Sunday, March 10, 2024

Den Bosch, NL, With Our New iPhone 15 Pro Maxes

 
Believe it or not, it was a month ago that I posted about our new iPhone 15 Pro Maxes, the gifts Astrid and I received from Sander's inheritance.  But it was 6 days later, on February 17, that we drove to Den Bosch (53 km/34 mi from home) to "practice" in earnest with them in the St. John's cathedral there.

Which is to say I need to quickly catch up...since we just returned from 6 days on Texel again, where we really "practiced."  But first, Den Bosch.

I've already made 2 posts on Den Bosch, first in 2010 and then in 2019.  So this isn't a post about Den Bosch, per se, but about the abilities and power of the iPhone 15 Pro Max camera, about which we're still learning and loving.

As we left the parking garage to enter the city, Jheronimus Bosch welcomed us.
This was new for me, so, of course, out popped the iPhone for the first photo of the day.

On our way into the city, I checked the camera's zoom.
I can't bend down like Astrid (fake knee hurts when I do), so would the 5x zoom be good enough?
So far so good but you'll see it better later, inside the church. 

As we're wont to do, just outside the church we whetted our appetite with a latte macchiato.
See me practicing on the photo-blur focus (bottom-left)?

Then it was all about using the B&W options...in this case, the NOIR:



All 3 of these images were further tweaked in PhotoShop to make them warmer.
But it was clear to me that day that I had a penchant for the 16:9 size ratio and the noir option.

However, once inside the cathedral, I first started with "normal" photos,
How would the camera handle the low-light ?

The nave.

The organ.

The pulpit.

All of my COLLAGE photos in this post are SOOC (straight out of camera)
with tweaks inside the PicMonkey software.

But would the zoom be strong enough to capture details I could get with my Canon camera???
This was my answer:  see those 4 pillars near the "seeing-eye" cupola (top-left)?
Yes, the zoom works!



As you see, I then reverted back to my penchant for the 16:9 size ratio and the noir option,
further tweaked in PhotoShop.

After the church, we had a delightful lunch where I practiced again with depth of field/blur.
It takes getting used to but is actually very user-friendly.

Den Bosch, February 17, 2024:  our first photo hunt with our iPhone 15 Pro Maxes (our Sanders, as our Dutch friend, Marjolein, calls them!).  It was a great start on the learning curve....

But wait till you see Texel again, this time through our Sanders.  In both photo hunts, I never once used my Canon PowerShot camera.  That doesn't mean I'll never use it again, of course, but one does wonder what the advantages will be for taking it along on every trip?

As a BTW, we both had iPhone lanyards around our necks holding our phones the entire photo hunt,
which we highly recommend for those fearing loss, dropping or grabbing.
They're also nice for those hand-free times you need.


Sunday, February 11, 2024

Two iPhone 15 Pro Maxes

 
This is one of those for-the-record posts so that we don't forget the how/why/what/when/where parts of the story.

Back in November 2021, Astrid bit the bullet and bought her first smart phone, which was an iPhone 12, all about which I posted here.  In October 2022, almost a year later, I followed suit with my own iPhone 12, because I was totally impressed with its camera for inside shots in particular.

That was then; this is now.

When we realized we'd get a bit of a windfall from Sander's inheritance, after his death last year, I told Astrid that as his "gift" to us both, for all the blood, sweat and tears, why don't we upgrade to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, specifically for the camera.  It was the only thing I wanted from him but I didn't want to have the better phone camera without her having it too.  She was convinced enough to go along.

So this past Thursday (in sync with our 14th wedding anniversary on Monday the 5th!), we did the same routine as in 2021:  we drove to Amsterdam's Museumplein to park, walked to the Apple Store a couple blocks away (with a quick latte macchiato along the way), picked up our new phones--with help in transferring everything from our old phones in 45 minutes, walked to Wagamama a block away for a celebratory lunch, and then drove back home.

Our celebratory lunch (last photo with my iPhone 12)!

And now we're playing.  It's a new learning curve, besides the fact that the Max part of the phone is what gives it a 5x zoom, instead of the 3x for simply the Pro.  Since the phone camera is what we both use for certain situations, exceeding the strength our our Canon PhotoShot cameras, it was important to "go for broke," getting the best, which should last us a loooooooong time.

So, YES, I started playing around in the car, especially with the depth of field.

And then at home...options galore to explore.

Astrid, too, is exploring...at our Happy Hour (top--Willem's shoe) and at home...

...and then on her bike ride yesterday morning.

Soon we'll make a date to go out somewhere together, just to play around with our new "cameras."  We'll continue to use both of our cameras, of course, because the Canons give us incredible zoom (70x) for when we need it.  We even bought travel cases with straps for our iPhones, so that we can strap both phones/cameras around our necks to use interchangeably.  

How's that for teaching old dogs new tricks!

Thank you, Sander, for the tear and the smile.  


Den Bosch, NL, With Our New iPhone 15 Pro Maxes

  Believe it or not, it was a month ago that I posted about our new iPhone 15 Pro Maxes, the gifts Astrid and I received from Sander's ...