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Take back photos from Big Tech in 2023

I’m guessing you took thousands, if not more, of photos and videos in 2022, because with a smartphone in our pockets, it was just so easy to do.

And like most people, if you thought about backup at all, you did what was easiest. You signed up for the automatic backup programs on Apple and Google, which made copies of the photos and videos on your phone, and placed them into the “cloud” for a monthly fee.

But as we talked about several times in 2022, what if Apple or Google stopped liking you? What if the companies, rightly or wrongly, decided you violated their terms of services and locked you out of your account? (Read this blockbuster piece in the New York Times for more about how this actually keeps happening.) What if you suddenly died, and forgot to leave your password behind for loved ones? All your photos would be unavailable to future generations and lost forever. (Please take a minute RIGHT NOW and share your digital photo passwords with loved ones!)

New Year’s project: Make 2023 the year you took back your digital footprint and control of your images. How to do that? Thanks for asking. I have several ideas.

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Use these ten simple tricks to raise your smartphone photos to a new level

We all know how to click the shutter button on our phones and get a basic shot. But how to take it to the next level?

I get asked the question all the time, and with a new year ahead of us, what a great time to up our game, right? Here are 10 of what I think are the most essential hacks to shooting like a pro with your smartphone. Please watch the video above for examples, and below, read on.

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The ten best photo spots in Paris

Look up any list of the most photographed cities in the world, and Paris is in the top 3, usually along with New York and London. And for good reason: every street is a work of art.

Even if the Eiffel Tower has been photographed millions of times, we all bring something new to it. And besides, how can you tell the story of visiting Paris without seeing the Tower? It is the symbol of the city, even more than Big Ben of London or the Chrysler building of New York.

The Tower looms over the entire city, but where to go to get the best shot?

We just spent two weeks in Paris, producing the latest episode of PhotowalksTV, and we have a few ideas about photographing the Tower and other Paris icons.

Let’s break it down, with ten tips for Paris’s best.

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This is where you can bring your camera in San Francisco and not get it stolen

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It happened again in San Francisco.

A wedding photographer was attacked while covering portraits at the beautiful Palace of Fine Arts, yet another in a long line of terrible situations playing out in a city that has chosen, for whatever reason, not to crack down on these series of camera crimes.

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Hate Instagram? Here are nine way better places to share photos

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Everybody hates Instagram.

Well, not everybody, but it sure sounded like that this week. You certainly heard two Kardashian sisters, a Change.org petition and high-profile bloggers raising their voices in opposition to Instagram’s shifting to a virtual all-video platform.

It’s all part of the effort for Instagram and sister app Facebook to try and catch onto the success of TikTok, the China based app that has made a huge dent in not just Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, but Google as well.

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How to shoot and produce a video series (almost) entirely on phone cameras

I recently returned from tiny Mendocino, California, a coastal town up the road from San Francisco, producing an episode of my PhotowalksTV travel series, and my inbox has been overflooded with questions about the process.

Do I really produce a travel photography series with just mobile cameras? (Mostly.) And how do I go about it? Thanks for asking. Let me tell you about it.

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Don’t leave your gear in your car: More smash & grabs in San Francisco

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I was in San Francisco this week to make an appearance on KRON4 TV, plugging PhotowalksTV (thank you Ken Maccarone!) and in-between, naturally, cruised all over the city photographing the magic.

I didn’t get robbed of camera gear this time, but it did happen near me, in real-time, to two people, as I stood in Alamo Square, photographing the “Painted Ladies,” the row of Victorian homes made famous in the opening credits to the old “Full House” TV show.

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The importance of teaming up with other photographers in your photo walks

Amy Joseph, who has a small gallery in tiny Pismo Beach, California, agreed to go on a photoshoot with me of her amazingly photogenic coastal town and led the way.

No, we weren’t going to photograph the Pier (everyone does that) and when I suggested doing the sunset from the top of the nearby hotel, she said no. “All we would get is a shot of the parking lot,” she said.

Instead, we walked left from the pier, about a mile, and ended up at a butterfly preserve that happened to have really nice trees. A spot she knew, but I didn’t. From this vantage point, we would photograph the sunset that way, through the branches.

And yes, the shot was amazing.

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How to clean up San Francisco from camera thefts

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If you missed the explosive report by KGO-TV reporter Dan Noyes on the theft epidemic in San Francisco, I want to both share his stories, and offer some common-sense solutions to a problem that’s gotten way out of hand.

You know that thieves in San Francisco (and elsewhere) are smashing the windows of cars to rob stuff, sensing that the police won’t chase or arrest them. Photographers have been followed by thieves, had their gear taken, which got quickly resold on the streets. They easily move laptops in broad daylight, and even though they’ve been recorded on video doing so, the city continues to allow it to happen, with few arrests.

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Amazon, Google, SmugMug, Apple: what’s the best home for your photos?

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When last we met, I pointed out the perils of using Apple’s iCloud Photos for photo backup for one simple reason: if you delete an image off your iPhone, Apple will in turn also delete it from iCloud*.

This time I’d like to go over the best alternative photo backup options for you in more detail, because like it or not, in today’s world, just like paying for food, shelter and taxes, if you snap photos on your smartphone or camera, you will be paying for online storage. And paying more in the coming years as well, as you snap more images.

There’s no such thing as free backup anymore.

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