Retro Polaroid fun comes to the iPhone with Instant

There are many vintage filters available to add to a photo after shooting the shot. And, there are camera apps that change the way the photo is initially shot to change the experience of iPhone photography. Basically, the second one is just applying a filter to an image from the start since we aren’t really changing anything hardware based on our iPhones. But, the change in the action of taking a photo can be part of the fun too. This is where Instant comes in, it’s all about the retro experience.

Instant first appeared on the iPad where I don’t do much with the camera so the fun was getting lost a bit. Even with the iPad Mini, when it comes time to shoot a photo, I still dig my iPhone out of my pocket. Instant on the iPhone starts off with the option to import a photo or snap a new shot. The viewfinder is similar in look to that of the ‘One Step’ camera. This is not a universal app so you have to buy a copy for your iPhone and another for your iPad if you want to use on both.

Instant offers a variety of filters to apply to mimic the wide variety of Polaroid photos came out of a camera. Some over exposed, others too dark, some film got a bit old so it was grainy, etc… “30 unique vintage style photo filters, with 10 of them closely mimicking the effects of various classic Polaroid films.”

Age and highlights are adjusted with a slider, each option is adjusted individually.

Writing on your Instant iPhone photos are not as limiting as the originals. If you didn’t get the writing exactly right on the old paper Polaroids, the photo was damaged with no way to re-print the photo. Now, Instant lets you use different fonts, formats and ink color till you get it right or completely remove without any damage to your snapshot.

Unlike the original Polaroid film, Instant allows for the paper frame to be colorized. Along with the new feature comes the ability to add the wear and tear of a well shared photo with spots, wrinkles and finger smudges.

05 Instant iPhone

Instant offers ‘export’ to many of the popular social services as well to the iPhone’s photo library. In the settings, you can choose to save a copy of the original photo prior to edits or save only the final edited result.

Toss a bunch of the features at a photo to get the look like the old snap shot found between some old papers in the bottom drawer of that desk you never use. Finger prints, wrinkled paper, faded in the classic Polaroid Instant frame.

1 Second video per day stitched into your life movie

For years now, people have snapped a self photo per day and stitched together into a movie. It is interesting to see how a person’s face changes over time. Some of the photos reflecting the person in casual, some dressed up, some after work and others after working out. Recently, there has been a lot of talk about little video recording devices that are either constantly or near always-on recording what is going around the wearer. I’m not thrilled about people constantly recording all around me. Sure, there is traffic and safety cameras that catch me passing by every day. I’m talking about a person sitting in a meeting or talking to me at a personal level.

A Kickstarter project just wrapped up successful with a fun marriage of the two visual recording paths above. Instead of snapping a single photo or continuious video recording, 1 Second Everyday is an iPhone app that you use to record a moment in time every day. Then, merge the short one second videos into a movie. Within a second, you have a moment in time about what is going on around the user. While not collecting too much like a conversation or too little with a single snap that can’t always be put into context. The app also allows a second of time to be pulled out of longer videos you have on your iPhone.

Although the app is inexpensive, as a thanks for the Kickstarter funding ending well, Cesar Kuriyama is offering 1 Second Everyday for no charge on Thursday January 10th, 2013. This is a 24 hour only deal. I’m looking forward to seeing how those moments come together and how the story unfolds for the viewers in the future. Whether I keep the movie private or choose to share out directly through the app.

Those Magical, One Tap iPhone Photo Enhancement Apps

Many articles have been written about why cell phone photography is becoming more popular than using a purpose built camera. Generally, the articles lean towards cell phones are always handy, while a camera is a extra bit of hardware to carry. I agree with my phone camera always being handy compared to my camera. But, I see social sharing creating the need to touch up photos a bit prior to posting anytime/anywhere being a big part of phone photography.

01 iPhone enhanced

The above is far from what the original quick snapshot was (below). Using a couple different apps, the resulting image has a completely different atmosphere about it. I have written here about many apps and their feature sets to get a image updated for different effect. Most of the iPhone photo apps have a central feature they lean on when marketing the app. A sort of ‘one tap’ photo fix feature. Use the one feature and your photos will be made ‘better’. I don’t use a single app as a do-it-all solution, rather different apps for different results. But, how do the app’s with a leading enhancement tool do when a single photo is left to their one button? Every app offers additional tuning, but here we will just import a common iPhone photo and tap the one button. Starting with our original store front snap:

02 iPhone original

First up, Instaflash. “Patented LCE (Lighting and Contrast Enhancement) from ACD Systems International Inc. It adds natural-looking illumination to the dark areas of your photos while still preserving contrast and detail using advanced image processing algorithms from ACDSee.”

Next, Dynamic Light: Known for it’s HDR effect “Dynamic Light gives you the best and most vibrant HDR-like look on any mobile platform. And this is all accomplished from just a single image using only a single dial.”

Camera+ with it’s Clarity feature: “We partnered with professional photographer, Lisa Bettany, to bring you a slew of stunningly beautiful effects. With a single tap, you can transform a soulless pic into a work of art. There are dozens of 1-touch effects for you to experiment with so that you can get the perfect result every time. ”

Perfectly Clear Automatic Photo Correction: “Perfectly Clear for iPhone & iPad – Intelligent Image Correction. Our lab-quality corrections make sure your photos are perfect… with just 1 click! ”

There are many other app for the iPhone that allow for quick photo editing on-the-go. These are just the top players that let it be well known they have a single click enhancement for you. Others may offer a ‘magic wand’ but they are multiple clicks in and at that point in time you might as well be doing fine tuning on your own.

Which of the above short list is best? Sorry, but to each their own. I don’t mean that ‘per person’, I mean it more ‘per photo’. While having so many options will clutter up a few app folders on my iPhone, depending on the desired end result, the starting quick tap can be different. After all, every photo will tell a different story depending on the story teller.

Gels and shapes for iPhone photos, a different thinking around enhancements

We know the filter apps, adding a set of effects to a photo to gain a different visual impact. While the filters have simple names, they are actually applying a set of changes for the final effect. This can be seen when using a photoshop like app that breaks changes down to individual steps, each step can be changed before adding the next.

When using a film camera with lenses, one adjustment available is gels. These are most often recognized by color filters that are screwed onto the lens to take the photo though.

00 Gelo iPhone

Gelo on the iPhone is those color lens gels, in an after effect electronic enhancement. Import a photo, then use the color spinner along the bottom of the Gelo screen to choose gradient or solid film and color.

Sliding the area at the top downward will provide access to color adjustment outside of the defaults in the application wheel.

If a gradient is chosen rather than a solid gel color, the filter start and end points can be adjusted easily via finger dots. Gelo allows the effect application to be at an angle too, not just up/down.

A different effect I have not seen in other apps is the ability to add a shape (circle, square or triangle) to a photo. The shapes can be solid fill, adjusted like the background gel filter effects.

The shapes can also be resized and moved around for impact. As well Gelo lets the shape to be changed if you find a square works better than a circle or triangle.

KitCam on the iPhone enhances photography and photo editing in one app

Generally, there are two types of photography apps for the iPhone. There are Camera apps that alter the way photos are taken with the iPhone. Then, there are apps for enhancing images. The second of the two are more popular, tuning images for sharing on social sites with family and friends. Apps that alter how photos are taken from the beginning have a strong following amongst the retro and film camera fans.

The folks that created the PhotoForge2 editing app has now released KitCam. An app that has film and lens options for how a photo is taken to start with, then editing tool for enhancing more. Amongst the enhancements is even the ability to change the film and lens used when the photo was initial taken.

Tap the KitCam lens to slide out the options. Swipe left/right to choose and see the impact of each. Some allow fine tuning their enhancement impacts beyond just applying.

KitCam comes with a very nice selection of lenses, films and frames. If you want to go for an extra special effect, there are in-app purchasable groups of each. The built in options have kept me plenty busy, but I can imagine a few shots that would enjoy the upgraded bundle.

Sliders for fine tuning contrast and white balance in real time.

Popular photography camera are on the view finder screen through the settings icon. KitCam works with single photos and video too.

Photos directly after taking or after enhancing, can be shared out in a wide variety of ways. KitCam provides for saving to popular Social Services, cloud storage or open in other apps that you may prefer using to more adjustments.

Basic adjustments can be made to the photos like crop, ‘enhance’, and contrast/white balance.

There are advanced ‘Pro’ photo editing options within KitCam. Even these tools are included without an extra charge.

Choose the film icon in the upper right corner of the photo editing area to have access to the KitCam film/lens options that where available when first taking the photos. This feature works on imported photos that you have taken via the iPhone camera without KitCam.

This is the photo as it was taken with the film/lens selections above.

Where other apps that offer film/lens combinations to take the photo with initially then export the photo. KitCam lets you change your mind about the film/lens/frame later so nothing is ever stuck with a bad decision.

New Black and White iPhone photography fun with release of Tintype SnapPak update

The iPhone camera app Hipstamatic has received a new film and flash updated called Tintype. The additional two vintage films and single lens are available via a 99 cent in-app purchase as a new SnapPak. The group offer a new take on black and white photography for the iPhone. One film leans towards the look found in a police mug shot while the other gives the effect of early photography colorization prior to color film photography.

The new Tintype SnapPak should prove popular with folks using the Hipstamatic app on their iPhone where more than just a lack of color is required in a photograph. The films and flash are all about setting a mood for the photo’s viewer similar to what was found in an old Kodak Brownie camera.

Send a photo to a friend with the iPhone that can only be viewed for seconds

The Poke feature of Facebook has been around since near the start of Facebook. You can ‘poke’ someone like a tap on their shoulder as you walk down the hall. They have shared a brief second with you and time moves on. Why, well… not sure beyond letting someone know your thinking about them.

An app, ‘Snapchat’ took that a step further by letting you remind them that your thinking of them with a photo. Instead of just sending a text message with a photo attached, you can use the app which will limit the length of time the photo will be viewable. Perhaps it could be used to show someone a interesting thing that is happening without worrying about the photo being shared or cluttering up the recipient’s iPhone photo library.

Facebook has taken their Poke feature and made it into a free iPhone app now. You can choose to ‘poke’ someone, you can send them a photo, a bit of text or even a short video. All will be viewable for the receiving person (Facebook contact) for how long you allow and then go away.

After you choose the type of ‘Poke’ you wish to send, like the photo below, you can do a little tuning and set how long the photo will be viewable to the person your sending it to. When you tap ‘Next’, you are presented with a lit of folks your connected to on Facebook allowing for one or many to be chosen. After you send, the Poke and who you sent it to is added to your list of ‘sent’. The list can be cleared if you do not want the history kept.

But, if someone was fast when their view a photo you send them with Poke, why couldn’t they just take a screen capture of the image. According to the ‘Help’ area, the sender gets a message that a screen capture was snapped. Of course, there are apps that record all actions when an app is open so that wouldn’t register as a screenshot. Also, they could snap a photo of the iPhone screen using a second device so don’t be misguided into sending something that could haunt you later thinking it will go away forever when Poke auto deletes.

Mini Mobile Websites – Create, edit, collaborate and share all with the iPhone

There was one, now there are many, options to create mini Web sites all on the iPhone. Initially, these were sites that a person could use to easily add images and text via their iPhones. Now, sites can be text, links, and images – shared or private, and others can be invited to add content too. Sites can quickly be created for an event, trip or just items of interest. Multiple people at a event, like a soccer game can share in the creative work, adding scores, highlights and images. Using the Free Zapd iPhone app, sites created are viewable with any browser across the many devices like iPhones, iPad and desktop computers.

Create as many Web sites you like, all with the iPhone. Name each, add tags, and update as you like. Zapd assigns a URL that is your account ID, Zapd, then the site name. Since each site has a unique URL, you can always have another vanity URL forward to one your create and maintain with your iPhone.

Choose a theme and category for each site. Themes offer different fonts, layouts and coloring. Some may appear slight on the iPhone but may appear more dramatic when viewed with a desktop browser. Zapd does offer a few themes that carry an extra in-app charge.

Adding text, links and photos within the Zapd app to your sites is quick so updates are easy when on-the-go. There are light photo editing tools available.

In the Settings for each site you build with your iPhone, you can choose if the site will be Private or Public viewable. Sharing is built into Zapd so that you can invite others to view or even add to the site.

Zapd recently sent an email mentioning a Holiday Content. Below is an outtake of that email. If you are taking holiday photos, why not post up on a Zapd mini site to share with family and friends? Then let the Zapd staff know about it via the method shown below… good luck!

It’s family holiday time, grab the Polaroid camera

Dad was an electrical engineer so we had the latest tech toys. A SX70 Polaroid fit right in, much more fun at the time than my 126 cartridge camera. Film and Flash bars were not cheap so we weren’t allowed to shoot a picture of every little thing. What really helped was the fun of the film coming out of the camera and watching the grey area of the card slowly become a ‘developed’ picture. Shaking helped the development process, speeding things up a bit as well making the color more even.

Snapping a photo with ShakeItPhoto will result in the classic film card slide onto the screen. I figured the kids I showed it to wouldn’t understand since they had never used a Polaroid camera… nah, they thought it was fun too.

It’s hard to resist not shaking the iPhone as the image starts to appear…

When the image is done, a copy of the Polaroid effect image is saved to your iPhone photo library. I found this didn’t start happening till after I restarted the iPhone. ShakeItPhoto also lets you import a image from your Photo Library to apply the effect to. ‘Sharing’ via email attachment or Facebook is available.

Options are light for ShakeItPhoto. ‘Polaroid’ is a square vs classic picture frame, Fast Processing just ‘develops’ quicker… less time to shake, Keep Original is the image without the Polaroid effect/frame.

For the love of EyeEm iPhone photo share, updates and Ambassadors

Many times, services and apps are reviewed by how they do against another solution. Feature lists, support, accessibility and user interfaces of a new app have get compared to another that people think set the standard.

In the world of iPhone photo sharing, many compare others against Instagram. While I agree, the solution is very well done, there are others with a different take on the sharing problem that are equally well designed, but they are different. EyeEm is one that is a service and an app where iPhone photo sharing is at the center. Photos on the service are generally quality over quantity. People post up fewer photos, seemingly picking only their better shots. Each photo is tagged with what the photographer was doing and where they were. The location being an item they choose from a list of nearby business options or enter their own instead of being locked to a Geolocator.

A recent update to EyeEm made the application of the included filters and frames easier. While I do almost all of my tuning outside of the app, the ease of selecting an additional filter is nice. Swipe side-to-side to move through the available filters (14), seeing each one being applied, reaching the end moves you back to the start. Swiping up/down takes you through the frame options (12) to outline the photo your uploading.

You can still use the buttons along the bottom to show the filters and frames which can be manually picked. Across the top of the ‘edit’ area of EyeEm is a ‘clarify’ like enhancement tool and crop.

To get the word of EyeEm out to more possible users and to gather with people to exchange set up and usage stories, EyeEm is now offering the opportunity to be an Ambassador.

While looking at the Ambassador information, you may want to look around a bit at EyeEm’s very nice tutorial pages. Full of instructions and inspirational photos.

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