Iphone Projects and creative workflows

Hi, I thought I’d show you some more images that I’ve created using my Iphone5 and two or three different apps. I’m currently working on a theme called Echoes in which I imagine what certain places or buildings would show us if they had memories. I love history especially that of Cities and how they have evolved over the centuries and all the millions of lives that have passed through them and are buried beneath the surface so I decided to create some images of things or events that these places have witnessed. Having some kind of project is a great way of keeping your photography interesting and focussed whether it be a daily photo challenge or a local history project of your local area, I find it’s a great way of  peaking my interest in photography. Up until a year ago I used primarily a Nikon D90 and a Panasonic GF2 compact camera with about six lenses between them and I was getting bored! So I decided to sell both cameras and all my lenses and use just an iphone5 to see if I could spark my enthusiasm again. I might add that I’ve been taking images for about 30 years and the last 6 years as a member of a local photographic society so it wasn’t a spur of the moment decision or an ill informed one. I generally like taking street images and some architecture and also messing around with different editing systems so it wasn’t a massive move for me as it would have been if my interest lay in wildlife photography or sports! Even so it was a challenging leap but most importantly great fun. I’ve discovered a thriving and extremely friendly  Iphone photography movement online with some truly stunning artists out there who consistently produce images that I could only wish to emulate. I leant to zoom with my feet and do some thinking before I started shooting, but mainly I’ve discovered the joy of making images again and the ability not to take myself too seriously and most importantly to take pictures for me first and foremost and if others like them, then, that was great too… so here’s some images from my Echoes series, let me know what you think, and thanks as always for looking.

 

Speaker’s corner, Hyde Park, London.

 Today I’m posting some portraits from a recent shoot in Hyde Park, London, at Speaker’s corner. This is a meeting place where anyone who wishes can stand on a soap box and talk about, argue, debate, incite just about anything they wish to. As you can imagine it can get quite heated with various religious/political viewpoints being extolled/trashed depending on your standpoint. But it makes for some great photo opportunities and I’m never disappointed when I go there. I normally take my panasonic GF2 with a 14mm pancake and a 45-175mm zoom lens. I also always take my iphone5 for plenty of candid/street shots. Here’s some of my images from there.

As you can see plenty of animated characters. There’s always an argument going on somewhere and plenty of crowd participation as well…

So if your ever in London on a Sunday you could do a lot worse than Speaker’s corner for some great and unique photo oppotunities..Thanks for looking..

 

Iphone editing using photo apps

 This shot was taken about 5 years ago on my then new Nikon D90. It was okay but the sky was bland and I didn’t look at again until recently and thought it might have potential as a processed iphone image! Basically edited in snapseed, distressed FX and Mextures I’m quite pleased with the overall effect and now am encouraged to maybe try some more old images and maybe unlock some hidden images.

  These two shots were taken in 2011 in Aberdovey  a village on the north side of the estuary of the River Dyfi in Gwynedd, on the west coast of Wales.  . It has  really interesting seascapes and lots of small fishing boats for great photo opportunities. Taken on my Nikon D90 then processed on my iphone 5 using the usual suspects snapseed, Distressed FX and mextures, then back to snapseed for a nice frame. You can tune down each effect and play with contrast and saturation as well in Distressed FX, and each image took about 30-45 mins to create.

  Finally a carousel in Les biches France. I edited in photshop CS4 for a more Dramatic sky, then importrd to my iphone 5 to add a couple of textures and a nice Frame. Please tell me what you think and any other suggestions.

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Hipstamatic Processing

  Thought I’d show some portraits for a change. All these shot were originally taken with my Nikon D90 DSLR camera. I then retook them using my Iphone and the Hipstamatic app. I like the old worn effect which goes especially well with B&W portraiture.It’s great you can muck about like this with just a phone and some time.

 Another couple of images using the same processing. I love the way you can experiment with the iphone, it may not have loads of megapixels or any controls for shutter speed and aperture or even super sharp varieties of lenses but you don’t need them all the time. With an iphone or any other smartphone you do have lots of fun taking and then processing your images. You can create works of art or just snapshots of the family, you can use zero apps or 30 and some of the stuff that’s out there is amazing. I’ve set myself a challenge this year. I’m a member of the local photographic society and have decided to enter at least 50% of my images taken on the iphone in digital format and print! I’m interested in how it will be received and judged, and if anyone will be able to tell the difference anyway! Wish me luck and I’ll let you know how I get on…

 Just for a change of subject thought I’d post a couple of more heavily processed images. The First image was taken on the iphone, and is actually about 8 images stitched using autostitch. Pfrocessed in Snapseed, Filterstorm, Distressed FX , Mextures and Lenslight. The Second Image is a single Iphone image taken with Procamera and processed with Snapseed, Distressed FX, Mextures and Lenslight… Thanks for  looking….

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Iphone processing and hipstamatic pic.

The first shot was taken in Aberdovey, Wales. It’s a fantastic Town well worth a visit and not too far from Snowdonia. There were great contrasting colours and loads of boats anchored off the shore, and I loved the Yellow house and Boat especially, it seemed to work! Taken on a small panasonic handheld compact camera and transferred to my Iphone. Then the usual editing with Snapseed, Distressed fx and Mextures, then back to Snapseed for some blur.The second image was taken in Bucks golf course on a foggy day. It was taken on my Nikon d90 and then processed in lightroom and photoshop cs4 before being transferred over to the iphone for some radical processing using Snapseed, Distressed fx, Mextures, Lenslight and filterstorm.

This image was taken using the Hipstamatic app on the iphone and  using the Roboto Glitter Lens and dreamcanvas film. Taken on a very sunny day in London and shot into the sun as the commuter walked into the frame. I like the kind of abstract effect created with this combo.

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Tree in Snow and fog workflow

Thought I would try to share some of my processing workflow with you. The  picture was taken in St Albans Hertfordshire uk on a cold snowy mid-morning. I stopped the car jumped out, waded across a snow covered field a grabbed a few images on my Nikon D90. As you can tell it is woefully underexposed with barely any details, so I processed for more detail using Lightroom and photshop CS4. I then transferred the image onto my Iphone and used Snapseed, Distressed FX and mextures to get the desired final image you see here. The moon was added with an app called Lenslight and then some blurring again using Snapseed centre focus. I’m always amazed at how far you can push your processing and think the hardest discipline is to know when to stop!! Hope this will inspire a few people to have a go themselves, it’s great fun!!

Hipstamatic and Oggl!!

I I have been playing with the new Oggl app from hipstamatic the last few weeks. It’s similar to Instagram but you can use all their cool lens and film combos so it’s great for obtaining loads of different effects when your out and about. The first Three shots on this blog were all taken at a Bus depot while I was waiting around for a Bus.

 It’s great for candid’s and those unexpected moments.!! I love the effects gained from Hipstamatic and have recently been re shooting some of my old DSLR shots with the iphone hipsta app and have been very pleased with the results.

The next Two images are portraits. The first was taken with Oggl using the Tinto 1884 lens and D-type plate film combo. The second image was one of my old DSLR portraits re taken with the iphone, I quite like the end result.

Finally sold my Nikon recently with some trepidation, but I wasn’t enjoying it as much as I used to so I thought it would serve someone else better. I might eventually go back to grown up cameras again, and I have kept my GF2  even buying a new lens for it, the 45-175mm zoom. All I need now is some extra days to go and enjoy my photography. And some Sunshine :o)

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Speaker’s Corner 21/04/13

Another trip to Hyde park corner on Sunday. Very busy with glorious weather and the London Marathon being run. Just used my iphone which was really weird as I normally  go weighed downed with my Nikon DSLR and Panasonic compact and about 4 different lenses. It was quite a liberating experience but one which needs a lot of practice using all the different apps available and trying to get the effects I want. I also do a lot of post processing so this was a little strange just posting straight out of my phone!! I loved the way you could get in amongst the crowds and no one minded me taking pictures another weird development. I think I will stick with it for a bit as I’m getting quite disillusioned  with all the DSLR stuff! I want to get back to enjoying photography and taking pictures that I like…. I’ll keep you posted!!

Train Journey

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Went up to Central London a few days ago and managed to get some shots on the train using my iphone and the hipstamatic app. Love this combo as you can get some great candid shots. Love the Lo-Fi images, I know “everybodies” doing it, but it does remind me of the old Eastern European film cameras of my youth with the wonderful light leaks and weird effects, besides i’m getting a bit bored with carting my Nikon and lenses with me and getting hostile vibes all the time.

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