Review: iPad 2

Thought I would review my very lovely, slim and stunning iPad 2.

Review: iPad 2

This lovely device was purchased so that I could have a portfolio because I didn't want to keep printing off photos/books as I took photos.  So here is my full review of my iPad since I already did an initial one after I got it.

Thoughts and Opinions:

The iPad is quite the piece of technology.  I expected no less from apple but boy oh boy is it something.  So I will be focusing on it as a tool for photography and it is amazing.  I know I am maybe not using it to its fullest potential but I just needed it for photography.  As I mentioned in my initial review, I was planning on getting some apps which I did end up doing.  I got a portfolio app which I have reviewed already (Portfolio for iPad, Link) and I have also gotten a contract app which I also reviewed (Photographers Contract Maker, Link). From my initial review I said it was user friendly which has not changed.  I love how easy it is to use and that goes the same for my clients as well.  My clients use it to sign contracts or flip through my portfolio and have had no issues with it which is great.  Really makes for a interactive and sometime fun experience for my clients as they use the iPad.

I also mentioned the oil smudges on the screen in my initial review but that is, as I said, one of the things that happens when you have a touch screen.  I personally don't mind it since you can't see it when the screen is bright and you are looking at it dead on.  You can notice if the screen is dim or from the side.  

Image quality is great on the iPad.  I love the ease of flipping through the photos, zooming in on them.  The ability to get an app for a portfolio that allows you to have even more control over how you present your photos is great.  I wrote the review for the portfolio app I have(Link).  The contract app I have is also very good.  The freedom of having no paper, and e-mailing contracts instantly to my client after it is signed is amazing.  The abilities of the iPad itself is amazing plus the additional apps you can get for it, is quite remarkable.  

I also got an eye-fi card which I will review soon.  The ability to upload photos wirelessly to your iPad to view the photos is very cool.  It is a little slow but still very useful since it is nice to see the photos on the iPad screen instead of the camera screen (In my case 3 inches on the D90).

The size is great since it isn't too big it is awkward but big enough to present my photos well.  The one thing about the iPad that threw me off a little was the weight of it.  It is a little heavier than expected however I am used to it now.  But it is lighting than a usual portfolio book.  

The ability of apple products to work together is quite amazing and the iPad has a couple of amazing tricks up its sleeve.  If you have an apple TV then you can mirror your iPad on your TV as well as play music and share photos onto your TV.  This is a great way to share your photos at home or anywhere with an apple TV.  Also on a side note, watching TED talks that are shared from your iPad to your TV is quite a fun thing to do.  

Usage:

I have used it to present my portfolio, sign contracts, and media things like Facebook/e-mail/Twitter etc.  Also I have tested out all the other functions of the iPad like FaceTime etc however I won't cover that here since I like to keep this photography related.

It has been an amazing tool for photography with the portfolio and contract ability alone.

Pros:

- Compact

- Great Design

- Great Display

- Ease of Use

- Battery Life

- Large Amount of Functionality 

- Versatile

Cons:

- Oil Smudge (But again, it's a touch screen)

- Cost

Conclusions:

It is quite the device and I love mine.  I highly recommend the iPad for a portfolio and using it for contracts.  I have used the eye-fi card a little however not a lot but what I have done with it has been very cool.  I am sure there are many other functions I could take advantage of however I want to keep my iPad photography related so it stays professional.  I don't want to worry about other application interfering with my photography.  

So all and all, a very very useful device.  I highly recommend it as a portfolio or a device to sign contracts with electronically.  If you do decide to use it for everything it is able to do, then I am sure you would get a better experience with it.  I just don't want to have a scrabble notification popping through my portfolio or contract app.  

App Review: Photographers Contract Maker

App Review:  Photographers Contract Maker


Description:
This app allows you to write (or use pre-made templates/alter them) contracts or releases for your photography.  It comes with a "Photo Shoot, Model Release, Copyright Release and 2nd Shooter-Work For Hire" contracts.  It allows you to have placeholders where contact information can be inserted into contracts.  This is easily done by the model just filling out a contract sheet and it automatically puts that information into the placeholders in the contract.  The app also allows you to do signatures so there is a signature written on the contract.  It also allows you to have all your information imputed into the app so your information can easily be placed into contracts each time.  The signed contracts also save on your iPad and can easily be e-mailed from your iPad to the client(s) (and yourself).  As well, if you work repeatedly with models, it saves the contact information in the app so the model only has to input their information once.  It had more features to make the app easy to use but those are the main ones in my opinion.


Thoughts and Opinions:
This is a very helpful app to a photographer.  It is so much easier to do releases on my iPad since I don't have to print out releases ahead of time and always have them and a pen with me.  The ability to make your own contracts is a huge plus as well as signing them electronically.  E-mailing the contracts also is a huge plus for me since it again saves paper.  Very impressed with this app.  The placeholders is also a good idea which makes the contracts easy to do.  Overall the app is well thought out and easy to use.


I did a shoot with a model who needed a parent/guardian signature however there was no placeholder for that sadly.  So I just made it as "a witness" however I made sure the wording of the contract made it clear it was the parent/guardian signing.  It did not matter since the placeholder naming doesn't stay in the contract but always good to be clear with clients when signing legal contracts.


Also on a small tangent it is kind of cool for people to use the iPad and such for the contract.  It adds a small cool/fun factor into signing releases since paper work (especially legal papers) isn't fun for a lot of people.


Pros:
- Ease of Use
- Simple
- Usefulness
- Ability to Sign Contract on iPad
- Placeholders
- Ability to E-mail the Contract
- Cost (2.99 CAN)
- (as a side note) also works on my phone! (iPhone)


Cons:
- Pre-made (which is good) placeholders however not customizable (not good)


Conclusions:
Overall a very useful app that is very easy to use.  I know it is a new technology and such but it is hard to describe this since I would say it is a tool for photography.  What I mean is, it is like describing how useful a hammer or drill is to someone in construction.  You should/need to have signed release when working with models and this makes that very ease so I would almost call this a tool rather than some fancy extra app.  So 10/10 on usefulness and it is a great app as well as it is very easy to use.


I highly recommend this app for any photographer who works with models or signs contracts with clients a lot.  All you need is an iPad (or iPhone).

App Review: Photo Carousel

Description:
This app is an app that is used to access your Flickr account.  It also allows you to do slideshows of the account as well as the ability to open multiple Flickr accounts.

Thoughts and Opinions:
I had a Flickr app for my iPhone however when I went to open it on my iPad it was only the iPhone size. I scrolled through Flickr apps and this one was free and seemed very straight forward.  I was not looking for a lot of crazy features, I just wanted to see my photos if I needed to show my Flickr photos.  I really like how simple the display is.  There are no distractions, just the photos.  You can then open the photo in full screen by tapping on the photo.  You can then open that photo in the normal Flickr window to view it's comments and views and such.  I really like this app because you go from a non-distracting view of all your photos, to full screen and then to Flickr's usual setup.  This way, it is easier to show photos than it usually is just using Flickr.

Pros:
- Easy to Use
- Simple Design
- No Distractions
- Good Features

Cons:
- None

Conclusions:
So all and all a great app for showcasing your Flickr.  You can still manage and view your Flickr however it was more designed to showcase your photos which I thought was a great idea.  So for anyone who uses Flickr for their portfolio this would be a great app.  I have no complaints with this app.

And just as a side note, this is my 100th post!  That was definitely a lot more than it feels like.  Hope everyone has enjoyed them thus far.

App Review: Portfolio for iPad

Description:
This is an app for the iPad which as it says, it a portfolio for showing off photos.  It allows you to make different folders to display different content.  It also lets you have control over what folders are displayed if you only want to show certain folders to certain groups of people or clients.  This app also allows you to lock the app so if you pass your iPad around to clients, they cannot access the hidden folders or your settings.  These are just some of the features this app has to offer.


Thoughts and Opinions:
So far I love it.  Thought I would start off with that.  It is very well designed for a photographer (or anyone who may need to present photos) and is very easy to use.  The features are very useful.  I really like only showing what folders of photos I want to be very useful since a potential model doesn't care about seeing my landscapes.  You can rate the photos and then review the folder of photos based on the rating.  This makes the portfolio very useful to me for narrowing down ideas with a client.  Uploading and organizing the photos was easy and I did it with almost no difficulties.  I think I overloaded the RAM a little moving photos around and it did close on me once or twice.  This was fine since I think I was doing a little too much at the same time, organizing and uploading simultaneously.  Another thing I like, is it gives you a place to put a logo which is great.  Not only does it give you a spot, it tells you the exact pixel dimension of the slots for landscape/portrait/external screen layouts.  I currently have my cousin, who design logos, cooking me up one so I haven't fully used this feature but I know when I do it will be great.


Pros:
- Easy of Use
- Great Features
- Well Designed
- Good Presentation Layout


Cons:
- $14.99 is fair but probably could be cheaper


Conclusions:
All and all a very good app.  I really do love this app since the main reason I got an iPad was for it being a portfolio and this app makes it do that for me.  It turns the iPad into a very good portfolio.   I have very little to say against this app.  I would highly recommend this app for anyone who needs to present a portfolio.  I did look into other portfolio apps but this one just looked the best designed and it looked like it had a lot of thought put into it.


I will be using this app a lot more (hopefully) in the future and will update this review as I use it more.

Update: Portfolio & Logo

Hey,


So I just got a portfolio app for my iPad so I can best control how I show photos using my iPad to potential clients.  And with that, I need a logo to best market my photography and brand my photography when I present it.  So I am getting my cousin Katia, who is a graphic designer, to create my logo for my photography.  She is also a lifestyle blogger currently writing a blog about fashion, design and whatever else she encounters in life.  So check out her blog here.  I also updated my blog to include this link just for quick access.  You can also follow her Twitter for her blog @KittySnooks.


Will keep you posted here and on my twitter @TomHoustonPhoto about the logo and everything else with my photography and blog.

Review: Initial Review of the iPad 2

Hey, so I decided before I do any reviews of apps and such I should do an initial review of the actual device itself.  Before I start I would just like to mention that I am mostly going to use my iPad as a photography tool and this review will have the same focus.

Thoughts and Opinions:

First off, Apple sure knows what they are doing.  The iPad is a truly amazing device considering when it first came out it was really the only thing like it.  I got it for the purpose of having it as my portfolio.  I have not yet bought a portfolio app yet but I am planning on it very soon.  However just using the native photos app on the iPad is just fine more now.  I just want control over what photos I show and such.  The photos look great on the iPad, it is cool being able to zoom in to see how good the quality is of the photos.

The device is user friendly which is obvious for an apple product. It is actually kinda fun to just flip through the photos and have all the multi-touch gestures.  I really like the just pure ability of this thing.  So much potential like a portfolio app, eye-fi card to send photos to your iPad as you shoot, tons of potential features not to mention the native ones on it.

When you use it a lot you can get a lot of smudges on the screen but that is what happens when you have a touch screen.  It is a price you have to pay I suppose.  The good news is you don't notice until you turn off the iPad.  You don't really see any smudging when it is on looking directly at it.  

I will also be using my iPad to be doing a lot of things like twitter and e-mail and all that as well as checking my blog etc.  So I can keep the social media things going with my photography. 

Pros:

- Lightweight

- Compact

- Great Design

- Great Display

- Ease of Use

- Vast Amount of Functionality

- Battery Life

The list goes on but I will stop there.

Cons: 

- Oil Smudges on Screen (But you get that when you have a touch screen...)

- Cost

Conclusion:

So it is so far a very great tool to have.  I have really enjoyed using it the past two days.  I think once I get all of the apps I want for it then it will be quite the machine (not that it isn't right now, just more of a photography machine).  So there isn't much to conclude other than the iPad is a great photography tool so far and I only think it can get better from here.

Update: Santa made me an iPad.

Hey everyone,

I now am the owner of an iPad and I am going to start the hunt for great apps.  More so photography related ones for the iPad since it will be my photography tool since it will be my portfolio.  I don't have to use my phone anymore haha.

As I get great apps (hopefully) I will review them and start doing photography app reviews.  Just thought I would update everyone.

Hope everyone is having a great season with whatever it is you celebrate.