iPhonetastic

Currently I'm in London for work. Photogenic enough place, eh? Well when you're doing the London Power Walk at 815am amidst 7,825,200 other folks on their way to the office, all the while trying to pack into the underground and lug your packpack consisting of everything you need to live for the day... It about as easy as.. well its not easy to make time (or space) to do it.

The Photo Op book I mention in earlier posts does have a mobile phone photo project with some advice. Perfect.


Let me start by being positive before showing my cynical side: This project was a lot of fun and I was very happy with the results. Mobile photos accompanied with the right tools can give instant satisfaction to the photographer and can be done in next to no time; when you have no time. To follow that....

People + Mobile cameras = disaster. Finding a blurred, incomprehensible photo on Facebook of you and your friends at NIGHT slamming natty light because you couldn't understand that concept of LIGHT makes me want to jump off a bridge. The only thing worse is using an app to make it look like a Polaroid; that makes me want to push your mother off a bridge. Taking headshots of yourself and your new super-v-neck/tattoo/push up bra with a coffee stain filter is just as bad. I will admit, however - I have been in terrible mobile photos, probably taken some or myself too. Have em on Facebook, share with friends. Just don't try and act as if you are 'experimenting with your talents'. It's embarrassing to technology and yourself.


Phone cameras and photographic apps were designed to give anyone the ability to turn a good subject into a solid work of art in a pinch. Plain and simple.

You can't focus on all of your typical variables: Focus, composition, light, contrast, etc. You have very little time during a drive-by-photograp-ing. You're also limited by the camera (I own an iPhone 3Gs), so it doesn't really make sense to try either. A quick snap of a good subject and few simple editing features are what will make you happy with your photo. I (and yes, I know, the rest of the world) loved Instagram's free iPhone app. It's short list of post production features and 1:1 framing are all you need to make a good subject into a great mobile photo. I also use Up from Pixite for Google Web Album Uploads and plan to get Camera+ soon too. Here's some I liked that I took. Feel free to share thoughts and criticism:

Paddington Station, mid morning. Linear Tilt-Shift + Filter.

Upper Street, Linear Tilt-Shift + Filter. Least Favorite.

Coffee at Carluccio's in Islington. A little cliche, but like the filter.

Pop Filter

At the open air markets. Radial Tilt-Shift. No Filter. Favorite.

Boxa Crosses. Radial Tilt-Shift + Filter.

Why do I keep mentioning good subject? Because that, sir, is what draws the line between good mobile photography and storage waste. Remember this. Consider the following:

Nothing like a photo of the bar... during the day... with a filter?

...Deep.

?

Case in point. Mobile phone photography is easy, satisfying and a blast. It's designed to be. By using apps like Instagram or Camera+, photographers (and the otherwise not) can capture the beautiful and unseen quickly and easily; instantly increasing the quality of online content everywhere. Just... don't be an idiot.

Framed!

After some time, my girlfriend was determined to get us to put up some new decorations. One day at IKEA (of course) she mentioned we should get some frames and go through photos that I have, do some processing, and get them framed. I thought "One step closer to my new camera...". So we went through and found some existing photos (ones that I had taken quite a bit before I started the blog) to get something to frame.

The components I ended up using for this project were:

• My Camera (See 1st post)
• A beach...
• A black, matted, large frame from IKEA. (Who have GREAT frames btw...)

The one we ended up picking was a shot I took in 2005, after graduation when I went to go visit a friend on Maui. I was sitting on the beach with my camera and trying to catch the tide as it came in to blanket a little stone. It was evening so light was okay...enough to reflect off the water and allow for decent shutter speed. I did turn on burst to get a handful of candidate shots, as well though. It just happened though, that the shutter on "Program" AE mode was just long enough to smooth out the water as it came in and covered the rock, while catching some flits of spray in the foreground and getting a good, solid focus on the texture of the sand. I was pretty proud of it, even though its pretty simple and even a juvenile shot.

Original Shot

We wanted this to be a black and white print. So we removed saturation in Photoshop and increased the contrast to show detail on the sand and the water spray. Then we took it to Kinko's and had them get it printed at about 18" x 29" or so for the frame. The photo is @ 8MP, so it was just slightly stretched (but perfect for the viewing distance we expected). We were careful to make sure they printed at the next largest size to ensure we kept aspect ratio though...

Final comp. above the bed. With me playing with something...

So I got my first framed photo. Sweet. Probably will do some more before I'm finished here.

Tiltshift...ing.

One of the first projects I set out to explore is TiltShift photography. In the actual definition of the technique, Tilt, and Shift are actually 2 different techniques. These are both described in detail in the linked Wikipedia article; so I wont go into too much detail on them seprately.

In a nutshell, TiltShift is used often in modern photography to create a shallow depth-of-field on either the horizontal or vertical axes. The point is to create a "Selective Focus" on a scene. This can create a really cool "toy-like" effect on subjects or draw the viewer's gaze to a specific part of the photograph.

As with many photo techniques, there is an "organic" and "real" way to do this which is also expensive. There is also a cheaper, easier, but less "organic" way to accomplish this. TiltShift lenses are available for some SLR cameras that physically tilt and shift to achieve a variety of angles. This can also be achieved by taking the right photograph (worthy of TiltShift) and using software to apply the effects. Some prefer the former because it looks more natural and one may have more control... but I chose the latter, like most amateurs.

The components I used for this project were:
-My Panasonic (See 1st post)
-Adobe Lightroom
-Tilt Shift Generator for Windows

I decided to take some shots at angles to allow some depth to play with. I tried to pick some subjects with character as well; ones that stood out in color or contrast from the rest of the objects in the frame. this way it was apparent what was being focused on. I focused on both the "miniatures"  aspect and the "Selective Focus" aspect:

The first two were pretty close to 18x optical zoom. I did some aesthetic modifications to color and lighting in lightroom and then applied the tiltshift by setting up an export preset which launches Tilt Shift Generator. Head to the link above on Tilt Shift Generator to learn about some of the fine tuning settings you have at your disposal.

The texture on the wood with the flag made me thought it would be a good candidate for Selective Focus with the tool. Some modifications were made to exposure and saturation to highlight the flag. Then the Shifting to emphasize the flag.

I really liked this technique when I was doing it. More so because I like the "Toy like" look from high up. I may incorporate this in some projects in the future. Hope this was informative!

Decisions..

It has been quite a while since this endeavor floated to the top of my head, and apologies to myself (no.. not you) for that.

However this post is not without some form of product. I don't know that I mentioned it but I work in somewhat of an international role as an engineer at a software company in Austin, TX. As many business work, when we approach the end of the quarter, especially the end of the year, things get busy... really busy. Shortly after my first post I found myself preparing for an out of the country trip to London... which by coincidence was perfect for this project!

I did take a handful of photos while I was there after perusing the aforementioned "50 Photo Projects". Since then, and thanks to the holidays, I had some time to pick just a handful of projects to post and start with.

I decided to, however, take a handful of the preliminary projects from "Photo Op" by Kevin Meredith:

1. Tilt Shift
2. Architecture
3. Macro
4. Backgrounds
5. Portraits

The first two I happen to already have some preexisting shots to use. So more emphasis will be given to the ones following.

I plan on approaching each of the projects by posting a little about the project itself as described in the book, some tips explained to me and how I think to use those in my photos. This may contain some final photos from my experiments or will be followed with some shots. I'll try to describe the technical details of the shots to share along with any concepts.

El Manifesto

Several years ago, in college, I started taking pictures. I liked it. I took some photos with my Panasonic Lumix ZX-18 that I bought on a meager student salary at around 350 bucks, and I enjoyed doing it. Then, after graduation, life (and work) happened. I got quite busy and fell off with the hobby. With a new job and missing the hobby, I really wanted to jump in with a great new Canon EOS T1i with a couple new lenses! Problem... I obsess about spending money on something that I didn't need. I need to prove to myself that I would have much more fun with a new 850 dollar toy.

Thanks to my girlfriend, birthday, and curiosity, I happen to have 3 new photo project books to learn some new stuff and get cracking:

1. Photo Op: 52 Inspirational Projects for the Adventurous Image Maker
2. The Wild Side of Photography: Unconventional and Creative Techniques for the Courageous Photographer
3. 50 Photo Projects: Ideas to Kick-Start Your Photography

Which brings me to the precipice of this ever-so exciting introductory post...

My plan is to pick 10 projects from these books that I both like and dislike and do all 10 (at least) before I can justify buying my new toys. 

At that point, I'll have plenty more projects to play with with the new lens and camera.

In executing this project...project I wanted to record the whole and half notes that came out of my head during the projects I chose and share the project descriptions so that some others could exercise their shutter fingers with a week-to-bi-weekly project, or get back on the photo bandwagon with me if they so desired.

I'll shortly pick out a handful of projects from these books and share them plus the rules or methods I plan to apply. I encourage any who read to also post any comments or link-backs to their related to the projects.

But now... sadly... Monday approaches :-/. I'll be back soon with Projects.