A raging Android and iPad/iPhone Discussion!

The new app Stuck On Earth accidentally set off a firestorm on Google+ the other day! See the article here. Here is a snippet of the beginning below:

Are Android people easier to anger than iOS people? (Or is it just me?)

So, yesterday, we announced +Stuck On Earth, and the first version is only iPad. Yes, we have plans to build Android, web, iPhone, etc in the future, but the kind of comments I got were often downright angry. !! It was so surprising.

I got comments like, “NO Android App available? Marketing Fail.” and “Android!!!!”

Now, maybe I am just too sensitive about this because it is my baby… and I’ve worked so hard on it and put so much love into it… I can barely stand the slightest critical comment. It eats right into my soul. I dunno… maybe some of you know what I mean.

Now, I can tell you with ontological certainty that making a quality app is HARD. It takes a long time and is expensive. Remember, by the way, this app is free. Ask +Kevin Rose about building apps. I’ve never met that guy, but I know he puts as much love into his work as I do…

When I gave a sneak peak a few weeks ago at the +Jason Calacanis LAUNCH event (where we were awarded Audience Winner! thx!), I was up there on stage by the eHarmony guy. Their app is equal in quality and polish to ours, and Jason speculated that it could have cost over $1 million, and I don’t doubt it!

Daily Photo – Painted Face in China

I was walking along outside the Forbidden City trying to find a special entrance, and I saw these guys sitting on a bench. It was so interesting and amusing… I dropped down on a knee to take a quick photo while things were perfectly strange. What do you think is going on in this photo?

Filed under the categories: Beijing, China, Nikon D3S, Travel

Prints before redesign

My SmugMug site is going through a re-design, and it will be even easier to order prints. Currently, if you click through on an image, you can see there is a way to order various types of prints, but it is not as obvious as I’d like it to be.

We also have a more exclusive and limited set (only 50 printed ever) of our photos on metal. It’s the best quality and presentation, if you are looking for something more exclusive. There’s more info on that over in the Prints area of the website.

Daily Photo – Sunset from the Sky

As I was landing in Lijiang, China, I saw this sunset out the window.

I tried not to panic the other passengers as I quickly stood up and hauled my massive camera bag out of the overhead. I tried to be smooth as I ripped open the bag in a frenzied way. I tried not to be too loud as I grunted to pull out my giant camera and jam it into the window.

I was hoping this was a good indication of a nice week of photography in Lijiang — and it was!

Filed under the categories: China, Lijiang, Nikon D3X, Travel

HDR-Kurs auf Deutsch!

Yes, and now in German too! Chinese is next… should just be a few days away… Below are various international translations so far:

• Sie sprechen deutsch? Herzlich Willkommen zum HDR-Kurs auf Deutsch.
• Vous parlez français? Bienvenue sur le Tutoriel HDR en français.
• Parli italiano? Leggi il tutorial HDR in italiano!
• Fala Português? Confira o Tutorial HDR em Português.
• Hablas Español? Clic Tutorial HDR en Español.
• Mluvíte česky? Pokračujte zde!  HDR Tutoriál v českém jazyce.

Live on The Grid today – 4 PM ET

Join me live today (Wednesday) on The Grid at 4 PM ET (1 PM PT). I’ll be on with Scott Kelby, RC Concepcion, and Matt Kloskowski.

New iPad App – Stuck On Earth

It’s officially out! You will LOVE it. Come grab it at this iTunes Link. See this new video below for a quick look at all the features.

Daily Photo – Sinking into the Future-Desert

Here is one of my favorite new photos from Burning Man. I took a photo of this full statue last year, and it was one of my favorites. This year, only the torso remained, and it looked like it sank into the desert a bit. People climbed all over it, day and night.

Filed under the categories: Burning Man, Nevada, Nikon D3X, Travel

New Flatbooks on the way!

One of the many fine eBooks over at FlatBooks.com. This one is from the great photographer, Joseph Linaschke.

We have all kinds of new eBooks coming soon to Flatbooks.com! There are many authors working away now including Lisa Bettany, Ben Willmore, Jack Hollingsworth, and Jaime Ibarra – I can’t wait till they are available to read!

Daily Photo – New York, Yellow Cab

Here is one of my favorite areas of New York. It’s right by the famous Flatiron building — but I obviously did not shoot in that direction here.

There’s often a nice traffic flow, and it makes for a fun experiment to time out the traffic. Since I shoot from -2 to +2., I try to predict when the middle exposure will in the right spot to get the right amount of blur on that photo. My rules for this are a little different based on the time of day and a few other factors.

Filed under the categories: New York, New York City, Nikon D3X, Travel

Get on Deck?

I just wanted to put this out there… that I’d love to be invited to land on a carrier… take photos… see awesome things… okay, I have put that out there You can always contact wildcard at stuckincustoms.com

Daily Photo – The Carrier

I’ve been wanting to process this photo forever — I love carriers.

This one is open to the public, but I arrived too late to get up on the deck… So I was stuck on the ground level — but then a sweet fog rolled in to cover part of the carrier.

Filed under the categories: California, San Diego, Travel

Categories Reminder

Yes yes I know regulars know this trick on the site… but since new people visit all the time (Hi! Welcome!), sometimes I like to throw in these little reminders.

You can click on the Burning Man category to see more photos of this type. I tag every post, and you can see those categories at the bottom of each post.

Daily Photo – Dragon in the Fire

I don’t use my “big” camera too much out in the desert because of the sandstorms… So I’ve been using this little Olympus PEN camera from time to time, and I like the results. Of course, I do a bit more post-processing and this sort of thing… but I’m happy with the results generally from this new line of cameras.

At Burning Man, there are hundreds of unique vehicles that roll around the desert during all times of the day and night. It’s a feast for the eyes and the camera!

Filed under the categories: Burning Man, Nevada, Travel

Photomatix Tutorial

Yes, my STUCKINCUSTOMS Photomatix coupon code is still working… You can find the software for your OS at the HDRSoft website. This video below is a cut-down version of the longer HDR Video Tutorial, but it gives you a good look at Photomatix.

Daily Photo – The PhotoWalk Egg in China

We had a great PhotoWalk in China! It was really so amazing… it was nice to meet so many people while having a great sunset on The Egg. I’ve been to this place many times, so I felt lucky to have good weather. Upcoming, I have a behind-the-scenes video of how this photo was made as well. I’ll try to get that up in the near future, but please feel free to remind me… I get overloaded sometimes!

Filed under the categories: Nikon D3X, Travel

New Silver Efex Pro

I’m still really enjoying the new Silver Efex Pro — I did not update my review Silver Efex Pro review with new screenshots, mostly because the interface is still the same.

Daily Photo – The Matterhorn

For most of my life, I’ve generally only known the Matterhorn for the ride in Disneyland! I mean, I always knew it was a real mountain… and I’ve seen photos of it and stuff… but seeing it there in the middle of the Alps was really cool.

I think I was lucky while here in Zermatt, Switzerland. I understand that it is often occluded by clouds, so this was a lucky day indeed!

Zermatt was a really great little town — I’d love to go back and spend some more time there!

Filed under the categories: Nikon D3X, Switzerland, Travel, Zermatt

New Video – New Google Talk! Artists and the Internet

Okay, it seems the WRONG video was uploaded by my clever friends at Google! Those guys… hehe… the previous one had all the photos totally blown out and they looked horrible dot com. Anyway, here is the PROPER video… Enjoy

Daily Photo – Great Wall in Evening Light

When I was at the Great Wall that evening, I kept hiking along the old wall as the sun set. I also had a zoom lens (28-300mm) with me, so I was able to get in tight on far away structures and shapes. Not too long after I took this shot, I walked along several lengths of the wall to get to these ruins. I stood there for a long time listening to music and taking photos.

Filed under the categories: Beijing, China

Travel Best and Someday???

I started a little Travel page on Google+ and posted a question… If you’re on G+, come on in and let me know the favorite travel memory you have and some place you’d like to go someday…

Daily Photo – Last Night in Austin

I was down on South Congress having a little secret dinner meeting about this new app we are building… and then the sun started to go down. Did I have my camera and tripod? Yes yes… of course.. if you invite me to dinner, chances are I’ll be bringing them along.

I waited for the right moment before running into the middle lane to get this. It was… exciting. Perhaps a bit more exciting than I anticipated… but, I grabbed it, then stopped at a little local market to get some goodies to gnaw on while driving back home…

Filed under the categories: Austin, Nikon D3X, Texas

FlatBooks on Google+

I made a Flatbooks Google+ page with all the details of the free eBook. But maybe some of you have already seen this… if not, enjoy!

Daily Photo – The Wicked Show

I was in a hangout the other night with Chee Chew from Google, and, somehow, the topic of musicals came up. It turns out that he’s a huge fan of musicals and he saw Wicked here in London also. I would have never taken that guy for a big fan of musicals… and I suppose there are many lurker-musical fans out there… are you one of them? It’s okay… you can admit it… you’re amongst friends here

Filed under the categories: London, Nikon D3X, Travel, UK

Fake Chinese Disneyworld video

Here’s a video I made while at this very strange place…

Daily Photo – Abandoned Chinese Disneyworld

So, outside of Beijing, to the north, is a huge abandoned Disneyland. It was partially built, and now just the husk of it just remains. While driving around, I could have sworn I saw the top of the spires of Cinderella’s castle, so I tried to figure out a way to get in closer. After I finally got inside, well, it was as awesome as an abandoned, fake Disneyland sounds!

The official name and location is the Wonderland Amusement Park Chenzhuang Village, Nankou Town, Changping district. 昌平区南口镇陈

Filed under the categories: Beijing, China, Nikon D3X, Travel