The 5 Minute Photos Weekend Digest #1
PHOTO ALBUMS • IPHONE 17 PRO • SNOWFALL MEDITATIONS • SUBSTACK APP
ALBUMS IN APPLE PHOTOS
I sat in on a friend’s talk last week about photo organizing and came away with a new take on the task that’s suited perfectly for a lazy Sunday.
I’ve found many people react to photo organizing with a sense of dread. “Overwhelmed” is the most common reaction. Because we all take more pictures than we need or want to keep forever.
It’s an exercise in removal.
She’s found that on average about 80% of peoples’ Photos Libraries are either clearly trash worthy (about 10%) or need thoughtful culling (about 70%).
But that leaves about 20% of the photos as clear Favorites.
Easy to pick out and to group in meaningful Albums.
When you treat your photo organizing as a treasure hunt instead of spring cleaning, it’s a much more attractive exercise.
In case you missed it, here is a post I did on creating Albums in Apple Photos.
Rethinking Your Albums in Apple Photos
In 2002 Apple introduced iPhoto to an emerging audience of digital photographers. It was arguably the first photo management software aimed squarely at the consumer market and, uniquely, on the Mac. Most alternatives were on Windows and/or expensive and targeted the professional photographer crowd.
IPHONE 17 PRO
I’m one of those people who upgrades their iPhone yearly for the ever improving Apple Photos ecosystem. To that end, I get a Pro model to experience as many imaging goodies as I can, and this year, the upgrade has really delivered.
Aside from the expected year-over-year improvements in the image sensors and lenses, I would say that the two stand-out additions are the bump from a single 5x telephoto on the iPhone 16 Pro to a 4x + 8x telephoto option on the 17 Pro, and the dual camera mode on Video. The latter lets you record a selfie while shooting video on the back camera. Cool if you are doing a live tour for real estate, travel, or how-to videos.
Overall, the 17 Pro is a little heavier than the 16 Pro, but that makes it more substantial to hold and it feels a bit more like a camera. I like that.
Subjectively, my Photos seem better too, although I was very happy with the 16 Pro images. If you are on the fence about upgrading from an iPhone 16, you should go to an Apple Store and try the 17 series against your own. If you are on an iPhone 15 or earlier and want better images, then the 17 will be a good choice.
SLOW SNOW DAY
We haven’t had serious snow in Southwestern Connecticut for several years, but this weekend’s storm changed all that. Over 2 feet of snow in temperatures approaching zero made for a beautiful stay-at-home day. Of course that didn’t stop us from a quick foray out into the blizzard conditions for some neighborhood photo ops.
What I learned is that my new iPhone 17 Pro is a great foul weather camera. Because of the camera action button - introduced on the iPhone 16 - you can take photos with heavy gloves on. And I have North Face ETip tech gloves that allow for touch actions on the display so I could change most Camera settings with my gloves on.
With the improved battery and a processor that’s so hot the iPhone 17 has a cooling system, my camera seemed much less bothered by the bitter cold that I was. My wife’s iPhone 12 Pro Max, though, did suffer from the temperature and gave up long before she did.
THE SUBSTACK APP + WEBSITE
By the way, if you are reading 5 Minute Photos in your email, please consider installing the Substack App or go to my Substack Home Page to get more content and additional features. I love to hear from readers and the App lets you comment on my posts, see more of my thoughts on Substack Notes, save Posts you love, and search though my Post history to access and share old newsletters. All for free.
If you choose a Paid subscription you also get in on the 5 Minute Photos group Chat, can Direct Message me, and get premium content with How-To articles and course discounts.
Either way, thank you for being part of the community.