I heart my iPad... First generation

All the talk recently is about the New iPad. All of the other talk is about how people need to upgrade from their iPad 2s. I'm sure the new retina display wielding iPad is gorgeous, especially for such a visual device. As a photographer I think it will probably be the best device around for displaying your portfolio and showing off lovely hi res shots, perhaps something from the new D800. The new processor also, I'm sure is excellent and there's nothing better than faster deceives and being able to handle content better and deal with more powerful apps such as the new iPhoto which by the way looks gorgeous. (It makes me think apple should buy adobe and have a play with photoshop and Lightroom. That auto photo recognition system that shows you all of the similar looking photos is ace!) As for the camera on the new iPad, well if you're one of those people who uses the iPad as a camera then I'm sure you'll appreciate this new lens and sensor, likewise for the 1080 video. I'd imagine there will be some feature films this year entirely shot and edited on an iPad. Watch out for them. As a photographer though I've never seen the appeal of taking photos on an iPad. I love my iPhone especially the 4s, the new 8mp camera is intense, but I think the iPad is a consumption device and Apple are just trying to change this with the new camera and 1080 video and new GarageBand apps etc. I've tried using the iPad for content creation however, and it's clumsy. It is just awkward to do things on when it would be much simpler on a Mac. I am typing this on an iPad and I think I'd be finished by now if I was on my laptop, but I'm watching the rugby and was using my iPad and thought about writing this post so here we are. I am only typing this though, I will add the pictures in later on my laptop as doing that here takes just two many steps for such a small task.

Anyway, I was talking with Alan the other day about the new iPad and made the point that if the first gen iPad was still Apple's current iPad I think it would still be the tablet marker leader. It got me thinking about the new iPad. It's lovely, so is the iPad2 but it's mostly the same as the original. I'm using the original, I got one maybe 10 months after it came out. I loved it. A groundbreaking device that was changing how we interact with digital content again! Then the iPad 2 came out and as far as I was concerned it was no different to the first one. They had put a camera on it. Big deal. It was slightly thinner, so what?!, my iPad isn't fat. What else was different? I can't remember. But I had no desire to upgrade. Now the new iPad is out. Ok, so it has that new gorgeous screen, but after that I don't know why anyone would upgrade. It's put on weight! (not that that matters, but I expected more from apple!) and yes it's faster, and so is the ipad2, faster that is than my first gen iPad. But my iPad isn't slow. To the contrary in fact. I still love how I can zip around using the multi touch gestures from app to app. I use my iPad on a daily basis for Flipboard mainly and other content consumption apps along with Dropbox, twitter and some web stuff. I can't imagine using it to edit videos on or take photos however. That's what cameras and computers are for. Like I said before, the original iPad is still better than the other tablets on the market and I'm happy for Apple that everyone wanted the newer iterations but I'm totally happy with mine. Besides, people should be taking more of a stand and using their "old" devices for longer. The 1st gen iPad was only released in 2010! But yet, it will soon be forgotten by Apple. The same went for iPhones. The iPhone 3g, only four years old is totally forgotten by way of iOS updates etc. The 3gs won't be far behind. Don't even mention the original iPhone. As an industrial designer I fully understand the need for companies to create new iterations of products to stimulate markets but that doesn't mean the older stuff is useless! 

Ok, I know I went slightly off topic there but let me rant. As far as iPads go, i love my generation 1 iPad. It is iconic, it started the tablet revolution, I love the flat edges and the curved back. Photos look amazing on it's screen and it performs perfectly in every day life. I will not be forgetting it any time soon, as long as Apple doesn't decide to stop supporting it with software, although sadly it has already started to happen. The new iPhoto iOS app is not available for iPad1, it's for iPad 2 and new iPad only. sad face :-(

Photography and Design. Creative cousins.

At Curve Creative a lot of our passion for creativity was grounded on a love of photography. We wanted to nurture a creative studio where design and photography go hand in hand. As creative cousins, design and photography have so much in common and so many areas where crossover expertise is highly beneficial. Having a good knowledge of the rules of making a great photograph such as the rule of thirds, framing, lead in lines, etc. lend a lot to a designer when laying out a photo book or graphic design project. Even the ability for the designer to know a technically great photo and to know how to treat it properly when cropping so as to not damage the effect of the photo is a skill that is essential today where so much depends on decent images.

Vice versa, for a photographer to also be a designer brings with it great advantages. Not only can the photographer pre-visualise when shooting what is going to be required of a photo later at the design stage in terms of composition, leaving space around the edge of the subject, even leaving dead space for copy or shooting multiples of the same scene from different vantage points to give choice at the design stage but the photographer then also has the experience of the shoot and of being there at the time to know the photos that really matter when it comes to using them in the design.

As industrial designers we are also very aware of the relationship between products and photography. Obviously we want our products and designs to look as good as possible online and in print so for this we need great photos of them. Often it is very important to show a product in an environment or in use to communicate it's meaning or target market. This is where a strong photo can mean the difference between gaining interest or a product going unnoticed.

Industrial designers also benefit from a knowledge of photography when it comes to product or concept visualisation. Using 3D CAD models and rendering software designers can create photorealistic digital images of their designs. Through this the designer has access to a virtual photography studio where lighting can be controlled, environments can be selected and altered, and controls which simulate adjusting values on the virtual camera to capture the scene can be set. Essentially it is the same as using a camera, focal length can be set, aperture, exposure and position of camera can be adjusted to achieve a perfect exposure and composition. This is where a hands on knowledge of photography can help the designer to create great images on the computer.

Following our belief that a strong relationship between the arts can enhance and benefit each art individually we are introducing Curvephoto. www.curvephoto.com

This is now the photography department of Curve Creative. We have always taken our own photos in house for projects and we have also worked as professional photographers individually beforehand. Now we are bring this all together into Curvephoto to offer our professional photography service to you, along side our design services. We have developed our new site where you can look at examples from our portfolio of photographic areas that we like to cover.

We would love if you have a look and also think about how photography affects your field too. We believe great photography can have a benefit for most businesses not just creative ones.

www.curvephoto.com