Shutter Sisters

iPhone Photography Intrigue

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I’ve always been drawn to artful process of photography. I make my documentary images by selecting lenses and adjusting the settings on my DSLR. Then I rely on Aperture, my photo editing application, to make minor image adjustments. I might increase the definition of edges to emphasize the texture, tone down harsh highlights, trade color for monochrome, or add a subtle vignette to pull the viewer closer to my subject. But I don’t use Photoshop and frankly, if someone asked me to smooth out her smile lines, I’d frown. Admittedly, I use a light hand when it comes to digital image processing.

But I am becoming increasingly intrigued with iPhone Photography as a means of exploring my fascination with composition, and have just started experimenting with some clever iPhone apps. I’m finding that because I don’t take these images too seriously, I’m eager to try more liberal processing experiments on them – like making quick marks in a sketch book or scribbling phrases in a journal. I’m allowing myself to create a bit of fiction, and it’s been really fun. So if you too are looking to loosen up a bit with your iPhone, consider downloading these cool apps in the App Store and share your results with us.

ShakeItPhoto ($.99) – Like Polaroid for your iPhone, this app lets you shoot, retake and shake. Shaking your iPhone gives you a cropped and color washed Polaroid-esque image. (See my image at left, above.) Check out the ShakeItPhoto Best Of flickr group to see some super cool results and this experiment using ShakeItPhoto and another app, Colorsplash.

CameraBag ($1.99) – Quick and easy photo filters to adjust the mood of your iPhone photos. This app gives you 10 image filters such as Helga (square-format, washed out highlights and old-school vignetting) and 1974 (like your mother’s camera: faded & tinted). (See my image at right, above, with 1962 filter – high contrast B&W.) Check out the CameraBag flickr group and this fabulous set that inspired me to explore.

Got any other iPhone Photography tips or resources? Do share.

Comments

  2. Oh my goodness! You must be reading my mind! I just posted some iPhone photos on my blog that I took at the most unexpected location and included in the 365 Flickr pool. Luckily, I had my trusty iPhone with me! I also shared my thoughts on the Shutter Sisters 365 project and ways to stay inspired and enjoying the process.

    http://artcetera.squarespace.com/artcetera/2010/1/10/365-days-of-photos.html

    I like the point you make about not taking it too seriously. I find that when I use my iPhone to take photos, I feel more playful and free to just see what happens. That kind of mentality usually produces good photos and I have a lot of fun in the process!

    I’m officially addicted to iPhone camera apps. I really like ShakeIt and I also use the Toy Camera app a lot. My next purchase will be CameraBag. I can’t wait to check it out! Thanks for sharing!

  3. I really love Photo Card. It lets you send cards to people either via email or regular mail, and it lets you use your own photos!

    Love it.

  4. I’m not a serious photographer, but I do agree that taking photos with your phone is a freeing experience, in the same way that blogging is not exactly writing a novel. Using a regular camera feels like "Photography" with a capital P, while using the iphone is more playful, almost as if you are using a toy… and lends itself to more spontaneity.

  5. i’ve recently added shakeitphoto app to my iphone… and regret not doing it sooner. i’ve tried other apps, but this one is by far, my favorite photo app. in the end of december, when everyone was getting pumped and ready for the new year and new 365 projects, i thought i’d just be watching… until i got the idea to use my iphone and the shakeitphoto app. here’s my 365 project. all year long, i’ll be taking photos using the shakeitapp.

    http://brklynphoto.blogspot.com/

    i like the challenge of using the iphone camera to create a photo that i can share. and here’s a link to a photoblog i found of a photographer who shares is iphone work using a variety of photo apps: http://ipeashooter.posterous.com/

  7. I’m currently using the free version of ShakeIt but I think I’m going to splurge on the full one. I do find it very freeing to use – I was a bit of a phone photo snob before. Although you can use it to process photos you took previously I’m enjoying the process of taking the photo using the app.

    This is my favorite shot so far:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/konehead/4257084244/

  8. I’ve got a Canon 5D along with a host of L lenses…and there is nothing so freeing as using my iPhone to snap a quick, creative picture. My absolutely favorite new app is called The Best Camera – it’s by Chase Jarvis, an incredible photographer. Not only does it have a variety of filters to apply to the photo, you can also upload your photo to Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr all at the same time. It’s the best $2.99 I’ve spent on an app. http://www.thebestcamera.com/

    I also have the Hipstamatic, which is pretty cool and funky. You can swap "lenses" and "film" and come up with some pretty wild creations. That one is $1.99. http://hipstamaticapp.com/

  9. I’m going the 365 project (so far, so good). However, the only thing that’s making it possible is my iPhone camera. It’s the device I always have with me. Thanks so much for highlighting these applications . . . they’ll make iPhone photography all the more spontaneous and fun!

  11. My name is Adam and I’m a huge fan of the work represented here at Shutter Sisters…actually, Jen Lemen participated in my wife and I’s wedding…

    Anyway – I’ve also recently become VERY enamored with iPhone photography (iPhone + Photography = iPhoneography) and there are a lot of really great sites out there. One that I’ve started is called iPhoneographi.es. You can find it here: http://www.iphoneographi.es

    All of the current photos are mine – but I will be opening up the site for User Submitted Content within the next week. If you have an iPhone/iPod Touch, I’d encourage you to think about registering for the site for more info on how to get your photos posted. You can register for the site here: http://www.iphoneographi.es/wp-login.php?action=register

  15. I have a few friends on Flickr exploring these apps with series and now I’m even more excited for my iPhone in a few weeks. Thanks for posting on this topic! Something about making art more available really makes me happy.

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  17. i’m so excited to see this post. i am addicted to iphoneography!

    when i started my project 365 in october 2009 (http://countdown33.blogspot.com), i really didn’t give much thought about which of my three cameras i would be using more. turns out most of my photos have been with my iphone. i’d say close to 90%.

    i find the iphone is easier to carry around than my big dslr and less intrusive. i also like the fact that processing is faster (i usually touch up my photos during my commute home on the subway) and i could quickly upload to flickr with just a touch of a button on the iphone. the iphone has challenged me to get more creative with my photography. here’s a peek of my iphoneography set – http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonoi/sets/72157622688722527/

    in terms of apps, i *heart* best camera by chase jarvis, hipstamatic, and shakeitphoto as well. here are a few other iphone apps i use –

    1. Pano – you can take awesome panoramic shots easily with this!
    2. Photogene
    3. PS Mobile
    4. TiltShiftGen
    5. Mill Colour
    6. PhotoForge
    7. PerfectPhoto
    8. FocalLab
    9. QuadCamera
    10. CameraKit
    11. Photo fx

  20. i "got" an iphone for christmas, but haven’t gone to the store to actually GET it yet (i know, the horror!) but believe me, wednesday morning, i’m changing all of that. thank you so much for this post! can’t wait to try all of these apps!

  21. I like shake pic, ps mobile, and color canvas and then there are some cool texture and grunge things in photofinish. I too feel like I can play and do whatever with my phone photos, and it is just fun to play around with different images.

  23. I got my iPhone solely for the camera – I don’t even know my phone number on it! I use it all the time and take picture of things I would’t normally (because of a lack of having a camera near). Please check out all the stuff I have done with it in the last couple of months.. http://thefabricbolt.blogspot.com. It is an awesome tool and surprisingly powerful!

  25. Here are my tips for useful iPhone photo apps:
    1. Photoforge is a must have, it’s the "photoshop" for the iPhone, far more powerful than the actual psmobile. Use it for cropping, levels, curves, sharpening.

    2. Perfectly Clear (perfectlyclr) is kinda "lightroom" for the iPhone. It adjusts the exposure, vibrancy and sharpness. All this at the full resolution, a point to take care of, because many iPhone photo apps work at ridiculous small resolutions.

    3. Lomob (or Lo-mob) is my no.1 tool for the many kinds of instant simulations. Whether you like Polaroid or TTV (through the viewfinder) looks or emulsion looks, it’s the way to go.

    4. Mono-Phix is a powerful b&w app (and the most powerful b&w app I know of), with a lot of possibilities to convert your shots to fine black&white besides just desaturating the color.

    5. ProHDR for producing high quality hdr images (in case you like them). A powerful way to work around the limited dynamic range of the iPhone Cam. It even does tonemapping.

    There are of course many more noticeable apps, these are just my top5 most used ones.

    An excellent resource for iPhone photo app reviews and the whole "iphoneography" scene is http://www.iphoneography.com

    Just my 2cents

    You can visit my iphone photoblog at http://photovision.torstengeyer.com

  26. Love CameraBag, but just got Hipstamatic and am having a blast with it. Using my iPhone has been a great spark for my photography.

  27. I love my iPhone (probably a little too much) but don’t rely on it for photos very often since I carry my other camera with me all the time. But…this article intrigues me and I want to take more iPhone shots. Thanks 🙂

  29. I got an iPhone in December and I love using it for photography. Besides being extremely versatile, it’s made me really have to think about composition since at 3 megapixels it’s hard to crop. I often shoot a picture with both my DSLR and my iPhone and sometimes I really like the iPhone shot better. My favorite app by far is Hipstamatic: http://hipstamaticapp.com/ It really feels like I’m shooting film with a toy camera, but of course I can delete whatever I don’t like. Lo-Mob is another favorite of mine, for that old photograph feel. Here’s my iPhone set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cstangis/sets/72157622990861190/ I am looking forward to shooting many more iPhone shots!

  30. I use Camera Plus Pro, their new version just came out with geo-tagging, slideshow, picasa upload and more. Deleted all the other camera apps that I had. Camera Plus Pro now stays where my native camera app was 🙂 I am snapping paradise 🙂 🙂