PhotoActive

Episode 182: Photoshop on iPhone

March 24th, 2025  |  29 mins 59 secs

apple, cameras, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, photo editing, photo organization, photography, photoshop, podcast

Adobe has released Photoshop for iPhone, a bonafide version of real Photoshop, not to be confused with Photoshop Express or other earlier variations. We take a look at this new app with one main question in our minds: Who is this for?

A programming note: Toward the end of the episode we talk about using the Remove tool in Photoshop and Lightroom, but Jeff forgot to take screenshots. When he tried to reproduce the same actions later, he didn’t get the same results as described while we were doing it. So we apologize that we don’t have visuals to accompany what we’re describing.

Episode 181: Leica Lux Grip and App for iPhone

March 7th, 2025  |  41 mins 45 secs

accessory, add-on, apple, cameras, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, leica, leica lux, lenses, photo editing, photo organization, photography, podcast

Two episodes ago Jeff expressed cynicism about iPhone add-ons that try to make the phone more like a traditional camera. And yet here we are looking at Kirk’s new Leica LUX Grip accessory...and not hating it? Learn about why this could be the camera grip for the iPhone that succeeds where others falter, and how the Leica LUX app does some very smart things in the name of photography.

Episode 180: David Young’s Brief History of Photography

February 22nd, 2025  |  33 mins 25 secs

apple, book, brief history of photography, cameras, david young, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, photo editing, photo organization, photography, podcast, rocky nook

On this week’s episode we welcome David Young, photographer and author of the new book A Brief History of Photography: From the Very Beginning to the Age of Digital. It may feel like photography is only a little more than a hundred years old, but the principles of the art, from lens design to chemistry, have been around for centuries. We had a great conversation about things that surprised David while researching the book, the long obsession with ultra-wide apertures, and more.

Episode 179: iPhone Camera Accessories

February 11th, 2025  |  32 mins 54 secs

apple, cameras, grip, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, moment, photo editing, photo organization, photography, podcast

Photographers love to accessorize their cameras, and the iPhone is no different. A case is one thing, but what about other photo-centric add-ons? Should you buy an extra-wide or telephoto lens that snaps in front of the built-in cameras? What about grips and shutter buttons that make the iPhone feel more like a traditional camera? We weigh in with our opinions and experiences with these types of embellishments. (And Jeff accidentally uses the B-word.)

Episode 178: Photographing the LA Fires

January 24th, 2025  |  28 mins 19 secs

apple, cameras, fire, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, photo editing, photo organization, photography, podcast, wildfire

The recent devastating fires in Los Angeles have created a lot of fire photography, and some of it compelling both for its content and its artistry. We talk about the challenges of photographing such extreme situations.

Episode 177: AI in Photography in 2025

January 10th, 2025  |  35 mins 11 secs

ai, apple, cameras, generative ai, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, photo editing, photo organization, photography, podcast

We’ve been looking at various AI-related photography topics in recent episodes, such as using the Clean Up feature in the Photos app to remove unwanted items or the bigger question of “What is a photo?” Now it’s time to look broadly at what AI can offer photographers and where we think it’s going.

Episode 176: Cleaning Up Libraries

December 13th, 2024  |  27 mins 19 secs

apple, cameras, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, photo editing, photo organization, photography, podcast

As we wrap up 2024, we’re realizing our photo libraries have grown quite a bit—in Jeff’s case, almost filling his cloud storage. So as we anticipate some holiday downtime, we’re turning our attention to strategies for cleaning up our photo libraries.

Note that we’re taking the next episode off to celebrate Christmas, so our next scheduled episode is January 10, 2025. Happy holidays!

Episode 175: What Is a Photo?

December 1st, 2024  |  34 mins 54 secs

apple, cameras, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, photo editing, photo organization, photography, podcast

Our recent discussions of AI and the Photos Clean Up tool have brought us full circle to the bigger question: What is a photo?

Episode 174: Photos Clean Up

November 18th, 2024  |  32 mins 5 secs

apple, apple intelligence, cameras, clean up, generative ai, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, photo editing, photo organization, photography, podcast

Aimless pedestrians wandering in the background of your photo? Trash on the ground in the foreground? Apple can help. In this episode we're looking at Clean Up, the new Apple Intelligence tool in the Photos app that uses generative AI to remove areas of a photo.

Episode 173: iPhone Photo File Formats

November 4th, 2024  |  38 mins 28 secs

apple, cameras, heic, heif, iphone, jeff carlson, jpeg-xl, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, photo editing, photo organization, photography, podcast, proraw

In our quest to better understand the often-confusing changes and additions to the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro photo situation, we’ve decided to tackle the photo file formats. HEIF, ProRAW, JPEG-XL... there are a lot of options to choose from.

Episode 172: Photographic Styles on the iPhone 16

October 18th, 2024  |  35 mins 14 secs

apple, cameras, iphone, iphone 16, iphone 16 pro, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, photo editing, photo organization, photographic styles, photography, podcast

The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro introduce a new twist on an existing feature, and the result is... confusion and complexity. Photographic Styles can be very powerful, but it really requires you to dig into the details.

Episode 171: iPhone 16 Pro Hands-On

October 4th, 2024  |  35 mins 52 secs

apple, cameras, iphone, iphone 16 pro, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, photo editing, photo organization, photography, podcast

Now that Kirk and Jeff have received their iPhone 16 Pros, it’s time to take them into the world and see how the new photographic features work. Is the Camera Control all it’s cracked up to be? Does a 48 megapixel ultra-wide camera make much difference? We talk about our first hands-on experiences with Apple’s new pocket cameras—sorry, mobile phones. Oh, and what about all this Apple Intelligence stuff?

Episode 170: iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro

September 13th, 2024  |  44 mins 5 secs

apple, cameras, iphone, iphone 16, iphone 16 pro, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, photo editing, photo organization, photography, podcast

It’s that time again: new iPhones! By which we mean, of course, new Apple Cameras That Also Do Other Stuff. Kirk and Jeff are both upgrading their phones this year, largely due to the new Camera Control button but also the 48 MP (megapixel) ultra-wide camera and the new 48 MP Fusion camera that reads data fast enough to remove the shutter lag when shooting raw images. There’s a lot to discuss in this bonus-length episode!

Episode 169: Peakto 2.0 with Matthieu Kopp

August 16th, 2024  |  38 mins 20 secs

apple, cameras, cyme, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, peakto, photo editing, photo organization, photography, podcast

Is your photo library spread out among different drives and apps? We’re not talking about maybe having a couple of Lightroom Classic catalogs—it’s not uncommon now for a photographer to have Lightroom libraries, Capture One libraries, Apple Photos libraries, even old iPhoto and Aperture libraries collected over the years. In this episode we welcome back Matthieu Kopp of CYME to talk about version 2.0 of the utility Peakto, which can bring sense to all of that accumulated chaos. As a bonus, Matthieu also shared a discount code for PhotoActive listeners to get 15% off any CYME app: PHOTOACTIVE15.

Episode 168: Image Stabilization

August 2nd, 2024  |  38 mins 59 secs

apple, cameras, ibis, image stabilization, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, photo editing, photo organization, photography, podcast

Many cameras now feature IBIS: in-body image stabilization. But do you really need a stabilized body? Can you use just a stabilized lens? And for that matter, is image stabilization just a crutch for lazy photographers? Also in this episode, we ponder perfect photo destinations.

Episode 167: Sensors and LUTs

July 19th, 2024  |  35 mins 48 secs

apple, cameras, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, lumix, luts, panasonic, photo editing, photo organization, photography, podcast, s9

Touting Panasonic’s new LUMIX S9 camera, a representative was quoted saying that Micro Four Thirds sensors are more difficult to understand than full-frame sensors, especially for people with “low camera literacy.” That piqued our interest, because many photographers assume that a full-frame sensor is just inherently better. But is that true? And is it really that confusing? We also touch on LUTs, which Panasonic is pushing on the S9 by dedicating a button to choosing different look-up tables for creative color rendering in camera.