iPhonography – Page 2

Category: iPhonography

Old Architecture

One of the subjects that I’ve been leaning on since I started my Abstract Photo Project a little over a week ago is architecture. There’s no shortage of interesting elements in a classic building or home – something that makes me sad about the majority of today’s cheap pre-fab buildings that we see all over the place. Most strip malls and steel buildings are just offensive to the senses, so when you take the time to admire the quality in design of a great piece of architecture it’s all the more meaningful today.

On the flip side, I do enjoy the urban decay of old buildings. The texture of the peeling paint and the off kilter shape of a dilapidated building structure makes for an interesting photograph.

Looking up close at the features of a great building and changing your point of view can give you endless compositions to play with the lines and shapes of the building. Old banks and government buildings have great columns that are begging for a wide angle view of them.

I also like to manipulate the angle of the camera when shooting wide to distort the geometry of the building. You can create a funhouse-like effect with just the tilt of your lens.

Playing with color, contrast, and exposure leads to some very interesting photos when dealing with architecture. The iPhone is a great tool for experimenting with extreme abstract shots of buildings. I often find myself looking for a different angle with just my phone’s camera, only to start editing away and creating something completely new out of it right there on my phone.

Machine Shop

One of the perks of my other job is that I get access to all sorts of interesting places here in the Charleston, SC area. Today I was doing some work in a machine shop over at the old Navy base and while I was walking through the giant shop floor, I started to notice all of the cool shapes, colors, & surfaces all around me. On the return trip I pulled out my iPhone and started snapping shots of various things that caught my eye.

I made most of these shot’s using Trey Ratcliff’s awesome 100 Cameras In 1 app. The color and texture complimented the effects of the app – a case of marrying the right tool for the job at hand.

I also tried using one of the new in-app purchased filters in one of my other favorite iPhone camera apps, Camera+. An awesome new feature in the latest version of Camera+ is the ability to adjust the strength of the filter you apply – very much like Trey’s app. If they let you combine filter’s like Trey’s does then it would be perfect. Fortunately 100 Cameras In 1 does do just that!

Most of us have subjects all around us that can be captured photographically and we pass them by due to either familiarity or just plain negligence to open your eyes in your own backyard. Try to look at life as a tourist – you might be surprised at how cool your environment can be.

Spot vs. Matrix Metering

1/125th of a sec | f/2.8 | 50mm | ISO 200

When a lot of people get a DSLR, a setting that they tend to overlook is the type of metering. Most cameras come set to Matrix metering by default and that’s where it stays. There’s a good reason for that – Matrix metering handles most situations really well. So why would you venture into the world of spot metering?

Shot on the iPhone with Instagram – never mind the goof in the shutter’s reflection

When I’m shooting something like people outdoors or indoors with a very strong directional ambient light source (like a window), spot metering is the way to go. In the photo up at the top of this post, birthday girl Caitlyn smiles for a split second for me. In this type of situation, I’ve got the camera in aperture priority mode, and the metering set to spot. Why? Well, I shoot in aperture priority mode because there are kids hopped up on birthday cake – this means largest possible aperture to get the fastest shutter speed because they are bouncing around like heated up Mexican jumping beans. There is also a huge window wall with the sun blaring right through it. For me this means I need to try to put my subject between the light source and my lens, preferably at a slight angle to get some sidelight.

1/250th of a sec | f/2.8 | 50mm | ISO 200

In order to not have the camera meter for the brighter background, I use spot metering and focus on my subject to get a meter reading off of their face. This will blow out the background, but that is perfectly accepted in today’s photography as it helps isolate your subject. The face and eyes are the important part of these photos, so that is all I care about in regards to exposure.

1/125th of a sec | f/2.8 | 50mm | ISO 200

Matrix metering was designed to address this kind of shooting, but like any automatic mode it lacks the intuitive decision process of the human mind. It will try and properly expose your subject, and a lot of the time it will not get too fooled by the brighter background because it will use a database of different shooting situations to guess what you are trying to do. But, it will try not to overexpose any part of the photo, so there is a chance that it will slightly underexpose your main subject. I know with spot metering that I will get the result I’m looking for each and every time. The real trick is to remember to switch it back from spot to matrix when you’re done shooting!

iPhone Photo App Review – 100 Cameras In 1

The Albermarle | Charleston, SC

There are hundreds of good photo manipulation applications in the iTunes App Store for the iPhone, and a lot of them seem to favor the trend of vintage photography – a trend that is exploiting the poorer resolution of mobile phone cameras when compared to today’s full featured cameras to create a comfortable photo of moments or things that are reminiscent of the shots from affordable cameras from the time before digital. “100 Cameras In 1” attempts to separate itself from the Hipstamatics and instagrams that lead the charts by doing two unique things in it’s latest release.

The Albermarle | Charleston, SC

The first thing that sticks out for me in this app is the use of texture blending as an effect. By blending a layer of adjustable translucent texture – from rough surface areas to stones and splatters, you can add a graphical element to your photos that look as though they were printed on recycled paper with expired chemicals and a clumsy hand. This might sound messy, and to the heavy handed photo editor, it can very well be, but it can also make a common image very uncommon. Not that there’s a substitute for composing a good image, but it can force attention to an image that might get overlooked – bringing out the subtleties in a composition through it’s brand of distracting imperfections. One improvement on this would be the ability to add your own custom textures.

Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge | Mt. Pleasant, SC

This photo made while crossing the bridge above was a throw away shot that I made while trying to capture this one. In an effort to prove my point, I took this otherwise ho-hum image and gave it new life with 100 Cameras In 1. While it’s still not my favorite image by any means, it is more interesting to me than the original. The texture and color effects add mystery and intrigue – it almost makes you search for a deeper meaning to the photograph. It tasks you to search for a reason amongst the chaos of imperfection.

The other feature that is new to version 2 is the ability to change each of the 100 presets with a granular slider. Depending on the nature of the effect, “the slider will change the effect of the texture using overlay, hardlight, luminosity, the texture itself, or other methods.” states the developer, Stuck In Customs (AKA Trey Ratcliff). What this does is allow you to add a hint of an effect and combine it with other effects to create something truly original without overdoing it. The results are simply amazing, and it becomes almost too easy to create images that would take a good level of expertise in Photoshop to replicate through more traditional techniques.

The photo above is of my son – I originally took it on New Year’s day to SMS it to our pediatrician because he was swelling up from an infection. I imported the photo into 100 Cameras In 1 and started playing with the effects. I ended up with an overly saturated image using a texture that created a type of effect on his skin reminiscent of Vincent van Gogh’s painting style.

Here’s a promo video from the Stuck In Customs website. They have a page dedicated to information about the app, including a bunch of sample photographs as well as news and tips.

For only $2, you really shouldn’t even think twice about adding this fantastic app to your iPhone arsenal.

Best Camera Challenge

This has nothing to do with finding the best camera, so sorry if the title misled you. This is about a photo contest sponsored by PDN Magazine and commercial photographer (and iPhone app developer) Chase Jarvis called the Best Camera Challenge. The reason I’m excited about this contest is because it’s a photography contest of photos made entirely on mobile phones. I’ve written before about how much I love making photos on my iPhone. I truly think that having a huge array of photo applications from 3rd party developers on a single camera is going to pave the way for future professional cameras. Imagine having the ability to load applications from other companies besides your camera’s manufacturer on your DSLR – it would be amazing to say the least.

So, here’s the begging part of the post – I’ve submitted seven photos into the contest, and I’m asking you for your vote. It’s easy – here are the rules from the contest website:

In order to vote you need to provide a valid email address, and only one vote per email address is possible. If after voting the first time, you decide to vote for another image, the first image you voted for will lose that vote.

The “People’s Choice” is a section apart from the rest of the contest and the votes will not influence the judges. A photographer would seek votes in order to win the “People’s Choice” section alone. The winners for the other categories will be determined by the judges.

So, you can view all of my entries on the contest site here, or pick one from the thumbnails below. That’s it – Thanks for helping me out 🙂

Insta Vs. Hipsta

Made with the Instagram App on the iPhone

Instagram is the latest in mobile phone photography apps that has grown quite popular. The idea is not that new, in fact I don’t really think it’s the best app for creating vintage style photos – I think Hipstamatic does the job fantastically. Instagram does have one thing that it does much better though, and that is the ability to take photos fast and share them quickly.

Made on the Hipstamatic App on the iPhone

I know, I know… if it’s worth doing, it’s worth taking the time to do it right – But in the world of mobile phone photography, speed and convenience are king. Hipstamtic is a fun app to play around and experiment with, but if you want to catch the moment as it happens and not wait for unreasonable times between each shot, Instamatic will be the app you’ll want to fire up. I personally like to use the iPhone’s built-in camera app and then import the photos into my 3rd party apps – a feature that is unfortunately unavailable with Hipstamatic. I only use Hipstamatic if I have the proper time to set up and take the shot – with it’s selection of lenses and film types (which are available as packs that you have to purchase within the app), you can really make some beautiful photos.

I love these apps because mobile phone cameras are limited by their sensor sizes and resolution, and by exploiting that fact by stylizing the shots you make, you open up creative doors that you might ignore with a traditional camera. On the other hand, in the right situation with the right lighting, you can make some pretty damn amazing images with an iPhone. Over at fstoppers, Lee Morris has an excellent article demonstrating a fashion shoot captured using an iPhone 3Gs. Here’s the video of that shoot:

3M6Y6FAYE8CM