Camera Awesome - App review

Original picture of my gerbil

Camera Awesome is one of these camera replacement apps that include lots of filters for later editing. Just like the more famous brothers "Pro Camera" and "Camera+".
Smugmug, the creators of  Camera Awesome, decided to make a freemium app out of it, in order to become a significant rival to the other already successful apps. My only problem now is, that it isn't actually free. You get a basic filter set (which is quite nice) but have to pay for each new set consisting of 9 filters. If you want to get all the filters and effects, you need to pay 8€, which is in my opinion way too much for what you will get from such an app.

6 tips for better iPhoneography

In this article i want to give you some tips i learned with my experience.

1. Forget the standart camera app: The sooner you ditch the built-in camera app, the better for you. Once you get used to better apps like 645 Pro (my favourite) or Camera+, you dont want to get back to the normal one. These alternatives just have much more features, are able to produce lossless JPEG's or even .tiff-files, have filters, better sharing options and just deliver a much better package than the standart app. Try to keep these apps within thumb reach on your home screen.

Stabilise your videos with Stabil-i

If you are into filming with your iPhone, you sure wanna check this new gadget on Kickstarter out:
Its called the Stabil-i, and the creators claim that it will eliminate every shake in your video. If you ever made some videos with your iPhone, you know how hard it can be to keep your hand steady in order for the video not to look like a sober alcoholic made it. The right tool can clearly make a difference here, even though the iSight camera app of the iPhone 4S already has improved stabilization. The gadget itself looks very promising, and after watching the whole commercial i was very impressed. Even though i rarely use my iPhone to film anything, this gadget might change my mind on it.

Remove unwanted objects with TouchRetouch

Don't you hate it when you have a gorgeous landscape, wonderful weather and the perfect mood, but also other tourists/unwanted objects infront of your lense?
This app called "TouchRetouch" is the perfect solution. With a few simple finger swipes, you are able to "cut out" unwanted people or things of your picture. The cool part is that this app doesnt stop at cutting an ugly hole in your photo, but it analyzes the part around it and fills the hole with what would be there if there wouldnt have been that person/object in the first place.

Sounds like magic? It maybe is.

I tried it out with a picture you might already know if you have been browsing this blog from the beginning, and i bet my soul (the one i havent already sold to satan) that you didnt see it was edited with TouchRetouch when you first saw it.

Here is how it works:
 

Take photos of lightnings with iLightningcam

Last night was pretty stormy where i live, and while lying in my bed, hearing the sound of a nearby thunder, i asked myself if it is possible to take a picture of a lightning with the iPhone.
So i did some research and found the app "iLightningcam" (1,59€).

Edit, arrange and share your photos with Layout

The creators behind the five-star app "Halftone" have released another photo-editing app called "Layout". With this app you can simply split a frame into sections with the swipe of your finger. Then you can add your pictures of choice to these frames, edit them, change the background and add some stickersWhen you are done, you can upload your arranged photos to facebook 7 twitter, save them to your camera roll, print them out or mail them to someone.

Light painting with your iPhone

Light painting has always been something that never ceased to amaze me. So i started asking myself if this is also possible with an iPhone. Now the problem is that the iPhone cant extend its exposure time, making it impossible to do light painting with your standart camera app.
Luckily, there are a few app's out there that can "fake" this effect, for example "Magic Shutter" (2,39€).

Kickstarter Project: "The 3RDi Kit"

If you have a great idea for a gadget but don't have a huge budget in order to risk a failure, Kickstarter is a great and rather safe platform to make your idea come true.
The "3RDi Kit" is one of these ideas. This gadget bills itself as “first high end camera kit for an iPhone 4/4S”.

Your pictures on blocks

Ever wondered what else you can do with your pictures, beside uploading them on your social networks? How about printing them on a block!

Yes thats right, the guys over there at imageblocks will print your picture of choice on to off-cuts of metal, that will be mounted on to blocks of rescued timber to make an eye-catching alternative to photo frames. Even though its not cheap, the final product looks well polished and since they use waste materials, its even for a good cause. So unless you are an italian plumber that enjoys breaking blocks with your head (yeah i look at you there, Mario!), you get a sturdy alternative to boring frames. Personally, i think this would be a great gift since it is very personal and perfectly crafted at the same time. There aren't many things out there nowadays that can gloat over both these things.

Right now, a gloss 100x100x32 of  "Vic Ash" costs 45$. Visit their site for more information and pricing.

iPhoneography travel tips

If you enjoy travelling as much as i do, then you probably also want to bring some good pictures home. And since you want to get the most out of them, i thought i might share with you a few things i have learned the hard way on my trips.  

Taken and edited on my iPhone & iPad

645 Pro - App review

When 645 Pro was announced, iphoneographers all around the world knew that this app would change something. Just the fact that it is able to export a .tiff-file (an uncompressed version of your picture) would open new doors for professionals. So what are the key features of this hyped app?

Snapseed - App review

Let's face it. The amount of photo-editing apps on the Appstore is huge. Many people find themselves standing infront of it and asking themselves which app would be good to start with.
Snapseed claims to be a perfect post-processing app for beginners but also for more experienced people. So let's check the features out:

iPhone as a camera

Recently i have been thinking why people should use their iPhone as a camera replacement for a DSLR, and in what fields it is superior to other professional cameras. So here are 7 reasons why your iPhone doesnt have to hide in shame of a DSLR.

1. You probably always have your iPhone in your pocket, which means you are always prepared to take a picture and dont need to remind yourself to take your SLR with you.
2. Edit your pictures everywhere! No need to upload them to your PC/MAC first.
3. The same applies to uploading them to the internet. With your iPhone, you can upload your pictures to your favorite social networks of choice (facebook, twitter, flickr, tumblr, etc) where ever you want.
4. The huge amount of apps on the app store allow you to edit your pictures in many different ways. Of course the results arent the same as with Photoshop, but you can get quite impressive results.
5. With different accessories you are even able to take underwater pictures, fisheye- and widerange pictures, do light painting and much more.
6. Your iPhone takes much less space than a SLR or even just a normal digital camera. 
7. If you consider buying an expensive camera, but didnt really get in touch before with photography, starting out with your iPhone can be a great way to get in touch with it and see if it gets you hooked.

Summa summarum i believe that the iPhone-camera, combined with some essential apps is a very powerful tool that can surely compete with other digital cameras. Still, if you want to get the most out of a situation, a high quality SRL leaves the iPhone camera behind. But if you already own an iPhone and don't want to spend another 600€ for a SLR, the iPhone is your weapon of choice. So go out there and take some great pics. Many people wont even find out you just made them with your smartphone.

ACDSee Camera Flash - App review

Have you ever taken a picture with your iPhone and just wished there would have been a giant flashlight attached to your phone? Yes?
Then this app might just be what you need. "ACDSee Camera Flash" is a free app that claims to lighten up your picture, even if its almost pitchblack. I wanted to try it out with a picture i have taken a while ago when i was at Mallorca. I tried to push it as far as i could, and the results are here:

Original picture

Postprocessed with ACDSee Camera Flash

As you can see there is much grain in the second picture, especially in the black regions. Yet, those parts which were already a bit lightened up, are now totally bright and clear. And by trying to get a balance between too-much-grain und good brightness you can get quite far with this simple app.


Conclusion:

This app does just one thing. And it does it perfectly. And for free.
What else do you need? Go and grab it if you ever think you could use this function for a quick improvement.

A sign of life

Hello everybody!

Welcome to my new blog about Iphoneography and everything iPhone-iPad-photography related.
On this blog I will show you how you can make the best out of your iPhone's camera, which apps I use for post-processing and I will share pictures I have taken and edited on my iPhone.


I hope you will find something interesting here.

See you soon!

Yours,
Manuel