“I’m a Professional”

“Lens Flair”

© EricBrazier.com

“Caught ‘Grammin’ II”

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“Morning iPrayers” – Notre-Dame Basilica, Place d’Armes, Montreal

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“Man Down!” – iPhone in distress

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“Kickin’ It Analog” – My verison of the Tiny Planet Photos’ effect by @infodingapps created using a silver tube

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There’s been a number of posts and tweets about the new Tiny Planet Photos app by InfoDing (note: their official site is one of the most interesting ‘coming soon’ placeholders I’ve ever seen).

I haven’t had a chance to play with the app myself but the screenshots immediately reminded me of some shots I took on my Nokia 6265i way back in May of 2007 – over a month before the first iPhone launched on June 29th, 2007! (Do you remember life before the iPhone?)

I was assisting on a location photo shoot and we had to assemble a metal table – the type you’d see at European sidewalk cafés. While  goofing-off  working dilligently, I noticed that the interior surface of the table’s centre column was highly reflective. Fascinated by my newfound discovery I immedately began snapping pix of flowers and co-workers.

Obviously, these shots are more simplistic than some of the cool effects and controls it appears you can have with Tiny Planet. However, it is interesting to consider even an effect as ‘digital’ and ‘otherworldly’ as the one provided by this app still has a corollary in the analog realm.

“You’re Right; This IS So Much Easier Than Speaking To Each Other!” – Photo assistants texting on-set

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I got to work with the photo A-team of Jarret and Emily today and it reminded me to post this photo of them from a shoot earlier this year.

“The usPhone” – Couple admires their iPhone on the subway, Toronto

“Halo” – The world’s greatest men’s room lighting, Crown & Dragon, Toronto

The way this back light edges me I almost look heroic.

“Where Are We?” – Navigating by iPhone, Burlington Skyway

The coolest thing is that if you click the location link below that says Hamilton, Ontario it will show this photo’s location as being exactly the same as the blue dot on the iPhone screen in the photo.

Technology – ain’t it grand!

“Three Guys in a Toboggan” – Arabic stop sign in Marrakech Morocco

“Desperate Ingenuity” – Make-shift charging station, Hotel Du Pacha, Marrakech, Morocco

There is a serious design flaw with travel power adapters. The engineers who design them don’t seem to comprehend that the things that will be plugged into them (mobile phone chargers, camera battery chargers, etc…) will have weight to them.

Add to this the fact that all the outlets in Morocco are installed at least one foot above any surface that could be used to support the weight of an adapter/charger combination, and keeping it physically plugged into the wall becomes nearly impossible.

I managed to jury-rig this ‘support’ system for our mini-powerbar with a Mr. Noodles and a can of Clamato I snagged from the KLM lounge at Pearson – both of which and made it all around Morocco and back to Canada without being consumed.

“Most Uniquely Decorated Restaurant EVER!” – Elizir, Essaouira, Morocco

Walking into Elizir is like walking into the apartment of an eccentric collector; and to a certain extent you have. Owner and chef, Abdellatif Rharbaoui has decorated (some may say cluttered) his restaurant with art and nik-naks as objects d’art on every surface and in every corner.
 
The food was incredible, with the Squid-Ink Rissotto being my personal favourite. Abdellatif also introduced my girlfriend and I to a Moroccan red wine that was absolutely fantastic. If production levels increase, the Atlas Mountains could give the Andes a run for their money as the next new world IT terroir.
 
Check it out at http://www.elizir.com/  

“Coolest Lamp EVER!” – Elizir Restaurant, Essaouira, Morocco

“Chillin’ On The Flip-Side” – Roof-top patio overlooking the Atlantic at the Madada Mogador Hotel, Essaouira, Morocco

After an 8 hours drive across the Moroccan desert – through
road-construction dust-storms in a car without air conditioning, my girlfriend and I finally arrived in Essaouira (ESSA-we’re-ah) to the cooling breeze of the Atlantic. We were welcomed by the friendly staff of the Madada Mogador with a pot of mint tea and a seat on their rooftop patio.

“Different Alphabet; Same Warning” – Seat-back on a Royal Air Maroc flight, Casablanca, Morocco

“Group Distraction” – Movie-time on a KLM transatlantic flight to Amsterdam

In my opinion, the introduction of the in-seat TV screen is the greatest thing to happen to flying since escape hatches.

Finally, we are in control of what we want to watch.

However, the sight of a hundred or so people tightly packed next to each other wearing headphones and intenty staring at their own personal screen definitely diminishes any sense of flying as a shared experience.

Flying used to be an adventure. Now it’s an inconvenience. Security measures in our post-9/11 world have a lot to do with that, but a general malaise towards the engineering marvel that is scheduled mass passenger flight already exsisted before our ‘war-on-terror’ reality.

Heaven help us if the entertainment system were to go down. We may have to read, or introduce ourselves to our elbow neighbour, or stare out the window at a sight that human eyes had never seen a scant century ago.

“Curiosity” – graffiti, Toronto

“Really?!?!?” – Dock In A Box, dock retailer, Barrie, Ontario

“The Coolest Hand-Dryer EVER!” – The Dyson AirBlade

This is by far the coolest hand dryer I have ever used. You stick your hand into it to start it, and once you do a super powerful thin ‘blade’ of air cuts across the opening to dry your hands extremely quickly and efficiently.

 

“Warning Sign Fail” – CO2 Alert sticker on a walk-in refrigerator

Perhaps others will not see the humour I see in this warning sticker, but I think it’s hilarious.

I feel this is an area where a written warming may be more effective. Call me crazy, but I think a sign that says “DON’T STAY IN HERE TOO LONG WITH THE DOOR CLOSED OR YOU WILL DIE!” would do more to instill fear of CO??? exposure than a rag-doll stick-figure taking a nap inside a triangle.

“Crazy Carpet” – Carpet at the OLG Slots at Georgian Downs Racetrack, Barrie

“Whoa!!!” – Fun with motion a.k.a. lamp vortex

“Going Down” – Toronto skyline at dusk as seen from the Frank Gehry staircase at the Art Gallery of Ontario

This image is the first iPhone photo I have ever posted to The Daily Mobile. Up to this point all the images on this blog (older,
non-Posterous posts can be viewed at http://twitpic.com/photos/TheDailyMobile ) were taken with a Nokia 6265i.

I think Nokia makes great handsets. My 6265i was a great handset – until it died. But, it got fixed and it was still a great handset. Then it died again; this time for good.

Apparently this was a common problem with the model, which was somewhat of an unwanted step-child for Nokia.

Nokia had long ago decided that GSM was the way of the future and CDMA would eventually die out. To that end, they essentially stopped making CDMA handsets. However, the size of the CDMA market in North America – particularly in Canada where number portability was not yet a reality, caused them to keep getting pulled back in. Albeit, with only half of their R&D ass in tow. Hence the 6265i: a handset with all the awesome
features of a regular Nokia product but with none of the stability or support.

It was my sheer love of the Nokia interface and features that made me revive the damn thing once and desperately attempt to do so a second time. Ultimately, it was not to be.

With my (finally) portable number, and the bright lights of the
smartphone world beckoning, I decided to take the plunge and get an iPhone.

Many months had passed between my Nokia dying and getting my iPhone, yet interestingly enough the dates almost perfectly coincided with two separate visits to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO).

So it is that The Daily Mobile climbed Frank Gehry’s stairs with Nokia and descends them with Apple.

This will not be the last time an image from my 6265i will be posted here but for the most part from now on The Daily Mobile has joined the ranks of the iPhonographer army.