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Hipstamatic adds Infrared effect filters through Bucktown Hipstapak

Hipstamatic, the film and lens filters app, is making the sharp black-and-white impact of Infrared photography to a new combo Hipstapak. Called “Bucktown“, the pack includes a film and lens which can be mixed with other films and lens you may already have in your Histamatic grab bag for even more impactful photography.

Previously, when a new HipstaPak was introduced, the lens/film would appear in the oggl social app, included at no extra charge above the social service subscription. This appears to no longer be the case. To use the lens/film in oggl, you must purchase in Hipstamatic, then import into oggl.

The lens in the Bucktown bundle is the ‘Scott S’, named after Scott Strazzante. I have not run this lens against other films to see the difference that it makes on a photos, watch for an update here.

The film is the BlacKeys IR film, which is the backbone to the sharp black-and-white results of photos using this film filter.

While called Infrared, most people will see a resulting image and relate it more to a monochrome print of yesteryear.

Google Improves iPhone Photo Management

Google offers the storage of iPhone photos to the Google Cloud solution as a quick way of freeing up memory on the iPhone. The iPhone has this solution built in with Apple’s iCloud, but if Google Photo or Google Drive is being used for other purposes, these app updates makes it easier to keep everything in one place (Google vs iCloud).

Photo syncing to/from the Google Cloud improved 4x faster
A new view to the Assistant Tab cards

Within the Google Photo app, choosing the Assistant option along the bottom of any screen, results in a scrollable list of alerts from Google and quick creation buttons.

The quick create options are available from the Photos area as well, along with album viewing options.

The Google Drive app also provides access to the photos on the iPhone and on the Google Cloud/Drive account to reduce the need to jump between apps.

Quick High Resolution HDR With Editing Through Lightroom Mobile

Adobe has updated their Lightroom Mobile app with a few features that will be improving my workflow:

Authentic HDR taking through the app
Exporting original raw images to camera roll
Improved rating for images
Improved cloud syng

The addition of HDR photography to the app has the customization tuning that I would expect from a Adobe app. Rather than one-size-fits-all, a bit of tuning helps set the app to my HDR style:

A winning feature of using Lightroom Mobile app for HDR is it’s option to have it in the quick apps area of the iPhone. When access is turned on, a HDR snap is just a right swipe on the screen away.

Once a moment is captured, the Lightroom Mobile app takes a little while to save to it’s own editing library. Once there, the HDR photo has all the fine turning options that any photo edited in the app gets:

I enjoy the apps handling of editing a selected area. Most apps let you set a dot or crosshairs where the edit will happen, while Lightroom Mobile uses a circle solution so the editing area is truly known:

Raw image saving is handled via a picker to choose the image between JPG and DNG

The improved rating solution is within the photo detail view… select as many or few stars as the picture deserves.

Walk The Wild Side With A New Film And Lens For Oggl And Hipstamatic

Normally, there is a bit of a time difference between lens/film combos coming out across the Hipstamatic camera and photo sharing products. But, this weekend Madagascar showed up in both! If your a fan of shooting with film and lens effects to get more of a film camera experience, there is the bundle in Hipsamatic iPhone Camera app. If your a fan of the Oggl photography social sharing, you now have the film and lens to mix and match with your other favorites too (Oggl allows for the film/lens combo change after the photo is taken).

In the case of the Hipstamatic app, there is a new camera face to use too. Love the colors!

Here is a shot I just took using the Madagascar combo

Instagram App Supporting Multiple Accounts

Do you have a need to post images to two accounts on Instagram? I can see many possibilities where an individual may have to maintain a business account, along with their personal account. Previous to the new feature added in Instagram, this would have meant logging out of one account and into the other. Posting an image to the wrong account is just waiting to happen as well, no image would be a instant moment if not logged into the correct account.

To add or create another account within the Instagram app, go your profile area (person icon on the bottom buttons, furthest to the right), then choose the ‘gear’ icon in the upper right corner. Scrolling down, you will find the option second from the bottom.

This will result in a normal login/add account page to get the account entered an an option within the Instagram app.

While I have you here… I wonder if I am seeing an A:B test or this is happening for everyone in Instagram. If you go to the ‘Explore and Search’ area, second icon from the left along the bottom. Choose a image, then go to the person that posted the image and choose one of their images… can be the same image or another one. [Below image account is not me nor anything I’m recommending, they just happen to have a great example of what I was talking about. I do love Palm Springs Mid Century though!!]

Now scroll down, do you have a whole bunch of other ‘SUGGESTED’ images? They are not from that same person, but seem related beyond simple ‘like tagging’. This area doesn’t appear on all images, and never seems to happen on an image directly in my feed or chosen from the Explore area directly. Only images with hashtags have had the addition suggestions.

In Memory Of Arjan van der Horst – Free Film For Your iPhone

To be honest, Arjan is new to me. I saw the announcement of his passing and the mentions of his impacts on street photography grabbed my attention.

His art was very hipster, so it is no surprise to me to see the folks that create the Hipstamatic iPhone camera app came out with a special roll of film in his memory.

The Arjan ‘film’ can be dowloaded for free via the Hipstamatic app, just launch the app and choose the shopping cart icon. After downloading, don’t forget to choose it from any other ‘films’ you have downloaded. It is a ‘black and white’ roll, depending on the lens you choose in the app to pair with it, produces a very wide variety of effects. The bolder images will best produce what Arjan van der Horst is known for.

Fine Tuning Now For Tiny Planet Creations

If it has been a while since you took a look at Tiny Planet, you may want to update and get in to play a bit. The latest update has brought a slew of new fine tuning options. All of these are considered as ‘Live Editing’ tool as you can see what you will get as you make the changes. The tuning options include: Edge Alignment, Latitude, Longitude, Zoom, Horizontal Offset, Vertical Offset, and Duration of the Video if you choose to share the creating of your Tiny Planet.

Improvements to previously available tools is also included for the Edge Blur and Rotation.

Using either a photo from your iPhone’s library or taking a new, choose if you want the wrap to globe or tunnel effect. You can change your mind if you don’t like the direction a picture is going. During this process is when you can also choose the video options.

Following the globe or tunnel effect application, a row of fine tuning adjustments appear. Each of these can be selected, then a dial like slider is provided below to tune the image.

All of these options allow for a less random final Tiny Planet photo.

Presidential Black And White Photography For The iPhone

The Hipstamatic folks keep at it… introducing a new HipstaPak called The District. If you enjoy black and white photography, this will be a nice add to your iPhone camera options. As usual, if your a Oggl social share subscriber, you have access to this film/lens at no extra charge (within Oggl, the Hipstamatic version is still 99 cents when purchased within the app).

One of the example shots for The District lens/film HipstaPak (all are toward US Historical sites, but there is a lot of fun posts on Oggl showing the Pak being put to good use):

As the Pak appears on Oggl

As I promised, here is a shot I took using The District film/lens bundle (defaults to 2448×2448):

Your iPhone Camera Loves When The USA Is Winning At Soccer

To help celebrate the USA still being in the World Cup, Hipstamatic has their Sao Paulo HipstaPak discounted to FREE. Yes, as long as the USA stays in the World Cup, you can open your iPhone Hipstamatic app and download the film and lens pack at no charge.

If your new to the vintage camera packs of Hipstamatic, this is a nice one for the full retro photography effect. Indoor photography will appear as expired film, outdoor photography with the pack has a box camera appearance. I have high hopes for the U.S., but to be safe you may want to grab this pack now while it’s free.

The example photo provided by Hipstamatic:

And, as usual, a photo I took with my iPhone 5s using the Sao Paulo HipstaPak:

The Free iPhone Photo Editor Inside of Google+ App

Google+, the social sharing service from Google, has its lovers and haters. Google has tweaked it from time to time to get it to match a plan they have. While I post there and enjoy viewing many photographers work, it has never caught on as my first social solution when I want to get the word out. That is just me, your milage will vary.

Many updates appear to be to tie Google+ more directly into Google’s other services, and in some cases for enhancements to replace the need of those other services. One area of enhancements has been the improvements to the photo editing features. There is still the ‘quick filters’ for effect, but now there are other enhancements in the area of pinpointing photo turning.

The photo editing features are available on either the iPhone or iPad via the free Google+ app. It does require you have a Google+ account, but you are not forced to ever post any of your images to Google+. That said, inside of Google+ is the feature to auto sync all of your photos to the Google online storage if you would rather use another service than the iCloud/iPhoto builtin option.

Starting off, the app lets you take a photo or edit one you took previously. Across the top is a Cancel (exit without saving any edits), an undo, a mirror flip and ‘Done’. After you complete your edits, the photo can be saved to the iPhone’s photo library or shared for others to see on Google+. Across the bottom of the first screen is Google’s Auto Enhancement too (it does allow a slight bit of control over the amount of ‘auto’ applied), then the Crop and Rotate tools. I’m amazed at how few photo editing apps do not include a ‘rotate’. A quick win for Google+ photo editor.

Swipe across the bottom of the screen’s menu to go to the pre-configured filters.

Choosing a Google+ photo editor effect filter opens to a group of finer detailed options in that area of filters. Generally, these can be selected to fine tune the amount of the effect applied too.

The pinpoint editing option allows for taping a location, adjusting the size of the area to be impacted, then swipe left/right for the amount of the effect. A swipe up/down offers more options for the tuning. The app allows for multiple points to be selected and tuned (individually) without having to exit and return to the photo like other pinpoint solutions do.

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