with the MacBook Pro with Retina display and visiting the Apple store many times (happened to pass it everyday going to and from my hotel) I am still undecided. Yesterday I even forced my wife to go to the Apple store so she could experience it for herself. I was really hoping she would have a definitive answer for me…unfortunately she did not. She too was extremely impressed by the Retina display, but also (surprisingly) of the form factor.
In hopes that this exercise will help (or in the off-chance it helps someone else) I will lay out my current thoughts in the context of my current setup.
Hesitations I did not mention with MacBook Pro, but others have…
It is now six days after the announcement of Apple’s updated line of notebooks and I still have not decided which I want to buy…or if I will buy any3. For those that know me and my obsession with gadgetry, understand this gravity.
I am a newbie when it comes to iOS development so maybe this solution is obvious to most or maybe this is an absolutely terrible solution, but until someone tells me otherwise…I think it rocks.
I can’t believe I just used that word. I blame it on lack of sleep.↩
Nearly two years ago I wrote about how the iPhone greatly impacted the usage of my Canon 5D Mark II. A quick summary: the iPhone camera got to be so good that I used it instead of my DSLR not only because of the photo quality but because of how easy it was then to post photos online. Fortunately technology changes.
I have had my eye on the Eye-Fi for years. It is a memory card that has a built-in wi-fi that allows for uploading your photos while shooting (either via wi-fi or direct mode). Unfortunately, because the Eye-Fi is an SD card and my Canon 5D Mark II only used compact flash (CF) cards I was out of luck1. That is why I got so excited when the Canon 5D Mark III was announced and it was revealed that an SD slot was present…and not only that but had the ability to write to both a CF and SD card simultaneously. Giddy Up! This meant I could still have my hi-res RAW images written to the CF card, but in addition have lower-res JPG images on an Eye-Fi, which would then wirelessly sync to one or more destinations.
This week I received my Canon 5D Mark III and tested my theory…and I am happy to say it works! Regardless if I am shooting at home or in some remote destination I can take photos with my DSLR and sync2 them to either my iPad or iPhone (or both) and then if I have some sort of Internet connection, can post the photos online. Yes, not quite as simple as snapping a photo with an iPhone then immediately posting, but the quality I get with the DSLR is so much better that the additional step is well worth it.
At this point I have only been testing my workflow for a couple of days, shooting about 70 shots and posting less than a dozen of them. However, we have a big road trip planned for the 3-day weekend so I will be heavily field testing the workflow. Upon my return I will describe it in more detail. I will be posting between Twitter and Google+ if you want to follow along.
speedlimit is a Leopard [works on Lion too] preference pane for limiting your network bandwidth to one of a couple different speeds—768k DSL, Edge, 3G, and Dialup. This is really handy for testing your iPhone app under normal Edge network conditions in the iPhone Simulator. The new version allows you to restrict the slowdown to only a specific set of hosts.
This is the macro I came up with taking Ben’s lead:
When I am viewing a web page in Safari that I want to link to I do the following:
That is it. After using the above 2 steps I got the following link post start for my first link post, How to find the hidden files on Mac OS X:
Again, this is not perfect. Currently the macro is for Safari only. I also use Google Chrome (though mostly for Flash-based sites) so I need to create a Chrome-specific macro. Or better yet (if possible), tweak the macro to copy the relevant info of whichever browser is in the foreground. Hopefully someone much smarter than me will post a solution. Let the online discussions begin!
]]>This is the code I used to modify my post.html file (in the _layouts directory):
{% if page.link %}
<h2><a href="{{ page.link }}">{{ page.title }}</a></h2>
{% else %}
<h2> {{ page.title }} </h2>
{% endif %}
NOTE: I had to use page.link where Tuan Anh used: page.post-link (in their code).
Unfortunately, clicking the title on the homepage still goes to a permalink on my site. It is not until one visits the actual, individual (link) post when the title is hyperlinked to the source. This is due to Jekyll not knowing the internals of any post when generating the homepage. Still, I thank Tuan Anh for the tip and will use it often!
]]>Since switching to Jekyll I have written a mere 28 times; a personal worst in my 9 years of blogging1. I would love to blame it on a busy life2, but that is a cop-out. Instead I will blame it on the small, publishing barrier associated with using Jekyll. While it only took a couple of minutes to publish a post there, were just enough steps to make the thought of writing less appealing. That is why I worked out a better (but not perfect) workflow.
Like any other technical issue, there are many solutions. Admittedly the solution below is far from perfect, but it is an incremental improvement over the default Jekyll behavior, but it does greatly reduce the barrier of publishing posts on the Jekyll platform.
I decided to use a built-in tool provided by Mac OS X, Automator. I know true Mac geeks leverage Automator’s power quite frequently. I, on the other hand, have only used it a handful of times. Here is how I used Automator.
Below is a screenshot of the Automator workflow:
Now you have to setup the folder to use the folder action:
What this does is set up a folder watcher for the post folder. Anytime a file is added it will execute the script that was created using Automator.
What does my workflow look like now? Unfortunately this workflow requires me to have Jekyll running on one of my systems at all times. I am OK with this since I have chosen not to use GitHub for my deployment. Also, I am unable to install incron on my server to have a fully automated publishing solution. Lucky for me, my iMac is almost always running anyway.
This new, automated workflow allows me now to write posts on my iOS devices. No, it is far from perfect, but the barrier to write has just been lowered significantly.
So how do I want to improve my workflow?
In a few months I will provide an update on how things are going. Just in the last few days I have already increased my post count, but we all know how new-and-shiny-objects get a lot of attention at first. I do have another workflow improvement, but I will save that for another post.
Feel free to share your feedback. Like my photography workflow, I am always trying to improve my blogging efficiency.
Another recent anniversary. March 03, 2003, was my first blog post using dasBlog written by Clemens Vasters.↩
Father of a 5 year old boy, changed jobs, new puppy, travel, …↩
This will most certainly be used. Thanks Ole!
]]>The Mac OS X operating system hides important system files to protect your computer. This is a measure meant to prevent you from modifying files that shouldn’t be modified, or deleting files that your computer needs to run correctly. Occasionally, you may need to find a file that Mac OS X hides. To do this, modify the search parameters in Finder.
Did you know about this? How have I not come across this before!? I have been turning on and off show hidden files using the secrets preference pane. Life just got a little better.
]]>Unfortunately I cannot go into details right now, but will share my learnings soon. This will include an update to setting up Jekyll on Lion. My previous post, Installing Jekyll on Mac OS X, is already dated after the Lion and latest Xcode releases.
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I never, ever would have thought I would have a tooth extracted at age 41. For as long as I remember I have seen a dentist every six months, I have only had one tiny cavity in my life, and every checkup I have had the hygienist has commented on how healthy my teeth look. Certainly I owe a lot to my parents teaching me to brush and floss daily, giving me good genes and paying for braces. So losing a tooth is just as surprising to them. So what happened?
While eating a burger and tots at work Friday I noticed a rough spot on my molar (second to last, bottom-left), I thought, “great, I chipped my tooth”. I wasn’t overly concerned because 1) it didn’t hurt, 2) didn’t feel too bad when I felt it with my tongue, and 3) for years my dentist had told me that the tooth had some hairline fractures in it and at some point he would need to put in a bridge (don’t ask me why a cap was not an option in his opinion). After an hour or so went by I thought I better call my dentist since it was Friday afternoon. Unfortunately he had just left for a two week vacation and his backup was out until Tuesday. Bummer. So I spent another hour calling a dozen dentists to try to get an appointment. Shockingly most were closed, so I gave up.
Four hours later I got home and decided to look at it in a mirror for the first time. I got out some floss to gingerly explore the damage. What I discovered absolutely horrified me…a good third of my molar wiggled around like a loose baby tooth! Now I was freaking out. I couldn’t go three days (Monday being a holiday) like this! So at 6:30 PM I started looking for emergency dental options…obviously not thrilled that it was my only option. Eventually I was able to secure an appointment for Saturday morning at 10:30 AM in a clinic in Northeast Portland.
Let me take a moment to state that I wasn’t in any pain. The only time there was any pain is if I wiggled the tooth or even touched it, so I didn’t eat Friday night or Saturday morning. The last thing I wanted to do was break off a piece of my tooth…certainly great pain would be felt then.
As we were driving to the emergency dental clinic I wasn’t worried about any pain, but rather going to a place I knew nothing about. Also knowing that it wouldn’t be some high tech clinic with top ranked dentists. All I could hope for was a dentist that didn’t wreak of alcohol from partying the night before. At least those were my unfounded, freakish thoughts. It didn’t help that upon arrival the very sight of the outside or inside of the building didn’t change those thoughts.
Inside I had to of course fill out a form while they verified my insurance. I’m not sure who came up with the questions on the form, but it was the first time I came across this yes or no question:
Do you take alcohol, cocaine or any other drug?
As one might imagine, my discomfort wasn’t subsiding AT ALL.
Once I was in a patient chair, in an open observation room I was greeted by an assistant. She was very friendly and we actually laughed about the alcohol/cocaine question. This put me at ease…a bit. She took an x-ray and I waited. Eventually the doctor came in, looked over the x-ray and at my tooth. Just by his audible grunts I could tell things were not good. In his hard-to-understand English, he said that HALF my tooth was cracked and would likely need to be extracted but he would not know for certain until he pulled off the cracked half. Only if it did not go into the gums could he do a root canal. After some more explanation, which honestly I only partially heard because of my shock and difficulty in understanding him, he left so they could run some numbers against my insurance. It was at this point that I texted Denise to join me in the room so she could make some rational decisions.
The woman who had “checked me in” came back into the room to give us the cost estimates. At this point I verbally said I didn’t care about money only that I wanted the best for me and my tooth. Maybe they sensed my concern because the doctor did come back into the room and explain things again for Denise’s benefit. Bottom line: the doctor would take off the broken half, evaluate whether he could do a root canal or have to extract the tooth, they would then stop to “collect payment”, then complete the “operation”. And yes, they indeed say they would stop in the middle to “collect payment”. Back to being nervous.
After what seemed like an hour for the doctor to come back in after the novocain injection, it was go time. Within a few minutes he had the cracked half out and once again his audibles told me the outcome…my whole tooth would need to be extracted. I will say I was completely floored by the size and length of the cracked half. As he said, “ no one could save my tooth”.
While the tooth extraction did not hurt it seemed to take FOREVER! And the assistant he used must have been new (I think it was the woman at the front desk). Why would I think such a thing. Let me count the ways:
I should stop for a moment to explicitly state that even though I was nervous about my environment, everyone was extremely friendly and did their best to make me feel comfortable.
Eventually the tooth came out and after a brief set of post-op instructions I was on my way. Surprising to me, there were no stitches. After gnawing on gauze for a couple of hours the gaping crater in my mouth stopped bleeding. Granted, it still looks like a big, bloody hole, but supposedly a “stable” one.
So that’s my big tooth adventure. Really no pain, not even the day after (Sunday). I did take one of the Vicodin pills a few hours after the extraction just as a precaution, but have (so far) felt no real pain. I suspect though that in a couple of months when I can get an implant (I’m hoping it is an option) that the healing process of that surgery will be when the real pain starts. Oh joy!
Probably the most disappointing part of this long story is that after all of that I did not get to keep the tooth so no Tooth Fairy showed up last night.
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My post, Final Cut Pro X on a MacBook Air, has received a surprising amount of traffic. So I thought I would provide a brief follow-up that covers why I purchased FCP X and how it has been performing on my MacBook Air.
Like I mentioned before, I am no videographer and I probably have no real reason to spend $300 on video editing software. iMovie is incredibly simple to use and can make great videos fast, but it seemed hard to do simple tasks I wanted to do and lacked features I was after. Some of those features:
OK, so not an overly impressive list, but considering how much I have invested in camera and computer gear a few hundred dollars seemed a small price to pay to ENJOY creating videos HOW I wanted with little effort. Kudos to Apple for taking the controversial move to make Final Cut Pro more like iMove and dropping the price by almost a grand. Otherwise, I would not even be writing this post. But what about performance?
Even though I have a 2010 MacBook Pro and a 2009 iMac I still do all my video editing on my MacBook Air. I guess I do this mainly out of convenience. Something is so appealing about working on a MacBook Air instead of a MacBook Pro (what now seems like a big, heavy brick) or trapped at a desk working on an iMac. Surprisingly, I have not had any issues or experienced poor performance (no spinning beach balls) when using FCP X on my MacBook Air. As an example, my latest video below I was able to put together in about 15 minutes. More surprising was the encoding speed:
The outcome:
My experience is no anomaly either. @ElkGroveCA shared this link via Twitter which benchmarks video encoding on a Mac Pro, MacBook Air (2011), Mac Mini, and a MacBook Air (2010) and the MacBook Air (2011) was not too far off from the Mac Pro…amazing!
At the end of the day you will have to justify the $300 for Final Cut Pro X, but I can say with confidence that the MacBook Air can handle the software just fine…at least for the casual user like myself.
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Not that I am an expert, but I often get asked photography related questions. A commonly asked question: What lens should I buy? Of course, there is not a single answer for everyone. I do have a single, initial response though: Buy the best lens you can afford 1. I have had many camera bodies, but for the most part have had the same lenses since 2001, so consider your lens purchase a long-term investment. Of course this is just a general rule and has caveats. Example: if you have an entry level DSLR like the Canon EOS 1100D it simply is not built to have a Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS attached to it2.
Before I provide further advice I shoot back a question: What do you want to shoot? Their response allows me to provide the best advice from my personal experience3. Keep in mind though that at the end of the day, it still is all a matter of opinion.
This was my entry into DSLR photography. At the time I lived in Arizona and had access to spectacular destinations like the Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, Monument Valley, Sedona, Sonoran Desert, etc. At the beginning I only had a Sigma 20mm, but now I’d recommend the following given what I have owned.
Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM
It wasn’t until Bryce was born in 2006 that I really started shooting portraits. Though I never owned the 85mm, I had a friend that lent me one and it was a fantastic lens…it took a LOT of practice to use accurately though. I currently own the 100mm and absolutely love the lens. It probably is on my camera 80% of the time.
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
This is a tough category given the wide range of objectives. The safe bet is to use the 24-70mm, but it is also the most boring in my opinion. The 24-105mm gives you a broader range, but you have to consider the limitation of the smaller aperture. If your goal is street photography or you want to capture photos in stealth mode than the 50mm is a great lens for the money.
If you are trying to capture a sporting event then you probably want something like the 70-200mm, but if are simply trying to capture a fast-moving pet or child then the 100mm will fit the bill.
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Though the 100mm is the only true macro lens I used the 70-200mm for many years as my macro lens. Even the 50mm can be used as a pseudo macro lens.
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM
If you have a tight budget and can only buy one lens I would highly recommend buying the 50mm f/1.4. Even though it is an older lens, it still is a phenomenal lens given the price point.
Some may wonder about the Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM. In the past this lens, by many, was considered a fantastic all-around lens. Having personally owned the lens, I can say it was subpar. I couldn’t stand the variable aperture and the soft photos it created. I admit, given my arsenal of pro lenses, may have higher standards than most, but would rather have a prime lens (which is typically cheaper) like the 50mm. Again, all of the above advice is based on my own personal experience. I welcome input.
I stated this previously in a previous post, Top 3 Tips for Your First DSLR ↩
I do not know this to be fact, but is an assumption given the lighter weight build quality↩
This means I welcome a conversation ↩
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As I mentioned previously, I have always loved bikes. The previous five years though I have ridden very little. I’m sure I rode my road bike less than 500 miles each year. However, this year has been a big cycling year for me…I have ridden over 2,000 miles! I even dusted off the neglected mountain bike and went for a night ride on it a few weeks ago. In addition, I was convinced by my fellow riders to try cyclocross. Always up for a reason to buy another bike I bought a cross bike at the local bike shop, Olson’s Bicycles…a Kona Jake the Snake.
Fast forward a month or two to this week…my first cross race. I arrive with a biking buddy an hour or so before the race which gave us an opportunity to get around most of the course one time…gentle downhill on fresh dirt, steep hill, some crazy sharp turns, and so on. OK, whatever…I got this. Show time.
At the starting line 2 groups line up…over 80 riders. I line up near the back. The start was fast and furious (as expected) with some jam ups on the sharp corners causing some minor crashes. I actually avoid a couple of crashes directly in front of me and pass quite a few people. Woohoo, the adrenaline is bumping now! After the first lap I am actually on my own a bit. With no one directly in front of me I put the hammer down. After a couple of sharp turns I approach a slight decline and another biker. I also hear someone directly behind me.
Freeze. Just a quick recap.
Brand new bike. First cross race. Lots and lots of bikers. Several crashes already avoided. Rider in front of me. Rider behind me. Slight decline. Going fast.
Even after replaying this event countless times in my head, I cannot decipher exactly what happened. This is my best guess though…As I came up along side the rider in front of me, one (or both) of us hit a bump1 that caused our handlebars to tangle up. Add to the mix that somehow my front tire came off and as I drove my bike into the ground I must have busted the fork, twisted the handlebars and brake levers. As all that was happening apparently the backend of my bike was launching into the air when my chain decides to take a bite out of the rider I was passing leaving a lovely, softball-sized hole in his biking shorts. Finally, my buddy (the rider that was behind me) decides to join in on the fun and supermans onto my bike and me…giving him some nice bruised ribs.
I humbly and deeply apologize to all those involved. Fortunately, my bike took the brunt of it and the other two were able to finish the race. I know it could have been a whole lot worse, but definitely NOT how I wanted my first cross race to go. As another biker buddy told me though, “Welcome to cross”!
The dirt was fresh, loose, and clumpy with some rocks to boot.↩
This past Friday, almost 16 years to-the-day from our last time, we brought home a new puppy; a yellow English lab. We got her from Allison Hillius of Devonshire Labradors. After spending a couple of days with her we have named her Ellie (after a landslide vote from friends and family). She just turned seven weeks old today so the next couple of weeks will be quite tiring as she will need constant supervision and let out to go potty every two to three hours. Pretty much like having another child I guess.
Random photos taken with my iPhone: http://bbohling.com and a video.
]]>The big two social networks have a very fine grain purpose for me…Twitter to keep tabs with technology and Facebook to communicate with a few friends and family members. The newest kid on the block, Google+1, currently is my favorite place to find inspiring photos. Below are a few people that I have added to my photographers circle:
Tired of the crap on Flickr? Check out the amazing photos posted on 500px. Every night I try to spend a few minutes going through the popular photos. Amazing and very inspirational. A few photographers that I follow:
Ben Canales, that I mentioned above, has really inspired me to take some photos at night. Unfortunately, living in the Northwest, I am finding it particularly difficult to get a clear night at this time of year. After my first attempt though I captured the photo below. I have a LONG ways to go before I get to Ben’s level, but I can’t wait to see what my 99th attempt will look like!
Been living under a rock and don’t know what Google+ is? Learn more here.↩
Any way you slice it…video editing is not my forte. Why should that stop me though?
Today I set aside a couple of hours and started playing with Final Cut Pro X…on my MacBook Air. Given my limited experience with video editing I was surprised1 how easy it was to figure out the absolute basics (adding clips, titles, transitions, export). What really surprised me though was how well the MacBook Air was able to handle running Final Cut Pro X. I dropped in clips, transitions, made edits and never witnessed the beach ball. I even used the MacBook Air to process the video and upload directly to Vimeo2…not bad for such a portable device.
There is no doubt that professional (and likely even amateur) users would never dream of using Final Cut Pro X on a MacBook Air, but for now it works just fine for me. And to prove my inadequate video editing (and video taking) skills the video I created…
One quick tip…if you want to spin up on FCP X quickly? Israel Hyman (aka Izzy) freely provides the best video tutorials I have found.
The easiest way to get a hold of XCode is to download from the Mac App Store.
Git is not absolutely necessary, as RVM (the next pre-req) is available as a tarball, but Git is so popular these days I thought I would provide the instructions.
cd /Volumescd G (then hit the tab key to autocomplete the volume)./s (then hit the tab key to autocomplete the shell script file name)Again, RVM is not absolutely required but RVM does ensure that you do not jack up your system by overwriting the OS version of Ruby with a newer version. RVM allows multiple versions of Ruby to be installed on a system (in your home directory, .rvm) and makes it super simple to change the active version.
bash < <( curl https://rvm.beginrescueend.com/releases/rvm-install-head )[[ -s "/Users/bbohling/.rvm/scripts/rvm" ]] && source "/Users/bbohling/.rvm/scripts/rvm"rvm help. If installation was successful you will see help instructions.Next we will install Ruby version 1.9.2. At this time Ruby version 1.8.7 comes with OS X (Lion). Since we installed RVM, this step is easy-peasy.
Lion users: You will need to open the .profile file and add the following line: export CC=/usr/bin/gcc-4.2. This sets the default compiler to gcc.
rvm install 1.9.2rvm use 1.92ruby -vrvm --default 1.9.2Finally the star attraction, Jekyll…which surprisingly is the easiest part. I also use the Jekyll plugin, jekyll-tagging, that provides a better solution (in my opinion) than the built-in categories feature.
gem install jekyllgem install jekyll-taggingJekyll is now installed and you are capable of creating your own static, text-based website. I will try to write a follow-up post that describes how I have set up my templates and configuration. In the meantime, check out the docs.
I just came across a post by Stephen Ramsay today on the topic, Back to the Roots Web with Jekyll.↩
I performed all of these steps as I went through them myself so they should be accurate. If not, please let me know: brandon [at] bohling [dot] me.↩