No you can't take a selfie of you and the eclipse

Q&A time: SSD drives, analog locks and violins

I’m Jeff, a Los Angeles writer-photographer, host of the PhotowalksTV series and former USA TODAY columnist, with my photo meets tech meets travel newsletter. As always, the edition is free, and supported by our friends at SmugMug, which hosts my photo website and allows me to sell prints to clients. Get access to our full archive of posts with a paid subscription.

AI generated photo of four women posing for imaginary selfies during a solar eclipse. You know it’s fake because the sky would be dark!

Dumb question of the week: I want to get a good Selfie of myself with the eclipse and the sun in the background. Can I?

No!

Folks, in case you haven’t heard (where you been?) there’s a great Total Solar Eclipse Monday, from Texas to Maine, and millions of people are expected to party like it’s 2017—the last great one.

There have been dozens of articles about how to photograph the Eclipse with your phone (I’m guilty here too, even though I’m the first to admit that the photos of the moon eclipsing the sun won’t be great) and endless TV reports. Add in the weather: Texas is expected to have cloudy skies Monday, and that could ruin the experience.

But back to the question: Yes, you can get an amazing Eclipse selfie on Monday, but not with the sun behind you. For one thing, it will be incredibly tiny and you won’t be able to line it up well. (If you try, remember to be wearing your solar glasses and protect your eyesight.) Additionally, the great Eclipse Selfie photo isn’t that at all, but there is a fantastic one to be had.

You are standing there smiling, with your glasses on, thank you, and surrounded by people looking up at the sky with the same funny glasses.

That’s a moment in time. Have fun with it!

iPhone Photo Tip of the Week

Did you know you could ask the Siri digital assistant to save you keystrokes and text photos for you via your voice? Open a photo in the Camera Roll, and say, “Hey Siri, text this photo to,” add your contact and dictate a message. When it works, it’s fabulous.

Until it doesn’t.

I did it over and over again this week, and then showed it off on “The Nikki Medoro Show” on YouTube this week, only to have Siri say, “Something went wrong. Please try again later.”

But as I say—when it works, it’s fabulous.

Love those analog locks

Best new purchase of the week: a classic, analog door lock.

After the experience of having an August digital lock installed (and then removed) from the front door, the wife (who still has an AOL account!) insisted we go analog this time on our next lock purchase for another door.

I’ve got to agree, it’s so much better, even if I disagree with her choice of a mail service.

I understand the appeal of digital locks for folks who run AirBNB businesses, or folks who have frequent guests staying with them, because they can hand out codes for the guests to get in and not have to deal with giving out keys. They can say “Hey, Siri” or “Alexa” and have the door open automatically. They can type in a few digits to unlock the door.

All great.

But on our front door, when we went digital, it was a nightmare of never ending nag messages from August that the batteries were running low or that software needed an update. Sometimes the lock responded well to my phone or voice and opened automatically; other times it didn’t.

So I bought the cheapest, most basic lock to replace an old one that had gotten cranky, a $50 Prograde 5765 and it’s a total joy. Put in the key to unlock and open the door, and woila, it opens. No nagging e-mails and texts. Thank you.

How about you? What are your thoughts about digital locks?

Violin Land

The New York Times has a wonderful article this week about a South Korean woman who dreamed of one day becoming a violin luthier—and is now living her dream in the small Italian town that was once home to greatest violin maker of all time, Antonio Stradivari. The NYT says I’m able to share the link for free, outside of the paywall, so here goes. In the piece, the NYT mentions that this northern Italian town where the violins are made, Cremona, is home to as many as 200 violin makers.

Now this is how my mind works. I’m going to Italy in May, to Sicily. But shouldn’t there be a stop to Cremona as well? I once did a Photowalks episode on Pie Town, New Mexico, after all. How can we not stop in Violin Land? And it’s not that far from the major hub of Milan. Stay tuned!

Get Peacock for free—with Instacart!

The always on the case Jared Newman has another great streaming deal noted in his latest newsletter. If you wanted to catch the NBC/Universal streaming app Peacock (home of the Oppenheimer movie and lots of NBC TV series) for free, there is no gratis trial. But if you sign up to check out food delivery service Instacart, Peacock gets thrown in with the popcorn and butter. Jared has the details here:

Jeff’s Best Tip

A thank you to our sponsor, SmugMug, for backing up my photos, presenting them the way I’d like them to be shown to the world and running my website. Unlike Peacock, you won’t have to go to Instacart to try out SmugMug. The company has a free two-week trial offer—take advantage by checking it out at http://www.smugmug.com

Thumbnail fun in the Photowalks studio!

I recently had two YouTubers come visit me in the studio, and we had fun taking photos specifically for YouTube thumbnail use. This is where you point, make faces and expressions, because you have to to. If you’re constantly making new videos, you need new looks to show off for the display image that invites you to watch the video.

Below, my pals Chris Raney from Yellow Productions and Doc Rock, who has already put some of the looks to use.

Stop and smell the photos in Carlsbad!

In Sunday’s edition, I’ll debut the latest #PhotowalksTV travel video, from the San Diego coastal town of Carlsbad, best known for its acres and acres of flower fields, European style small town village and a cool beach. I’ve got tons of photo tips and travel advice for in this one. Intrigued? I’ll be back at you tomorrow.

Thanks as always for watching, reading and listening. If you enjoyed today’s edition, let me know! (And if you didn’t like it, I can take it—let me know why!)

Jeff