iPhone Photography Apps

Sat, 3 Apr 2010 11:37:18 +0400

I just recently picked up a new iPhone and like most everyone else, have been snapping away with the camera and just a few of the many camera apps that you can buy for it.   Besides listing and describing my favorite apps, I've also posted some example photos. Unless otherwise noted, all of the photos were taken with the iPhone and processed on the iPhone by one of these apps.  Here are my current top 5 camera apps for the iPhone (listed in ascending order).  5. Best Camera: Best Camera is the brain child of photographer Chase Jarvis. It is a great application because it's more than just an iPhone photo effects processor, it's actually a complete ecosystem. With Best Camera you have the ability to take a photo, process the photo with some simple effects, and then upload and show off that photo on a number of social networking sites including Facebook, Twitter, and the Best Camera photo site (www.bestcamera.com). However, it's definitely not my favorite. I've never felt the need to upload my photo to the Best Photo site and other applications have the ability to upload to Facebook and Twitter. Also, I just don't find the processing options that interesting. I've yet been able to produce any photos that I really liked using this application. However, you should check out the www.bestcamera.com web site to see what people are able to do with this app. There are plenty of really impressive photos up there, this app is super-popular, and Chase has an impressive career If you like the images that this application produces, and Chase himself has taken some outstanding photos with this app.  4. Camera Bag: The Camera Bag app is what got me using the iPhone camera on any regular basis in the first place. This was one of the first apps that I found which simulates certain camera and photo types. My favorite is the Helga. It provides just the right amount of desaturation and vignetting to make the image interesting. I can only assume that this is their version of a Holga image, although if you want a Holga image, there's no better way than to drop $20 on an actual Holga. Other interesting effects are the Lolo and Mono. A lot of these effects could be also made with the Best Camera app, but it's just simpler with this one.  3. Toon Paint: Toon Paint is awesome for something different. You first take a photo with the app or you can import a photo from your photo library, and the application immediately goes to work transforming the photo into a cartoon like black & white sketch. You can then color in your new cartoon as if finger-painting right on the screen. It takes a bit of work if you want to color it but I haven't seen anything else like it.  2: Hipstamatic: This application is similar to Camera Bag in that it simulates different camera and film types. The nice part of this application is that the interface actually looks like a plastic camera and the images have a very unique and somewhat authentic look. The not so nice part is that this app is really slow. It takes time to load, it takes time get ready to shoot, it takes time to process an image, and it takes time to switch lens and film options. Also, it only comes with a few base lenses and film types and if you want to add more, you have to pay extra. Oh, and one last problem is that this is the only application on this list that doesn't allow you to load photos from your library. Hopefully they will fix these issues in a future update.  1: Lo Mob: Lo Mob is also another camera emulation program. The difference with this one, and the reason I like it most, is that the images look fairly authentic. You can produce images that look like 35mm film shot on a medium format camera, images shot with large format cameras, polaroids, emulsions, and much more. I suspect that you can get tired of this one quickly since you are restricted to the effects provided, and have no ability to tweak them further. But for now, I love the way the images look.  There is one last minute entry which I've been playing around which requires mention; Pano (photo seen at top of page). It's an application which allows you to create panoramas on the iPhone. It's really simple to use and creates great little panoramas. I haven't done much yet, but I'm optimistic about the possibilities.   As you try out these or other applications don't forget to try and combine effects from different applications. I've included a few other images which have been processed through two or more apps. As an example, the photo of Dubai's famous Burj Al Arab hotel was shot with Hipstomatic and then run through Toon Paint.  Let us know what camera apps you are using on your iPhone.

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Attracting Subjects

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:20:17 +0400

Like most people, I'm not entirely comfortable walking up to strangers to ask them if I can take their photo. That's something that is unacceptable for someone who enjoys taking photos while traveling. There are way too many amazing looking people around the world and to not at least attempt to capture an image is, well, disappointing at best. Part of my problem is that I'm not a fan of just taking a photo of someone without permission. That has never felt right to me. It feels a bit like stealing. However, simply walking up to someone is intimidating and it strikes squarely on that "fear of rejection" nerve. What to do? Well last weekend I discovered a little trick that seems to work fairly well. I was behind the fish market in Abu Dhabi taking a few photos of my niece who was visiting. I was working with a small Canon 580X Speedlight with an Interfit Globe Diffuser. The pop of the flash and the odd looking globe mounted on top of it, in combination with my niece jumping up and down for the photo, attracted some attention. You'll see in the photo of my niece that a passerby walked over to see what was happening. I'm now under the assumption that if you walk that close to the shot, you're probably interested in getting your photo taken. Asking him if he would like his photo taken was easy since he was obviously engaged and interested in what was going on. He quickly agreed, sat down, and let me photograph him. Moments later two fisherman stopped over and practically asked me if I would take their photo. They stood in front of the camera and my first subject got in on the action by directing. I was only stopping in that location for a moment so had to leave, but I suspect that my subjects would have soon started grabbing more people to come sit and have their photos taken.

Avoiding Bicycles and Exercise

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:59:33 +0400

Three days of workshops, two nights of walking around Amsterdam and then this morning a run. I’m not a runner. I don’t pretend to be a runner. And I’m not a good runner. I huff and puff and wheeze as I plod along on a tread mill. Kaire and I have a new bet. She’s now determined to enter a triathlon. I’m determined to not get bested - embarrassingly so. So, I threw down the gauntlet. Who can run the fast 5k time in a month and a half period. Work’s gotten crazy, hence the workshops. We bought Nike running pedometers. This morning I hit the streets. I procrastinated a bit. Don’t want to get hit by bikers, run into a canal; I thought of them all. Finally, I threw on the sneakers that I’m sure Kaire felt would not get worn this trip and hit the streets. I’m hooked. Cover more ground. Run by Hermitage, canals, houseboats, swans, bridges, historic streets, Dutch whipping by on their touring bikes. I’m indeed hooked, now if I can just convince my body to be hooked as well. Tomorrow’s Saturday and I intend on running further than today’s 3K. Hmm, I wonder if since tomorrow is Saturday if there will be too many flower markets crowding the street and I won’t be able to run.

Ecuador: Chapter 1

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:14:45 +0400

The rain tapped an off beat rhythm across the thick canopy above. The sound was amplified by the the solid dark of night and deceptively imitated a downpour. When I poked my head into the pre-dawn jungle to get a sense of how wet I was to get, only a few cold light drops made it through the leafy ceiling and trickled down my face. It was 4:00 in the morning and I was suspended above the ground in a tent-hammock. I quietly rolled up my sleeping bag, packed it into my daypack, gathered my headlamp and slipped out of the hammock, planting each step as deliberately as possible so as not to stumble in the dark and wake the four other campers. The lodge where other volunteers where housed and where I was to meet up with Noe, the local birder, and three of the volunteers, was a 25 minute hike away. As I stepped from the small open area of the camp, I turned on my head lamp and struck out on the muddy rainforest trail.

I had been living and hiking in the mountains for four days now so I had grown accustomed to the uneven, muddy trail which was strewn with rock, vine, and roots eager to tangle and trip, but I was still unsure of my steps. I was a bit foggy from sleep and I was walking these trails in the dark; and at a much brisker pace than usual. The large trees and impenetrable brush seemed to be leaning in on the trail, slowly reclaiming it under the concealment of night. The rainclouds conspired as they slid in and amongst the hills providing cover. This made it impossible to see but a meter or so ahead even with the headlamp on full power. The rain continued to play arrhythmically against the leaves, restricting my hearing to only the sounds the rain itself made as it worked it’s way to the ground. I was deep in the rainforest, miles away from the nearest town, miles away from a television, a workable cell phone signal, or a Pizza Hut. This was what I had wished for; a wilderness getaway where I could get back to nature and do some good for the environment, but all I was worried about now, was the environment. There was a lot of nature out beyond the line of those trees. I knew it as fact. I had seen photos. That was what brought us volunteers. We all hoped for a sighting; birds of every size, shape, and color; meter long worms; tarantulas; scorpions; small jungle cats; spectacled bears; and the one animal which the nature channels taught me enough about, that I was now fearfully and pathetically gripping a felt tip pen to use as protection; jaguars. I had seen a documentary where jaguar encounters were graphically illustrated. Jaguars would silently streak out of from the concealment of the woods like a toothy ninja and pounce on an unsuspecting hiker or jogger. Before the victim could respond with a fist, a kick, or a felt tip pen, the jaguar would clamp its teeth deep into the back of its victim’s neck and feed. I feared to glance behind me so as not to cause undue attention. I measured my step so as not to move too quickly. I passed through the protrusion of branches and leaves, slowly calming myself in the thought that my city saturated mind was over exaggerating my situation. From behind me I heard a branch snap.

Reality

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:15:33 +0400

I got a little dose of reality today. I went out to the local Thai place for dinner and had spring rolls, fried rice, and spicy shrimp red curry with green beans. I took a little walk afterwards. It was feeling pretty tropical out there tonight. Warm and humid but with a nice breeze. It reminded me of days of childhood when my Mom and I would spend summers in Florida. I head back to the apartment and the lobby guard stopped me to chat. He introduced himself. Told me about his life in the Philippines. Told me about his previous job in Saudi Arabia. Asked me about my life. Told me that he wanted to speak to me because I looked “intelligent”, I was nice, always said “hello”, and I was “quiet”. He was very pleasant to talk to . He became a bit uncomfortable when he started to tell me that his contract was up in September and he had no other job. He has to go back to the Philippines where his wife and three children (very cute, I saw the photo) are waiting for him and relying on his meager paycheck. He told me that he makes 1,300 dirham a month. They provide housing but not food. That’s $4,250.68 a year. I find it difficult to accept that the security guard only makes $4,250 a year. Maybe it’s true. He told me he can do data entry, be a security guard, he’d even be my “sidekick”. Shit, for $4,250.68 a year, I can afford a side kick. You know how people always say, “it can always be worse”? I’ve said it. You’ve probably said it. Here’s a real guy, whose working hard for his family, and most people I know make his annual paycheck in a measure of weeks or even days, not months or years.
His name is Phillip. His birthday is on August 8th. He turns 46. He gave me perspective. What do I give Phillip for his birthday?