Episode notes
Are you taking photos for yourself, or are you feeding the social media algorithms for brief dopamine hits when someone praises your images? In this episode, Kirk and Jeff ruminate on how the endless scroll of images is affecting how we enjoy and make photos. And we ask ourselves: what do we really want to photograph? Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website , Jeff's photos , Jeff on Instagram , Jeff on Glass , Jeff on Mastodon , Jeff on Bluesky Kirk McElhearn: website , Kirk's photos , Kirk on Instagram , Kirk on Glass , Kirk on Mastodon , Kirk on Bluesky Show Notes: ( View show notes with images at…
Podcast
PhotoActive
Jeff Carlson & Kirk McElhearn · Arts & Books · English
Jeff Carlson and Kirk McElhearn discuss photography and the Apple ecosystem. We cover using an iPhone or any other camera with Apple hardware and software, and we welcome photographers to discuss their work.
More from PhotoActive All episodes →
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E197 · 3 Nov 2025 · 37 min
Episode 197: Overenthusiastic in Your Opinion
What started with a couple of new settings related to the iPhone Camera app quickly devolves into a discussion of Apple’s Liquid Glass effect in iOS 26, changes and consistency in the Camera app’s interface, and whether all of this is too confusing for most people taking photos with their iPhones. Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website , Jeff's photos , Jeff on Instagram , Jeff on Glass , Jeff on Mastodon , Jeff on Bluesky Kirk McElhearn: website , Kirk's photos , Kirk on Instagram , Kirk on Glass , Kirk on Mastodon , Kirk on Bluesky Show Notes: ( View show notes with images at PhotoActive.co ) Rate…
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E196 · 20 Oct 2025 · 35 min
Episode 196: Has Camera Tech Hit a Plateau?
Has camera technology plateaued? We’re seeing technical advancements in image processing and autofocus, but what about the core parts like sensors? Also, we spend three hours talking about the Apple Watch Ultra 3 (not actually 3 hours). Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website , Jeff's photos , Jeff on Instagram , Jeff on Glass , Jeff on Mastodon , Jeff on Bluesky Kirk McElhearn: website , Kirk's photos , Kirk on Instagram , Kirk on Glass , Kirk on Mastodon , Kirk on Bluesky Show Notes: ( View show notes with images at PhotoActive.co ) Rate and Review the PhotoActive Podcast! Snapshots: Kirk: Mission:…
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E195 · 3 Oct 2025 · 37 min
Episode 195: Hands On with the iPhone 17 Pro
Fifty percent of the PhotoActive podcast got a new iPhone 17 Pro, which means one of us has been testing the new cameras and can report back with first impressions. Who could it be? However, fifty percent of the podcast also got hands-on time with the other new phones, the iPhone 17 and iPhone Air. Listen to find out who got what, who’s seen what, and what we think after the first weeks with Apple’s new cameras... we mean phones. Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website , Jeff's photos , Jeff on Instagram , Jeff on Glass , Jeff on Mastodon , Jeff on Bluesky Kirk McElhearn: website , Kirk's photos , Kirk…
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E194 · 12 Sep 2025 · 42 min
Episode 194: iPhone 17 and Apple’s Fall Event
The new iPhone models are here, a yearly event that we look forward to mostly to see what Apple has done with the iPhone cameras. Does a 48 megapixel telephoto camera capable of 8x zoom appeal to you enough to buy a new iPhone Pro? Is the svelte shape of the new iPhone Air compelling enough to pay more for, despite it having just one camera and less battery life? Or did you see the Cosmic Orange color of the iPhone 17 Pro and made your decision immediately based on that? We look at what Apple announced and what we’re looking forward to. Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website , Jeff's photos , Jeff on…
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E193 · 6 Sep 2025 · 30 min
Episode 193: Photography Police and Google Pro Res Zoom
Are you following the proper rules of photography, or are you at risk of being busted by the photography police? Maybe you’re shooting photos out of focus, or introducing light leaks, or using direct flash. All of these can be considered “bad” photography, but they’re also currently popular styles of shooting. Also in this episode, Jeff talks about his experience with the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL and its Pro Res Zoom feature that uses generative AI to clean up images shot at up to 100x zoom. Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website , Jeff's photos , Jeff on Instagram , Jeff on Glass , Jeff on Mastodon ,…
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E191 · 1 Aug 2025 · 30 min
Episode 191: Macro Photography
Macro Photography Don’t know what to photograph? No vacation plans? With macro photography, you can get great results literally in your back yard. What was once a style of photography that required specialized gear is now something you can do well with just your phone — though of course there’s plenty of gear available if you want to go deeper into it. Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website , Jeff's photos , Jeff on Instagram , Jeff on Glass , Jeff on Mastodon , Jeff on Bluesky Kirk McElhearn: website , Kirk's photos , Kirk on Instagram , Kirk on Glass , Kirk on Mastodon , Kirk on Bluesky Show Notes:…
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E190 · 21 Jul 2025 · 32 min
Episode 190: Fuji X-Half, AI Scaling, and Lightroom Changes
Fujifilm’s new X-Half camera is a curious hybrid: a digital camera with analog feel but a modern price. We also discuss news of OM Systems possibly using AI upscaling in future cameras to boost resolution and look at a few changes in the latest versions of Lightroom. Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website , Jeff's photos , Jeff on Instagram , Jeff on Glass , Jeff on Mastodon , Jeff on Bluesky Kirk McElhearn: website , Kirk's photos , Kirk on Instagram , Kirk on Glass , Kirk on Mastodon , Kirk on Bluesky Show Notes: ( View show notes with images at PhotoActive.co ) Rate and Review the PhotoActive…
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E189 · 4 Jul 2025 · 35 min
Episode 189: Traveling with a Camera
It’s the night before you leave for vacation and you need to choose which camera gear goes and stays. Do you reach for the 300mm telephoto, knowing it can get great photos but is large and bulky? Or do you take the smallest camera you can carry to ensure you have it with you at all times? And what else needs to come along? In this episode, Jeff and Kirk think about being on vacation, equipment they’ve taken on past trips, and what they would take now. Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website , Jeff's photos , Jeff on Instagram , Jeff on Glass , Jeff on Mastodon , Jeff on Bluesky Kirk McElhearn: website…
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E188 · 13 Jun 2025 · 30 min
Episode 188: WWDC 2025
Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference is always the first glimpse at what we can look forward to with new Apple software, including a peek at the photo capabilities of the next iPhones. And with iOS 26 and the Liquid Glass interface, things are going to look a lot different in the fall. Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website , Jeff's photos , Jeff on Instagram , Jeff on Glass , Jeff on Mastodon , Jeff on Bluesky Kirk McElhearn: website , Kirk's photos , Kirk on Instagram , Kirk on Glass , Kirk on Mastodon , Kirk on Bluesky Show Notes: ( View show notes with images at PhotoActive.co ) Rate and Review…
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E187 · 31 May 2025 · 34 min
Episode 187: Checking In on AI in Photography
We know, it seems like we just talked about AI in photography, but the field is moving pretty fast. Google announced improvements to their generative AI models, which are both impressive and sloppy at the same time. We also look at new AI-based landscape masking tools in Lightroom, speculate on what WWDC could bring to Apple’s Photo app, and more. Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website , Jeff's photos , Jeff on Instagram , Jeff on Glass , Jeff on Mastodon , Jeff on Bluesky Kirk McElhearn: website , Kirk's photos , Kirk on Instagram , Kirk on Glass , Kirk on Mastodon , Kirk on Bluesky Show Notes: (…
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