iPHONEOGRAPHY 102: APPS and CAMERAS

As a pet Photographer, my kids get photographed. All. The. Time. Sometimes they are just like real kids, the refuse to look at me or my camera. Once I laid in the grass for a half hour to get a shot of Aedin yawing. Now while you probably won’t be doing that I wanted to share a few apps that will make getting snapshots of your Furkids easier. Photos you know, you might actually want to print. Or at least share. It’s really not hard. This will be a guide for Iphoneographers. Sorry Droid users, it’s not that I don’t like you, I’m just loyal to apple. Most of these apps will work for you too though.

First let’s go over “cameras”:

The best Camera is the one you have with you. DSLR’s are sweet, but you don’t NEED one. I mean, if you want fancy photos that’s what I’m for. Right?

Cameras differ greatly depending on the phone you are using. Not all phones are created equal.  Now I use a 3s, I’m not sure of all the stats on it, but it’s not as cool as the 4 and nowhere near are awesome as the 5. The 4 and 4s has 960x640 Resolution on a 3.5 inch screen and 326 ppi (pixels per inch) and is 5 megapixels. Pretty sweet. The 4 has a 2.8 aperture and a four element lens. The 4s has a 2.4 aperture and a five element lens as well as face detection and is 8 megapixels. The 5 (the one I’m lusting over currently) has an 1136x 640 resolution and 326ppi on a 4 inch screen. Which unless you’re a size queen *coughsamsungcough* that’s really all you need. The 5 boasts panorama, an IR filter, face detection and a five element lens. It is also a 2.4 aperture lens and 8 megapixels. Yummy. All three have tap to focus and LED flash. (The 3s also has tap to focus.)

So now you know what your camera can do. For the most part I use my in phone camera, it’s faster and doesn’t load data. For special moments I use Camera Awesome or Camera+. Which is as close as I can get to the camera in the 5. 

Camera+:

What I like

·         Separate focus/exposure

·         Stabilizer

·         The HORIZON LEVLE.

·         Live Exposure information

·         iCloud Sync (I’m nerdy, plus you should BACK UP YOUR PHOTOS.)

Very simple, minimal interfacing. Which I love. The buttons for image stabilization, burst and timer are hidden under the gear symbol, which at first I hated at first, and now love because klutzy me can’t change it without meaning too. You can also change the setting to save straight to your camera roll. You can also change the resolution from normal too high to optimized for sharing. I have mine set on high because I generally print my photos. The zoom is a slider bar instead of the pinch, which makes sense because you have two tap points for focus and exposure. Last cool feature is you can use your LED for continues fill light. (Tap, Tap, Tap $1)

Camera Awesome:

What I like

·         Stabilization

·         Composition helper (hello golden ratio)

·         Also has a horizon level

·         iCloud sync

It can take a few seconds to load and saving can take data but it’s not bad. I love using the golden ration composition guide. The menu is in a pull down bar, so it’s even less cluttery than Camera+. It annoyingly has pinch to zoom but you can turn it off. You can cloud archive and export to the camera roll. You can’t change the file size but you can share smaller photos. This app has one tap awesomize, which is similar to Snapseed’s. You can also set up sharing with everything from smug mug to youtube. Best function is the screen tap to take. (Smug Mug, Free)

Other camera apps. CameraBag2, Pris and 645 Pro.

Now that we got the hard stuff out of the way comes the fun part! Editing apps! I’m super geeky and I’ve tried almost all of them. There’s a few new ones out rights now but I feel like they are pretty much the same that’s on the market right now in a new package. They all come with “filters” a few have a couple decent ones but I feel like they aren’t worth the money you pay for them. If I don’t or can’t utilize an entire app then it gets deleted. For example for a while I had vintique and I used it to post full frame photos to IG, but there are better apps for that. Onward!

VSCOcam: My all-time favorite app for editing. I love the film-like filters most of all, but take heart. Not all are film style. The in app filters are fabulous, there are a few you can purchase to get different effects. I would recommend this if you have and love a different style. Most filter packs are $.99, a few are free, and for a limited time you can buy all 48 for $5.99. Right now I love film black and white styles right now and am leaning heavily into it. You can use the in app camera or load into the app. Interfacing is extremely minimalist. (Visual Supply Company, Free)

Snapseed: I use this solely to edit photos. You can load to Instagram from here but I don’t. I generally use the automatic adjustment and then sometimes saturation and brightness. Adjustment are made using swipe which is nice and becoming the norm for apps. This app ads grain, sometimes annoyingly so. It has a few filters and frames, I use the tilt shift one sometimes. It’s way better than the native filter in IG. This app is fast, easy and well designed. (Nik Software, Inc., Free)

Afterlight: One of the apps I purchased in my quest for real film like filters. The only other one to make the cut. I don’t use it as often now since I love VSCOcam so much. The light leak filters are really sweet though and the shape cut outs. Ok, I love the shape cut outs. Like, really love. (Simon Filip, $.99)

Over: For adding sweet fonts. I started out with the free one and quickly bought the full version for a whole $.99. New improvements include working in layers and tons of new fonts. Also great for watermarking. (GoPotluck, Inc., $1.99)

Rhonna: This is super sweet fast moving little app. You can edit with the background they provide or upload from your camera roll or numerous apps. It crops to square automatically. I don’t use this often, I find it cheesy but sweet. There are so many options and it’s easy as pie. Just tap, pick a color and bam. Awesome. There are fine tuning options as well, such as transparencies and such. (Rhonna Designs, $1.99)

Beautiful Mess: I debated over getting this one. It’s responsible for all those cute arrows, phrases, chevrons and boarders. This app is pretty much a fad right now, but it’s Adorable! So I bought it. Even when the fad fades it will still be useful. I love the ease of interfacing, and sharing is super duper easy peasy like pie. Cherry pie. (Red Velvet Art LLC., $.99)

Those are all my favorite apps. Do you have a favorite one I didn't share?
Droid users!, and info you want to share? I'm planning a small post at the end of this series for Droid information.
See you tomorrow for the last class, Photo 103!

iPHONEOGRAPHY 101: TERMINOLOGY

Welcome to the wonderful world of iPhoneography! You’ve probably heard that term thrown around for a while now. You’re wondering what the heck that means. And while you should never hire an iPhoneographer for your wedding, it’s a safe bet for your everyday life. The cute dog photos and food, oh and probably your kids. It’s basically lifestyle photography only with your Phone.

Because the best camera is the one you have with you. Seriously.

This post is going to cover some basic lingo and terms you may run across in the next two (or three?) posts. They will not be in alphabetical order.

iPhonephotography: The art of using your iPhone to capture the world around you. Everyone’s style is different. It’s about finding that part of you that you love and expressing it through photos. 

iPhoneographer: That’s you buddy.

Lifestyle Photography: The art of everyday life.

Aperture: The size of the hole in your lens/the amount of light that hits your sensor. ie. 2.4 is wide open and lets in the most light. The smaller the number the less depth of field you get.

Exposure: The length of time your lens is open and your sensor receives light/data. ex. 1/100 of a second.

PPI: The amount of pixels in every square inch.

Megapixels: A unit of measurement which represents one million pixels — those tiny dots of color which make up an image.

Resolution: Is simply the physical number of columns and rows of pixels creating the display.

Tap to focus: When you tap your screen to focus on a single point. Left to its own devices our phones will often focus the whole image, or try to, resulting in middling focus and over all blahness.

Composition: is the placement or arrangement of visual elements or ingredients in a work of art, as distinct from the subject of a work.

Rule of Thirds: Can be broken. Occasionally. It’s that grid on your screen. More, HERE.

Golden Ratio: The Valhalla of art. Using math to make art more pleasing to the eye. Art for Math Geeks. When that art looks divine and you have no idea why, this is why.

Burst Exposure: When your phone take many photos very quickly. Usually used to action shots, annoying husbands and HDR.

Fill Light: Using a continuous light source to artificially light your object.

DSLR: Digital single-lens reflex, a camera that uses a sensor instead of film to record data.

Blown Highlights: When the highlights or bright parts of your photo are hot or white and hold no data.

Bokeh: Is blur. And how your camera records it, depending on what you’re are photographing.

Depth of field: how far back in your plane of vision is in focus. Is your whole photo in focus or just a point?

ISO: International Organization of Standardization, or how sensitive your sensor/film is to light. High ISO means more noise.

Metadata: Data your photo retains that you don’t see. Such as camera info, ISO, shutter speed, and geotagging.

Noise: At a high iso, usually in low light you get noise, or grain. Also what happens when you over edit, or take a dark photo and make it lighter/brighter.

Pixel: The little dots that together make up a photo. When you super blow up a photo they are square.

Shutter Speed: How fast your shutter/lens/sensor opens and closes receiving light.

Ghosting: A slow shutter speed + movement = ghosting. Also, camera shake.

HDR: High-dynamic-range. When your camera take two or three photos at once and merges them. It exposes for the highlights, mid-tones and shadows. Then makes them into one amazing photo that has tons of detail.

 Whew! I think that's about it for now. If you don't see a term you want to know, tell me and I'll add it. I'll see you tomorrow for Part two: 102 Cameras and Apps.