Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Senior Field Trip

Back to the laptop for a blog entry for the first time since Vancouver. The local credit union had a "senior field trip" to a peonies farm out in the Goldstream Valley and even chartered a bus for the long trip out. (Sarcasm here) It was 7 miles from the house. They had quite the selection and everyone was given their choice of two blossoms to take home.

This was a good opportunity to try out the camera on my new iPhone. Both of these pictures were taken in "portrait mode" which blurs the background using data from a second camera. It's kind of a cool effect trying to mimic shallow depth of field. The second camera is 2x the focal length and functions like a telephoto lens. The camera is reasonably fast at f1.8 and produces 12-megapixel images. All three cameras have optical image stabilization. Three meaning two on the back and one on the front.

Another driver for changing phones is that AT&T charged us $10/day for using the phone in Canada. Verizon includes service in Canada and Mexico.

On a related Apple technology note, the display on my Apple Watch was getting dimmer and dimmer to the point that it was no longer visible outside. So I'm back to my solar powered analog watch that has been running the whole time I've had the Apple Watch. The time was off by a minute in those three years since last used.

10 comments:

  1. Peonies are probably my favorite flower. I have site growing on my front yard. Nice capture with the new phone.

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  2. Beautiful peonies, I love them! Good for you for switching to Verizon. I think you'll be pleased, especially when you travel.

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    1. Looking forward to better cell service in the lower 48. And hoping that the over 55 plan extends out of Florida.

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  3. I am waiting till the 5G capable phones come out and I can leave iOS behind.

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    1. Not an Android fan these days. I have one and don't like the look and feel. In this case the OS is fine but the hardware is annoying. The phone doesn't get a whole lot of use.

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  4. Brilliant, Richard. The iPhone is all you need these days for a great picture.

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    1. The phone has gotten a whole lot more use than the dslr ever did.

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  5. Three cameras in one phone? Or two cameras in one phone plus your Apple watch? The pics turned out pretty good. The first image is beautiful. Were the peonies in bloom at the time of your post or is this old material? Here, the peonies bloom in Spring.

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    1. Three cameras in one phone. Two on the back (normal and telephoto) and one on the front. The peonies are in bloom right now. The timing makes Alaska peonies very popular. The timing is better for summer weddings.

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