Category Archives: News

Lastest news for iPhone Photography

Moving from Printstagram to Print Studio to print a wider variety of shape photos

There is no shortage of apps that provide a service to print your Instagram photos. Then, the other extreme, solutions that will print photos on paper, mugs, tshirts, mouse pads and more. The developers of Printstagram, a Instagram only solution, has released a solution for printing a wider variety of photo shapes and sizes.
Printing your photos to paper and mailing for you is all that the iPhone app Print Studio does. Several sized squares, rectangles, cards and wall art. An item that stood out to me was the claim that submitted orders would be processed right away. In the world of instant gratification, I’m surprised by many of the available solutions take over a week before they print/mail orders. I’ll let you know how my first order arrives.

Pricing seems competitive, watch out for little extras that can count up. The Print Studio service looks much more like the old days of a roll of film being printed and mail the whole roll of shots back or to a friend. Where some other solutions are more bias towards printing just a couple photos to be mailed, a nice ‘thinking of you’ solution.

Photos are picked from the iPhone’s different photo libraries, or right off of a Instagram account. Then, each can be cropped and quantities can be adjusted. There are no filters or ‘enhancement’ options, Print Studio is for printing your already prepped photos, quickly. Of course, you have to tell Print Studio where to mail the photos and finally pay.

Everything iPhone 5S Camera In One Spot

Over the weeks following the release of the iPhone 5s, there has been a variety of photographers posting their thoughts on the device’s updated camera. For me, the most notable is the speed everything photography related happens with the new chips and iOS7.

Of course, there is way more to the upgrades in the area of photography via the iPhone 5s. Rather than repeat the pros and cons posted by others, here is a list of articles you may find enlightening.

One of the first, longest and most detailed was TechCrunch’s, A Photographer’s Take On The iPhone 5S Camera. The article is broken into ‘Sensor’, What the A7 does for you, True Tone Flash (a lot of smarts in the technology), Auto Image Stabilization, SLO-MO, and wrapping up with “The differences, then, come largely in how Apple’s ISP hardware and its front-end software mesh to make life easier for photographers.”

A nice real life experience for an iPhone photographer is a post on National Geographic by Jim Richardson Capturing the Aura of the Scottish Highlands With the iPhone 5s – Leaving his trusty Nikon behind, Jim Richardson returns to a favorite spot to photograph, the Scottish Highlands, with a brave new tool—the iPhone 5S.

Connect Digital Photography Review did a very large 11 page review. Every feature and enhancement for the 5S camera is covered. There are a lot of comparison shots included to drive home the differences between earlier and other brand smartphone cameras.

Geek.com did a quick article covering the iPhone 5S photography results verses other popular phone options (HTC, Lumia and Moto X). The shot examples are at enough of a different angle between the smartphones used that the auto exposure feature on all of the devices could effect the result. But, the examples do show how the manufactures used their own unique solutions to the needs of photographers.

iPhone 5s and Sport Photography – a short post but very nice for anyone photographing moving objects like athletes.

Long Island HipstaPak No Longer Free, But Adds A Lens To The Film Bundle

Towards the end of August this year, I mentioned stumbling upon a Free Pak available in the Hipstamatic iPhone Camera app. The ‘free’ Long Island HipstaPak offered a camera body (art) and BlacKeys Extra Fine Film (black and white). Now, the Long Island Pak has been re-introduced for 99 cents, with the addition of Florence Lens.

As I mentioned above, the Long Island HipstaPak still has the BlacKeys Extra Fine film and Old Sport Camera Case, with the addition of the Florence lens (Hipstamatic doesn’t go into what effect the lens creates, but basically it’s a 99 cent lens if you already have the earlier Free Long Island HipstaPak).

Pictures provided by Hipstamatic taken with the Long Island Pak.

As promised when there is a lens, filter or film released that I mention, here are a few photos taken with the Long Island HipstaPak. For reference, here is the earlier post on the original (lensless) Long Island Pak.

Hey… did anyone every get the iOS7 Pak for free from Hipstamatic? Right after iOS7 was released, the Hipstamatic app showed a color gel and a couple flat design cases as free. I never saw how to download then and now the Pak is 99 cents.

Leica Photo Magazine Comes To The iPhone

We all know of the Leica cameras. As well, the photographers and the photos they produce with those Leica cameras. Introducing, the Leica LFI Photografie International. A free ‘magazine’ app for the iPhone and iPad.

The app kicks off with dated News articles that are scrollable to view more.

Tap on a News short or image to see a more of the article. This view is more, but I found that it isn’t ‘all’ of the article. Each article has a link to the online version of the full content. The content within the Leica fotografie app includes news, reviews, how-to and photographer’s experiences.

What Leica app would be complete if it didn’t include photos too? Just tap the Gallery text at the top of the page to view a scrolling thumbnail view of submitted photographs. A nice touch to get a fresh perspective on photography opportunities.

Images can be viewed broken down by categories too if there is a particular point of interest.

Tap an image to drill down a larger view. The Leica LFI ‘magazine’ also has more details on camera settings for each image. Talent is up to the photographer to bring.

Photogene Updated To Version 4, Includes Pro Features At No Extra Charge

Photogene is one of those iPhone photo editing apps that I use a bunch, back shelf for a while then ‘rediscover’ it again. Once again using it a lot as a single app that give the ability to do all the work in one app without silly clutter. Along with the update to the feature set in the new version 4, the app has also gone Universal so you can install it on your iPad for a larger view of your edits. The iPad interface is completely different, I’m only showing the iPhone version here.

Included in the version 4 update:

Photogene is now a universal app for both iPad and iPhone.
iOS 7 compatibility.
New look for iPad user interface. New icon.
The PRO package is now free! Everyone has been upgraded to PRO.
Enhanced RAW support. RAW files are now opened in full resolution.
Flickr export: can now choose a set.
New feature for exporting XMP sidecars.

Now, onto actually enjoying the power of the app – After importing a photo, Photogene 4 has a quick access tool pop up wheel to get right in and editing.

First off, there is a nice group of pre-built overall picture filters. These can be applied in layers when in a rush…

Fun overall filters that are quick and tunable. The real power of Photogene 4 though is the specific photo area tuning tools. Notice that at this level, there is also a row of fuzzy undo/redo/restore buttons along the very bottom of the screen for those times you want to throw a bunch of changes out and rethink the image.

Each effect can be chosen to be applied to a very specific area of the photo. Photogene lets you save/undo/cancel and move onto the next effect. So, you can brighten an area, darken another part of the photos, blur a bit, burn some light… and so on. It’s easy to move from one alteration to the next so doing simple to more detailed edits is pretty quick. When using a tool, don’t miss the ‘Options’ button in the upper area for more adjustments available for that effect.

Each of the effects have additional options from the dial. Usually, these start with the basic brush head used to apply the change. Choosing other tools will result in a different sub group of effects within the top level group. Notice the slider along the bottom, Photogene 4 is not an all-or-nothing filter app.

Every time you save adjustment, it is layered on top of the previous work. Returning to the work picker, notice that the features used have a check mark next to them. If you develop a workflow, this is handy to see where you are in the process and to assure all steps got covered.

When the image is as you like visually, Photogene offers the ability to adjust pixels to best fit the way you will be using the photo. As well, you can review the photo tags, then share through a large variety of options. Speaking of all-in-one without clutter, notice that you can water mark the photo without having to go to another app also… high on my list since I found a recent photo of mine on over 85 sites with no credit.

Rando is updated with ratings, app is back on the iPhone

Remember Rando? It’s that free snapshot photography app that is about anonymous two way sharing.

You snap a shot with the app and send it. The Rando app delivers the photo to someone without anything more about you than a location (city level map) and in return gives you back an anonymous photo someone else took and shared (not the same person that received your snap). There is no importing, filters, enhancements, it’s all about the quick snap shot.

The Rando interface is simple. On the opening screen is images taken by others which can be scrolled through up/down. Swipe from right to left to see the images you took and shared. The shutter button is at the bottom (red circle) which takes the photo then gives the option to send or delete.

Tap an image to flip it over for a location – received images show where the photo was taken while tapping shots you took will show you where the photo was delivered to.

Double tap a Rando image you have received to Delete it, Flag it inappropriate or Download it to your iPhone’s photo library. The download option is an option I don’t like in the app, someone being able to save my snap shot shares puts a different angle on the shooting thoughts.

New in this update to Rando is a small circle with a line in it next to each photo. Tapping that will result in the image becoming a rating solution so people can now say they enjoyed or didn’t enjoy a photo back to the creator. On either side of the rating face is the close without saving edits ‘x’ and save check buttons.

After you have rated a photo shared with you or someone has rated one of your photos, the small circle next to the image changes to what the rating is. Anything from a big happy smile to a very sad frown. Some folks may just hit the rating circle then the green check mark thinking they just gave a positive till they learn they have to adjust the face. It’s tricky to do an UX that is more than a Like or nothing solution. Now, I will know if someone likes my grapes shot or not. No idea who the person is, hope they are not allergic to grapes!

If I’m going to use a flash with my iPhone, it has to be cool, but still have warm light too

Alright, having a ‘must be seen with’, cool, flash isn’t really on my checklist. In fact, a little less cool on the light end and more towards ‘warm’ light would be nice.

What would this flash have to have?

Mobile – it has to be small enough to carry with me. I don’t carry a bag when buzzing around town and that is usually when a dark subject matter could use some fill in light.

Less wires – best would be wireless, at the minimum I need manageable wires that I don’t have to wind up and unwind constantly. The flash needs to be able to get away from the iPhone.

Warm light – not just a big bunch of dumb LEDs that blast the subject with white white light. A warmer light is what most of my shots could use. Maybe adjustable would be a bonus since warm isn’t always best, but definitely cold white is not a 100% solution.

Battery life – I don’t mind the iPhone sharing a bit of power if the flash has to be wired, but the flash can’t rob me of hours of iPhone battery time. Best would be the flash has it’s own battery, rechargeable without the need of a special charger/cable.

Price – Affordable. Since I will be traveling around with this flash in my every day life, I really don’t need a flash that is close to the price of my iPhone! I don’t mean ‘cheap’, I mean reasonably priced for the technology, not for the novelty.

It’s a basic list, but the list is a tall order to fill it would appear since I have been challenged to find something that hits the whole list. Which brings me to the reason for this post, I seem to have stumbled on a hardware solution, the Nova. Take my above list and check everything as ‘included’, and towards the wish list side also, not just the minimum required.

Have not heard of the Nova? No, you wont find it at your local Photographers mall store, or even online. It’s one of those Kickstarter projects. Which means – while it’s cool and everything looks like it’s a must have, the earliest one will be in my hands will be early next year.

Mobile, it’s the outside dimensions of a credit card and thinner than a iPhone!

Less wires… it’s Bluetooth 4 wireless, working with iPhones and iPads.

Warm light is available as is cold, the flash is actually adjustable via the free iPhone app. Which means that to use the Nova flash, you have to use a special app. While my first reaction was “how limiting”, a second thought was that it makes sense since the built-in camera app wouldn’t know to tell a Bluetooth device to strobe a light source.

Battery life is a surprise on the little Nova. The folks creating this solutions say that the lithium ion polymer battery is good for weeks of stand by, with up to 150 flashes. Win for me also is charging is done via a USB Micro B connector.

Finally, Price – when I discovered the project, all of the early adapter $49 priced options where used up. The Nova flash is now available for a $54 pledge. I wonder if this will be a stand alone solution or will others ‘see the light’ and start building similar. I’m looking forward to lessening the wish for more light when the subject calls for a bit of fill.

All images in this post are credited to the creators of the Nova wireless iPhone flash

Shooting with BlacKeys Extra Fine Black and White Film on the iPhone

Last week I discovered a nice surprise, a free film pack in Hipstamatic!

Normally, there will all kinds of news from the Hipstamatic team about a new film, lens and flash pack. This time though, a new pack called “Long Island FreePak” went under my radar. As the name implies, this ‘Pak’ is free. Included is a film and a fun camera body, no lens or flash. But, that is fine as the film is a nice extra fine black and white so it matches up nicely to my currently installed lenses.

Nothing special about getting the free offer, just go to the Hipstamatic retro camera app on your iPhone, choose the cart and find/download. Then head out and shoot! As promised in my last post about add on film, lens, filters and effects, here are a few photos I took the afternoon I installed the update so you can see a real world results.

Olloclip Introduces Lens Kit with Circular Polarizing and 2x Telephoto

If you have heard of Olloclip lenses for the iPhone 4s and iPhone 5, it most likely was for their Fisheye, Wide-Angle and Macro. Their iPhone lens solution is a two sided slip over metal device. On one side is a fisheye lens, which gives a true fisheye photo over a software generated fisheye image. On the other side is a Wide-Angle lens and a Macro lens layered over each other. The lens corner ‘clip’ is a solid piece so there is one for an iPhone 4s and another for the thinner iPhone 5.

Today, I received several emails from Olloclip announcing a new version. The new solution isn’t more lenses on the original unit, instead it’s a whole new clip that carries two lenses to further expand the options for the iPhone photographer. The new Olloclip is similar in size to the original, small enough to have in my pocket without having to carry in an external case.

The first lens is a 2 x Telephoto. Things at a distance can be magnified by 2x with a mechanical lens, rather than the built in digital. As electronic zoom gets better at image correcting, a lens solution will make less of a difference. For now though, a lens should have a sharper image.

On the other side is a round Polarizer lens. While I enjoy taking reflection pictures, I have been missing the option of a polarizer. I covered in an earlier post a less expensive clip lens I use, based on their original device quality this solution should be nice. My full size cameras all have lens polarizer filters for those time I need to see through a transparent surface that could be reflecting the sky or even me!

I am anxious to get my hands on one of these new Olloclip lens packs to see if it is much larger than the original. What has made the first Olloclip so usable is it can be tossed in any bag I’m carrying or even my pocket. The solid construction means I don’t worry about it getting squished like the less expensive spring clip or magnetic options.

Till I have shots to show the lenses in action, here are a few from the Olloclip site.

2013 iPhone Photography Contest Winners Announced

The 7th annual (that means, this has been going on since 2007), iPhone Photography Awards have been announced. Rather than just a couple pics to see on the wall, the IPPAWARDS site all of the winners across the many groups. It is fun to get inspired, launch a photo and start to sweep through the collection. There are a lot of very talented photographers in the world, calling their iPhone their camera.

I should warn you about the site though… it seems to be going up and down a lot over the last couple days. So much traffic the site is going down? One would think that is a thing of the past after having been awarding talent for seven years. I hope it opens successfully for you so you can enjoy the talent.

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