Cheese and Popcorn | Kids, photography, software development, life, et cetera
Description: Kids, photography, software development, life, et cetera

# Waking Up

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I’ve fallen out of my fitness routine over the last 18 months or so (not to mention my blogging routine), and have been working to get back on track as of late, with an upcoming half marathon serving as motivation. Interestingly, the thing that generally gets me motivated for embarking on self-initiated major life changes is getting angry enough at myself to push beyond routine.

In any event, this morning was a great reminder why I’ve come to enjoy running. I’m in London for business, and headed out early on Saturday morning for a brief run that took me over the Tower Bridge (the famous bridge in all London photographs), and through various parts of the city.

Early runs in foreign places are interesting since you see the city waking up. The tourists and locals are still in bed, save for a few stragglers that really enjoyed the previous night, and the time is dominated by workers cleaning the city, postal and delivery workers shuttling packages and correspondence, and early shop keepers preparing breakfast and opening their doors. Scenes like these are why I run.

# Camera Primer – Types of Digital Cameras

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We’re in a bit of a photography golden age, with the declining cost and instant gratification of digital cameras having spawned a renewed interest in photography. It’s easy to become confused when the average electronics store has dozens of camera on display, at widely varying price points. Let’s review some of the common camera types, and the pros and cons of each. In order to simplify, I’ve categorized cameras in a bit of an unconventional manner, but hopefully this will simplify rather than convolute the wide range of choices now available.

## Camera Phones

Pros:

- Always nearby
- Easy to use
- Fairly high-quality images, on par with pocket cameras of a few years ago
- Easy and immediate photo sharing

Cons:

- Lower quality images, especially in low light or fast action situations
- Poor flash performance
- Limited adjustability

Perhaps you’ve heard of this popular camera phone?

Camera phones are now a viable option as a “real” camera, whereas they were essentially toys producing terrible images just a few short years ago. The primary benefit of a camera phone is its immediacy: you’re capturing first steps or a “magic moment” while someone else is reaching for their fancy “professional” camera. Furthermore, most smartphone cameras allow instant sharing. Moments after taking a pic, you can share it with friends and family, post it to your social networks, or send it to be printed.

Where camera phones struggle is in sub-optimal conditions: tiny flash units create strange low-light pictures, and running or playing children end up blurred and unrecognizable. Despite these drawbacks, a camera phone has become my primary photographic tool when kids are involved, since its simply the most readily available device 90% of the time. With children especially, fiddling with manual settings and lenses often means a missed opportunity, and I’ll take the great photo captured with sub-optimal equipment to the non-existent photo that was missed by a $10,000 camera and lens combination.

## Fixed Lens Cameras

Pros:

- Higher quality images than a camera phone, especially in low-light and fast motion settings
- Often provide zoom capabilities
- In higher-end models, allow adjustment of exposure and camera settings
- May offer image stabilization
- Generally provide swappable memory cards, allowing you to continue to take pictures without worrying about running out of memory

Cons:

- Larger than the average camera phone
- Heavier and less compact
- More difficult to share photos

Fixed lens cameras were the vanguard of the digital camera revolution, with compact Canons and Nikons replacing film cameras before high-quality camera phones became the norm. This style of camera still offers several benefits over the average camera phone, with the major penalty being an increase in size.

One of my first digital cameras, well before the reign of the camera phone, the Canon Digital Elph

Consider for a moment that the average camera has an image sensor, the piece of hardware that turns light into a digital image, that’s about the size of a pencil eraser. The average compact fixed lens camera has a sensor dozens of times the size, allowing the camera to capture more light, and generally produce a higher quality image, just as you’d generally find an image on a 50″ TV more enjoyable than a 20″ TV. The larger size of these cameras also offers the opportunity for a larger flash unit, making for better low-light pictures. In short, you trade quality and additional features for a larger unit. There’s simply no getting around a larger lens, sensor, and flash unit producing better pictures, at the price of portability.

A fixed lens camera also provides a vastly superior lens to a camera phone, often allowing optical zoom. While most camera phones have a zoom function, the camera is simply making the existing image larger. While you could take a pizza an pull it apart to make a physically “larger” pizza, you’d distort the pie and lower it’s quality the larger you tried to make it, and at the end of the day, you’d be working with the same amount of pizza. “Digital zoom” works in the same way, simply making the existing image data appear larger at the cost of quality. The optical zoom present in most fixed lens camera uses moving lenses to magnify an image, providing additional data to the camera, rather than simply enlarging the existing data. There is a minor penalty however, in that a fixed lens means you’re stuck with the zoom capabilities of the lens, and must purchase a new camera should you want a different zoom or higher performance lens.

While a small fixed lens camera may not seem too much of a sacrifice in terms of size and weight, I’d strongly reconsider if I already owned a quality camera phone, like that on recent iPhones and Android devices. If you’re an experience photographer, and having children has rekindled an interest in photography, by all means consider a mid or high-end fixed lens camera that can serve double-duty as a camera for the kids, a travel camera, and an occasional artistic outlet. For the average person however, I’d stick with my camera phone until you find yourself exceeding its abilities, in which case I’d strongly consider an interchangeable lens camera before jumping into a fixed lens camera.

## Interchangeable Lens Cameras

Pros:

- More flexible and customizable than most other camera types
- Generally offer complete manual control, for total control of your shots
- Large and high-quality image sensors for high image quality
- Different lenses allow for different capabilities depending on what you’re photographing
- Lenses can often be used on other cameras with a similar format, so you can change camera bodies without buying new lenses

Cons:

- High cost for the camera
- High costs for lenses. A mid-range lens often costs as much or more than the camera
- Larger and heavier equipment
- More control means more complixity

My current “weapon of choice” when not using a camera phone. The Olympus OM-D

At a fundamental level, interchangeable lens cameras separate the lens from the image sensor. Where a camera phone or fixed lens camera marries the “eyes” and “brain” of the camera, and interchangeable lens camera would be like allowing a person to swap their eyes for different capabilities. You might don owl eyes for superior night vision, or butterfly eyes to see ultraviolet light.

Similarly, interchangeable lens allow you to carry a lens with superior zoom capabilities, one with great low light performance, and another that adds an interesting visual effect, like a fish eye lens, all while carrying a single camera “brain” (referred to as the body).

The popular DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera is based on 35mm film cameras, and was generally rather bulky due to a complex arrangement of mirrors. However, newer formats like the Micro 4:3 Olympus pictured here have allowed for smaller cameras, and smaller, less costly lenses, creating a nice compromise between quality and portability.

In addition to a wide range of lenses to chose from, interchangeable lens cameras tend to offer the highest image quality, the most manual control, and the best low-light and fast motion capabilities. All this comes at the price of complexity, and the world’s best camera and lens combination will do nothing for the person who can’t use them. For pictures of children especially, the camera you can quickly grab and fire off a few pictures will win the day against the camera collecting dust due to complexity.

If you’re thinking of investing in an interchangeable lens camera, the biggest decision is which lens family you want to buy into. I’ll write more about this later, but consider a second hand or lower end camera, and decide if you’re really interested in learning how to use this style of camera, before investing thousands into a lens family you may later abandon.

# Mickey Mouse and PhotoPass

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We spent some family time in Disney World recently, piggybacking a few days of family fun onto a work-related trip. In my younger days I lived in the area, literally across the street from Disney property, and have always loved visiting the place. There’s the obvious chance to relive one’s childhood via the experience, but the place is also a paradise for an “operations geek.” They constantly push the envelop to move more people more rapidly, extract the highest possible revenue per guest, and do it all in the most “magical” and inoffensive way possible, leaving customers grinning from ear to ear.

The latest manifestation of this was PhotoPass. While strategically placed employees with cameras taking “free” photos that can later be purchased as prints is nothing new, Disney had the insight to hand out an ID card that could then be presented to other photographers. Your photos are then consolidated and presented online for purchase after your trip, available 24/7 and ready for your credit card. This is Disney genius at its finest. The service reduces employee count devoted to photos since they no longer need kiosks to service photo sales, reduces costs since they’re no longer printing photos to try and entice you to buy, and makes for a better customer experience all while extracting cash from you after you’ve left Orland behind, a hat trick of operational excellence.

Unfortunately all is not well with the process. In yet another example of “great camera technology doesn’t make a great photographer,” the photos I viewed were sub-par despite the “photographers” being equipped with the latest in digital SLR technology. Furthermore, Disney added some obviously professional “stock” shots of Mickey and pals that further highlighted the contrast between a well-executed and processed photo, and what was clearly the result of someone told to “press and pray.” While I’m not much to look at to begin with, send me out to work in the yard on a sweltering summer afternoon, then stand me next to a freshly coifed George Clooney in a bespoke suit, and my stock will fall even father. Disney seems to be doing something similar to an otherwise interesting service.

# Exploring

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As our daughter grows it has been a delight to watch her explore the world around her. Like her older brother, as she’s grown she’s taken an increasing interest in her surroundings, needing to touch, taste, hit, and push every object within her ever-increasing range of mobility.

As I watch her, I realize how little I observe about the world around me. My mind is moving at a thousand miles and hour, and essentially filtering out everything that’s eminently fascinating to a growing infant. While I’m likely walking down a familiar hallway, or driving a route I’ve traversed dozens of times, there are still nuanced changes ranging from seasonal shifts, to different smells, to subtle sounds. Part of why I enjoy my daughter’s development at this point so much is that it reminds me to slow down and observe. While I’ll avoid the extremes my daughter goes to, and skip on chomping on the kitchen table, or licking the refrigerator, there’s something to be said for approaching the world with open eyes and an observant conscious, rather than a mind turned in upon itself.

# Go with what you know

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When considering what kind of web service to start, I followed the old axiom to “go with what you know.” As the birth of our daughter neared, we ran into the modern parents’ problem of how to share photos of their children with a geographically scattered family.

KiddiePic essentially solved a problem we were having, and was a service I wanted to use. I didn’t want to deal with specialized apps, “training” grandparents how to access a social media site, or dealing with more complexity.

While it’s certainly possible to build a successful business around a market need that you have absolutely no passion about, it subjects you to the risk of “design by consensus.” Your product will be based on an amalgamation of market research, “best practices,” and popular taste, rather than a single, unifying vision. While our vision for KiddiePic may ultimately not meet with commercial success, or appeal to the masses, I hope that users find it consistent, and exceptional at completing its mission to easily share pictures of your children.

# Execution (aka Everyone has a Big Idea)

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A technically-oriented friend and I have a frequent laugh over “Big Idea Syndrome.” BIS usually manifests itself in a discussion that goes something like this:

> Big Idea Man: “DUDE – I have this AMAZING idea for an [app/business/product/book].

> Me: (sigh) “So what is it?”

> Big Idea Man: “Well, it’s [random/poorly considered/already commercially available product, described in a painfully superlative-laden manner]… I hear you know how to do these things, so what I was thinking is that we become partners. You do all the work, and when it’s successful we split things with me getting 99% of the profits, and you getting 1%. Deal?”

> six months later…

> Big Idea Man: “DUDE! I totally invented the [Internet/iPhone/latest model Ferrari/Facebook/hot band], like 10 years before when I told you about it. Those crooks totally stole my idea! Can you help me sue??? We’ll split the winnings…”

The problem is not the quality (or lack thereof) of the idea, but the fact that no attention is paid to execution. It’s like saying you want to be a baseball star, than lamenting your lack of success after a decade without ever picking up a bat or glove.

There’s nothing wrong with big ideas. I spend half my waking hours pondering a new angle to a problem, or grasping for an insight that could create a viable commercial enterprise. While this is not easy work, getting the “big idea” is the military equivalent of getting orders to take a hill: it’s the first concrete step in what will be a long and bloody journey.

Perhaps we spend too much time celebrating the ideas, rather than the hours of diligent execution required to bring them to fruition.

# 3 Tips for New Dads

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Our daughter recently celebrated her five-month birthday, and I thought I’d add a few fatherhood tips I’ve picked up along the way. I’m far from an expert, and have made more than my share of mistakes, but hopefully these will help.

The First Month is Boring

The last month of pregnancy is a whirlwind of emotion, waiting, anticipation, and preparation. Pregnancy climaxes with a rush to the hospital, frantically and carefully transporting your new baby home with all the thoughts and dreams of a new parent, only to have your baby… sleep. A lot.

They’ll wake up, look confused, cry, eat, poop, and then sleep some more. Take advantage of this time to catch up on your own sleep, and before you know it, your little one will start smiling, laughing, and interacting with you.

Don’t Forget Each Other

It’s amazing how deeply having a baby affects you and your partner, and your relationship. Your family expands by a third with a demanding new member, whose only method of communication is crying. It’s easy to ignore each other amidst the myriad changes brought on by fatherhood, but your relationship with your partner will be critical to the success of your family.

Listen to Your Gut

The volume of advice proffered by others continues to amaze me. Most of it is well-intentioned or from “the professionals,” but it’s often conflicting, dogmatic, and little more than conjecture. The baby books and magazines will tell you how you must do something the “right” way, or vaguely ominous terrors will befall your little one later in life, while well-meaning parents offer tips and tricks that directly conflict with the “experts.”

A major manifestation is the pressure that new mothers in the US must feel to breastfeed. The US-based books I’ve looked at condescendingly mention that “it’s OK not to,” then regale the reader with all the benefits of breastfeeding and dire consequences of not doing so, with expert medical citations to back it all up. Interestingly, with our first child, we moved to France shortly after he was born and I was surprised to find a country that’s so focused on natural foods and avoidance of processed items was anti-breastfeeding and pro-formula under the theory that modern science produced a better food than nature. Last I checked, French babies seemed to do just fine.

In summary, humans have survived for thousands of years following all manner of crazy advice, so if you don’t do exactly what everyone from the books to neighbors tells you, your child will still likely grow up happy and healthy.

At the end of the day, take care of yourself and your partner, and trust your doctor and your instincts on raising your new baby. You’ll make mistakes along the way, but you’ll be blessed with a tiny human that thinks you’re the most wonderful person in the world.

# Learning to Fly

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One of the more interesting aspects of getting KiddiePic up and running has been teaching myself modern web programming. I haven’t wrote code that’s been used in any sort of productive capacity for over a decade, and prior to KiddiePic, the majority of my programming consisted of the occasional Excel macro.

I’ll put on my old geezer hat for a moment, and mention that “things have changed” since my last foray into web development in 2000, but it’s completely for the better. KiddiePic is written in node.js, a server-side JavaScript programming language. C and Visual Basic are probably the “real” programming languages I know best, and JavaScript follows somewhat similar conventions. The biggest improvement in my mind is that software development is now more about connecting various components that building everything from scratch.

For KiddiePic, “modules” were freely available for most of the functionality I wanted to accomplish, from Facebook login, to image manipulation, all tasks that would have taken weeks to figure out myself, pre-packaged with readily understandable example code. Even the design portion of the side is based on the “Twitter Bootstrap” template, which offered a standardized and reasonably appealing visual design, something I could never accomplish on my own.

Even if you’ve never coded before, there are so many great examples and templates that if can think sequentially and logically, web development is not too far out of reach, even for a dinosaur like me!

# Now Supporting Google Login

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KiddiePic now supports login and new user registration via your Google login. Sign in or create a new user easily using your existing Google login. Since Google and Facebook signup are based on the email address you used when you registered for these services, KiddiePic may not be able to automatically link your accounts if you used a different email address. We’ll soon rectify this situation and allow you to manually link accounts when the email addresses don’t match.

# It’s… ALIVE!

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After many late nights and weekends spent slinging code in my spare time, I’m pleased to announce that KiddiePic.com is now live, minutes before my target date of the 4th of March!

We’re still ironing out the kinks and several key features are pending, but stop on by and give it a spin!

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- Mickey Mouse and PhotoPass
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- Go with what you know

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