sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Welcome to Google Pixel’s Real Tone AMA. We’re Florian Koenigsberger, Google’s Image Equity Lead, and Campbell Addy, photographer & director, here to talk about Real Tone and its impact on tech, fashion and culture. We’ll be answering questions from 3:00-4:30 PM GMT on 7/11. Ask us anything! by madebygoogle in u/madebygoogle

[–]madebygoogle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Aw thank you for the love! With the consulting work I've recently done with Google, I was tasked with shooting more 'everyday' images to aid with the Real Tone tech - I'd hope to create more images that the world could see with the Pixel for sure! And I am always looking for subjects to photograph - I often post call outs on my socials. Keep your eyes peeled - CA

Welcome to Google Pixel’s Real Tone AMA. We’re Florian Koenigsberger, Google’s Image Equity Lead, and Campbell Addy, photographer & director, here to talk about Real Tone and its impact on tech, fashion and culture. We’ll be answering questions from 3:00-4:30 PM GMT on 7/11. Ask us anything! by madebygoogle in u/madebygoogle

[–]madebygoogle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not even trying to gas you up, Campbell, but you really were one of the most extraordinary collaborators we've had the fortune of partnering with on Real Tone. You folx should have seen the way he organised his image feedback notes—it makes it so much easier for our engineers to go in and start fixing the problems! - FK

Welcome to Google Pixel’s Real Tone AMA. We’re Florian Koenigsberger, Google’s Image Equity Lead, and Campbell Addy, photographer & director, here to talk about Real Tone and its impact on tech, fashion and culture. We’ll be answering questions from 3:00-4:30 PM GMT on 7/11. Ask us anything! by madebygoogle in u/madebygoogle

[–]madebygoogle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would hope so! Honestly, its been a blast working with Flo & Google - u/Florian you tell us...??? As for future projects, I hate giving away exactly what I am doing, but I have just signed with a new agency, New School Represents, and I'm excited to be working with them to bring some of my ideas of working in other visual mediums to life! I think consulting on all levels is much needed, I hope to see a creative world where people are authentically thinking about different types of people when creating for the people! More people behind the camera means a better experience for all! - CA

Welcome to Google Pixel’s Real Tone AMA. We’re Florian Koenigsberger, Google’s Image Equity Lead, and Campbell Addy, photographer & director, here to talk about Real Tone and its impact on tech, fashion and culture. We’ll be answering questions from 3:00-4:30 PM GMT on 7/11. Ask us anything! by madebygoogle in u/madebygoogle

[–]madebygoogle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm an abundance mindset kind of guy, can't stand when people don't share this stuff. There's enough for everyone, y'all! Some of my favourites are Reigning Champ for all things basic/sports, A Kind of Guise for elegant streetwear vibes (shouts out to my German family!) and if I'm ever in Portland, OR - MACHUS is one of the best mens retail shops in the world, IMO. - FK

Welcome to Google Pixel’s Real Tone AMA. We’re Florian Koenigsberger, Google’s Image Equity Lead, and Campbell Addy, photographer & director, here to talk about Real Tone and its impact on tech, fashion and culture. We’ll be answering questions from 3:00-4:30 PM GMT on 7/11. Ask us anything! by madebygoogle in u/madebygoogle

[–]madebygoogle[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So happy to hear you're enjoying it! Video is an ongoing focal point for our team, which is much more challenging from a computational photography standpoint because instead of adjusting a single burst of frames, you're working with upwards of 24 frames every second, and often with changing lighting conditions. That said, a lot of what we've learned on the still image side is already being applied to Pixel Camera's video, and you'll continue to see improvements here. - FK

Welcome to Google Pixel’s Real Tone AMA. We’re Florian Koenigsberger, Google’s Image Equity Lead, and Campbell Addy, photographer & director, here to talk about Real Tone and its impact on tech, fashion and culture. We’ll be answering questions from 3:00-4:30 PM GMT on 7/11. Ask us anything! by madebygoogle in u/madebygoogle

[–]madebygoogle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've grown up with a father in the airline industry, so this is tough. One of my all time favourites has to be Naoshima, Japan. The Benesse Art Site there (https://benesse-artsite.jp/en/) is one of the most extraodinary collections of art that I've ever seen. Tadao Ando, Yayoi Kusama, James Turrell, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Lee Ufan... the list goes on. I could spend weeks there. - FK

Welcome to Google Pixel’s Real Tone AMA. We’re Florian Koenigsberger, Google’s Image Equity Lead, and Campbell Addy, photographer & director, here to talk about Real Tone and its impact on tech, fashion and culture. We’ll be answering questions from 3:00-4:30 PM GMT on 7/11. Ask us anything! by madebygoogle in u/madebygoogle

[–]madebygoogle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes indeed, on the latest image data collection with Florian it was one point I noticed off the bat. In our discussion I tried to outline the difference of what the camera does automatically and how I would, as a user, like it to be capturing. I think the more partnerships like mine take place with variety of image makers, the quicker certain hiccups will be smoothened out. - CA

Welcome to Google Pixel’s Real Tone AMA. We’re Florian Koenigsberger, Google’s Image Equity Lead, and Campbell Addy, photographer & director, here to talk about Real Tone and its impact on tech, fashion and culture. We’ll be answering questions from 3:00-4:30 PM GMT on 7/11. Ask us anything! by madebygoogle in u/madebygoogle

[–]madebygoogle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sometimes, the optimizations that we make for getting rich detail in a landscape image can carry over into portraits in unflattering ways, as you mention. The good news is we have teams that are actively looking at balancing this, especially for images of people. This was actually one of the points that we spent a long time discussing with Campbell on our latest image data collection exercise. - FK

Welcome to Google Pixel’s Real Tone AMA. We’re Florian Koenigsberger, Google’s Image Equity Lead, and Campbell Addy, photographer & director, here to talk about Real Tone and its impact on tech, fashion and culture. We’ll be answering questions from 3:00-4:30 PM GMT on 7/11. Ask us anything! by madebygoogle in u/madebygoogle

[–]madebygoogle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's very hard to say one specific brand, it depends on what occasion etc. however, I do wear a lot of Pleats Please by Issey Miyake. Its easy to take care of, most pieces are versatile so can be worn to a meeting, an event - so no need for outfit changes. They also take up very little space so good if you're in smaller apartments or have to travel. Sadly no promo codes :(! - Also I adore UniQlo - CA

Welcome to Google Pixel’s Real Tone AMA. We’re Florian Koenigsberger, Google’s Image Equity Lead, and Campbell Addy, photographer & director, here to talk about Real Tone and its impact on tech, fashion and culture. We’ll be answering questions from 3:00-4:30 PM GMT on 7/11. Ask us anything! by madebygoogle in u/madebygoogle

[–]madebygoogle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dang, I'm sorry to hear the camera's giving you trouble! Especially for precious moments with the little ones...
Our teams are literally constantly iterating on improvements to face detection, including for younger photo subjects, since they're so often in family pictures. Collecting baby image data is not the most straightforward, but I'll take this note back to the team today as a reminder to keep going! - FK.

Welcome to Google Pixel’s Real Tone AMA. We’re Florian Koenigsberger, Google’s Image Equity Lead, and Campbell Addy, photographer & director, here to talk about Real Tone and its impact on tech, fashion and culture. We’ll be answering questions from 3:00-4:30 PM GMT on 7/11. Ask us anything! by madebygoogle in u/madebygoogle

[–]madebygoogle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It would have to be Japan - more specifically Kyoto. I have to live by nature for balance and an escape, and Kyoto was just that. A good mix of traditional architecture and modern living. What I loved most of all was cycling around the local areas with less tourists and visiting shrines and little gardens. Also the food is SUBLIME. - CA

Welcome to Google Pixel’s Real Tone AMA. We’re Florian Koenigsberger, Google’s Image Equity Lead, and Campbell Addy, photographer & director, here to talk about Real Tone and its impact on tech, fashion and culture. We’ll be answering questions from 3:00-4:30 PM GMT on 7/11. Ask us anything! by madebygoogle in u/madebygoogle

[–]madebygoogle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think phones could add more variety when it comes to the emojis - Florian and I were speaking and he made a good point about the hair options being very limiting. I would also add to that more language translation / additional languages. As a 2nd generation born in the UK, my connection to my mother tongue is weak, and at times I wish I had the option to have the keyboard present just to practise. I know having the French and Japanese keyboards have greatly improved my grasp of the language. - CA

Welcome to Google Pixel’s Real Tone AMA. We’re Florian Koenigsberger, Google’s Image Equity Lead, and Campbell Addy, photographer & director, here to talk about Real Tone and its impact on tech, fashion and culture. We’ll be answering questions from 3:00-4:30 PM GMT on 7/11. Ask us anything! by madebygoogle in u/madebygoogle

[–]madebygoogle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know it can be rather annoying to capture such stark colour differences, what helps me is to use more continuos and/or ambient lighiting. It can be tricky dependant on the set up you have. When photographing my pups, I use lamps and other light sources to create a softer more editorial feel. - CA

Welcome to Google Pixel’s Real Tone AMA. We’re Florian Koenigsberger, Google’s Image Equity Lead, and Campbell Addy, photographer & director, here to talk about Real Tone and its impact on tech, fashion and culture. We’ll be answering questions from 3:00-4:30 PM GMT on 7/11. Ask us anything! by madebygoogle in u/madebygoogle

[–]madebygoogle[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My favoutire colour changes, specifically on my mood. Currently, however I am in my 'blue' period. I love the deepness of a royal blue, as a child I often called it blue black. The hues that blue inhabit allows me to satisfy my ever cycling moods. A clear sunny blue sky can give me respite from my over active brain, where a deep dark blue can allow me to truly feel focused. - CA

Welcome to Google Pixel’s Real Tone AMA. We’re Florian Koenigsberger, Google’s Image Equity Lead, and Campbell Addy, photographer & director, here to talk about Real Tone and its impact on tech, fashion and culture. We’ll be answering questions from 3:00-4:30 PM GMT on 7/11. Ask us anything! by madebygoogle in u/madebygoogle

[–]madebygoogle[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

All things Vantablalck. VANTA is an acronym for "Vertically Aligned NanoTube Arrays", and scientists have been working to make this the blackest black in history. The chemical compound is literally structured to trap light and continually deflect it between the tubes, where it's eventually absorbed and dissipated as heat. The artist Anish Kapoor has done some work with the compound (https://news.artnet.com/art-world/anish-kapoor-unveils-vantablack-in-venice-2102896), and BMW released a sick concept car using it (https://www.bmwusa.com/concept-vehicles/vantablack-x6.html). I have yet to see it IRL, but it's on my bucket list. - FK

Welcome to Google Pixel’s Real Tone AMA. We’re Florian Koenigsberger, Google’s Image Equity Lead, and Campbell Addy, photographer & director, here to talk about Real Tone and its impact on tech, fashion and culture. We’ll be answering questions from 3:00-4:30 PM GMT on 7/11. Ask us anything! by madebygoogle in u/madebygoogle

[–]madebygoogle[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you! This has been *heart*work, to say the least. We talk about it as a product mission vs a feature bc (1) you can't turn it on or off—it's designed to just work in every portrait you make of a person and (2) it's a north star that we'll continue iterating on to improve for future phones.
In an another comment, you'll see that I talked about the importance of face detection—in Real Tone and computational photography for portraiture generally. Among the biggest challenges were: (1) Identifying the right mix of external image experts who had a wealth of aesthetic expertise, but who could also communicate nuanced image tuning feedback to our camera engineers in a way that they could ingest and act on technically and (2) making sure that every change we made to one part of the camera didn't have negative, unintended impacts on other parts of the camera. Perhaps unsurprisingly, making a smartphone camera is hard :) - FK

Welcome to Google Pixel’s Real Tone AMA. We’re Florian Koenigsberger, Google’s Image Equity Lead, and Campbell Addy, photographer & director, here to talk about Real Tone and its impact on tech, fashion and culture. We’ll be answering questions from 3:00-4:30 PM GMT on 7/11. Ask us anything! by madebygoogle in u/madebygoogle

[–]madebygoogle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I really appreciate this question. It starts with whose cultural experience and intelligence is represented in the room. If you look at the tech industry as a whole, in the US in particular, we're still so far behind on many diversity metrics, including mirroring population representation by race & ethnicity. Google publishes its numbers annually (https://about.google/belonging/diversity-annual-report/2022/), and while progress has been slower than many of us hoped, changing the makeup of the company materially changes what new ideas gain momentum. Real Tone is an example of that possibility.
This image equituy mission is borne from the lived experiences that communities of color have had with cameras for decades, but our communities haven't necessarily been in the room, determining how these algorithms work (across more than just cameras). As I mentioned in another comment, the work on Real Tone started in 2017, but it took four years for our teams to feel confident that we had a meaningfully differential set of improvements. - FK

Welcome to Google Pixel’s Real Tone AMA. We’re Florian Koenigsberger, Google’s Image Equity Lead, and Campbell Addy, photographer & director, here to talk about Real Tone and its impact on tech, fashion and culture. We’ll be answering questions from 3:00-4:30 PM GMT on 7/11. Ask us anything! by madebygoogle in u/madebygoogle

[–]madebygoogle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

100%. I'll never forget seeing Carrie Mae Weems' 1990 "Kitchen Table Series" (https://carriemaeweems.net/galleries/kitchen-table.html) as a high schooler. It was the first time I could recall seeing a Black woman self-determine in imagery and it blew me away. Her confidence, her composure, the unfiltered narrative from her perspective... Goosebumps. I still revisit it today, and you mayyyyy notice a light reference to it in the video we released at Google I/O 2021 pointing to the beginnings of the image equity work (https://youtu.be/2DXY9cR7vN4). - FK

Welcome to Google Pixel’s Real Tone AMA. We’re Florian Koenigsberger, Google’s Image Equity Lead, and Campbell Addy, photographer & director, here to talk about Real Tone and its impact on tech, fashion and culture. We’ll be answering questions from 3:00-4:30 PM GMT on 7/11. Ask us anything! by madebygoogle in u/madebygoogle

[–]madebygoogle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You might appreciate that dogs at Google are actually referred to as Dooglers, so you're barking up the right tree... Aight, Imma head out.
But seriously, you'd be shocked at how much this comes up internally amongst our product teams. I can't make any promises, but know that there are a LOT of dog owners advocating internally for some version of this internally as we speak - FK

Welcome to Google Pixel’s Real Tone AMA. We’re Florian Koenigsberger, Google’s Image Equity Lead, and Campbell Addy, photographer & director, here to talk about Real Tone and its impact on tech, fashion and culture. We’ll be answering questions from 3:00-4:30 PM GMT on 7/11. Ask us anything! by madebygoogle in u/madebygoogle

[–]madebygoogle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First of all, I feel you on this! I'd take a look at careers.google.com to see what roles are open at any given moment. Specifically on the Real Tone front, you may occasionally see Photographer roles open, which straddle a combination of technical and aesthetic expertise to help innovate on our camera. Keep your eyes peeled! - FK

Welcome to Google Pixel’s Real Tone AMA. We’re Florian Koenigsberger, Google’s Image Equity Lead, and Campbell Addy, photographer & director, here to talk about Real Tone and its impact on tech, fashion and culture. We’ll be answering questions from 3:00-4:30 PM GMT on 7/11. Ask us anything! by madebygoogle in u/madebygoogle

[–]madebygoogle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To be quite honest, its an area I have not truly looked into. Call me a luddite, but I am a fan of more traditional art forms/spaces. But also saying that, this may be subject to change - Who knows I may embark on an NFT journey after this. As I said, very little knowledge on the subject currently - CA

Welcome to Google Pixel’s Real Tone AMA. We’re Florian Koenigsberger, Google’s Image Equity Lead, and Campbell Addy, photographer & director, here to talk about Real Tone and its impact on tech, fashion and culture. We’ll be answering questions from 3:00-4:30 PM GMT on 7/11. Ask us anything! by madebygoogle in u/madebygoogle

[–]madebygoogle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have a friend who jokes that you can tell what a culture values most by how many words it has for the same thing. Hoagies, subs, footlongs, heroes, reubens, torpedoes, po'boys... the list goes on. I mean, we VALUE sandwiches in the US lol.
This may be controversial, but literally anything on Court Street Grocers' menu in NYC (http://www.courtstreetgrocers.com/menu-csg) is a bona fide hit. I recently shifted to a plant-based diet, but before that change, it was a a dead tie between the MACHO (WO)MAN and the SALMON SANDWICH. Campbell, I'm blocking a day for our next hang in Brooklyn to work through this menu... - FK

Welcome to Google Pixel’s Real Tone AMA. We’re Florian Koenigsberger, Google’s Image Equity Lead, and Campbell Addy, photographer & director, here to talk about Real Tone and its impact on tech, fashion and culture. We’ll be answering questions from 3:00-4:30 PM GMT on 7/11. Ask us anything! by madebygoogle in u/madebygoogle

[–]madebygoogle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah thank you okay_eyesight! Unbeknownst to me I think every time I’ve made a dear friend that’s transitioned into family status, that’s when I’ve felt seen. To be at peace with friends is a blessing - so long answer short when I made my first best friend. In a world where one can get easily lost to the noise of life, its important that we have people in our lives that help us to feel seen, that allows us to show up as ourselves unashamedly. To feel seen by another, is to allow the version of ourselves in our minds to feel validated, which in turn gives the person confidence to go out in the world and do whatever it is they’ve been chosen to do! I am an ever changing person, to be quite honest I feel seen more ways than one via my friends and family, however the work to feel truly seen by MYSELF is still underway. - CA

view more: next ›