Working with Ulysses as a writing tool for WordPress, part 2

In the last entry I noted I’d finally figured out how to configure Ulysses on my iPhone to publish to my blog, and so I did. It didn’t help that I’d been working on a solution for this since before Christmas of last year. But, due to travel and other work related tasks, I’d not been able to go back and follow through in making this all work. With it finally working on my iPhone, it’s now time to try this on my iPad.

The iPad Pro

Specifically, my 9.7” iPad Pro with iOS 11 beta 6. The combination of older hardware (the original iPad Pro) coupled with some of the beefier features of iOS 11, especially multitasking.

iPad multi tasking

I like multitasking on the iPad in particular. The vertical split between applications makes coordination much easier between two specific applications, especially with iOS 11. I’ve been using iOS 11 continuously since beta 3 (I had to revert back to iOS 10 for beta 1 and beta 2).

And as of today I’ve upgraded to the subscription version of Ulysses. They offered a 50% discount due to the fact I’d first purchased Ulysses last year. They promise that the same license works across multiple platforms, so I’m going to install a copy on my MacBook Pro.

sewing room cat (felis silvestris sutura locus catus)

Taken with the Pen F and 75-300mm II. ISO 1600, 179mm, f/5.9, 1/20 second. I had the lens propped on another piece of furniture when I took this, so it wasn’t totally “hand held.” I tried a few totally hand held, and they turned out OK. But this one was the best of the two, especially when magnified to look at the hair detail. Which just goes to call into question some of the outrageous claims with regards to Olympus hand-held IBIS results I’ve seen around the web with the latest Olympus cameras. Or any other camera for that matter. What Ming Thein calls shot discipline is important for opportunities like this. Particularly the technique side of it, at the top of his list: stability.

Observation: those extra pixels (20 million of ’em) make high ISO photography easier by “filling in” any perceived “gaps” and smoothing out the digital grain that occurs at the higher ISOs. Some want extra megapixels for cropping. I compose to fill the entire frame, and prefer my extra pixels to have better results at high ISO.

I can’t have a specialist lens like the 75-300mm just sitting around in my bag, to only come out in bright light. When I had the original 40-150mm f/3.5-4.5 Digital Zuiko zoom, and later the HG 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5 Digital Zuiko, I used them quite a bit around the house photographing animals and children. Sensor improvements and IBIS improvements have allowed what might have been a cripplingly slow lens to be quite useful, indoors with low light. It doesn’t hurt to also know your subject, the wily Felis silvestris catus, so that you can be prepared for that “decisive moment.” (ahem)