CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-05-20 19:47:30 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 12 +1s)

Hangouts, phone calls and Google Voice

Thanks for all of your feedback on last week's Hangouts launch. I wanted to quickly talk about 1) making/receiving phone calls in Gmail, and 2) Google Voice support more generally.

1) Today's version of Hangouts doesn't yet support outbound calls on the web and in the Chrome extension, but we do support inbound calls to your Google Voice number. We're working hard on supporting both, and outbound/inbound calls will soon be available. In the meantime, you can continue using Google Talk in Gmail.

2) Hangouts is designed to be the future of Google Voice, and making/receiving phone calls is just the beginning. Future versions of Hangouts will integrate Google Voice more seamlessly.

2013-05-18 17:30:25 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 17 +1s)

Dragon Wagon

Went to the town carnival last night and grabbed this shot of the Dragon Wagon which my daughter liked riding immensely. 

2013-05-17 21:01:36 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 18 +1s)

Say it ain't so!

This was my daughter's reaction just now upon discovering +Randy Jackson wasn't going to be back on +American Idol next year. :)

"I'm really going to miss him" she said.

2013-05-16 14:24:04 (26 comments, 10 reshares, 42 +1s)

This is an Album with Photos and Stuff

Sharing my main portfolio album for anyone new that happens to be following me and I also just want to see how this looks on the new interface (which I adore btw) :)

2013-05-15 03:19:23 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 17 +1s)

Google+ San Francisco +Virtual Photo Walks™  with +Trey Ratcliff  +Thomas Hawk +Karen Hutton and special guest in the HOA +Dave Veffer 

From +Trey Ratcliff 

Watch the SF PhotoWalk Live tonight!

I've updated the PhotoWalk event at http://goo.gl/FqJcw with everything, but here's the skinny!

Can't make the photowalk?  Watch live tonight with +Karen Hutton  and +Virtual Photo Walks™  !! It will be shared live here to my own stream as well.

The Plan: Look, it's possible security may throw us out of our meeting spot (inside the event at http://goo.gl/FqJcw ) right away, and I may not be able to jump up on a bench and give my Mussolini-esque speech.  If that happens, here is the plan:


Had lots of fun doing a +Virtual Photo Walks™  If you missed it live; you can watch it NOW on demand here.

A specialthanks to +John ... more »

2013-05-15 00:22:10 (5 comments, 2 reshares, 11 +1s)

Google I/O keynote tomorrow 9am PT / 12pm ET

Here is the YouTube link for the live keynote tomorrow. I can't wait! :)
Go Google!

2013-05-13 18:47:57 (7 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

15 GB now shared between Drive, Gmail, and Google+ Photos

Today we’re improving the way you use storage in +Google Drive, +Gmail, and +Google+ Photos. Instead of having 10 GB for Gmail and another 5 GB for Drive and Google+ Photos, you’ll now get 15 GB of unified storage for free to use as you like between Drive, Gmail, and Google+ Photos. 

Head over to our blog to read more: http://goo.gl/UfvmD

2013-05-04 20:10:18 (20 comments, 3 reshares, 62 +1s)

Tree to Blue

This is another angle of another shot I posted of this tree earlier in the week. Wanted to go a little wild with the processing on this one!

2013-05-03 23:32:57 (12 comments, 0 reshares, 29 +1s)

Just Me and My Eagle Basking in the Garden of Life

Another shot from our trip to the NJ Botanical Garden last weekend.

I'm assuming that is an eagle :)

2013-05-02 14:51:33 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Angry Birds Friends released

Angry Birds has a new game now with a social component to compete against your friends.

2013-05-01 19:53:39 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

Paul Miller is back on the Internet after a 1 year hiatus

Very interesting article about Paul's Internet free year.

This section broke my heart a little:

My last afternoon in Colorado I sat down with my 5-year-old niece, Keziah, and tried to explain to her what the internet is. She'd never heard of "the internet," but she's huge on Skype with the grandparent set. I asked her if she'd wondered why I never Skyped with her this year. She had.

"I thought it was because you didn't want to," she said.

2013-05-01 16:43:03 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 23 +1s)

For Whom the Bell Tolls

I'm not sure what kind of flowers these are but they remind me of little bells.

I like to think they make lovely music when the wind blows. :)

2013-04-30 23:38:20 (3 comments, 3 reshares, 37 +1s)

Cotton Candy Whimsy

I liked how this tree felt like a puff of cotton candy.

2013-04-30 21:56:24 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 17 +1s)

Do Not Enter

Here is the first thing I shot when we arrived at the New Jersey Botanical Gardens the other day.

2013-04-29 23:24:20 (18 comments, 1 reshares, 38 +1s)

Skylands Manor Floral Blend

Decided to get a little creative with this one and blend a couple of different photos together since the sky had nothing going on.

2013-04-29 21:20:06 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 19 +1s)

Floral Serenity

Here is another from our visit to the New Jersey Botanical Gardens yesterday.

2013-04-29 02:16:41 (8 comments, 1 reshares, 67 +1s)

Spring Color Explosion

Here is one of the many photos I took today at the NJ Botanical Gardens.

2013-04-28 21:25:15 (22 comments, 0 reshares, 32 +1s)

First bathroom selfie!
Whatcha think about that +Lotus Carroll?!

I think I may need to start buying my own clothes! ;)

I'm about to head out to shoot some sunset photos at the NJ Botanical Gardens with my family and caught myself wearing a +SmugMug hat and sweatshirt along with +Trey Ratcliff's CameraSutra shirt.

2013-04-29 02:16:35 (8 comments, 2 reshares, 55 +1s)

Bear Mountain In(n) the Distance

Here is a shot of both Bear Mountain and the Bear Mountain Inn (in the distance) :)
I decided to be super punny with the title ;)

2013-04-18 22:54:56 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 9 +1s)

Moderators can now move posts between community categories

Based on all the amazing feedback you’ve shared, we know that being able to move posts from one discussion category to another is at the top of your wish list. We’re excited to announce that moving posts is now possible, and will be rolled out to all moderators throughout the day. 

To move posts between categories:

1) Go to a community that you moderate, and find a post you’d like to move
2) Click on the post’s current category (located at the top next to the date)
3) Select the new category you’d like to move the post to

Let us know what you think in the comments, and please keep the feedback coming!

#googleplusupdate  

2013-04-15 18:08:07 (21 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

Why is the LEE Big Stopper so elusive?

So I've decided I'd like to get a quality 10 stop ND filter and am going with the LEE Big Stopper. No one has them in stock. I don't want to pay a huge markup on ebay either. Crazy that these are always out of stock.

2013-04-29 02:16:18 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 38 +1s)

The Return of Foggy Creek

Here is another angle of the creek I posted this morning.

2013-04-29 02:16:16 (14 comments, 3 reshares, 47 +1s)

All Things Point to the Sun

I liked how everything here seemed to be pointing towards the sun as it was setting.

2013-04-29 02:16:11 (21 comments, 4 reshares, 56 +1s)

Foggy Creek

Here is another from our trip to the Ramapo Reservation yesterday.

2013-04-29 02:16:13 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 40 +1s)

Tree by the Lake

We went to the Ramapo Reservation this evening for a little sunset shooting and some 10 stop ND filter action.  This is the last photo I took while there.  Was a really nice time with my wife and daughter who had a blast!

2013-04-29 02:16:26 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 31 +1s)

Fixture Above the Fun

Up at Bear Mountain State Park there is a building with a carousel that we took our daughter on.  This is the light fixture hanging from the ceiling in there.

2013-04-09 23:33:51 (18 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

Giving away 5 free passes to tonight's Tutorial Event / Workshop by Trey Ratcliff
Contest is over...Congrats to the winners!
In around 100 minutes we go live.  The first 5 people to say "me please" or something like it will receive a private +mention with your code.

The videos look great and it is already getting some rave reviews.

2013-04-29 02:16:24 (9 comments, 0 reshares, 44 +1s)

Sphere and Loathing in New Jersey
Alt Title: Death Star in the Park

We took my five year old daughter to the park a couple of weeks ago for the local Easter egg hunt and there was this cool sphere there.

2013-04-29 02:16:21 (9 comments, 0 reshares, 30 +1s)

Do Good +Brian Matiash

This is my little message for Brian since I know he will be "doing good" work as the Google+ Photos Community Manager.  I'm so happy for him and our photo community because nothing but good can come of it.  Cheers Brian! :)

This photo was taken back in 2011 the first time we met in person and went gallivanting around NYC.

2013-04-06 02:20:25 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 31 +1s)

Project Bizarro Tornado Carousel

This is Project Bizarro where I release one of my previous images reprocessed with a different look from the original one.

Original released image here:
https://plus.google.com/photos/114092052797730247075/albums/5638873944752743025/5671978025100455698

#ProjectBizarro

2013-04-05 22:39:42 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 28 +1s)

Bear Mountain Bridge

View of the Hudson River passing under the Bear Mountain Bridge.

2013-04-05 22:29:17 (6 comments, 0 reshares, 63 +1s)

Here comes the Choo Choo!

We were walking back from the Hudson River side of Bear Mountain State Park and I spotted the train coming.  I quickly ran up a little path to get this shot.

2013-04-05 22:29:08 (11 comments, 0 reshares, 55 +1s)

Bear Mountain Bliss

Another shot of Hessian Lake and Bear Mountain (I think) in the background.

2013-04-05 22:29:14 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 39 +1s)

Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute Bear Mountain, NY

Fun little shot from Bear Mountain.

2013-04-05 22:29:11 (20 comments, 3 reshares, 71 +1s)

Bear Mountain Inn

This is a cool looking hotel up in Bear Mountain State Park in NY.  I had to wait a while to get a shot without anyone in it but it was worth it :)

2013-04-01 22:06:44 (9 comments, 2 reshares, 27 +1s)

Hessian Lake - Bear Mountain State Park, NY

Another from our weekend journey to Bear Mountain.  Can't wait to shoot this when everything is green and in bloom!

2013-03-31 23:54:31 (7 comments, 0 reshares, 17 +1s)

lol
Silly season has begun. 
Link to the post about the new feature
https://plus.google.com/100549881469536411122/posts/6cbXigttnUL

2013-04-01 22:01:29 (3 comments, 1 reshares, 31 +1s)

Aged Waterfall in Bear Mountain, NY

Another from our trip to Bear Mountain yesterday.

2013-03-31 00:56:42 (4 comments, 2 reshares, 36 +1s)

Hudson River Skyscape in Bear Mountain, NY

Had a lovely outing with my wife and daughter today up in Bear Mountain, NY and got a ton of pics.  Here is the first one I processed :)

2013-03-26 18:15:41 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 12 +1s)

+Brian Matiash. Meet Google.

Ever since its launch, +Google+ has always been my favorite place to share imagery and to be inspired by the creativity of this community. It truly is a wondrous place for photographers to learn, grow, and network. That’s why I’m so excited to announce that I have joined the Google+ team as Community Manager for Google+ Photos. 

You see, while photography is the thread that weaves through everything I’m made up of, it is the social aspect of sharing, teaching, and inspiring that fuels everything I do. My aim is to help show the world why Google+ and its community of photographers and photography lovers are some of the best on the Internet, throughout the world.

I now have the opportunity to inspire creativity and community within this global population of talented people who are looking to share a piece of themselves... onephoto a... more »

2013-03-26 13:14:45 (0 comments, 3 reshares, 7 +1s)

Amazing 18th Century Secretary Cabinet

This cabinet is SO COOL!  Really great to see the internal mechanisms involved as well.

2013-03-25 18:25:09 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 22 +1s)

Stocksy is Live!

An artist owned co-op for stock photography with fair rates and fantastic imagery.  I am proud to be a small part of this!

http://www.stocksy.com or direct to my images http://www.stocksy.com/crunchfocus

I only have a few up there right now but looking forward to shooting a ton more this year :)

Great additional reading in this blog post by +Thomas Hawk and why he is moving to Stocksy:
http://thomashawk.com/2013/03/why-i-quit-getty-images-and-why-im-moving-my-stock-photography-sales-to-stocksy.html

2013-03-25 17:05:24 (3 comments, 1 reshares, 6 +1s)

In addition to this morning's announcements about Nik Software, we also have exciting new releases of Google+ for Android and iPhone. 

Available in the next hour from both App Store and Google Play! #googleplusupdate 

2013-03-25 17:13:28 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 6 +1s)

The Nik Collection by Google: photography first, for professionals and more

Here on the Google+ Photos team, we're busy building tools for all kinds of photographers. Today, and for all the professionals out there, we're bundling the complete set of Nik plug-ins as the Nik Collection by Google. We're especially excited about three things:

1) It's more affordable. The entire set of plug-ins for Photoshop, Lightroom and Aperture only costs $149 (versus the previous $499).

2) It's really powerful. The Nik Collection by Google gives you tools for everything from noise reduction and HDR imaging to creative effects and image sharpening (and lots more).

3) It's free to try. You can visit niksoftware.com for a 15-day free trial of the Collection.

If you've already purchased one or more Nik plug-ins in the past, then don't... more »

2013-03-07 20:52:23 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 38 +1s)

"Bendemeer Painterly Sky" - Queenstown, New Zealand

Here's another picture I took of an epic sunset, which was on the last day of +Trey Ratcliff's New Zealand Photo Adventure. This was taken at Bendemeer Estates, a residential development in Queenstown, consisting of over 130 hectares of pastures. (A Hectare is a metric unit of area and is used in the measurement of land.) Almost every type of measurement in NZ is metric, but I still don't understand why when dealing with the measurement of time, they don't use kilo-minutes. :-)

For those not familiar with the types of clouds shown in this picture, they're called "Lenticular" and are really cool looking. What's really cool about them is that they don't really tend to move. Instead, they kinda keep recreating themselves and hover about in the same location.

I spenta... more »

2013-03-06 17:21:45 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

Amazon's Nav Menu Broken Down

Interesting read on how Amazon's dropdown menu is coded and works so well. I especially like how it detects if your mouse is moving in the direction of the submenu and then leaves the current submenu up a little longer even if you veer up or down toward another menu item on your way there.

#programming  

2013-03-06 16:08:22 (41 comments, 0 reshares, 27 +1s)

G+ new cover photo size is ginormous

So I just redid my cover photo to match the new dimensions.

Read more about the new profiles here:
https://plus.google.com/108713714482790711568/posts/JCvsy7x7iQs

2013-03-05 19:03:58 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 4 +1s)

+Andy Ihnatko from MacBreak Weekly has switched to Android

Here is the first of three parts as to why.

2013-03-04 19:49:53 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 7 +1s)

+Phase One Announces IQ2 Series Medium Format Digital Backs with 13 Stops of Dynamic Range!

Yup...13 Stops of dynamic range! Pretty crazy.

We have a P45 where I work and it is pretty groovy.  I can't even fathom the quality level of these new backs which are now a couple of generations newer than what we have.

2013-03-02 15:54:31 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 8 +1s)

Manfrotto 410 Arca Swiss Conversion

I just attached an arca swiss clamp to the plate of my Manfrotto 410 Geared Head. I hated having to always take my arca plate off my camera and attach the Manfrotto plate every time I wanted to shoot macro shots.

I had an extra arca adapter and decided to see if things would attach. Lo and behold I was able to use the screw that would normally go into the camera and screw it into the bottom of my arca adapter.  

Victory! :)