iPhone-tography

Since I’ve got my iPhone with me at all times, and since we are becoming a “If you don’t upload it to the internet right away it didn’t really happen” society, I’ve been experimenting more with photos from the little bugger. While it’s sort of quirky, slow, and awkward to hold as a camera, it’s always in my pocket so I might as well get the most of out of it.

I’ve discovered a few neat little “Apps” along the way including “Camera Bag” which was used to take the above photo of Mt. Hood. Camera Bag is a collection of seven filters which can be applied to your photos(similar to how a Photoshop plug-in can). Presets include various B&W settings, a Polaroid setting, and one that mimics the look of Holga (toy camera). You can download that one through Apple’s App store for $2.99. I’ve also been toying with “Tilt Shift” which (sort of) mimics a tilt-shift lens, in other words you get somewhat selective focus. Tilt Shift is available for $1.99.

Both of the above applications can be applied to existing photos in your iPhone library, so you can play around with them, save a new version with the desired effect, and keep your original.

The key to getting decent shots with the iPhone is good light, and a steady hand. Use both hands if you can and wait for the shutter to do it’s thing. Hold it steady the entire time. It’s awkward to push the button and keep it steady, but it can be done.

The silliest addition to my iPhone repetoire is a snap on fisheye lens with 170-degree view. Similar to a video camera lens adapter, it has a magnet and pops on over the phone’s lens. Neat. Totally stupid, and awesome at the same time. Available for $20 at usbfever.com. It ships from Hong Kong and takes about 4 weeks to arrive. They also make a variety of wide angle and telephoto options. You could replace you’re whole camera bag with a hip pack full of mini magnetic iPhone lenses. I just got mine so I haven’t had much of a chance to play with it, but a photo of my messy desk is at the bottom of the post. You get some wild distortion outside the areas of focus. Should be a fun toy.

One App I haven’t tried that looks very handy is Snapture, which offers a variety of features including a multi-shot mode which will capture three frames in a row. They also have a timer mode which delays the shot by five seconds, a 3x digital zoom feature that lets you zoom in or out using the slider, and the ability to capture images in multiple sizes. Sounds really handy. The downside is you need a “cracked” iPhone, and I haven’t sucked it up and hacked into mine yet. If yours is cracked, Snapture is free.

Other enhancement options include Panolab, a free App which allows you to stitch multiple images together into a panoramic. If you want to adjust your images levels and sharpness manually after the shot is taken, something like Photogene or the more heavilly featured yet clunky Magic Touch might be for you. At $5 each, Magic Touch has more to it but Photogene’s interface seems more intuitive.

If you’d like more info on some of the above iPhone Apps, iLounge has some decent reviews of 13 photo Apps.

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