Ingredients:
1. Working 24 hrs a day & watching the sunrise
2. Camera+
The green top
Ingredients:
1. Working on Saturday in NYC
2. Snapseed
3. Olloclip wide angle
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#iPhoneography apps for a trip
Headed to the UK tonight. Here are the apps I am taking with me:
1. Fusioncam (post on this app coming shortly)
2. 645 Pro
3. Disposable (post on this app also coming shortly)
I feel that I need a 4th. I am currently choosing between Wood Camera and Camera Bag. Can I get a vote?
As a side note I am getting to see the birthplace of a her0 of mine . I believe he would have appreciated iPhoneography.
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Start. Finish.
1. Early AM workout at the track
2. 645 Camera app
3. The starting line which is also ironically the finish line
4. Snapseed
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How to be an iPhoneographer: The 645 Pro Summary & Quick Start Guide
I downloaded 645 Pro three weeks ago. It has usurped QuickPix as my go to iPhone camera as my go to app. 645 Pro now maintains this place on my iPhone dock.
So, why use an app other than iCamera?
The iCamera app is a great point and shot app. But if you want more control over the shot you have to branch out. QuickPix was the first camera app that gave me the incremental amount of control for which I was looking. But 645 Pro has taken it to the next level. Here are the pros and cons.
Pros:
1. Significant control – there are six different different camera backs, 6 film modes (including 3 B& W film modes), white balance, timer, meter, etc.
2. Launch Time Continue reading
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How to be an iPhoneographer: Learn {to be a photographer}
“You use Instagram? You must be a professional photographer”. The sarcasm in the tweet alone made me smile but there is a lot truth underlying the sarcasm. A lot of folks get into iPhoneography because of the convenience of the iPhone camera. Then there are incredible apps that can transform mundane photos. But at the end of the day, those apps can only transform the content of the underlying photo.
Often times the best iPhoneographers are professional photographers. The reason is they understand composition, lighting, subject matter, etc. They see the photo before it’s taken. As I have continued to pursue iPhoneography it has become clear I have to learn these skills myself. Let’s be honest, half of the content shoved onto to Twitter with the #iPhoneography-#instagram-#photography hashtags are just a crappy photo with a Dianne filter dressing it up a bit (click here for an interesting post by a professional photographer and his take on iPhoneography). That is to be expected as so much of social media is built around sharing the here and now, not necessarily incredible images. But I want something different out of iPhoneography. I want to create high quality images that reflect and document my experiences with the tool I always have with me, my iPhone.
So, how to accomplish this? There isn’t a photography skills app that will instantaneously take amazing photos for us. We have to develop them through experimentation and practice. There must be failures and triumphs. But i think this is where the fun begins. From my perspective learning a few basic principles of composition significantly improves photography. Following are resources I have used to improve my iPhoneography using basic composition principles.
2. Photography Mad on Composition
It’s not rocket science. Spend a few minutes reading one of these and then go attempt to apply them on your next iPhoneography jaunt. I garuntee you will see an improvement in your iPhoneography.
How are you applying basic photographic principles in your iPhoneography?
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The Christ
1. Afternoon in Chicago
2. Incredible Spanish wooden sculpture of Christ
3. The reason I love iPhoneography: the camera is always there.
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How to be an iPhoneographer: {the #hashtags}
Inherent in the concept of iPhoneography is the ability to share the here and now with them over there. Most iPhoneographers use a social media outlet. Instagram has become the largest dedicated iPhoneography sharing service with over 40 million users. Linking Instagram posts to Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, etc. is simple and provides for easy distribution of the content to other networks. But here is the struggle. I don’t want to actually follow every single iPhoneographer in the world. It would clutter my timeline. It’s also impossible to make a list capturing all iPhoneographers unless you have unlimited amount of time.
Enter the #hashtag. It is the great organic organizer because the user defines content themselves which takes the weight off your shoulders. But there are a myriad of hashtags iPhoneographers are using on the myriad of social and sharing networks. While hashtags are often Continue reading
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City phone
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How to be an iPhoneographer: {Borders}
I love borders. Not the ones that have armed guards (although I do enjoy crossing those). There is nothing that sets off a great photo better than a great border. Yet for some reason the number of apps with borders approaching a baseline level of decency are shockingly absent. In terms of a basic set of borders Camera+ leads the pack. But what if you want a border that really stands out? After all everyone owns Camera+, particularly after reading the “How to be an iPhoneographer” guides. Please do not even mention Instagram. Facebook now has that app in the palm of their social media hand. I will assume future positive develops to Instagram are now relegated to wishful thinking at best.
Thanks to a stellar recommendation by JamesCHunter and an incessant searching of the App Store {here is a good way to do that by the way} by yours truly there are two apps that are breathing new life into the previously stale and rotting world of borders. The following are but a foretaste of the myriad of options that await your more than capable iPhone wielding hand.
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The screen
Ingredients:
1. 12th century Spanish screen
2. QuickPix
3. Olloclip wide angle lens
4. Snapseed
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A city skyline
Ingredients:
1. A city skyline
2. QuickPix
3. Camera+
4. Snapseed
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{Running} Cycling in circles
A curious playground apparatus. Maybe training for future NASCAR drivers.
Photo ingredients:
1. Taken with QuickPix
2. “Clarity” scene in Camera+
3. “Magic Hour” effect in Camera+
4. Tiltshift & other minor color adjustments in SnapSeed
5. “Round Black” border in Camera+
6. Too much time
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Fire in the sky
Ingredients:
1. Great sky
2. Olloclip wide angle lens
3. Camera+
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How to be an iPhoneographer {The guide}: Part II
Last week I posted the first installment of “How to be an iPhoneogrpaher”, a series that will no doubt become the classic iPhoneography how to guide. This week we shift our viewfinders to a slightly more challenging yet rewarding app.
Last week there were sacrifices to be made (but how good was dinner after skipping lunch?). This week we must once again go without food but it’s not quite as severe. We need another $1.99. I would suggest skipping the edamame appetizer on Tuesday. To ease the pain a bit this post leverages my slightly below preschool level artistic skills (and let’s be honest, I just learned about Paper and it is too cool not to use) to divert your attention from the impending appetizer famine.
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The green books
Ingredients:
1.Books in the library of Oglethorpe University.
2.Taken with QuickPix.
3.Edited with Camera+ and Snapseed.
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Theater lights
Ingredients:
1. The Chicago Theater
2. A fantastic sign
3. Camera+
4. Snapseed
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B.D.
Today marks a moment in history for which I will forever be grateful. It is my beautiful wife’s birthday.
I have known her for 12 years. I remember the first time I held her hand. I remember when she said yes. I remember when we sat in our 800 square foot apartment watching Friends because we had no money to do anything else. I remember the “discussions” (I maybe implicated in instigating a few of these but only a few). I remember the day our daughter was born. I remember the moment we saw smoke pouring out of our front door. But most of all I remember her. Her smile. Her intelligence. Her style. Her sweetness.
I am certainly not her equal as a companion and spouse. In this I see God’s grace. I can’t imagine life without her and pray I never see that day. Here is to Frances. Happy birthday.
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How to be an iPhoneographer {The guide or rather map}: Part I
I call myself an iPhoneographer in my Twitter bio. The content of this blog documents my attempts at iPhoneography.
The other day I asked myself what the term even means. Reaching deep into the cavernous expanses of my brain (I shall let you be the judge as to whether said spaces are filled with much) I remembered a tweet I once read that said, “The iPhone is today’s Polaroid camera”. That is the essence of iPhoneography. You always have your camera with you. You can capture moments as they happen. Oh, and the quality of the images are astoundingly good and there are amazing photo apps that make you feel cool and hip. What is not to Continue reading
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Rays of light
Light streaming through the panes of the Church at the Monstary of the Holy Spirit.
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How the bird sees the city
Ingredients:
1. View from the John Hancock Center
2. Camera+
3. Olloclip fisheye
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The river against the city
Ingredients:
1. The Chicago River and skyline
2. Camera+
3. Olloclip wide angle lens
4. Great light
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Postcards are so…. Today. { A guide to Postagram }
A year or so ago I started mailing postcards to my wife and daughter when I travelled. No one would could accuse me of being the definition of consistency in this endevour but you can’t hit the ball if you don’t swing {there is also a frustrating conundrum if you some how screw up the note on the postcard. You can’t erase it without screwing up the postcard and so then you always have to buy at least two of the same postcard just in case, assuming you are slightly anal}.
But now, now I have a secret weapon. I do everything on my iPhone and iPad. I have an iPhoneography addiction. And now I have Postagram. This app Is what I needed. Instead of hunting through the cheesy, touristy postcards in some corner drugstore I can personalize the whole experience with a photo I have taken and “create” postcard using Photogram. Here is how it works:
1. Download Photogram
2. Take the picture
3. Do the following:
4. Postagram does the rest, including mailing an actual physical postcard to the receipient. Cost: $1 per postcard, also known as peanuts.
5. Grab another bite of your bran muffin ( it’s so efficient you finished the postcard before you finished your breakfast at Starbucks – I would actually recommend Library Coffee as an alternative) and smile while thinking about how much the recipient will enjoy their postcard.
