Focused, hosted by David Sparks and Mike Schmitz, has quickly become the podcast I wish I made. Over the past few months, Mike and David have explored what it means to be truly productive. I used to be obsessed with this stuff, and I thought I had a lot of it down pat, so I don’t say this lightly: I’ve learned a lot on the topic thanks to these two.
Continue reading “Two Great Podcast Episodes About Getting More Productive”Sony’s New Telephoto Lenses
June 12 2019Sony is plugging some of the last holes in their mirrorless lens lineup today with the announcement of their new 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 and 600mm F45 lenses. These lenses look quite nice — at the very least, they’re competitive with the offerings from Nikon and Canon.
Continue reading “Sony’s New Telephoto Lenses”Thoughts on the New Mac Pro and Apple’s Pro Display
June 7 2019I’m a Mac fanboy, and the new Mac Pro looks astounding. The Afterburner card, as Apple’s calling it, makes it possible to render three 8K video streams of RAW footage in real time. Mind-blowing.
Of course, the Afterburner is a module that can be installed after purchase, or when you order a Mac Pro. Every Mac Pro can be configured to the user’s needs. So while I don’t need to edit three 8K streams of video without proxy files, I definitely need a ton of RAM and some solid GPU options (seriously, Lightroom turns every machine into a jet at takeoff). I could see a future version of myself relying on a version of the Mac Pro Apple unveiled this week.
The display looks incredible too. The Pro Display XDR (seriously, why didn’t they just call it the Pro Display?) looks amazing. But it’s going to cost nearly $10k in Canada to get the display and the stand — because the stand alone comes in at $999 USD. And that’s without the Mac Pro. That’s just the monitor.
For some professional environments, that cost is minimal. But for me, it’s more than it’s worth.
Continue reading “Thoughts on the New Mac Pro and Apple’s Pro Display”Measuring Creative Productivity
May 22 2019Austin Kleon just wrapped up a tour for his latest book. During a stop in Chicago. Eddie Shleyner asked him a great question: “Do you ever feel like no matter how much work you do, you can or should be doing more?”
This question immediately resonated with me; it’s an issue I’ve personally struggled with and am currently struggling through.
Thankfully, Eddie recorded his answer and transcribed it on his blog:
Continue reading “Measuring Creative Productivity”New Year’s Resolutions for Creative People
January 4 2019I’m the sort of person who needs a list of goals in order to accomplish something. Early every year, I come up with a theme for the year and a few goals to help me keep my focus.
This year, my theme is about hunkering down and fostering my creativity. With that in mind, I’ve got a few goals that I think will be useful for anybody who wants to do something creative in 2019.
Continue reading “New Year’s Resolutions for Creative People”