PhotoActive

Mar 07 2025 181 ep. 36 mins 14
PhotoActive Podcast artwork

Jeff Carlson and Kirk McElhearn discuss photography and the Apple ecosystem. We cover using an iPhone or any other camera with Apple hardware and software, and we welcome photographers to discuss their work.

  Arts  Technology
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Episode 181: Leica Lux Grip and App for iPhone

Mar 07 2025 41 mins  
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 photogra

Episode 180: David Young’s Brief History of Photography

Feb 22 2025 33 mins  
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

Episode 179: iPhone Camera Accessories

Feb 11 2025 32 mins  
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

Episode 178: Photographing the LA Fires

Jan 24 2025 28 mins  
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. Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website, Jeff's photos, Jeff on Instagram, Jeff on Glass, Jeff on Mastodon, Jeff on Bluesky Kirk McElhearn: website, Kirk's photos,

Episode 177: AI in Photography in 2025

Jan 10 2025 35 mins  
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. Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website, Jeff's photos, Jeff on Instagram, Jeff

Episode 176: Cleaning Up Libraries

Dec 13 2024 27 mins  
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. Hap

Episode 175: What Is a Photo?

Dec 01 2024 34 mins  
Our recent discussions of AI and the Photos Clean Up tool have brought us full circle to the bigger question: What is a photo? Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website, Jeff's photos, Jeff on Instagram, Jeff on Glass, Jeff on Mastodon Kirk McElhearn: website, Kirk's photos, Kirk on Instagram, Kirk on Glass, Kirk on Mastodon Sponsor: Nitro from Gentlemen Coders Currently feature

Episode 174: Photos Clean Up

Nov 18 2024 32 mins  
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. Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website, Jeff's photos, Jeff on Instagram, Jeff on Glass, Jeff on Mastodon Kirk McElhea

Episode 173: iPhone Photo File Formats

Nov 03 2024 38 mins  
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. Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website, Jeff's photos, Jeff on Instagram, Jeff on Glass, Jeff on Mastodon Kirk McElhearn: website, Kirk's

Episode 172: Photographic Styles on the iPhone 16

Oct 18 2024 35 mins  
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. Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website, Jeff's photos, Jeff on Instagram, Jeff on Glass, Jeff on Mastodon Kirk McElhearn: website, Kirk's photos, Kirk on Instagram,