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VicMan Visage Lab for iPhone and iPad review

Leanna Lofte — Sat, 26 May 2012 01:25:01 +0000

VicMan Visage Lab for iPhone is an app that will give your portraits a complete makeover with just the tap of a button. I'm always fairly skeptical of these types of apps because they have the potential to produce results that look very fake and overdone, but not VicMan Visage Lab -- the results are very good!

VicMan Visage Lab includes two sample photos, one of a man and another of a woman. Here's the before and after on the woman model.

Here's the before and after on the male model.

Pretty good, huh?

Using VicMan Visage Lab is extremely easy. Just select the photo you wish to edit and let the software work its magic. When it's done, it'll zoom in on the photo and briefly show the original photo before applying the retouches.

The retouches that VicMan Visage Lab applies are skin makeup, eye makeup, teeth whitening, shine removal, wrinkle smoothing, and color enhancement.

After the retouches are completel you can pinch to zoom in and out of the photo and tap the little snapshot in the bottom left corner to switch between the original and retouched version.

If you are unhappy with the results, you can choose specifically which effects you want to apply. Unfortunately, this doesn't give instant feedback, so you'll have to wait for the retouching to happen again. This also means that there isn't a way to compare between different combinations.

VicMan Visage Lab also includes some effects that you can apply to your photo. A few of them, like Sunny Colors and Glamour Effect, are subtle but have a great impact on portraits. Other effects include Black & White, Retro Sepia, Poster Look, Xmas Bokeh, In the Wave, and Light Bokeh.

Now, I know that seeing great results on photos that were included with the app may not be very impressive, so here's a before and after comparison of a photo of me.

For this photo, I disabled Shine Removal and Wrinkle Smoothing because I felt they made my face look flat and lack dimension. I also applied the Glamour Effect.

The good

Works surprising well
Can select between 6 different retouching tools
Many of the filters are subtle, yet awesome

The bad

Each time you want to select a different combination of retouching tools, it goes through the entire process over again with no way to compare the different results
Filters take too long to apply

The conclusion

VicMan Visage Lab is a fantastic app for improving portraits by removing flaws and giving them that extra little oomph. If you're planning to participate in this week's portrait iPhoneography contest, this is probably a great app to pick up!

VicMan Visage Lab comes in three different versions. The free version is ad supported and does not include all of the filter effects. The Pro versions have no adds and includes all the filters. The iPhone only Pro version of VicMan Visage lab is $0.99 and the universal version for iPhone and iPad is $1.99.

Free for iPhone & iPad- Download Now

$0.99 for iPhone - Download Now

$1.99 for iPhone & iPad - Download Now

Weekly Photo Contest: Portraits!

Leanna Lofte — Fri, 25 May 2012 06:21:31 +0000

It's time to announce this week's photo contest -- and the winner of last week's water photography contest. Before I do, I want to congratulate everyone on their awesome entries. We've got some talented iPhoneographer readers here at iMore and it wasn't an easy decision!

And the winning entry is...

...this abstract photo by rajkumr! What made this photo stand out to me is that it's very unique. There were a lot (gorgeous) entries of bodies of water and water droplets on plant life and windows, but this photo was different. In a good way. The colors are gorgeous and I'm constantly trying to stare behind the glass and determine what's behind it. I'm very intrigued. Great work rajkumr!

rajkumr edited this photo with Camera+.

$0.99 - Download Now

This week's contest: Portraits!

With the end of one photo contest, comes the beginning of new one, and this week's focus in on portraits! This can be a portrait of your significant other, friend, or family member, a self portrait, a group portrait, or even a pet portrait! Heck, we'll even even accept a portrait of your favorite action figure! Be creative. Be original.

The prize: Glif tripod and Snapheal for Mac

We've got a treat for you this week and are giving away two prizes to the winning entry. The first is a Glif tripod case and stand and the second is courtesy of MacPhun -- Snapheal for Mac! Snapheal is a photo editing app for Mac that lets you erase unwanted objects in few clicks, remove spots on skin, delete text, scratches and perform pro image edits in a matter of minutes.

$14.00 - Download Now

The rules

The rules of entry are very simple. The photo must have been taken with an iPhone or iPad (we'll check the EXIF data of the original file to verify) and any edits must have been done with an iPhone or iPad app. No Photoshop CS6! If you have external lens accessories you are more than welcome to use them. You can submit as many photos as you'd like, but remember, this is a contest, so make sure you submit your best work!

Resources

Now, before you run off to take your photos, remember that it's not technical skill alone that will claim this prize. Even if you're not the best photographer (yet!), a great eye and a great subject can still get you the win. However, a little help can never hurt, so make sure you check out these articles from our iPhone photography series for some tips.

How to submit

Submitting your photos is easy. Just head over to the iMore Photography Forum and post your photos to the official contest thread. Don't forget to state which apps, if any, you used to edit your photo!

That's it! Now go out and shoot!

ENTER NOW

How to take fantastic photos of your kids with your iPhone

Leanna Lofte — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:14:19 +0000

If you have children, you probably take more photos of them with your iPhone than anything else. We've already taken a look at how to take great portraits with your iPhone, and everything from that article applies here as well. We'll re-iterate some of them here, like light, camera level, and catchlights. But when it comes to taking the absolute best possible iPhone photos of your little ones, there are some other things we need to pay attention to as well.

Find light

The most important element of any photograph is light

I know I say this in every photography article I write, but that's because it really is that important. You need light. And it's especially important with kids because they move. A lot.

Quick mini-lesson about cameras

In order for a camera to capture an image, it needs light. To get light, the camera opens a hole, called an aperture, in the lens and releases the shutter, which allows light to hit the sensor for a set amount of time. A larger aperture means more light (because more light is coming in at once), and a slower shutter speed also means more light (because light is passing through the aperture for a longer period of time).

"But this is an iPhone, not a DSLR where I can control these settings. Why do I need to know this?" Because understanding how the camera works and why you're getting the results that you are will help you make decisions to improve. And for children, the biggest challenge is movement, which is why taking photos in a well lit environment is critical.

You see, kids move. Some of them nonstop (like my daughter). So there's a good chance you're struggling with blurry photos. The reason for this is because the shutter isn't moving fast enough to freeze the motion. But now that we know that the shutter will move slower to allow more light, it must also be true that if we have more light, the shutter will be faster. This is why more light is better with children -- you have a greater chance of freezing their motion with a fast shutter.

To summarize, because of the limitations of the iPhone, there's only two pieces of advice I can offer to solve blurry motion photos: get your child to stop moving (very difficult, but the right distraction can do it), or take your child somewhere where there's a lot of light.

Get down to their level

Getting down to your child's level will provide better results.

One of the simplest things you can do that will drastically improve you photos is too get down to the eye-level of the child you're photographing. This may mean squatting, getting on your knees, or for the real little ones, laying on your belly.

Remember, though, that rules are meant be broken. If done right, photos shot from above or below your child can come out rather stunning (like having your child lay on their back and you shoot from directly above).

Posing tips

Posing kids is hard, especially your own kids. Here's a few ideas that might help. The main thing is to get creative -- telling a child (or anyone for that matter) to smile isn't going to result in a nice natural smile.

Bribe them with candy or toys
Do something fun, like tickling, while your camera is ready, then back off real quick and take the shot
Ask them to face away from you and, on the count of three, to spin around and give you their best pose
Have them run towards you (perhaps with someone chasing them)

For younger toddlers and babies who don't understand commands, try some of these tips.

Play peak-a-boo behind your iPhone. Maybe even have a stuffed animal play peek-a-boo behind your iPhone
Find something that makes a noise they've never heard before. Maybe a new toy, maybe a new ringtone, maybe some other random noise you can produce yourself. Hold this item at camera level, not way above your head. You want the child looking into the camera.
Make animal sounds
Make a complete and utter fool of yourself by running, jumping, and dancing around and making high pitched sounds. No, seriously.

Use the front-facing camera

Using the front-facing camera can result in genuine smiles and funny faces

I know, the front-facing isn't nearly as good as the rear-facing camera, but for babies and toddlers, when they see themselves on the screen, they can't help but smile or make faces. So although these photos may not be of the highest quality, they should still result in some fun memories.

Also, if you're the only who's always taking the photos, the front-facing camera is a great way to get some photos of you with your child.

Catchlights

You child's eyes will stand out with catchlights.

Ever notice that in some photos of kids, the child's eyes stand out more than in other photos? Sometimes there is some post-processing involved, but most of the time it was just clever placement of lighting -- and it's so simple. To make your child's eyes stand out, you need catchlights. If you're seeking out good light sources, this will actually happen naturally. The trick to catchlights is to make sure that your light source is hitting your child's eyes. That's it.

Sometimes it's OK to use the flash

Although you shouldn't use it often, sometimes using the iPhone's flash is the only way to capture a memory

I have a secret. I hate the iPhone's flash. It's terrible. In fact, the flash on most cameras are terrible. On-camera flashes do give much needed light, but they usually also result in very flat, unflattering images. So my first recommendation is to avoid the iPhone's flash at all costs. Especially with children -- the flash is so slow, that by the time the picture is taken, the moment is lost.

But sometimes there is no other choice, like in the photo above. I found my daughter sleeping in her crib like this and so badly wanted a photo. To get a "good" photo, though, I would need to turn on the light, but that would wake her up. I'm all for doing whatever I have to do to get a great shot -- except when that something is waking up my daughter. So my only choice was to turn on my iPhone's flash. It's not the greatest photo in the world, but it's an awesome memory. And with our kids -- that's really what it's all about. Memories.

Now go out and shoot!

So now that you're equipped with some tips for getting great photos of your kids, go out and practice! With summer just around the corner, you can bet that you'll be taking even more photos of your kids. As always, please share your favorite photos with us in the iMore photography forum. (Please do not share photos of someone else's child without permission from the parents). Have fun!

Weekly Photo Contest: Water!

Leanna Lofte — Thu, 17 May 2012 07:29:42 +0000

It's Wednesday, which means it's time to announce this week's photo contest -- and the winner of last week's black and white photography contest. Before I do, I want to congratulate everyone on their awesome entries. We've got some talented iPhoneographer readers here at iMore and it wasn't an easy decision!

And the winning entry is...

...this intriguing photo by carlos2384! This photo immediately jumped out at me because of the originality, high contrast, and sharp angles. Black and white photos are tricky because not all photos look good in black and white, but carlos2384 nailed it with this photograph! I don't even have a desire to see it in color -- the black and white is perfect.

carlos2384 took the photo with an iPhone 4S and edited it with both Camera+ and Snapseed. Great work carlos2384!

Camera+, $0.99 - Download Now
Snapseed, $4.99 - Download Now

This week's contest: Water!

With the end of one photo contest, comes the beginning of new one, and this week's focus in on water! Whether it's a photo of a body of water like above, reflections in a rain puddle, water droplets on a window or flower, or even just an artistic twist to a simple glass of water, we want to see it! Remember, though, creativity and originality is something we're always looking for.

The prize: Life Proof waterproof iPhone case!

In addition to a thumbs up from the iMore crew and all of us yelling about how great of a photo star you are, the winner of this week's photography contest will have their photo converted into an official iMore wallpaper and we'll showcase it on the front page of iMore! But that’s not all! The winner will also receive a Life Proof iPhone case! This awesome case offers protection against water (including submersion), dirt, snow, and shock.

The rules

Resources

How to submit

That's it! Now go out and shoot!

ENTER NOW

Photo Credit: The top image was taken by iDUSCRAFT. This photo was the winning image of a previous iMore photo contest.

Noir Photo for iPhone and iPad review: convert your photos into moody monochromatic images

Leanna Lofte — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:06:55 +0000

Noir Photo is a fantastic iPhone and iPad app for converting your photos into monochromatic images. This includes black and white conversions with the ability to add sepia, silver, blue-gray, or chartreuse tints to further set the mood.

Noir Photo has a very simple and easy to use UI. At the top of the screen, you'll see your photo. On the iPhone, if the photo is portrait, it will rotate to landscape so that you can see the entire image. The bottom half of the screen is where you'll find all the editing tools. Along the top of this section is 6 preset buttons. After choosing the one you think best works for your photo, you can fine tune the inner exposure, outer exposure, and contrast with the dials. You can also use pinch to zoom on the photo to fine-tune the placement and size of the vignette and drag the points to adjust its shape. Lastly, you can choose from the four different tints: sepia (brown-ish), silver, blue-gray, or chartreuse (green-ish).

You can also view your photo in full screen by hiding the editing controls. In full screen mode, you can still adjust the vignetting and choose from the presets. You cannot fine-tune the exposures and contrast, though.

Personally, I would rather have access to the different tints than the presets when in full screen mode. After I've adjusted my photo, I like to switch into full screen mode to get a closer look and see if it looks right. Because the presets are also color coated, I tapped them thinking I could see what my photo looked like with a different tint. To my dismay, all my settings I just finished perfecting got undone in favor of the preset. Noir Photo does not have an undo button, so this is annoying, to say the least.

The good

Fast
Easy to use
4 different tints
Adjust outer/inner exposures and contrast
Adjust the vignetting
Maximum 2592x2592 output resolution
Universal for iPhone and iPad

The bad

No undo button

The conclusion

Noir Photo does a great job at monochromatic and black and white conversions. If you're participating in this week's black and white photography contest, you may want to check this one out.

$2.99 - Download Now

Weekly Photo Contest: Black and White!

Leanna Lofte — Thu, 10 May 2012 06:07:43 +0000

It's Wednesday, which means it's time to announce this week's photo contest -- and the winner of last week's negative space contest. Before I do, I want to congratulate everyone on their awesome entries. We've got some talented iPhoneographer readers here at iMore and it wasn't an easy decision!

And the winning entry is...

...this gorgeous silhouette by caropinzon! What stands out to me with this photo is how the negative space, the sunset, defines it. Had this photo been taken in the middle of the day, it would've been boring, but caropinzon took advantage of the time of day and produced a beautiful photograph. He also did an awesome job of using the rule of thirds on the horizon and on the tree. caropinzon used an iPhone 4S to take this photo and did not edit it with any apps. Great work caropinzon!

This week's contest: Black and White!

Honorable mention from the negative space contest. Photo by Redmond.

With the end of one photo contest, comes the beginning of new one, and this week's focus in on black and white (and monochromatic) photography! There is no restriction on the subject, it just needs to be edited with an iPhone app to be in black and white. (I'll be highlighting a few great apps over the next week, so keep an eye out!) If you want to apply a tint to the photo making it not technically in black and white, but monochromatic, that's also allowed. Not all photos make good black and white conversions, so make sure you choose a photo that is benefited by the mood that a black and white conversion brings.

The prize: Glif tripod mount and stand!

The rules

Resources

How to submit

That's it! Now go out and shoot!

ENTER NOW

Twitpic for iPhone review: not even close to being an 'Instagram Killer'

Leanna Lofte — Tue, 08 May 2012 01:21:28 +0000

Twitpic for iPhone had the potential to be a really neat app and a possible Instagram alternative, but it missed the mark on too many levels

Twitpic is one of the most popular photos hosting services for Twitter and now they've released their very own iPhone app that lets you browse through the photos of all the people you follow on Twitter who have shared their photos with Twitpic, add comments, as well as add filters and effects to your own photos to share to Twitter and Twitpic.

Sounds a lot like Instagram, doesn't it? In fact, it's very similar, but I'm not ready to call it an "Instagram Killer" -- it falls short in too many ways.

There are three different types of feeds with Twitpic: your main timeline, the popular stream, and streams for individual users. All off them show rectangular thumbnails of the photos with a little icon that shows how many comments have been left on the photo. For the timeline an popular streams, you will, of course, also see which user posted the photo and their profile photo.

Tapping a photo will open it on a black background, and after a brief pause, the toolbars and caption will appear, and after another short pause, will disappear again. You can tap the screen to bring up the toolbars at anytime and tapping the comments icon will bring up all the comments for that photo and allow you to leave a comment of your own.

Unfortunately, comments on photos must have been made with the Twitpic app. I would've like to see all Twitter @replies to the tweet that included the photo be marked as comments in the Twitpic app. Since most people see Twitpic photos in Twitter, it makes perfect sense.

One thing that sets Twitpic apart from Instagram is that there are more editing options available. The "Add Effects" screen has tabs for effects, enhance, crop, orientation, and brightness. Crop, orientation, and brightness should be self-explanatory.

In the enhance screen, you can choose auto, night, backlit, or balance, and the effects tab has 10 different filters you can choose from. They're OK. Nothing amazing, but not terrible.

What is terrible, is the naming inconsistencies in the Twitpic editing screens. When you first take or choose the photo you want to upload, there is a button in the top right hand corner called "Add Effects", but this screen has five different tabs, one of which is called "Effects". When tapping on one of the tabs, the navigation arrow in the toolbar to take you back is called "Editor". But wait, I thought that was the "Add Effects" screen? Sure, I know what they mean, but it's the little details like this that make me think the app was thrown together.

The other thing that annoys me about Twitpic is the edits are destructive. Once you hit "Apply", there's no turning back. Returning back to that screen doesn't let you adjust your edits, just layer on new ones. The biggest problem with this is with effects. A lot of the effects apply some sort of special edging to your photo, which is fine, until you decide you want to crop your image. You'll either crop it completely away or, depending on how you crop, only crop it off a couple of the edges. The only way to fix it is to start over and make sure you save adding the effect for last -- even though it's the first tab. Yet another thing that makes me ask "was this app really put through proper testing?"

Once you have your photo edited to perfection, you can share it to Twitter with Twitpic and… that's it. Your photo isn't even saved to your Camera Roll! And what about the unique twitpic.com URL that is assigned to each photo? Nope, nowhere to get that either. What Twitpic was thinking, I have no idea. I guess they want to be greedy with your photos and not only not give you the means to share directly to another network, but not even let you share your photos separately to somewhere else like Facebook or Instagram.

The Good

Browse through the Twitpic photos of who you're following on Twitter
Upload photos to Twitpic and share to Twitter
Edit photos with minor adjustments and add filters/effects

The Bad

Inconsistent naming
Destructible edits
Can only share to Twitpic and Twitter
Doesn't save to Camera Roll

The Conclusion

Twitpic for iPhone had the potential to be a really neat app and a possible Instagram alternative, but it missed the mark on so many levels it's not even funny. The editing experience is terrible and the restriction to only sharing to Twitpic and Twitter and not even your Camera Roll is a deal breaker for me. If they wanted to be exclusive to Twitter, they could've at least pulled in the replies to the tweets with Twitpic links to the comments, but not even that's the case.

Sorry Twitpic, that's three strikes -- you're out.

At least it's free - Download Now

InstaGamer for iPhone and iPad review: the classic matching game with photos from Instagram

Leanna Lofte — Thu, 03 May 2012 06:51:19 +0000

InstaGamer is a great companion to Instagram that lets you play the traditional matching game with photos from Instagram

InstaGamer is a fun iPhone and iPad game that's just like the classic matching game, only the things being matched are instagram photos. You can play with photos from the popular feed, specific tags, your own feed or photos, or photos you've liked.

Before you play a game, you must select which photo set you want to play from. The popular and featured sets come with InstaGamer for free. The featured set lets you choose from a list of popular tags.

In exchange for $0.99 as an in-app purchase, you can play with photos from your feed (the people you follow), your photos, photos you liked, or search for a specific tag.

After you've chosen your set, InstaGamer to choose 20 random photos from that set. Once it's done, you can scroll through all the photos before tapping play. This is probably a good idea so that you're familiar with the photos before starting the game. It might be helpful to know if there's any similar looking photos. Not to mention, it's a great way to look at Instagram photos!

Each game is a four by five grid with two copies of each of the 10 photos and you simply tap the squares to flip over the photos. You choose photos in groups of two, and if they don't match, both of them flip back over. When a match is made, those photos permanently stay facing up. Once all the photos are matched up, you've won!

At the end of each game, you are given a score somewhere between 0 and 1. Specifically, this number is 10 (the number of pairs) divided by the number of tries it took you to win. So the closer you are to 1, the better you did. As you play more games, you'll see your scores charted on a graph so you can see if you're improving. You'll also be given a quote that is somehow related to you score. For example: "What's got nothing on you!", "Nice Work!", and "A honeybee can fly at 15 mph" are all quotes that I've seen.

The Good

Very fun
Neat sounds
Can access popular and featured sets for free
Looks amazing
Full version is only $0.99

The Bad

Doesn't support landscape orientation

The Conclusion

InstaGamer is a great twist to the classic matching game. Using you and your friend's photos makes the game much more interesting and the little words of encouragement make you want to play over and over again. Although you have to spend $1 play with photos from your feed, it's worth that $1.

Free - Download Now

Iris App for iPad review: a fun way to browse Instagram on your iPad

Leanna Lofte — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:30:19 +0000

Since Instagram still has no official iPad app of their own, Iris App is a fantastic alterative

Instagram may not have a native app available on the iPad, but Iris App is here to fill that void. You may not be able to upload photos to the popular photo sharing service, but Iris App does allow you to browse your feed, featured photos, "like" and comment photos, and more.

Along the left hand side, you'll see a thin column that give access to your main feed, featured photos, your profile, search, and the photos you've liked.

Your home feed is displayed as a grid of polaroids. Each Polaroid shows who's photo it is and the number of likes and comments. These images are nice and big and the design is very clean looking. If you want to "like" the photo, just double tap! You can also tap the heart and a sidebar on the right will slide out that lists all the users who have liked the photo, links to their profiles, and the option to "like" the photo. Tapping the speech bubble is very similar, except for comments. If available, you can also view the photo's location on a map.

Tapping on a photo will slide a larger version of the polaroid up from the bottom of the screen that looks exactly the same with the addition of an excerpt of the caption. Which leads me to my biggest disappointment -- if the caption is more than about 40 characters, the only way to view the caption is in the comment view. I think captions should be viewable from the polaroid/thumbnail view. I like to see caption as I casually scroll and browse through my feed.

If you tap on a user's avatar, you'll be taken to their profile. Along the top, you see their name, bio, number of followers and following, a button to follow/unfollow, a "thumbs-up" to recommend the user via email, and a button that lets you view all the user's photos on a map.

The photos in profile mode are displayed much smaller than on your main feed -- there is 4 photos per row vs. two photos per row. But there's a trigger on the bottom of the sidebar that lets you switch to the larger, more detailed thumbnails if you prefer.

The featured photos and liked photos pages also feature these smaller thumbnails, but oddly, there is no option to view them larger.

The Good

Pretty
Browse main feed, featured photos, profiles, and favorites
Like and comment on photos
Search for users and tags

The Bad

Can't tap tags
Can't change thumbnail size for main feed, featured tab, or favorites tab (main feed is big, featured and favorites are small)

The Conclusion

I often use Instagram to browse through photos even when I'm not sharing my own photos and have always longed for an iPad version. Given the fact that Facebook now owns Instagram and that the Facebook iPad app took ages to release, I'm not expecting an official Instagram iPad app anytime soon. I'm just glad to have Iris App as a fantastic alternative.

$1.99 - Download Now

Weekly Photo Contest: Negative Space!

Leanna Lofte — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 02:29:16 +0000

It's Wednesday, which means it's time to announce this week's photo contest -- and the winner of last week's panorama photography contest. Before I do, I want to congratulate everyone on their awesome entries. We've got some talented iPhoneographer readers here at iMore and it wasn't an easy decision!

And the winning entry is...

...this gorgeous sunset panorama by Nibbier! Panoramic photos often include a lot of sky, so an interesting sky is a must for the photo to stand out -- and boy did Nibbier nail it with this sky! He also did an awesome job of using the rule of thirds on the horizon so that the sky, clouds, and sunset steal the show, while still using the silhouette of mountains to give even more of a "wow" factor. Nibbier used PhotoSynth for iPhone to stitch the panorama and edited it with iCameraHDR for iPhone. Great work Nibbier!

PhotoSynth, Free - Download Now
iCameraHDR, $1.99 - Download Now

This week's contest: Negative Space!

With the end of one photo contest, comes the beginning of new one, and this week's focus in on negative space! Composition is the most important part of a photograph, so this week I want you to give extra close attention to the negative space of your photos. There is no restriction on the subject or even how much negative space is in your photo -- just that the negative space is playing an important roll in your image.

Some great examples of negative space from Martin Reisch, aka *safesolvent™

The prize: Glif tripod mount and stand!

The rules

Resources

How to submit

That's it! Now go out and shoot!

ENTER NOW

Photogene for iPad review

Leanna Lofte — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 04:30:11 +0000

One of my favorite iPad photo editing apps, Photogene, has finally been updated with support for the new iPad's retina display. Photogene is a full featured photo editor that allows you to make a lot of common adjustments, add special effects, and make collages.

Presets

If you're looking for a way to quickly add an artistic look to your photo, Photogene has the following presets:

Colors: cool, warm, crimson sunrise, improve dark photo, day into night, landscape
B&W: simple, high contrast, extreme, light, dark, dramatic, infrared
Vintage: noir, 20's vintage, 40's vintage, 70's vintage, lomo, cross processed, morning glory, redscale, retro, golden, old pink
Frames: classic, classic 2, gloss, gloss 2, glow, glow 2, glow 3, drop shadow, fade-in, thin line
Fun: oil painting, cinema, stamp, psychedelic, pencil sketch, reflection, dream, mars, icon, foggy, sunset, and purple haze.

You can also create your own presets.

Crop

Photogene comes with 6 different common crop ratios, but the really neat feature is the one that lets you create your own crop ratio. The ratio choice with a star will let you choose between 1-20 for your width and height. So if you want to crop your photo with a 5:11 ratio, you can!

Rotate

The Rotate tool is pretty self-explanatory. You can rotate in incriments of 90 degrees, flip horizontally or vertically, and straighten (or tilt) your image. Personally, I think the straightening tool would be better placed in the cropping section since using it results in a cropped image. In fact, the crop and rotate tools could actually be grouped together in the same section.

Adjustments

The Adjustment section of Photogene for iPad is where you'll find tools for clarity, brightness, colors, sharpen\denoise, histogram, RGB, and curves.

The clarity tool has a single slider.

The brightness tool has sliders for exposure, contrast, shadows, and highlights, and an auto option.

The colors tool has sliders for saturation, vibrance, color temperature, and tint.

The sharpen tool lets you adjust the sharpen amount, sharpen radius, luminance denoise, and chroma denoise.

The histogram lets you adjust the ends and middle of the histogram and also has an auto option.

In the RGB section, you can adjust the red, green, and blue offset levels.

Lastly, the curves tool will overlay the curves grid over the photo and let you adjust it how you wish.

Retouches

The Retouches section of Photogene is very extensive. It includes healing and red eye tools, masks for dodge, burn, clone, blur, grayscale (selective coloring), and effects. The included effects are dream, painting, comics, posterize, sepia, smooth, pixelate, dynamic curve, light up, cross process, redscale, and extreme B&W. When applying a mask, you can adjust the brush's size and opacity and choose to see your brush strokes by tapping contour. You can also choose to invert your mask.

Text

Photogene for iPad allows you to add various text bubbles and annotations to your photo in the Text section. The text boxes and bubbles are fully customizable with the ability to edit the color of the outline, fill, and text, add shadowing, choose fonts, and adjust the justification. You can also adjust the size and rotation of the shape.

For annotations, you can add arrow, circles, rectangles, and other shapes and adjust the color and width of the outline.

Enhance

The last section of Photogene is called Enhance. It is here that you'll be able to add vignette, tilt-shift effects, gradients, frames, filters, and more. The available filters are the same as the effects that can be painted in the Adjustments tab. The difference is that adding a filter applies the effect to the entire photo instead of just the area that you paint.

Collages

Photogene also includes a few templates for turning your photos into collages. Just select which photos you want to build into a collage and Photogene will do it automatically. It will then show you a list of other available templates. There is only 3 templates of each size (meaning 3 templates for 3 photos, 3 templates for 4 photos, etc), but you can purchase 61 new templates for $1.99.

With each collage, you can editing the outline width and color, add an inner shadow, and choose between 6 ratios. You can also add text bubbles and annotations just like you can in the Text Section of Photogene.

Go-PRO features

Everything mentioned so far in this review comes included in the $2.99 version of Photogene for iPad. It's quite a steal if you ask me. But if you're looking for even more professional tools, there is a Go-PRO version available as an in-app purchase for $7.99. This brings the following addition features: star-ratings, watermarking, FTP history, RGB curves, JPEG quality, white-balance color picker, custom localized effect, and IPTC sets and batch paste.

Star rating

When browsing through photos in your albums, holding down your finger on an image will pop up a menu that lets you rename the photo, view metadata, or export. In the metadata screen, you;ll find the general information of the photo and the Exif, IPTC, and GPS info. You can also assign 0 to 5 stars to the photo. Then you can choose to arrange your photos by star rating.

Watermarking, FTP history, JPEG quality, and IPTC sets and batches

If you have a watermark for your business, Photogene Go-PRO lets you easily add your watermark automatically when exporting. You can adjust the opacity, padding, relative size, and choose between 9 different positions. Unfortunately, this process must be done automatically and Photogene doesn't offer a large preview of what you can expect the watermark to look like on your image. If you have a light, transparent watermark (like iMore), then it's very hard to see the watermark in the tiny preview thumbnail.

I hope to see a more advanced watermarking system implemented in the future.

In addition to adding a watermark upon export, you can also setup Photogene to save FTP configurations that you've exported images to.

Photogene GO-PRO also allows you to adjust the quality of exported JPEG files.

If you store IPTC info into your photos, you'll be happy to know that with Photogene for iPad Go-PRO, you can create IPTC data sets and copy them into any photo that you wish. It's a great time saver.

RGB curves

The extra RGB curves feature of the Go-PRO Photogene package adds the options of adjusting the curves for red, green, and blue separately from the general curves.

White-balance color picker

The white-balace color picker feature of the Go-PRO add-on in Photogene for iPad is a great way to adjust the color balance of your photo. There are also sliders for color temperature and tint, but the color picker at least gets you in the correct neighborhood. To you use it, you simply hold your finger down on a neutral-colored area of the photograph.

The Good

Packed with robust editing tools
Includes easy to use presets and filters
Works directly with iPad's photo library so you don't need to import photos
Collages
Non destructive editing
Go-PRO in-app purchase adds even more features
Supports the new iPad's Retina display

The Bad

Waiting for adjustments to take place can sometimes take a long time because actions happen in real time
Straightening tool would be more appropriately placed in the cropping section

The Conclusion

Photogene for iPad is one of the best photo editing apps on the iPad. It is full-featured with loads of editing tools ranging from basic, one-touch filters and effects, to more advanced tools like curves, histograms, and healing. And I'm not one to often discus the price of an app, but considering you can pick up Photogene for iPad for less than the cost of a fancy drink at Starbucks, I'd say it's quite a steal. Add on the Go-PRO in-app purchase, and you've got yourself an excellent photo editor.

$2.99 - Download Now

Weekly Photo Contest: Panoramas!

Leanna Lofte — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 04:00:55 +0000

It's Wednesday, which means it's time to announce this week's photo contest -- and the winner of last week's macro photography contest. Before I do, I want to congratulate everyone on their awesome entries. We've got some talented iPhoneographer readers here at iMore and it wasn't an easy decision!

And the winning entry is...

...this awesome photo of a quarter by BuhdeeBoy! What made this photo stand out to me was strong focus on "In God We Trust". He also did an awesome job of using the rule of thirds on this focus point. BuhdeeBoy used an iPhone 4S and his brother's Olloclip to take the photo and edited it with Snapseed for iPhone. The black and white conversion was also a nice touch. Great work BuhdeeBoy! Now that you won your own Olloclip, you can stop ~~stealing~~ borrowing your brother's!

Snapseed for iPhone - $4.99 - Download Now

This week's contest: Panoramas!

With the end of one photo contest, comes the beginning of new one -- this week we're going to completely shift gears and take panoramic photographs! There is no restriction on the subject. However, we expect a lot of entries to be landscapes, so it may help you stand out from the crowd if you get a creative and produce a truly unique image.

Apps for panoramic photography

The iPhone is does not come with the required software for panoramic photography, so to enter this contest, you'll need to head to the App Store and pick up an app for taking panos. Here's a couple popular ones:

AutoStitch Panorama (my personal favorite) - $1.99 - Download Now
Photosynth - Free - Download Now

If you prefer a different app for taking panoramas, please share it with us in the forums!

The prize: a Glif!

The rules

Resources

Now, before you run off to take your panoramas photos, remember that it's not technical skill alone that will claim this prize. Even if you're not the best photographer (yet!), a great eye and a great subject can still get you the win. However, a little help can never hurt, so make sure you check out these articles from our iPhone photography series for some tips.

How to submit

That's it! Now go out and get those beautiful panos!

ENTER NOW

How to take dreamy iPhone photos of your newborn baby

Leanna Lofte — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:42:44 +0000

Babies equal photos. It's really just that simple. Nothing sells more camera gear or generates more images than a newborn baby. Whether it's yours, your family's, or your friend's, the moment a newborn baby appears our fingers fly to the shutter. Babies are the celebrities of our lives and we all want the best possible photos of them we can get. Now you may seen especially dreamy photos of babies in galleries or on the web and wished you could capture similar images of the baby in your life. Well, you can! All you need is your iPhone, the right tools, and the proper techniques!

Before we jump in, I should mention that the best age to get the types of images you'll see in this article is between 5 and 14 days old. This is when a newborn baby is most sleepy, flexible, and tolerant of being touched when sleeping.

Note: Every newborn image used in this article was taken with an iPhone and edited with iPhoto for iPhone and iPad. There will be a follow up article on how to edit newborn photos with iPhoto.

Get the right tools: Beanbag, blankets, heat, light, white noise

First things first, let's talk about what tools you need to get great images. The most important element is light. You could make things work without anything else, but light is a requirement. My favorite source of light is simply a window. Avoid direct sunlight, however. If sunlight is shining through the window, you may want to wait until a different time of day.

Most of the images of newborns taken by professional photographers are of sleeping, naked babies curled up in adorable little poses. So the question on your mind is probably "how?" The first trick is heat.

The general rule of thumb is to dress newborns in 1-2 more layers than yourself, so stripping down your newborn for a photo shoot may make you feel a little uneasy -- as it should. If you do want those naked baby photos, you're going to need to crank up the heat. And when I say crank up the heat, I'm talking 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit. Personally, I typically have parents turn up their heater to 75 degrees and I bring along a space heater that I have pointing towards the baby at all times. (Don't put the heat too close!).

Ok, now that you have a warm newborn, where do you put him? I recommend a beanbag. Many photographers use huge, expensive beanbags for newborns, but you can get by just fine with a cheap-y from Target. The trick is to make sure the beanbag isn't too soft. You can either buy extra beanbag filler, or simply tie up the excess material with a hair-tie. You need the beanbag to be nice and firm.

Combine your beanbag with a big blanket, and you've got yourself a little studio. Place the blanket on the beanbag and use the excess as your back drop. You can either find some furniture, like chairs, to drape the blanket over, or you can have some hold it up for you.

In the image above, the blankets are clamped onto a professional backdrop stand. This is by no means a necessary tool. Also notice, that in the image above, there's a couple blankets layered on top of each other. This makes it quick and easy to switch between your backdrops.

Now, sometimes heat and a comfy beanbag is not enough to keep a newborn asleep. The secret ingredient may be white noise. I use an app called White Noise Lite to produce loud, calming noise. More often than not, this app does the trick and keeps the babies in a nice slumber.

The Lite version of White Noise will not run in the background, so if there isn't another iPhone around, you may want to look into the full version, as it will let you use your camera while emitting audio from the app.

White Noise Lite - Download Now
White Noise, $1.99 - Download Now

Lastly, you need to patient. You are at the mercy of the baby when it comes to newborn photography and you need to embrace that fact and be patient. Do not rush the process. Make sure the baby is completely asleep before attempting to put him or her in any poses. If that means rocking the newborn in your arms and singing lullabies for an hour, then so be it.

(Pro tip: wait until the baby is sound asleep and on the beanbag before taking off the diaper. It lessens your chance of being peed or pooped on. It doesn't guarantee anything, though. If you want naked baby shots, be prepared for pee and poop.)

Don't photograph up the baby's nose

The most common thing to photograph on a baby is, of course, his or her face. This comes as a given, so by all means, snap away at that adorable face, just make sure you're not shooting up the baby's nose. The dark (and usually red), unattractive nostrils will end up dominating the shot.

Add some tilt

When we were little kids, our parents taught us to hold the camera strait when taking a photo, but with newborns, tilting the camera adds a great impact. Just make sure the baby's head is composed higher than his or her body. You don't want it to look like the baby is falling down hill! The image above demonstrates tilt nicely, as does the photo in the section before this one.

Use props

When a baby is naked, introducing props like beanies and headbands can have an adorable impact on your photos. Wrapping the newborn up nice and tight in a blanket is also commonly done, and if the baby isn't happy about being naked, this is a great alternative.

If you're looking for the types of beanies, headbands and wraps that professional photographers use, check out ETSY. You can often times find adorable stuff at a great price.

Objects that emphasize the small size of the newborn are also great. For example, I've seen wedding rings around tiny toes or an itty bitty hand grasping Daddy's finger.

Don't forget the details

Speaking of the tininess of a newborn, don't forget to capture those tiny details! The iPhone does a great job at macro photography, so don't be afraid to get up close and take images of little hands, feet, toes, ears, nose, and lips.

When taking these close up photos, don't forget about what's happening in the background. If you're able to have other parts of the baby out of focus in a different area of the photograph, it gives more of an "aww"-factor to your image. For example, in the photo above, I used the rule of thirds when composing the feet and made sure the baby's head and face was still in the frame to the left.

Leave the complex poses to the professionals

If you head to Google or Flickr for inspiration on newborn poses, you will discover photos of very complex (and beautiful) poses with babies holding up their head in their hands, hanging from trees, and resting their heads over the edges of baskets. Do not, I repeat, do not attempt these types of photos.

The secret to these images is that advanced software, like Photoshop, is used to compose multiple images into one photograph. The safety of the newborn always comes first. Do not hang your baby from a tree branch. Do not make your baby support his own head. Do not have someone hold your baby up over their head. Do not pose a baby on a guitar. Do not put a newborn in danger.

Now go get some beautiful photos of that precious baby!

Now what are you waiting for? That precious newborn of yours is only going to get older, so go get those beautiful photos! When you're done, share them with us in the iMore photography forum! (Please do not share images of another person's child without their permission).

(Huge thanks to Baby Kannon for being such an amazingly adorable model for this post. And thank you to his parents for giving me permission to use his modeling skills).

Weekly Photo Contest: Macro!

Leanna Lofte — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 03:13:56 +0000

It's Wednesday, which means it's time to announce this week's photo contest -- and the winner of last week's flower photography contest. Before I do, I want to congratulate everyone on their awesome entries. We've got some talented iPhoneographer readers here at iMore!

And the winning entry is...

...this gorgeous photo by NSq! What made this photo stand out to me was the unique perspective. NSq also did an awesome job of using the rule of thirds on the focus point making this a very strong composition. Great work NSq!

This week's contest: Macro!

With the end of one photo contest, comes the beginning of new one -- this week we're going to get up close and personal with macro photography! There is no restriction on subject matter. You can photograph bugs, flowers, gadgets, or anything you want. Get creative!

The prize

In addition to a thumbs up from the iMore crew and all of us yelling about how great of a photo star you are, the winner of this week's photography contest will have their photo converted into an official iMore wallpaper and we'll showcase it on the front page of iMore! But that's not all! The winner will also receive an olloclip external lens! This awesome little accessory transforms your iPhone's lens into either a wide-angle, fisheye, or 10x macro lens. I have one. It rocks my world.

The rules

The rules of entry are very simple. The photo must have been taken with an iPhone or iPad (we'll check the EXIF data of the original file to verify) and any edits must have been done with an iPhone or iPad app. No Photoshop CS6! If you have external lens accessories (like an olloclip!), you are more than welcome to use them. You can submit as many photos as you'd like, but remember, this is a contest, so make sure you submit your best work!

Resources

Now, before you run off to take your macro photos, remember that it's not technical skill alone that will claim this prize. Even if you're not the best photographer (yet!), a great eye and a great subject can still get you the win. However, a little help can never hurt, so make sure you check out these articles from our iPhone photography series for some tips.

How to submit

That's it! Now go out and get those beautiful macro shots!

ENTER NOW

A photographic look inside Apple's Cupertino headquarters

Rene Ritchie — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 14:03:49 +0000

Apple's Cupertino, California headquarters might as well be the moon when it comes to technology. It's managed to become so famous yet remain so mysterious that while almost everyone knows of it, few have actually set foot inside it. Apple Gazette has done a great job compiling photographs that offer a glimpse inside Apple's real walled garden, beyond even the Company Store and Caffe Macs. There's something for every Apple fan, from the wood, glass, and metal you might expect, to the pixel-art signage on the bathrooms you might not, to a fantastic shot of Tony Fadell, Jon Rubinstein, Jony Ive, Steve Jobs, and Phil Schiller in the meeting room.

Check it out via the link below and if you've ever visited 1 Infinite Loop, share your photos in our forum!

Source: Apple Gazette; image via Daniel Brusilovsky

Learn how your DSLR settings visually affect your images with CameraSim for iPad

Leanna Lofte — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 16:25:18 +0000

Have you recently purchased your first DSLR and feel a bit overwhelmed with all the various settings? CameraSim for iPad will help you overcome your fear of venturing away from the auto mode of your camera by visually explaining how different controls affect your images. CameraSim essentially lets you simulate taking the same photo over and over again, but with different settings, and instantly shows you what you could expect the photo to look like.

At the top of the app's main screen, you'll find your viewfinder, and in it you see a little girl swaying back and forth holding a pinwheel that's being spun by the wind. At the bottom of the viewfinder, you'll see a light meter and your current settings, just as you would in your DSLR's viewfinder. The bottom half of the screen gives you access to all your virtual camera settings and the shutter release button.

The settings that CameraSim let you adjust are lighting, distance, focal length, ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. You can also simulate being in Aperture or Shutter Priority modes, or go fully manual. There is also a switch to toggle using a tripod or not.

In Aperture priority, you will have control over all of the settings except for shutter speed. The reason it's called Aperture priority, is because the main element that you control is the aperture. The camera will then choose the best shutter speed based off the aperture that you want to use. Similarly, Shutter Priority mode gives you control over everything except for aperture. In manual mode, you have full control over all settings. Your DSLR also has all three of these modes and they're typically labeled as A, S, and M.

If the tripod is turned off, then in addition to the motion of the girl and pinwheel, you will also have to consider motion of the person holding the camera -- you. When turned on, you don't have to think about that element and only need to consider the girl and her pinwheel.

I will not give you a lesson on how all the different settings actually end up affecting the image, except for mentioning that, visually, your settings will determine how much of your photo is in focus and if you are able to freeze the motion of the girl and/or her pinwheel. When you take a photo, CameraSim will show you what your photo would look like with the settings you chose and give you feedback. If it's great, it will say so, and if could use a little work, CameraSim will give you some pointers for improving your shot.

I think CameraSim has done a great job of accurately demonstrating how different settings will impact your photos. My only complaint is that the lighting slider isn't very realistic. It accurately affects how you must adjust your settings for different lighting conditions, but the image doesn't change with the lighting conditions. Even when set to "dim indoors", there a blast of sunlight hitting the side of the little girl's face.

Other than that, however, CameraSim is a fantastic tool for learning how the different settings of your DSLR will impact your images. I just wish there was more than one scene to choose from. The photo of the girl is great because you can really get a feel for blurring your background and freezing motion, but I'd like to see at least one scene for each of the 6 lighting options.

The Good

Great way to learn how different settings affect the final image
Accurately represents the results you'd expect from a DSLR
Help screen is very helpful

The Bad

Only one photo
Lighting slider isn't realistic
Doesn't keep a log of settings you've tried
Does not support the new iPad's Retina display, yet

The Conclusion

I think this is a fabulous app for beginner DSLR users who want to learn how to use their camera. The instant feedback and tips are quite helpful. I'd venture to say it's even a must-have app for beginning photographers who are confused about settings and uncomfortable using their camera in anything but auto mode.

$1.99 - Download Now

Weekly Photo Contest: Flowers!

Leanna Lofte — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 20:36:10 +0000

Now that our iPhone photography series is well on its way, it's time to put our new skills to the test -- and what a better way than with a contest!

That's right, this is the debut of iMore's newest series -- weekly photo contests!

Each week will have a different focus, and this week's is on flowers! Apple used a spectacular pink flower photo to show off the new iPad but never made it available as a wallpaper or download! We think the iMore nation can more than make up for it! It's the perfect time too -- it's the beginning spring and gorgeous flowers are starting to pop up all over the place. You're going to be taking photos of them anyway, so you might as well submit those beautiful shots and win a prize!

The prize

In addition to a thumbs up from the iMore crew and all of us yelling about how great of a photo star you are, the winner of this week's photography contest will have their photo converted into an official iMore wallpaper and we'll showcase it on the front page of iMore! But that's not all! The winner will also receive an official iMore t-shirt!

Here's an example of what your photo could look like as a wallpaper.

The rules

The rules of entry are very simple. The photo must have been taken with an iPhone or iPad (we'll check the EXIF data of the original file to verify) and any edits must have been done with an iPhone or iPad app. No Photoshop CS6! If you have external lens accessories, you are more than welcome to use those, though. You can submit as many photos as you'd like, but remember, this is a contest, so make sure you submit your best work!

Resources

Now, before you run off to take your flower photos, remember that it's not technical skill alone that will claim this prize. Even if you're not the best photographer (yet!) a great eye and some great flowers can still get you the win. However, a little help can never hurt, so make sure you check out these articles from our iPhone photography series for some tips.

How to submit

That's it! Now go out and get those beautiful flower shots!

ENTER NOW

Steve Jobs and his relentless drive to cut away what's not absolutely necessary, and simplify what remains

Rene Ritchie — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 16:27:50 +0000

Steve Jobs had Apple halt iPhone production to make the display more prominent, halted iPad production to make the edges more scoop-able, and continuously, relentlessly, stopped Apple in mid-stride to cut what wasn't necessary and simplify what absolutely was. This singular insight is brought into sharp focus once again by biographer Walter Isaacson, writing for the Harvard Business Review on the subject of Steve Job's leadership.

Here are some examples:

The initial design [of the iPhone] had the glass screen set into an aluminum case. One Monday morning Jobs went over to see Ive. “I didn’t sleep last night,” he said, “because I realized that I just don’t love it.” Ive, to his dismay, instantly saw that Jobs was right. “I remember feeling absolutely embarrassed that he had to make the observation,” he says. The problem was that the iPhone should have been all about the display, but in its current design the case competed with the display instead of getting out of the way. The whole device felt too masculine, task-driven, efficient. “Guys, you’ve killed yourselves over this design for the last nine months, but we’re going to change it,” Jobs told Ive’s team. “We’re all going to have to work nights and weekends, and if you want, we can hand out some guns so you can kill us now.” Instead of balking, the team agreed. “It was one of my proudest moments at Apple,” Jobs recalled.

A similar thing happened as Jobs and Ive were finishing the iPad. At one point Jobs looked at the model and felt slightly dissatisfied. It didn’t seem casual and friendly enough to scoop up and whisk away. They needed to signal that you could grab it with one hand, on impulse. They decided that the bottom edge should be slightly rounded, so that a user would feel comfortable just snatching it up rather than lifting it carefully. That meant engineering had to design the necessary connection ports and buttons in a thin, simple lip that sloped away gently underneath. Jobs delayed the product until the change could be made.

And it extended into Steve Jobs' plans for the future of Apple as well:

Even when he was dying, Jobs set his sights on disrupting more industries. He had a vision for turning textbooks into artistic creations that anyone with a Mac could fashion and craft—something that Apple announced in January 2012. He also dreamed of producing magical tools for digital photography and ways to make television simple and personal. Those, no doubt, will come as well. And even though he will not be around to see them to fruition, his rules for success helped him build a company that not only will create these and other disruptive products, but will stand at the intersection of creativity and technology as long as Jobs’s DNA persists at its core.

This exemplifies why Jobs was rightly considered the best product guy of his generation, arguably in the history of computing and consumer electronics. No other company could produce what Apple produced over the last decade, and none really seem intent on trying. It's not just the software -- it's everything from the materials used to produce casings to the buttons left off of them.

Apple made the iPod and not Sony, Apple made the iPhone and not Palm, Apple made the MacBook Air and not HP, Apple made the iPad and not Microsoft.

Steve Jobs gave Apple a remarkable insight, and there's every indication they're running with it. Hopefully they have several canny team members asking the impertinent questions and wielding the knives of simplicity.

Hopefully as well the rest of the industry is catching on -- they need to compete based on innovation and accessibility, not just price and ancillary complexity. Apple needs it, and consumers deserve it.

They can start by reading the article below, it's chock full of the insanely great.

Source: Harvard Business Revue via 9to5Mac

How to create stunning panoramic photographs with your iPhone

Leanna Lofte — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 14:49:28 +0000

With your iPhone you have one of the best 4:3 compact cameras in the world, but what happens when the world you want to capture isn't 4:3? What happens when you come across a gorgeous scene -- the Golden Gate bridge at sunset, the Manhattan skyline at dawn, the crystal-clear island beach, the magnificent Old Port architecture, the rally that's filling the campus. You can still take a photo, or several photos, of part of it, but nothing can really compare to capturing the full breadth and majesty of such an image all in one shot.

Enter the panorama.

The difference between wide angle and panorama

There's a fine line between what separates a photograph taken with a wide angle lens and a panoramic photograph. We're not going to get into the nitty-gritty details, so for the sake of simplicity, we'll say that a panoramic photo is one that has a wider field of view than the human eye, is at least twice as long as it is tall, and was created by using software (in our case, apps) to stitch together multiple images.

You've probably seen panorama's displayed and showcased at various places -- they're long and skinny and commonly have cityscapes, landscapes, and sports stadiums as their subject. The iPhone's built-in camera does not have the ability to take panoramic photographs (at least not yet), but there are many affordable apps in the App Store that do offer this functionality.

My personal favorite iPhone app for creating panoramic photographs is AutoStitch Panorama. The reason I like this one so much is because it lets you stitch any arrangement of photos. You're not limited to stitching photos to the left and right of each other -- you can also go up and down. It also supports high resolution creations up to 18 megapixels.

$1.99 - Download Now

How to take a great panoramic photo with your iPhone

While the software will take care of the stitching, it can only do as good a job as your images allow. There are several things you need to do to make sure the photos you take will come together into an amazing panorama, including maintaining a steady camera position, taking sufficient pictures, keeping focus and exposure consistent, and leaving enough room to crop the final image.

Pivot the iPhone around the camera lens

The biggest key to taking good panoramic photos is to make sure you don't shift the position of the iPhone while taking the photos. What I mean, is to imagine that there's a pole sticking out of the bottom of your iPhone, centered under the lens) and that the only motion you're allowed to do is to spin the pole so that the iPhone rotates. Since panoramic images are created by stitching multiple photos together, it should make sense that any shift of the camera's position will lessen the quality of results.

To prevent shifting your iPhone as you pan across the scene taking photos, I recommend holding your iPhone in the landscape position with two hands. To increase stability, you should also press your elbows against your torso. As you take the photos, do not to twist your body or move your feet. Place your left thumb and forefinger below and above the lens. Position your right hand similarly around the home button. The only movement you want to make is with your right hand. Keep your body facing the same direction and just rotate the iPhone with your right hand -- pivot about your left hand.

The easiest types of panoramas to take are of landscapes or big open spaces. Since everything is far away, there's plenty of room for error. The app you use for stitching will still be able to produce great results even if you shift the camera more than you should have.

Err on the side of too many photos

Just about every iPhone app that's dedicated to panoramic photography will advice you to make sure that you have at least 30% overlap between your adjacent photos. Unless you're using an app that overlays the previous image while taking the next one, I recommend overlapping a little more than 30% to play it safe. I say this for two reasons: 1. you may not be correctly estimating 30%, and 2. the more photos you have, the better chance you have at completing a nice precise stitch job.

Use AE/AF lock to keep a consistent exposure and focus

If your scene has a lot of dark and light elements, of if you're close to something you want in focus, make sure you trigger the AE/AF feature of the iPhone's camera. To do this, simply hold your finger down on the screen until the blue focus box starts pulsating. When you release, "AE/AF Lock" should appear on the screen.

Give yourself room to crop

Make sure that you give yourself enough room to crop your your final image. In the photo above (a panorama of the school I teach at), I made sure to capture enough of the sky and grass to give me the flexibility of cropping it exactly how I wanted when the stitching was done. First, I cropped it like this, applying the rule of thirds to the horizon and giving the interesting sky the spotlight.

But it's common practice to critique every image that I take, and after looking at this one a bit, I wasn't happy with how the left building is underexposed and didn't feel it really added to the photo. Sure, including it makes the panorama longer, but my goal isn't to create the widest pano, but to create an interesting photograph. To further justify cropping out the building on the left, I noticed that the sky was least interesting on that part of the photo as well. Here's the final image after cropping off the left.

This is a much better photograph, in my opinion. It may not show off as much of the campus, but that's ok. I've instead brought the focus of the image to the properly exposed buildings and the interesting sky.

Panoramic macros

When I saw these mushrooms in the grass, I was dying to take photos of them, and since I was working on this panoramic iPhone photography article, I thought I'd try to get a close-up, macro-style panorama. Nearly 15 tries later, I settled on the above image.

Remember how I mentioned that if you shift the position of the lens while taking the photos that it increases the chance of a bad stitch job? This is a prime example of the truth of that statement and demonstrates why close-up panoramas are very difficult.

For each of my attempts, I took 35-40 photos in hopes of improving my results, but they still all ended up with a lot of unwanted distortion. The problem was that since I was laying flat on my stomach propped up on my elbows, keeping a perfectly steady rotation was extremely challenging. In the end, I created a platform with the knuckles of my right hand while also keeping it stable on the ground. Then I stabilized the iPhone with my left hand and used my thumb to press the volume buttons to trigger the shutter. I did my best to carefully pivot the iPhone on my knuckles without allowing it to slide around.

In the end, I got an OK panorama. You can see a lot of distortion in the background, though -- it looks like the background is moving (take a look at a larger version to better see what I mean). But I think this is something that's going to be associated with close-up panoramas.

Panoramas as substitutes for wide angles

In addition to creating traditional panoramic photographs, you can use apps like AutoStitch to give the illusion of having a wide angle lens. I'm going to use my desk as an example for this. Here's a photo of my desk from the view of me sitting in my chair.

Horrible photo. It's way too close and cuts off a lot of stuff on my desk. Why don't I back up, you ask? Ok, I will.

Better. This photo does show off more of my desk, and I could've backed up further to show even more, but it's still not giving the look that I want. When envisioning a photo of my desk, I pictured one of those wide angle photographs that actually have some distortion to the photo. I mean this is a photo of my desk for crying out loud -- it needs something special to make it interesting.

That's where thinking of this as a panoramic project comes in. Only instead of creating a long and skinny image, I'm going to stitch a bunch of photos together from all directions, and give it a traditional crop. Here's what I got before cropping -- and I did this while sitting in my chair, the same position as the first photo.

Now we're getting somewhere! Lastly, I rotated and cropped the stitched image to an 8"x10" and got this.

Bingo. This is exactly what I was imagining what an interesting photo of my desk might look like. It has the feel of a wide angle lens, yet I didn't need any fancy gear and a DSRL -- just a $2 app and my iPhone!

Now go out and shoot!

Your assignment this week is create some killer panoramic photos and share them with us in the iMore photography forum. Make sure you also let us know which app you used to stitch your panorama!

Celebrate Free Card Day with FX Photo Studio for iPhone

Leanna Lofte — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 23:28:58 +0000

The popular photo filter iPhone app, FX Photo Studio, has recently partnered with Sincerely to include the ability to send physical postcards from directly within the app. For today only, they're allowing users to order one card for free!

FX Photo Studio has always been one of my favorite apps for adding filters to my photos because with 194 filters and effects, plus the ability to mask and layer the filters, there's a countless number of possibilities for each photo.

To mask an effect, you simply tap the paintbrush icon and start painting with your finger. To adjust the brush size you zoom in and out of the photo -- the brush size will always be relative to your finger. Although it isn't the default, you can easily turn on the outline of the brush so that you know exactly how big the brush is. You can also elect to show a small square in the corner that shows exactly where your are applying the effect. This is a great feature for those fine details since your finger is making it so you can't see.

FX Photo Studio also include a selective coloring tool called Color Splash that lets your convert parts of your image to black and white. Again, this is done by painting in the color with your finger.

Also included is 9 stylish text labels for adding personalized text to your photos. Although these labels are very nice, I do wish there was a plain text option that didn't include a label behind the text.

When you're done editing your photo, you can share it to Facebook Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr, Instagram, open in another app, or send to Sincerely to make a 4x6 postcard. Postcards are $1.99 each and very easy to send. You can add your own personal message to the back as well as a profile picture.

The Good

194 filters and effects
Color Splash tool for selective coloring
Filters can be masked on and off specific areas of the photo
Text labels

The Bad

Can't add text by itself without a label
Cannot make traditional adjustments (like exposure and white balance)

The Conclusion

FX Photo Studio is a great app for adding effects and filters to your photos with endless possibilities. The ability to send affordable postcards through Sincerely is a great new addition that, even though you may not use regularly, is nice to have as an option when someone's birthday is approaching or for those random times you want to send a smile to someone's doorstep.

Today is Free Card Day!

If you decide to pick up FX Photo Studio, today is Free Card Day and each user is allowed to send one postcard for free! The number of free cards is limited to 50,000, so if you're planning to take advantage of Free Card Day, you better act fast!

$1.99 - Download Now

How to use iPhoto to darken and add drama to your iPhone photography

Leanna Lofte — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 16:40:27 +0000

This week our iPhone Photography series is going to be a little different. Instead of exploring a new technique for taking better photos, we're going to dive into the digital darkroom of iPhoto to improve an image we've already taken. It's always worth capturing the best possible photo you can with your camera. Thanks to photo editing apps like iPhoto, however, when and if something goes wrong -- the framing is a little off, the white balance or exposure isn't perfect, the levels just don't look right -- there's a lot you can do to fix it.

Perhaps you recall seeing this image in our lesson about negative space. I admitted to editing it a bit. What I didn't admit to was how much editing I did. Sure, I did crop to a square and apply an Instagram filter like I mentioned, but I also fired up Photoshop to darken parts of the image even more.

Well, this is an iPhoneography series, so instead of using Photoshop for our edits, we're going to use Apple's new iPhoto app for iPhone and iPad. I'm going to use the iPad because I enjoy using the larger screen, but the same process can also be done on the iPhone.

iPhoto for iPhone and iPad, $4.99 - Download Now

Before we get started, download the full resolution version of the original image so that you can do the edits with me. (Hold down your finger on the image and tap Save Image. This will save it to your Camera Roll.) Here's what it should look like.

Huge difference from the final image I used, isn't it? This is why learning how to edit your photos is also an important part of photography, especially for iPhoneographers who don't have the luxuries and control that come with shooting with a DSLR.

Critique your image

When you decide you want to edit an image, the first thing you should do is sit back and critique it. What do you want it to look like? Why does it even need to be edited in the first place? You don't just want to start blindly editing photos with a "we'll see what happens" approach. This will result in images that look processed and overdone. This shouldn't be your goal. (Side note: that type of look does have its place, but it's not what we're going to focus on and, it too, should also be planned and deliberate).

When I look at my original image, I see a lot of flaws. First, the orientation is wrong. To bring the viewer's attention to the flame, my intended subject, it would be better cropped either horizontally, or as a square. Notice that I said my subject is the flame, not the candle. This is important. Know your subject.

Second, there's a lot of distracting elements in the frame -- especially the people and balloons. Note, however, that I intentionally composed the shot so that the flame, itself, didn't have a person behind it.

Now that we've determined what's wrong with the photo, we know what we want to fix. We need to crop the image with a landscape orientation and get rid of the distracting elements. The most natural way to do that is by darkening those areas.

Crop

We're going to start by cropping the photo so that it has a horizontal orientation. There are many different ratios to choose from, and for this image, the important thing is to make sure that the ratio you choose doesn't cut off the dripping wax as this is an interesting element of the photograph. The best choice for this image was 10x8.

To crop the image, tap the crop icon in the lower left corner. Then tap the settings icon on the bottom right and swipe to the 2nd page to select 10x8. To make sure the image is straight, adjust the dial at the bottom until the grid lines are perfectly lined up with the candle. I went about two degrees in the positive direction.

Adjust contrast and shadows

Next up, we're going to adjust the contrast and shadows. This will darken the background a bit before we jump into using the darken tool.

To adjust the contrast, tap the exposure icon. It's the one directly to the right of the crop icon. This will show you a line with some icons across the bottom of the screen. The first and last icons adjust the shadows and highlights, the middle icon adjusts the exposure, and the other two adjust the contrast.

Now let's make our adjustment. Tap either one of the contrast icons and slide it away from the center. This will increase the contrast. You'll notice that this will darken the background and make the flame and candle "pop" a bit more. Adjust this to taste. I went about a third of the way between the shadows icon and the exposure icon. I recommend moving it to where you think it looks good, then going a little bit less than that.

Finally, we'll adjust the shadows. Again, adjust to to where you think it looks good. I went about halfway between the zone on the left. This edit made my background even darker.

At this point, our image has already greatly improved. Trigger the button next to the Edit button in the upper right hand corner to compare with the original. Already a great improvement! But we can do even better. Specifically, I want to get rid of the remaining evidence of someone sitting on the right and darken that white shirt on the left as much as I can.

Darken

Now we're going to eliminate the remaining distracting elements by darkening those areas of the photo. To do this, select the Darken brush from the Brushes menu (4th icon in the bottom left corner). Next, tap the Settings icon in the lower right corner and toggle Show Strokes to ON. This will allow you to see exactly where you're applying the brush.

Start painting the areas around the flame with your finger. Your strokes will show up in red and you'll notice that the opacity increases the more times you go over an area. Make sure you go over the areas that are far away from the candle as much as possible. Also do your best to blend the opacity level of your strokes as you get closer to the candle. Otherwise, there will be an obvious line where you stopped applying the brush. Be patient. Take your time. Tap the undo button if you make a mistake. You can also use the eraser tool to erase your strokes.

Pay special attention to the area to the left of the candle and pinch to zoom into the photo to make sure you're precise. Also make sure you cover the area with the shirt good since it's so light.

When you're done, trigger Show Strokes to off and take a look at your results. Then adjust the slider all the way to the right to make the area you painted even darker. If you notice any areas that need to be fixed, turn Show Stokes back on and make your adjustments. Turn the stokes back off and compare with the original photo again.

Looking much better! But notice that you can still still the shirt on the left side of the candle and the windows are also a bit distracting. Unfortunately, the Darken tool couldn't completely take care of it. That's why we're going to see if there's a filter that'll help us out.

Filter

Feel free to experiment with the different filters, but I have narrowed it down to the two I think are best.

The third choice in the Artistic category does a great job of dimming the windows without drastically changing the look of the candle. However, the white shirt on the left is still fairly visible.

The third choice in the Vintage category almost eliminates the shirt entirely and also dims the windows a little bit. But it also reddens the already very red candle.

I think both of these filters make very fine choices. However, I wasn't completely satisfied with either, so I went with the one in the Artistic category, saved it to my Camera Roll, then edited the saved image by just darkening the area with the white shirt.

Final result

Look at the difference! To see a larger comparison, just tap/click the image.

Now, that wasn't too hard, was it? Usually, a few small edits can have a major impact on your images.

Assignment

Your assignment for this week is to edit your photos! Remember, the first thing you want to do is critique your image and decide on the changes that need to be made. If you need help, feel free to ask the iMore community for some suggestions. After you've made your edits, head to the iMore Photography forum and share your results! Make sure to include both the before and after shots!

Better focus and exposure, photo management, and app integration come to Camera+ 3.0

Leanna Lofte — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 16:22:47 +0000

If you've been looking to upgrade your iPhoneography from the built-in iPhone Camera app to something a little more flexible and powerful, then check out the just released Camera+ 3. Built by photographers for photographers, the latest update not only continues Camera+'s great features and filter sets, but adds the ability to lock focus and exposure, mulit-photo imports, improved social sharing, app integration (so you can get to Camera+ from within other apps), and more.

Camera+ has long had the ability to set your exposure and focus separately while taking a photo, but today's update now allows you to lock these settings in place, independently of each other so that you can fine-tune your composition without fear of these settings changing.

The update now also allows you to important multiple photos from your library at once versus just one at a time. Also related to workflow, Camera+ now gives you the option to edit a photo immediately after capturing it, or to take many photos in a row and decide on your own when you wish to start editing.

Sharing to Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr has also been greatly improved. You can now share to all services at once -- even multiple accounts of any service at once.

The folks at tap tap tap have also released new app integration API's that allows developers to integrate Camera+ into their apps. For example, when choosing to upload a photo in Tweetbot, there is now an option to take the photo with Camera+. After you're done taking and editing the photo in Camera+, it will automatically take you back to Tweetbot and insert the photo into your tweet. Other apps that utilize Camera+ integration include WordPress, Twitterrific, Foodspotting, and Twittelator Neue.

I'm very impressed with the update so far and will spend more time with Camera+ over the coming weeks. Camera+ has always been one of those apps that was great in theory, but the UI and workflow never really clicked with me. With these added improvements, I'm willing to give Camera+ another shot.

$0.99 -Download Now

How to make your iPhone photographs more powerful with negative space

Leanna Lofte — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 00:50:23 +0000

The placement of your subject or subjects is incredibly important when it comes to creating powerful iPhone photo compositions, but just as important is everything around and between them -- the negative space. We started out our iPhoneography series by introducing the rule of thirds. Now we're going to explore that other two thirds, how it defines the forms, leads the eye, and helps create more balanced, more visually interesting work.

The positives of negative space

Rubin's Vase is a classic example of the power of negative space. Do you see two faces in profile, or a vase?

If every pixel in your photograph was filled with important information it would be impossible to know what to focus on. In other words, if everything is special or important, nothing is. Just like the silence in between the notes defines the music, the negative space around the subjects of your photograph defines the composition.

Don't think of negative space as "empty" space, because that's not always the case. Negative space can be filled with clouds or forests, it could be out of focus or in stark contrast, it could be lost in motion or frozen in stillness. Think of negative space as something that balances out your photos, the supporting player that really lets your subjects shine.

It's a difficult concept to grasp, and sometimes not an obvious one, especially now that we have 8 megapixel, million color cameras on our iPhones. Rubin's Vase (above) is a classic example of the power of negative space, and breaking things down into extremely high contrast (i.e. black and white) can help you get the hang of it.

Lead the eyes into negative space

Here the coin is composed using the "rule of thirds" and, in black and white, it's easy to see how the negative space defines that composition.

Until now, many of you probably didn't even think about the negative space and how it can impact your photography. Most people are focused on the subject and ignore everything else when composing their photos. Simply being aware of the negative space will immediately improve your photographs.

The best way to relate your subject and negative space is to compose your shots so that an element of your subject leads your eyes into the negative space. We talked about this briefly with portraits when we mentioned that you want to keep the negative space in front of your subject.

Dramatic lighting with harsh shadows is a prime opportunity for using negative space. Compose your shots so that the shadows are moving into the negative space because your eyes will naturally follow it.

This next photo is another great example and I want to walk you through my thought process with producing the final image.

I settled on this photo when I finally managed to get the flame to lead the eye into the negative space.

I took about 5 shots of this photo because of the moving flame. I settled on the above photo because the flame leads your eyes into the negative space. If the flame was pointing toward the left, it would still be a nice picture, but not have the same impact as this one.

Now, this candle was actually sitting on a table that had a lot of people sitting around it. I positioned myself so that no one was behind it, shot in portrait mode, and used the rule of thirds with the candle to the left. I used portrait orientation because I wanted to keep the people out of the shot, but in the end, the composition wasn't working for me --it should've been taken in landscape. That's why I decided to use Instagram to crop the photo to a square and applied a filter that darkened my background and eliminated the distractions. The square crop dramatized the negative space and brought the focus on the flame.

This photo is a great example of using a uniform color for your negative space and how it can positively impact your photo. I considered tilting the lens so that the leaf of the Apple symbol would lead the eyes into the negative space, but in the end I decided to leave it straight because the bite out of the Apple plays that role nicely. I also cropped it to a 16:9 ratio to dramatize the negative space by making it appear longer.

I've also seen uniform negative space done nicely with the sky as the background, by looking up at a tree or flower, and on portraits with a solid colored wall or backdrop behind the subject.

Examples

One of iMore's friends specializes in the use of negative space in his photography and iPhoneography. Check out some of Martin Reisch's (aka *safe solvent™) work on Instagram or on his website http://safesolvent.com/

Some great examples of negative space from Martin Reisch, aka *safe solvent™

Critique yourself

Composition is hard to master and is a skill that takes a lot of practice and patience to develop. In addition to the assignment this week, I challenge you to seriously critique every image you take that you're proud of. There are many elements to a photo that need to be critiqued, but for this week, pay special attention to that negative space and ask yourself how you could have made better use of it.

For example, take a look at the very first image of this post.

I'm going to critique the photo that is being taken on the iPhone. There are two different light sources hitting the 8-ball, casting two different shadows. The choice of negative space is good -- the 8-ball is in its element on the pool felt. However, even though I have the longer shadow leading the eyes into the negative space, The composition could still use a little tweeking. What make this image a little different is that there are two shadows, and together, they lead your eyes in a different direction than if the long shadow was by itself. When I look at that photo, my eyes keep falling into the bottom right corner, which then I fight back by jumping up and looking at the bigger space in opposite corner. This is bad.

How should I fix it? My first thought was to position the iPhone so that the shadows work together to lead my eyes into the bottom left or bottom right corner. But when I actually attempted it, the angle of the shadows wasn't really working. So I decided the move the 8-ball entirely, so that only one light source was casting a shadow on it. Then I cropped to 16:9 ratio to make the shadow seem longer. Here's the result.

Much better!

Now go out and shoot! And critique!

So your assignment this week is to not only make good use of negative space, but to give your photos a good honest critique. Then head to the iMore Photography Forum and share both your photos and a critique of each photo you share. Then ask your fellow iMore iPhoneographers for their critique and offer up your own constructive criticism to their photos as well. Let's grow as iPhoneographers, together!

Transform your photos into typographic works of art with WordFoto for iPhone

Leanna Lofte — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 07:46:39 +0000

A picture is worth a thousand words -- and WordFoto takes this quite literally by artistically splattering meaningful words all over your photos, transforming them into typographic works of art.

Creating your masterpieces is simple -- just add the words you wish to appear in your photo and WordFoto will choose where and how large the words appear on your image and apply a filter. You can also choose from 8 preset styles or create your own by choosing the colors for shadows/highlights and adjusting saturation, brightness, contrast, padding, and font. You can store up to 8 of these custom styles that can be quickly accessed for other photos.

If you still want to make a few more adjustments, head to the "finetune" tab where you can make further changes to the edge, edge threshold, and color tolerance. You can also force the entire image to be re-rendered for other word placement options.

Speaking of word placement, sometimes the wrong words end up emphasized. For example, in this example, the most important word should be "California", yet WordFoto made "state" the largest word in the photo.

WordFoto definitely needs to include the ability to mark the importance of the words. After many rendering attempts, this was the closest I could get to focusing on the word "California".

My other complaint is that you cannot share directly with Twitter. You can only share to your Camera Roll (from where you can then tweet), Facebook, and email.

Despite these two changes I'd like to see, I still recommend WordFoto for creating photos with a message because it does this very well and quite beautifully. Not to mention, WordFoto is extremely easy to use

$1.99 - Download Now

How to take amazing macro photos with your iPhone

Leanna Lofte — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 06:07:57 +0000

There's nothing like getting up close and personal, and that holds true for photography, even iPhoneography. Life is full of small, interesting things -- a flower, an insect, your newborn's tiny toes -- and these things make for great photography.

This week's iPhone photography project is, you guessed it -- macro! Macro simply means close-up photography -- not zoomed, but the lens being physically close to the subject. The keys to good macro photography, even on an iPhone, are becoming familiar with the focus distance of your lens and nailing that focus, light, composition, and making your subject stand out.

Don't get too close

Macro photography is, by definition, close-up photography, but that doesn't mean you can get as close as you want. If you get too close, the lens will not be able to achieve a focus. I don't know the exact distance, but somewhere around 4 inches is the minimum focus distance of the iPhone's lens. So if you're struggling with locking a focus, back up.

Use AE/AF lock

How many times have you attempted to focus on your subject only to have the the lens tease you by immediately losing focus or losing focus while you're busy perfecting your composition. This is why taking advantage of the somewhat hidden AE/AF lock feature is so helpful with macro photography.

When enabled, AE/AF lock preserves the focus and exposure on the lens so that you can recompose your shot without either of these settings being changed. To enable it, just hold your finger on the screen at the spot you want to be in focus until the blue square pulsates. When you release, "AE/AF Lock" will appear at the bottom of the screen.

I recommend always use AE/AF lock when taking macro photos for composing your shots, but you can also use it as a way to combat those times when your iPhone refuses to focus. When this happens, find something else that your iPhone will focus on (keys usually work and are something I always have with me) and trigger AE/AF focus on this object. Then remove that item from the frame and move closer/further to your subject until it's in focus. Then fine tune your composition and trigger the shutter!

Don't block your light source

Light is the most important element to good photography, but since macro photography means you're getting close to your subject, it's very easy to accidentally block your light source. Be aware of this and make it a priority to allow as much light as possible to fall on your subject. Sometimes this means positioning yourself in a very awkward way, but trust me, it's worth it.

Use shallow depth of field to add interest to your photo

You may have heard of terms like "bokeh" and "depth of field" thrown around in regards to photography. Bokeh refers to the part of the photograph that is out of focus (more specifically -- the quality of the out-of-focus area) and the range of focus is called "depth of field". A photo with a shallow depth of field means that the range of focus is very small. This is often times a very desirable trait for a photograph to have.

Obtaining a shallow depth of field is a combination of focal length, aperture, and distance to your subject. With an iPhone, the only thing you can control is distance and since the closer you are to the focused area, the shallower the depth of field, macro iPhoneography is your opportunity use the out of focus area to enhance your photograph.

One thing that people commonly forget is that the surroundings and background of your photo have a great impact on the final image. If the out of focus area of your photo is related to the main subject, it ties everything together nicely and makes for a more interesting photo.

Now go out and shoot!

Your assignment for this week is to go out and take some killer macro shots then head over to the Photography Forum, ask questions, share your results, and offer feedback to your fellow iPhoneographers!

Mujjo fisheye lens review: Fun photography accessory for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch [Giveaway]

Georgia — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 06:07:36 +0000

"The Mujjo fisheye is a great little novelty lens that's cute, small, easy to carry, and a lot of fun to play around with, especially for kids."

The Mujjo fisheye lens is an incredibly inexpensive way to try out fisheye photography on your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad -- or almost any smartphone or tablet. A fisheye lens is designed to take extremely wide-angle pictures, so wide that it becomes almost spherical for still photographs. That means, however, you can get a lot more content -- people, scenery, etc. -- into a shot than is possible with a standard lens. It also means that pictures are often warped to almost comical levels. But that's really the point.

With this Mujjo, it's not about the quality of the glass or the "I can't believe it's a camera phone" pictures -- it's about having fun. If the best camera is the one you have with you, and your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad is what you have with you, that's great, but it can also get a little boring at times. That's where the Mujjor fisheye comes in. It's not for high-end photographers (they've already got lenses that cost more than the iPhone!), but for people who want to experiment, add a little spice, and switch things up from the regular old Camera app shots.

It's also adorable. Available in green, blue, white, red and black, the Mujjo fisheye comes with a stretchy, bungee style cord that lets you easily attach to a keychain or anywhere convenient so you have it with you and don't need to worry about it getting lost. It attaches to your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad with a gummy type adhesive that keeps it reasonably well attached without leaving unsightly residue on your precious mobile device.

To take a fishey picture, just stick the Mujjo onto your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and use the built in Camera app or any App Store app you like -- Instagram would be a really fun choice!

You can fit way more into the picture with a Mujjo fisheye lens... even if it does warp around you.

You'll notice right away that you can fit a lot more into the picture, even if it's massively distorted. Video is a little different, however. Because the iPhone 4S crops the capture size down to 1080p, and the iPhone 4, iPad 2, and iPod touch 4 crop it down to 720p, you only get the middle of the fisheye effect. That makes video look much less warped than photos but still fits much more in the frame.

Again, it's not a high end lens, it's just a lot of fun to play around with, a great way to get started to see if you like specialty lenses, and something especially fabulous and inexpensive to let kids play around with.

The good

Inexpensively priced
Cute design
Highly portable
Works with any smartphone or tablet

The bad

Sticky backing needs to be kept clean from lint and dust
Not a high quality lens

The conclusion

The Mujjo fisheye is a great little novelty lets that's cute, small, easy to carry, and a lot of fun to play around with, especially for kids. It works with the iPhone, iPod touch or iPad, or any smartphone or tablet, and is a cheap way take your mobile photography in a new direction.

It's not for pros, but it is for anyone just starting out, and would make a great novelty gift, stocking stuffer, loot bag treat, or just rainy day surprise.

€9.95 - Buy now

For more on iPhone photography, check out:

Giveaway

We've got some Mujjo's to give away! Leave a comment below telling us what you'd like to photograph with a fisheye and you're entered for a chance to win!

Enhance your photos with Simply HDR for iPhone and iPad

Leanna Lofte — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:12:52 +0000

Simply HDR has the potential of turning your ordinary photos into extraordinary ones. HDR photography has turned into an art form itself, and Simply HDR does a great job of creating these types of images with very little work from the user.

Most HDR apps require you to take at least two photos, each exposed differently, to be combined into a single image. Simply HDR aims to make the process, well, simpler, by performing the edits on just one photo. This is great for those times when you're browsing through your Camera Roll and realize that a photo you took the other day might look nice with some HDR processing.

After opening the photo you'd like to edit, you can choose from five different styles: High Dynamic Range, Black and White HDR, Contrasted HDR, Shadows and Lights, and Contrasted Light -- each of which has 9-15 different "filters" to choose from. Then you can adjust shadow and highlight corrections, vignette settings, grain strength, and add a tint.

Many people like the over-processed look that HDR photos can achieve, so if that's what you're looking for, Simply HDR does it well. Personally, I prefer subtle, natural-looking HDR processing. Lucky for me, Simply HDR has some options that fit my taste as well. The photo above is one such example.

If you pick this one up, we would love it if you shared your images with us in the iMore Photography Forum!

$0.99 for iPhone - Download Now

$1.99 for iPad - Download Now

How to take great looking portraits with your iPhone camera

Leanna Lofte — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 00:15:56 +0000

We love to take pictures of the people we love. It's one of the primary reasons we buy cameras, and it's one of the primary reasons we use our iPhone camera. Our friends, our families, our children, whether it's for something special like a card or graduation, an event like a trip, a party or, or family get-together, or just a chance encounter, we always have our iPhone with us so we can always grab that perfect portrait of that important person.

But how do you take a great looking portrait with your iPhone? Lighting, camera level, pose, and the "rule of thirds" we went over last time all play a role.

Lighting

If you're using an iPhone to take portraits, you likely do not have (nor want) access to a professional lighting studio, but you can still control some aspects that will have a major impact on your photos.

Avoid the sun

Moving your subject into the shade will provide much softer and more appealing light.

I've heard a countless number of people exclaim about a beautiful sunny day being such a great day to go out and take photos. This couldn't be further from the truth. Direct sunlight is a photographer's worst nightmare -- it provides harsh, unforgiving lighting and makes your subject squint. In fact, the best type of day for taking portraits is an overcast one. This isn't something you can control, though, so if you find yourself taking portraits on a sunny day, head to a shaded area.

Natural light is the best kind of light

Natural light is much prettier than indoor, incandescent light.

Most indoor lighting is horrible for photography because cameras struggle with accurately interpreting the colors -- or in photography terms, choosing the correct white balance. A big reason for this is because when indoors, you usually have more than one light source (including natural light) and each source may be emitting a different color of light. If you've noticed that your indoor images have a yellow tint to them, this is why.

So what is this magical "natural light"? It's simply light that's produced by sun, but not direct sunlight. To improve your indoor portraits, turn off your indoor lights and head to a window or sliding glass door to use as your light source. Experiment with placement, as well. Placing your subject at a 45 degree angle to the source is a good place to start.

Catchlight

You subject's eyes will stand out with catchlights.

Ever notice that in some portraits, the subject's eyes stand out more than in other portraits? Sometimes there is some post-processing involved, but most of the time it was just clever placement of lighting -- and it's so simple. To make your subject's eyes stand out, you need catchlights.

A catchlight is simply a reflection of the light source in your subject's eye. Given this definition, it should be easy to understand that you want the light source to be somewhere in front of your subject, preferably above eye level, to get the desired results. This is happens naturally when seeking out a light source, like a window, but takes a little thinking on your part when outdoors.

The best way to get catchlights with outdoor portraits is to make sure they are posed in a way that allows the light to hit their eyes. Since the light is coming from the sky, make sure your subject is not looking down or wearing a hat that shades the eyes. If you're photographing a girl with thick bangs, you may consider taking her photo from above and have her look up at you. If it's an overcast day, make note of the sun's location and position yourself so it's behind you and in front of the person you are taking photos of. This is good for both catchlights and lighting in general.

Get eye level with your subject

Getting down (or up) to your subject's level will provide better results.

Sometimes, all it takes is a simple repositioning of the photographer to transform an image from being a simple snapshot, to being a nice portrait. The trick is to get to your subject's level. For babies, this means getting down on the floor, possibly laying on your tummy. For small children, crouch down or get on your knees. And the one I have to constantly remind myself about -- get to higher ground for people who are taller than you. This is actually pretty easy with an iPhone since the viewfinder is your screen. All you need to do is hold the iPhone above your head, at your subject's eye level, when taking the photo. The screen is big enough for it to still be easy to frame the shot and trigger the shutter.

Remember, though, that rules are meant be broken. If done right, portraits shot from above or below the subject can come out rather stunning.

Posing

Pose your subjects in a natural, comfortable way.

Posing your subject is definitely one of the hardest things about portrait photography and we could focus an entire article on just this topic alone. For today, we'll just hit a couple main points.

Keep your subject's attire in mind when choosing a background. For example, if your subject is wearing a Hawaiian shirt, you'll probably want to avoid posing your subject in front of a bunch of palm trees. You want the background to compliment your subject, not distract away from them.

Try not to put your subject into specific poses as this often makes them feel awkward which translates into an awkward photo. Stick with poses that are natural and not forced. Aim to give instructions that naturally result in a nice pose. For example, tell your subject to lean against a wall and play with his phone while you respond to an important email. This will result in a completely natural pose because your subject doesn't even realize they are being posed.

For smiles, the last thing you want to do is say "smile!". For most people, this results in a very awkward, forced smile. Again, the goal is for your subject to look natural and comfortable, so try to evoke a natural smile by making them laugh or think of something that makes them happy.

Rule of thirds and empty space

When using the rule of thirds, it's better to have the empty space in front of, not behind, your subject.

Don't forget about the rule of thirds! This can be applied to every area of photography, including portraits. But with portraits, we're going to expand on the idea just a little bit more.

If your subject isn't directly facing you, frame your shots so that the front of their body is facing the empty space -- or, the two-thirds of the photo that does not have your subject. Our eyes naturally look in the direction that the subject is facing and it feels awkward to the viewer if the empty space is behind the subject.

Now go out and shoot!

Your assignment for this week is to go out and take some killer portraits. Practice makes perfect, so solicit your friends, significant others, and if you're feeling brave, strangers, to hone your skill. Then head over to the Photography Forums, ask questions, share your results, and offer feedback to your fellow iPhoneographers!

54 frames for one photo: How Apple produces their product shots

Rene Ritchie — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 23:48:59 +0000

Looking at an Apple commercial for an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, with the device so completely in focus, you might at first mistake it for a 3D rendering. It turns out it's real photography, however, incredibly painstaking photography. And it produces utterly fantastic results.

The most challenging aspect of shooting store panels for Apple is the balance between the size of the file and the depth of field. Often the products small enough that our depth of field is very narrow. In order for the product to appear entirely in focus, we have to shoot a number of focus zones, which are stitched together in post. This video is a stop motion video made from all of the focus zones that were shot for this iPod Touch. The number in the corner is the number of the focus zone. In the video you can see the progression of the focus march from front to back. For this left iPod Touch, it took 54 frames just to get the product to appear completely in focus.

Just one of many examples of the effort Apple puts into not only making and packaging their products, but producing everything that surrounds their products. It might sound crazy, almost perfectionistic, but if they put this much into the photography, imagine what they put into the device?

We won't be covering these kinds of techniques anytime soon in our iPhoneography series, but if it's something you want to play around with -- even to a much smaller degree -- then jump into our iPhone Photography Forum and have at it

Check out the video example via the link below.

Source: Dwight Eschliman Photography via @duncanwilcox, @sdw

How to get started with iPhone photography

Rene Ritchie — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 06:30:23 +0000

Everything you need to know about using your iPhone Camera to take great, memorable photos

With the new iPhone photography -- or iPhoneography -- series we're running on iMore, we have a lot of new iPhones users, and burgeoning photographers joining us. So, Leanna and I thought it would be a good idea to team up, take a moment, and go over the basics so that everyone gets up to speed just as quickly as possible. If you're new to the iPhone or new to taking pictures, here's everything you need to know to get started. Bookmark it. If you're already an expert, save the link for a friend, and jump right into our iPhoneography Forum and share your work!

The iPhone 4S camera

The iPhone 4S has an 8 megapixel camera. A megapixel is 1 million pixels, so that means the iPhone 4S camera captures images that are 3264x2448 pixels in size. That's enough to print an 8x10 picture at 300 dots per inch (dpi), or fairly high quality. (Low quality color images print at 150-300dpi, high quality at 300-600+ dpi)

The aperture on the iPhone 4S camera is f/2.4. The f stands for "focal ratio" or "f-stop". The lower the f-stop (which is actually a larger aperture), the more light that can be let in so you can get better pictures in a wider range of settings. For example, combined with the iPhone's macro abilities, you can be obtain a shallow depth-of-field (where the subject is in focus, and elements in front of and behind the subject are blurred). The iPhone 4S also has 5 elements in the lens, helping to keep photos sharp.

An infrared (IR) filter helps produce more accurate color, and combines with software that optimizes dynamic range and white balance. So, you basically have a camera that could previously only be found on a dedicated point-and-shoot, built right into your phone.

iPhone 4S camera hands-on

Quick Camera access

Quickly launch your iPhone camera by double clicking home then tapping the camera button

With iOS 5, Apple's made it easier and faster than ever to access your camera when you need it, even when your iPhone is locked, and even if you have a passcode set.

Double click the Home button
Tap the Camera button

That's it. Two clicks and a tap and you're in the Camera App and ready to shoot.

Yes, this does leave you open to pranks

The Camera app

Tap the Camera icon on your iPhone Home screen to launch the Camera app. The Camera app is the built-in, default way to take photos on your iPhone. Even in other apps, like Messages, if you tap the camera button to take a photo, you'll be taken into the Camera app.

The Camera app opens to a live-view screen, similar to the LCD display you see on a point-and-shoot or DSLR camera. Controls are available right on the screen to take a photo, set the flash, access advanced options, and switch to the front-facing camera. Other controls are also available, including a hardware shutter and digital zoom. We'll walk you through all of them.

Geo-tagging

When you first launch the Camera, you'll be asked for permission to use your current Location for geotagging

The first time you launch the Camera app, it will ask for your permission to use your current Location. That's because, if you let it, your iPhone will store the GPS coordinates of every photo you take, so you can always easily refer back to it later. This can be great for keeping track of vacation shots, but not so great if you're posting pictures online and don't want the entire internet to know your address.

Whether you choose to enable geo-tagging for now or not, you can always change your mind later.

How to to geolocation on or off for your iPhone Camara

Taking a photo

To take a photo, either tap the Camera button or click the volume up control

There are two ways to take a photo with the Camera app. Both of them will fire the shutter and save a picture to your Camera Roll library.

Tap the Camera button on the live view screen
Click the volume up hardware button on the side of your iPhone

Bonus tip: If your iPhone headset has a volume up button, you can use it to take pictures remotely!

Pinch to Zoom

Pinch to zoom activates the digital zoom, and shows you the zoom slider

The iPhone has a mediocre digital zoom but if you absolutely have to zoom in, it can be very slightly better than nothing.

Touch your thumb and forefinger to the screen and pinch them together to zoom in.
Spread them apart to zoom back out.

Once you've activated the zoom feature, a slider will appear giving you linear control, if you prefer it.

Macro

You can automatically take macro shots by getting in close... though the focus seems glitchy on close ups

The iPhone will automatically adjust for macro photos. Just bring the camera close to the object you want to shoot and take the picture.

Note: There appears to be a glitch in iOS 5 that causes problems focusing extremely close for macro photos. It locks for a moment, then blurs again. Hopefully Apple is fixing this for the next update.

Changing auto-focus and auto-exposure

To focus and set exposure on an object, just tap on it. The square indicates the current target.

The iPhone camera has automatic focus, exposure, and facial recognition. It will always try to take the best possible photo it can, but it may not always know which area of the photo you want to target.

Changing the target is simple.

Tap the screen

That's it. Any area you tap will be surrounded by a white square and your iPhone will automatically refocus and re-balance the exposure for that area.

If your iPhone detects a face -- or up to 10 faces -- it will put a green square around it and automatically refocus and optimize the image around the face.

Locking auto-focus/auto-exposure

Sometimes the auto-focus and auto-exposure on the iPhone is more blessing than curse. For example, when there's a lot of movement, or when the center of the photo you want to take is exceptionally bright or dark. When that happens, you can lock both the auto-focus and auto-white balance so that, when you move the camera around, they no longer change.

Place your camera one the area that has the focus and exposure you want to lock onto to
Tap the square to make sure the focus and white balance are set.
Hold the square with your finger until it turns blue and pulsates.

The words AE/AF Lock will appear at the bottom the screen to confirm you've done it correctly. Move the camera and take your photos without worrying about the auto-focus or auto-exposure balance any more.

To remove the AR/AF Lock, just tap the screen outside the square.

More on how to use the iPhone AE/AF camera lock

Setting the flash

To toggle the LED flash between On, Auto, and Off, tap the current setting at the top left of the live screen

Your iPhone has an LED Flash that can be set to off, auto, and on. It's not a great flash and as will any point-and-shoot camera, light is your friend -- especially lot of daylight. If you're in a really dark place, however, and really want or need a picture, it's easy to turn the flash on.

Tap the Flash button at the top left of the live view screen.
Tap the On button to turn the flash on, or the **Auto button* to put it into automatic mode.

Taking HDR photos

To enable High Dynamic Range, tap Options, then toggle HDR to On.

HDR stands for High Dynamic Range and involves taking a series of pictures, one right after the other, both slightly overexposed and slightly underexposed, and combining them together to reveal more light and shadow information than a standard single-exposure photo would allow. So basically, you can see detail in the bright sky and in the shadow under the tree, rather than having one blown out or the other lost to black.

Tap the Options button at the top center of the live view screen.
Slide the HDR toggle to On.

The bottom of the screen will show HDR so you'll know it's enabled.

Note: The multiple exposures take a short amount of time to combine, so after you take an HDR photo you'll see a your iPhone say "Saving HDR". If you need to take a lot of photos quickly, you'll want to make sure HDR is set to Off.

An example of a regular vs. HDR photo, with the HDR photo on the right revealing far greater detail in the sky

Displaying the grid

The grid allows you to use the "rule of thirds" to better compose your photos

The grid is useful to help you align your photographs and achieve better compositions. For example, by using the "rule of thirds".

Tap the Options button at the top center of the live view screen.
Slide the Grid toggle to On.

Two sets of vertical crossed by two sets of horizontal lines will divide your screen, and you'll be ready to compose your shot.

How to use the "rule of thirds" to better compose your iPhone photos

Camera Roll and Photo Stream

Photo Stream is a great way to backup and instantly get all your photos onto all your Apple devices... just handle with discretion for now.

Once you've taken a photo, it gets stores in your Camera Roll, and optionally your Photo Stream.

To access the Camera Roll from inside the Camera App:

Tap the Thumbnail button next to the camera button.

To access the Camera Roll from the Home screen:

Launch the built-in Photos app
Tap the the Camera Roll tab.

Photo Stream is part of iCloud and keeps the most recent photos from your Camera Roll, up to 1000 of them and for up to 1 month, in a special album that's stored up to Apple's servers and pushed down to your other iOS 5 devices. It can also stream photos to an Apple TV 2 without keeping any local copies, and will store all your photos, without limit of number and time, in iPhoto or Aperture on Mac, and on a Windows PC.

Think of it as a photo only (no video) duplicate of all the Camera Rolls of all your iOS devices -- including photos you've saved to the Camera Roll from email and the web -- all in one place.

Unlike Camera Roll, however, you currently can't delete photos from Photo Stream (that will change with iOS 5.1 later this spring). That means if you take any risqué photos you don't want store online, you'll have to reset your entire Photo Stream via iCloud.com in order to get rid of them.

Photo management and editing

You can manage your photos, including emailing, tweeting, iMessaging, deleting, creating and filing into folders, and even basic editing like red-eye removal, rotation, cropping, and auto-ehance, right in the built-in Photos app. There are also several excellent photo editing apps in the App Store.

We'll cover more on that in a future article. For now, we just want you to focus on taking photos.

Other Camera apps

A sampling of Martin Reisch's (@safesolvent) awe-inspiring Instagram gallery.

While the basic, built-in iPhone Camera app is all you really need to get started, there are several other well regarded Camera apps in the App Store. They typically provide more or better features than the built in app. Here are two of our current favorites.

Instagram is a popular, free iPhone app for applying distinctive filters to your photos, squaring them, and quickly sharing them to the Instagram network, as well as via Twitter and Facebook. You can also see some amazing examples of other people's iPhoneography. Read more - Download now
Camera+ has a lot of great features, including separate focus and exposure settings, image stabilization, enhanced zoom, scene modes, and a bevy of sharing options. - Read more - Download now

What's next

Now that you have a basic idea how the iPhone camera works, go shoot some photos. Shoot tons of photos. Still life, portraits, landscapes, wild life, sports, anything and everything that catches your fancy. The secret to success here is definitely practice!

How to make your iPhone photography more striking with the "rule of thirds"

Leanna Lofte — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:16:49 +0000

You've got yourself an iPhone equipped with arguably the best camera this side of a high-end point-and-shoot. It's so good there's a whole movement that's sprung up around it called "iPhoneography", or photography with the iPhone. It proves the old saying, "the best camera is the one you have with you", and in this case, that camera is also pretty darn good. But it takes more than just a great camera or lens to produce great photography. That's where iMore's new iPhoneography segment comes in. We're going to go over all the basics and work together to transform simple snapshots into photographic art.

And if you're already a seasoned photographer or iPhoneographer, we welcome you to join us. Sit in on the articles and in our new Photography Forum, lend us your eye, and share with us your experiences.

Now on with our first project! One of the most important, yet most difficult, elements in creating beautiful photographs is composition - where your subject is placed and how it's related to its surroundings. A great starting point for developing this skill is to understand the rule of thirds.

What is the rule of thirds?

Take a close look at the vertical lines in the image above. These two lines divide the image into thirds. Similarly, there are lines that divide the photo horizontally in thirds. Together, these lines form a grid over the photo and divide the image into 9 equal parts. The rule of thirds is simply a guideline that states that a photo is compositionally more interesting if the important elements of the image lie on one of the grid lines or their intersections. In the above photo, I have placed my daughter on the far right vertical line.

Luckily for you, the iPhone has the option to turn on this grid so that you don't have to estimate where the lines fall while taking your photo. To do so, while taking a photo just tap options and switch the grid to on. Until you feel comfortable with your ability of using the rule of thirds, I recommend leaving the grid turned on.

Landscapes and horizons

When photographing landscapes, it's important to make sure the horizon is not in the dead center of your photo because it is compositionally boring. Using the rule of thirds on the horizon will instantly improve your results. Make sure the more interesting piece, the sky or earth, is what makes up two thirds of your photo. In the example above, I chose to highlight the sky. Notice that I used the rule of thirds twice, both on the horizon and sun. I decided to change things up a little in this next photo.

After taking a few photos with the horizon on the bottom third of the frame and the sun on the left grid line, I wasn't too thrilled with the results and felt my pictures were a little bland. The sky wasn't particularly interesting on this day and there wasn't anything that made my photos special. So instead of making the predictable decision with the horizon on one of my horizontal lines, I placed the sun on the bottom grid line. In fact, in the above image, the sun lies on the intersection of the bottom and left grid lines. By pure luck, a bird decided to fly into the frame and I waited until he was flying past my right grid line to snap the photo. These two changes suddenly made this photo a lot more interesting.

I made a simliar decision for the following photo.

When taking photos of sunsets, it's alway more interesting to involve a silhouette, so that's what I decided to do with this tree. Most of the time, you would want your silhouette to fall on one of the grid lines, but it wasn't working with this tree -- there was something awkward about it. So, instead, I decided to use the rule of thirds on the sun. Again, it's lying on the intersection of the bottom and left grid lines and the photo came out great.

Portraits

The important element of just about every portrait is your subject's eyes, so make sure the eyes fall on one or more of the grid lines. When shooting in portrait orientation, you may want to center the subject with the top grid line passing through your subject's eyes. When shooting in landscape orientation, take advantage of both horizontal and vertical grid lines by placing one of your subjects eyes on the intersection of two grid lines.

Rules are meant to be broken

Keep in mind that this so-called rule is only a guideline and does not need to be followed to a tee. For example, if there is a lot of symmetry in your scene you may want to highlight the symmetry by centering your subject. Or perhaps moving your subject even further off center will have a greater impact and improve your photo. Be creative and don't limit yourself.

Now go out and shoot!

Now that you know how to use the rule of thirds, here's your first assignment: go out and practice. Turn on the iPhone camera's grid and shoot, shoot, and shoot some more. Then head over to the Photography Forums, ask questions if you have them, and share the great shots you got demonstrating the rule of thirds. Go!

We can't wait to see them!

Kensington and Chelsea College launches first iPhone photography course

Chris Oldroyd — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:04:02 +0000

Kenisngton and Chelsea College in the UK is planning a new course which will be devoted entirely to taking photographs with the iPhone’s camera. The course in "iPhoneography" is thought to be the first ever course of its kind in the United Kingdom.

The college says many iPhone owners struggle to use the camera properly. Students will create images using the iPhone camera and a range of "apps". Tutor, Richard Gray, said: "all you need is a passion for photography and a creative mind." Students are required to have their own iPhone to do the course which will begin next month. "With the right apps and skills, the iPhone can be a powerful creative tool," said Mr Gray. "It is a great levelling force within photography. No longer do you need expensive or complex equipment to produce great images," he added.

Mr Gray is planning on teaching students the basic rules of composition, color and light as well as editing skills using various iOS apps. He sees the iPhone as revolutionising photography by the way it allows you to take a picture, edit it and post it online all within minutes; no matter where you are. Mr Gray will also be holding a free workshop at the Apple Store in Regent Street, London in the near future.

We've been saying that here at iMore for years, of course. We even have a dedicated iPhone photography forum available for you to discuss the subject, share tips, and start projects. With more to come!

Source: BBC

Steve Jobs rumored to have explored Lytro light-field camera company as part of his plan to re-invent photography

Chris Parsons — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:26:24 +0000

According to Adam Lashinsky, author of the upcoming book, Inside Apple, the late Steve Jobs arranged a meeting with Ren Ng, a Stanford graduate and the CEO of the incredible Lytro light-field camera company.

The company’s CEO, Ren Ng, a brilliant computer scientist with a PhD from Stanford, immediately called Jobs, who picked up the phone and quickly said, “if you’re free this afternoon maybe we would could get together.” Ng, who is thirty-two, hurried to Palo Alto, showed Jobs a demo of Lytro’s technology, discussed cameras and product design with him, and, at Jobs’s request, agreed to send him an email outlining three things he’d like Lytro to do with Apple.

Lytro, if you've not heard of them, uses radical new imaging technology that involves capturing the entire light field into one single file. Edits can then be made post-production, including refocusing the image or any portion of it.

Given the nature of their technology and how it works, it all seems like something Steve Jobs would have been interested in, especially when you consider the amount of attention Apple gave to how the iPhone 4S camera worked.

According to Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs had three things he wanted to reinvent - the television, textbooks and photography. We've bared witness to the beginning of one of those things at Apple's education event with the introduction of iBooks 2 and iBooks Author for Mac OS X. And Apple Television has been rumored for a while now.

One could argue that Steve Jobs and Apple have already changed the photography world with each iteration of the iPhone, as the cameras got better with each new release. The the iPhone 4S has an 8 megapixel camera equipped with a fast f/2.4 lens, and is certainly capable of taking great shots and that photo taking ability has caused some folks to drop their point & shoot cameras and strictly use their iPhone for shots as needed.

Could we see a portion of Lytro's camera technology in the some iteration of the iPhone and possibly even the iPad? It's quite possible - but we'll have to hold on for that. One meeting does not a next-generation iPhone 5 camera make.

Inside Apple - Amazon link

Source: 9to5Mac

Hands on with olloclip, a wide angle, fisheye, and macro lens for iPhone

Leanna Lofte — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 07:40:57 +0000

At CES 2012, we had the opportunity to check out an olloclip, an accessory for the iPhone that converts the lens to either wide angle, fisheye, or macro. It simply slides onto the corner of your iPhone and is small enough to carry around in your pocket.

After the demonstration, I picked one up for myself, and Rene and I used it for filming during the remainder of our time at CES - it made a huge difference.

The olloclip is available now for $69.99.

Source: Olloclip.

True NightVision app updated to 2.0, new modes promise improved light amplification

Chris Oldroyd — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 20:25:38 +0000

Photography app specialists Interealtime has just released an update to its highly acclaimed True NightVison app. The app uses special light capture techniques which allow much darker photographs to be taken using the iPhone camera.

Looking for powerful light amplification tech that fits in your pocket? You came to the right place. True NightVision features advanced image enhancement AND unique light gathering modes. Combined, they make this the most potent night vision app available on the App Store. How does it work? It uses a live camera view and special photo enhancement techniques capable of producing a decent image at high speed (we're talking fluid 30fps action here!) even where it's way too dark for the iPhone's camera app.

The latest update throws in some additional modes and features that claim to make a huge improvement to the final image.

Speed: For full motion, 30fps action use
High: Balances speed and light enhancement, good for regular use
Still: High level light enhancement, but requires a steady hand
Max: Ultimate light enhancement for stationary use
Improved zoom: Up to 8x zoom on iPhone 4/4S, up to 4x on 3GS
Enhancement is now set to 50% initially
Speed fix for iPhone 4s

True NightVision costs $0.99 and is compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (4th generation), iPad 2 Wi-Fi and iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G.

App Store link

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

For iPhone Lens for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4

Georgia — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 20:50:39 +0000

The For iPhone Lens for the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 4 comes with a tripod, a holder, a case, and large zoom lens that can take your photos all up close and personal.

Assembly is easy and the results are good. It's not priced in the thousands like Nikon or Canon lenses, so set your expectations according, but it does exactly what it claims -- adds an 8x optical zoom to your iPhone photography.

I tried it out on both an iPhone 4 and and iPhone 4S. Both take good photos and the iPhone 4S takes great photos for a phone, but the built in digital zoom is... really not great. So, my primary concern here was for something affordable that handled optical zoom but otherwise got out of the way and let the iPhone camera do the heavy lifting. And that's what I got.

If you don't want to lug around a DSLR or even a pocket camera, but still want something to help you take pictures of your kids soccer game, your favorite band in concert, your special someone accepting an award, wild life on your nature walk, or anything else you need to get a closer look at but just can't get closer to, the For iPhone Lens is definitely something to consider.

Source: Photojojo

The iPhone 4S and professional photography

Allyson Kazmucha — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:37:55 +0000

We all know the iPhone 4S camera can replace most point and shoot cameras in a heartbeat. But what about for professional photography? Does it make the cut for on the go photography or does it still leave something to be desired?

Ryan Bolger, a personal friend of mine, is a professional photographer and local gallery owner. He has been patiently waiting to pick up an iPhone until he thought Apple got the camera feature right. I suggested that he pick up the iPhone 4S and give it a chance as a camera to use while on the go.

Over a month later he has nothing but positive things to say about the iPhone 4S camera and the quality of the images that it produces.

So I've been holding out for years. I've had an upgrade ever since the original Iphone came out & I decided that I was going to wait until the camera was where I wanted it & knew it could be. The iPhone 4S has changed my creative life in a very big way. The App Store has also opened up my eyes to a whole new creative & visual world. The ability to capture, ratify, & share my creative life with a few simple taps has helped me in my quest of trying to make the world a better place through my art.

Within the first week of my new marriage to this phone I took over 2,000 photographs. I'm amazed at the detail & the versatility of the iPhone 4S' camera. I've even used it on some paid client assignments. That's how much I trust it as a professional photographer.

I just read an article last night that photography was one of the things Steve Jobs aimed to re-invent. As a guy whose life revolves around photography and has since childhood, you've already done this Sir. So thank you Steve Jobs and thank you Apple.

Be sure to hit Ryan's gallery of photos at the link below. The first 200 to 250 photos are all taken and edited on his iPhone 4S.

Source: RJB Imagery

Steve Jobs was working to revolutionize television, textbooks, and photography

Rene Ritchie — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 15:38:00 +0000

Official Steve Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson has given an interview to the New York Times where he reveals what Steve Jobs was going to tackle next at Apple, including television, textbooks, and photography.

He had three things that he wanted to reinvent: the television, textbooks and photography. He really wanted to take these on. I didn’t go into details about these products in the book because it was implicitly Apple’s creations and it’s not fair to the company to reveal these details. But, he did talk about the television. He told me he’d “licked it” and once said, “There’s no reason you should have all these complicated remote controls.”

While an Apple television set has been rumored for a while now, and the iPad certainly seems part of a textbook plan, photography is interesting to see on the list. What about photography now is broken and in need of a Steve Jobs-style fix?

Source: NYT

Capta mount gains Kickstarter funding, an all in one stand, cable management and tripod mount [video]

Chris Oldroyd — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 13:45:01 +0000

The Capta mount is an all in one stand, cable management and tripod mount designed for the iPhone and other smartphones. It has just received Kickstarter funding with double the pledges required and there are still seven days to go.

Designed by two freelance designers, Bojan Smiljanic and Adewale Adelusi-Adeluyi they set about originally creating a simple and elegant tripod mount. That has now expanded and the Capta can be used for many more things. The Capta is made from airplane grade aluminium and has a adhesive pad that can hold an iPhone securely. There is also a groove for cable management as well as threaded hole for a tripod attachment.

According to Smiljanic, “With the form factor and technology of smartphones always changing we designed Capta to be the hybrid accessory that could keep up with those changes. For example for iPhone users regardless of generation, Capta replaces the iPhone tripod mount, iPhone stand and iPhone cable management with one simple device. Capta has exceeded our original expectations and when paired with a suction cup or tripod mount the uses increase exponentially. We are humbled by how versatile Capta truly is.”

If you want to be an early adopter, you can still head over to the Kickstarter page and make a pledge; $20 will get you a silver version. If you are really impressed, you could pledge the maximum $265 and get two exclusive black Capta's as well as a lot of extras too.

Source: Kickstarter

Contest Winners: JOBY GorillaMobile, Jawbone JAMBOX, Skyfire, Steve Jobs biography

Leanna Lofte — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 04:44:51 +0000

JOBY GorillaMobile

iDUSCRAFT

Complements of JOBY! To see the other entries and to share some of your great photos, head on over to our forums.

Jawbone JAMBOX

Munchkinsdad

Skyfire Web Browser

giriz
Himoe04
Matthew G.
Kharib126
Ncasazza2002

Steve Jobs biography

More chances to win

Photo Contest: Win a JOBY GorillaMobile for iPhone

Leanna Lofte — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 00:00:23 +0000

It's no secret that the iPhone is equipped with a great little camera. In fact, there is a entire genre of photography dedicated to it - iPhoneography.

In recognition of the iPhone's great photographic potential, TiPb has opened up a Photography and Video forum, and what a better way to celebrate it than to have a contest! A photo contest, that is.

To enter, head on over the forums and submit up to 3 of your best photos. The rules? The photos must have been taken with an iPhone and edited only with iPhone apps. With each submission, include which apps you used to make your edits.

The winner will receive a GorillaMobile tripod for iPhone courtesy of JOBY! This awesome little accessory includes a case that can be connected to the GorrillaMobile tripod in either landscape or portrait orientation. The legs of the GorillaMobile are extremely flexible and can be wrapped around and attached to nearly every surface. Every serious iPhoneographer should have one!

You have one week to submit your entries. We'll choose our 5 favorites, post them on the blog, and let our readers vote for the winner!

Now, get shooting!

ENTER NOW!

Instagram 2.0 brings live filters, live tilt-shift, and 4 new filters

Leanna Lofte — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 21:00:54 +0000

Instagram has gone 2.0 and brings with it 4 new filters as well as the ability to view filters and tilt-shift effects live while using the camera.

Instagram is my favorite photography app available on the iPhone! The filters are great, but I absolutely love the social-ness (yes, I made that up) of Instagram. This update makes a fantastic app even better. I look forward to what they do next.

Pick from one of several gorgeous filtered effects or tilt-shift blur to breathe a new life into your mobile photos. Transform everyday moments into works of art you'll want to share with friends and family.

100% free custom designed filters and borders such as XPro-II, Earlybird, Rise, Amaro, Hudson, Lomo-fi, Sutro, Toaster, Brannan, Inkwell, Walden, Hefe, Nashville, 1977, and others.
Linear and Radial Tilt-Shift blur effects for extra depth of field.
Instant sharing to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr, Foursquare, and Posterous
Unlimited uploads
Interact with friends through giving & receiving likes and comments
Works with first generation, 3G, 3GS and iPhone 4
Full iPhone 4 front & back camera support

The update includes:

Instant live filters & live tilt-shift
4 new filters
Turn borders on & off
Rotate photo after taking
Filtered photos save in high-resolution to photo library

Instagram is available on the iPhone for free.

[App Store link]

Have an app you'd love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we'll take a look.

TiPb Picks of the Week for for September 10, 2011

Leanna Lofte — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 19:06:00 +0000

Every week a few of us from team TiPb will bring you our current favorite, most fun and useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they’re iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch related, they’re fair game.

To see what we picked, and to tell us your pick, follow on after the break!

LIFE for iPad - @sethclifford

I love photography, and in particular, photos that transport me to other times and depict life as it used to be. I'm fascinated by our changes as a culture, and always love comparing what we see now to the way things looked decades ago. I completely stumbled onto LIFE for iPad this week, and instantly fell in love with it, tweeting out how great it was. I've been spending a lot of time with the app this week, and I'm still enjoying it immensely.

Life magazine has been a staple of photojournalism for almost a century now, and has gone through some transitions in that time. But one thing that hasn't changed is the incredible quality of the images it brings to readers. The iPad app is a wonderful way to browse some of these libraries, both from the past and present. Much of the app focuses on current events and color photography, but for me where it really shines is with the historical archives you can page through. I spent hours poring over pictures of New York City from the 30s-50s, and gazing at pictures from the 1939 World's Fair and the construction of the Empire State Building. The captions and the summaries for each picture provide a little more insight into the moment of capture, and allow you to really immerse yourself in the scenes.

There are, unfortunately, some jarringly intrusive ads that sit within the photo sets, but you can skip them easily enough. I would really prefer if the ad content was served some other way, because it takes you out of the frame of mind in which you're viewing the content, but for now it's not so annoying that it would prevent me from using the app. There are also some sharing functions (email, Facebook, Twitter) if you want to post photos or tell friends about the app.

If you're a student of history (and you should be) and appreciate great photography, it's worth the few minutes to download. I can see this being a "must-install" whenever I restore or change my iPad out in the future.

[Free - App Store link]

Frogger Decades – @chrisoldroyd

I am showing my age here but I remember the original game and used to play it in the arcades when I was young. Anyway to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the original, Konami has released Frogger Decades. It follows a similar theme to the original game but is much more colorful and has a more varied back drop than the original. It has loads of levels and even carries Game Center support!

It does look beautiful and is one of those games that you pick up instantly and enjoy forever. It is only $1.99 in the App Store so stop messing about and go and get it. It's pure gold!

[$1.99 - App Store Link]

Tangled - @Alli_Flowers

I'm not a big game player, and I hate games with a soundtrack that distracts me. I stumbled onto Tangled, which is normally $.99, but the developer is giving it away for a limited time. It's minimalistic (no soundtrack - yay!), simple, beautiful, and neither too simple nor frustrating.

The object is to untangle the lines by grabbing the round handles and moving them around. Of course, the tangles become increasingly difficult, but not impossible. You won't "die" if you don't untangle them inside 60 seconds, and you can always reset and start over if you get things more tangled than they were when you started.

This is a peaceful brain exercise that you can catch onto quickly. Go get it while it's still free!

[Free - App Store link]

1Password (Mac App Store edition) - @reneritchie

1Password has just hit the Mac App Store. Repeat, 1Password has just hit the Mac App Store. This is not a drill. Deploy. Deploy. Dep... What, too over the top?

Listen, there's a few things I do whenever I install or re-install a Mac. I a) Type in my Apple ID and start syncing down my Preferences, Keychains, etc. (which iCloud won't be doing in the near future, frakdammit), b) install Dropbox and start syncing my home directory, including the library I'll use to, c) install 1Password.

And then I'm most of the way done.

Now if you bought 1Password directly from AgileBits in the past, you might hesitate on buying it again via the Mac App Store. Don't. It's on sale for $20 and comes with a free upgrade to 1Password 4 when it launches.

If it was any more of a no-brainer, it'd be negative brained. Seriously. Especially because it's also available for iPhone and iPad as a universal app, and Windows if you swing that way (or both ways). It also plugs into Safari, Chrome, Firefox, etc. to autofill your password hassles away.

There's supposed to be a continual conflict between security and convenience. 1Password does a great job of mediating that conflict. It lets you have gnarly, strong, pseudo-random passwords without having to remember them.

Get it now.

[$19.99 - Mac App Store link]

Your pick?

You’re part of the team as well, so we will be choosing one reader to make a submission each week! Just look for the announcement on twitter or our Facebook page each weekend for a chance to be picked! In the meantime, jump into the comments and let us know your pick of the week!

iPad 2 cameras hands-on

Leanna Lofte — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 05:25:32 +0000

The iPad 2 is equipped with two cameras, a front-facing VGA camera and a rear facing 720p HD camera. Check out the video above for example footage with both cameras.

Recording video on the iPad 2 is a little awkward given it's large size, but it gets the job done. Another thing that takes some getting used to is that when using the front-facing camera to record yourself in landscape mode, the camera is positioned to the far left (or right). It feels strange looking so far from the center of the screen because I have grown accustomed to looking at the top of a device or just the screen while recording video. It's clear that you are not looking at the camera if you stare at the screen while recording.

The quality of video taken with the VGA and HD cameras are as expected. In well-lit situations, the HD camera produces excellent results and the VGA camera gives acceptable quality. Both cameras do an ok job in bad lighting situations, but admittedly do better than I was expecting. In fact, while taking footage in my daughter's poorly lit bedroom, the video looked pretty bad; but after uploading it to YouTube and watching on a computer, it didn't look too shabby.

Taking still photographs with the iPad 2 is not nearly as rewarding as video. The photographs come out mediocre even in excellent light conditions. With that said, I was actually rather impressed with the close-up photograph I took of a bush. Digital zoom with the rear-facing camera, however, is awful. It's not even worth your time to test it out.

Considering the fact that the iPad 2 is not, and should not be, regarded as a primary camera, I am content with the quality of the video and photographs obtained with the iPad 2. Of course, I would love to see better cameras, but they do a good enough job for my needs.

To check out the photos taken with the iPad 2, follow along after the break!

Side note: the video above was edited with iMovie on the iPad 2.

Daily Tip: How to easily crop a photo on your iPhone

Georgia — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 01:50:08 +0000

Ever wish you could easily crop a photo right on your iPhone? Well, if speed is more important than resolution you can. We'll show you how after the break!

Here's how to easily crop a picture on your iPhone (or iPod touch or iPad):

Tap on the Photo app
Tap on Camera Roll (or one of your Photo Albums)
Tap on the picture you want to crop
Use pinch to zoom to expand the photo until just the part you want to keep is filling the screen
Take a screenshot

That's it! Your cropped photo is now saved to the Camera Roll! Sure it's lost some megapixels (down to 960x640 on an iPhone 4 or iPod touch 4, or 480x320 on older devices) but it's fast and perfect for on screen viewing or sharing via email or MMS.

If you have any questions or any other cool photo tips to share, leave them in comments!

[Thanks to Brian for sending this in, and his adorable son Dean for modeling! And since we hadn't thought of this one before, we'll be sending a reward -- an iPhone case! -- your way!]

Tips of the day will range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you’d like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to dailytips@tipb.com. (If it’s especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we’ll even give ya a reward…)

blueSLR turns your iPhone into a DSLR wireless remote

Leanna Lofte — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 22:05:53 +0000

blueSLR is a bluetooth accessory that will allow you to use your iPhone as a remote control for your DSLR. In addition, blueSLR will embed GPS information from the unit into your photos. Since the device makes a bluetooth connection with your iPhone, line-of-site is not necessary to trigger your camera.

With the blueSLR companion app, you can use your iPhone to adjust focus, shutter speed, timer, and tell the camera to take a certain number of pictures within a given timeframe. You can also edit the GPS update frequency. GPS information will be embedded into the RAW or JPEG files and is compatible with iPhoto, Flickr, and Picasa.

blueSLR is currently only available for Nikon cameras, but XEquals promises to bring Canon support soon. There are three different models, Nikon Essential, Advanced, and Professional. From these 3 products, you will find support for the following Nikon cameras: D3100, D5000, D90, D7000, D3(S), D200, D300(S), and D700.

The blueSLR can be yours for $149 with free shipping if pre-ordered today. The companion app is available for free in the App Store.

Check out the photos after the break! Anyone planning to pick one up?

[BlueSLR - via Electronista]

360 Panorama For iPhone - app review

Allyson Kazmucha — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 21:50:31 +0000

YouTube Link

360 Panorama for iPhone just issued a large update to their popular panorama app that uses the built-in gyroscope feature. This essentially allows you to capture more accurate panoramic photos much easier. It can take a bit longer than a standard stitching app but the overall quality seems to be better. As iPhone photography becomes even more prominent and mainstream, good photography apps tend to do well. 360 Panorama is definitely an app to check out if you enjoy editing and taking photos on your iPhone.

iTunes Link

When you first load the app you'll be presented with a 360 view grid with an image in it. You'll simply select capture and the app will capture what you're viewing as a panorama in real time. The app has built-in light sensing too as well. This will automatically help the app adjust for low light settings. In good light settings, you should have no problem panning continuously to get a pretty good shot. In low light, I tended to go a bit slower to prevent seeing seams in the image.

Occipital has also mentioned that holding your phone at an angle also allows you to maximize capture area. This is a great feature if you have good light quality. In a low light setting, this feature wasn't too great and I'd still recommend holding it in portrait.

After you've finished creating your panoramic shot, you can view it live in the app as a 360 view image. Simply rotate your phone and the gyroscope feature will automatically pan the live shot for you (refer to video for example). You also have the option to save the image to your camera roll as a regular image, e-mail it, or upload. Some uploads allow the full 360 view as well. Nice little add on for those who want an interactive photo.

Overall, I'd say this is one of the better pano apps I've used on my iPhone. The only issue that really bugged me was that when you attempted to move the phone up and down a bit in order to maximize a capture area, the image didn't line up very well and you'd be left with overlapping elements. But for a simple 360 shot, this app will be a great addition to anyone's photography app portfolio.

Pros

Extremely easy to use
You have options when it comes to sharing your photos in-app
Rendering time is faster than other similar panoramic applications
Overall quality is much better (in most situations) than stitching applications

Cons

When creating a pano, if you move your phone up and down, sometimes the seams don't match up properly
In low light settings, seams can be noticeable if you pan around too quickly

Perfect Photo 2.0 brings red eye removal and spot healing to iPhone [give-away]

Leanna Lofte — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 21:42:07 +0000

You can say goodbye devilish red eyes and blemishes with Perfect Photo 2.0 for iPhone. The popular photo editing application has just released a significant update that, in addition to red eye removal and spot healing, also includes:

Retina display support
New user interface design
Sharing to Flickr
Sharing files via Documents folder
Hi-quality image processing

Perfect photo has recently become my favorite photo editing application and I welcome this update with open arms. The new interface is substantially better than the previous one.

Now for the give-away! The good folks over at MacPhun LLC have generously given us a few promo codes to give away to you, our awesome readers. Just let us know why Perfect Photo will be the perfect addition to your photography app collection and we'll randomly choose a few of you and send you a promo code. The contest begins now and ends Friday, December 3 at 8p EST. (Must have US iTunes account to win. Apple's rule, not ours!)

UPDATE: Congrats to winners Watcher, Stef, and Jared!

Check out the video after the break!

[$0.99 - iTunes link]

[YouTube link]

How to enable iOS 4.1 HDR photography on iPhone 3G and 3GS [Jailbreak]

Allyson Kazmucha — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 12:46:29 +0000

HDR photography for iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G wasn't something Apple provided under iOS 4.1, but that doesn't mean 3GS and 3G users have to be left out of the fun (if you're jailbroken that is). Redmond Pie has a great guide up showing how to enable the HDR camera option provided you've jailbroken them under iOS 4.1 and aren't adverse to SSHing and editing some files. The process really isn't that difficult, but as always, if you're not comfortable altering files on your iPhone, we don't recommend it. So hit up the source link for a detailed walk-through. And if you're not sure if it's worth it yet, read our take on HDR photography on the iPhone 4 or our full iOS 4.1 guide.

[via RedmondPie, Thanks to Geo Coldz for sending this in!]

Clearcam for iPhone - app review

Allyson Kazmucha — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:42:01 +0000

Clearcam for iPhone is an app that compliments the already existing camera app. Instead of tapping camera, you take your pictures through Clearcam. I found myself using this app when I wanted clearer pictures or when I was in an area that pictures came out either blurry or dark. The concept is quite simple, it'll take several shots of the same thing and either overlays the shots or chooses the best one (depending on what setting you choose). The app claims to up quality of the camera from 5MP images to around 11MP images.

When first loading Clearcam, it looks somewhat similar to the iPhone camera app. It adds a few options that are the basic foundation of what the app really does. You'll see the shutter button and then two options. One labeled "quick" and one labeled "enhanced".

The quick setting is just that. It will take 3 shots in rapid succession. It will save the best one to your camera roll. It works like it says it does and typically always gets a good shot.

The enhanced mode will take 6 shots quickly and it will take the best parts of each one, essentially stitching them together to create a better all around image. In my experience, it was somewhat touch and go. I also would take the same picture with my stock camera app. In some scenarios, it seemed like the stock camera app took better pictures than what Clearcam stitched together. It was rare, but it did happen occasionally. I'm not sure if maybe the app has trouble stitching certain pictures together or rendering them, but there's definitely a bug there.

The app performs better in low light settings than the default camera in all instances (at least in my experience). I'd probably attribute this to the fact that it's picking either the best picture or rendering 6 pictures together to create the best possible image. If the exposure was a little dark in some places, it will pull the better pieces from another picture. Having this app in low light settings is enough to justify purchasing it in my opinion.

(*Side note about pictures, most of them are better quality than shown here, we have a limit on image uploads so I had to downsize some of them which will reduce the quality a bit)

[iTunes Link]

Pros

Increases the quality by a landslide, especially in low light situations

App is responsive and doesn't take forever to save to the camera roll like other photo apps

Increases quality in darker pictures

Very simple to use

Cons

Some photos come out blurrier than the default camera app (assuming this is some kind of bug)

No settings other than Quick and Enhanced and tap to focus, would like to see some native contrast and saturation settings to make up for the lack of settings in the default camera app

Camera+ for iPhone - app review

Leanna Lofte — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:30:24 +0000

Camera+ for iPhone is a photography application that allows you to take photos and edit them. tap tap tap claims Camera+ is "all about one thing - GREAT PHOTOS!" How does Camera+ hold up to this expectation? Follow along to find out.

When you launch Camera+, you will be looking at the back of camera with a view finder. Under the viewfinder, where there would normally be a screen on a digital camera, there are two options: take photos and Lightbox. Behind the camera, you can see a little of what your iPhone's camera can see. Inside the viewfinder, you'll see a very small version of exactly what your camera sees. Tap on the viewfinder or "take photos" to take a picture.

When taking a photo, there is a 3x3 grid to help line up your shot (optional). There is also a stabilizer which will not snap the picture until the iPhone is held still. This is great for low light situations or when you are zoomed in (up to 5x).

The Lightbox is where you go to view all the photos you've taken with Camera+. The Lightbox is designed with filmstrips containing 3 photos each and is very visually appealing. None of the photos save to your camera roll until you tell it to. This is great for keeping your camera roll clutter-free of photos you don't want. Tapping a photo brings up options to edit, save, copy, or share. Double tapping a photo makes it larger and provides the same options.

There are 4 different ways to edit your photos: scenes, crops, effects, and borders. Scenes is similar to the different modes you might find on a digital point and shoot camera: auto, flash, sunset, night, backlit, portrait, beach, scenery, concert, food, and text. There are 9 different common crop ratios available. The 21 different effects are categorized as color, retro, and special. I am impressed with all the options and quality of these effects. They are fun and look great. There are 7 different borders to choose from. Most are very basic; the only "fun" one being "instant" which makes your photo look like it was taken with a polaroid camera.

Overall, I was impressed with Camera+. The plethora of good effects makes the app worth it alone. Camera+ does a great job of producing great photos.

[$1.99 - iTunes link]

Pros

Unique UI
5x zoom, stabilizer, and grid available when taking photos
Creatively designed Lightbox to scroll through pictures
Many scene modes, crop ratios, borders, and effects
Share to Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr
Support for multitasking, Retina Display, flash, and front facing camera on iPhone 4
Access photo library to edit photos not taken with Camera+

Cons

Landscape only supported when taking and viewing photos
Cannot view photos in full screen
Saving a photo to camera roll removes it from the Lightbox

Professional fashion shoot with iPhone 3GS

Leanna Lofte — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:03:00 +0000

While iPhone 4 has stolen the spotlight these days, iPhone 3GS is still equipped with a great camera, especially for a phone. However, we never imagined a photographer using the iPhone 3GS during a professional photo shoot. Lee Morris, a professional fashion photographer and writer for f stoppers, has done just that!

The idea behind the shoot was to prove to his readers that a professional camera is not required to get professional photos. He assembled a team of professionals including professional model, Olivia Price, hair and makeup artists, a retoucher, and videographer, all of whom volunteered their time for the project. Morris also used his a studio and lighting equipment.

Morris also admits to using photoshop in post production. He claims that Photoshop is a "necessary tool" for his line of work. "I am in the business of making money and my clients do not care if I got it perfect in the camera or made it perfect in post, they simply want a perfect image."

Morris made sure to stress that the point of this shoot was to show that a photographer should not be limited by his camera; in fact, "the most expensive camera in the world is capable of taking bad pictures." He does a great job proving his point, but your average low budget photographer will not be able get the same results without the thousands of dollars of studio equipment that Morris used. He did mention that he may do a similar shoot in the future using only natural light. I would find that much more interesting and believe it would make a bigger impact. I also hope he uses an iPhone 4 next time!

Nevertheless, the images Morris produced are stunning and even more impressive because they were taken with an iPhone 3GS. You can see the entire set of high res photos on Flickr.

[f stoppers via 9To5Mac]

iPhone at Work: Professional photographer

Leanna Lofte — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 17:58:57 +0000

How does a photographer use his iPhone to get the job done and what iPhone apps help get him through his day? TiPb’s iPhone at work contest aims to bring you just such slices of the iPhone life. Here’s JustinHammondPhoto's answer and as a small token of thanks we’re sending him a $20 iTunes gift certificate. If you want to see your name up on the TiPb home page and get a gift certificate all your own, head on over to the TiPb iPhone Forum and share your story now!

I'm a professional photographer from Massachusetts. I have the wonderful job of photographing some of the most beautiful women in the world in the coolest locations all over the country. Models, celebrities, NFL Cheerleaders, it goes on and on. My work has been in magazines, advertisements, Maxim, websites... the works! I love my job!

I honestly realized for the first time when reading this contest how much I actually use my iPhone on a day to day basis for what I do. It's a lot! Especially now that I have my iPhone 4, it's been even more. Here's when:

I own a studio, but I'm very often on location shooting, which means no wifi (on the beaches, bars, outdoors, etc). So having a 3G connection is great. I often pull up Safari in the middle of a photoshoot to come up with a pose idea, or sometimes girls want to show me a picture of a shot they really love so it's easy to Google image search some ideas! It helps out a lot during a shoot!
Also, because I do travel to photoshoot, I'm always using Maps! Maps is so crucial to getting around because I barely know areas well. It's definitely got me out of so many jams or has even helped find shooting locations! I remember this one time I was doing outdoor shooting and I pulled up my map and noticed a large pond nearby so we walked toward where it was and got some really beautiful shots by the water at a place I would have had no idea about if it didnt show up on the gps.
It works great in times of urgency! Even last night, the "model light" on my strobe died (lights the model so you can auto-focus on her when there's low light/lights off). Well, I pulled out my iPhone, opened the new trusty video camera, turned on the new amazing light from the iPhone, and my assistant held it to the model! It was perfect! I was so happy about having the new iPhone 4 last night.
Also with the new video feature, being HD, I have decided to do some "behind the scenes" videos that I will be posting in the near future of my photo shoots. This is really great for my website and facebook page as a lot of models/fans follow my work, and it's real fun at photoshoots. I am beyond excited about that. I may even start video blogging and doing tips/pointer videos for photography.
I also use it for networking with models and clients or even friends with my photography. I save all of my edited photos to my iPhone so when I am out and about, when someone asks what I do, I just open up Photos and show them my work right from my phone - they look amazing on the new retina display! It really allows me to have a portfolio with me at all times. Such a perk in the industry! It's like carrying my book with me in my pocket!

Then obviously the basics! Calendar for booking shoots/remembering what I have to do that day, and Email for keeping up with everything going on in my life in and outside of photography.

iPhone tip: Always keep it charged/charge every night! I use my iPhone so much, so my battery tends to go fast. I do have multiple chargers to make sure I am never without it. The iPhone really is my personal assistant. If it could only bring me coffee and water and move around lights, I wouldn't need to hire my real assistant anymore!

Favorite apps: Safari, Calendar, Mail, Photos, Maps. These are my most important and all Apple created! Thank you Apple!

You can see some of Justin's work at Justin Hammond Photography. Are you a photographer? If so, what apps do you use to help you with your job?

Does iPhone 4 support the iPad camera kit?

Rene Ritchie — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 02:22:14 +0000

Does iPhone 4 support the iPad camera kit? Turns out no, at least not under iOS 4. I plugged mine in and immediately got the error you see above. Since I've gotten compatibility errors using other accessories in the past that turned out to work just find if I ignored said errors, I plugged in a camera to see if anything magical would happen.

It didn't.

Whether or not Apple will chose to add that functionality in a future iOS software update, or if they've decided that, somewhere in their product differentiation matrix, iPhone is for creating photos and iPad is for consuming them via USB and SD card adapter, we'll have to wait and see.

[Thanks Sina for asking!]

FlickStackr for iPad - App Review

Leanna Lofte — Thu, 13 May 2010 17:21:52 +0000

FlickStackr for iPad is a Flickr browsing application. The interface is beautiful, intuitive, and a pleasure to use.

With FlickStackr, you can browse photos on Flickr, even if you don't have a Flickr account. If you do, then you can also browse your photostream, sets, favorites, groups, and contacts. FlickStackr also displays EXIF data, tags, and comments. The main feature that is missing from FlickStackr is the ability to upload photos. However, iPont promises to bring that ability in a future update.

In addition to the wonderful online photo viewing that FlickStacker brings to iPad, it also allows you to save photos locally for offline viewing. iPont calls this feature a "Stack". You can choose any photos from Flickr to save to your stack. It only saves the actual images, however, not the EXIF data that's associated with them.

FlickStackr is an excellent app for experiencing Flickr on the iPad, and for only $0.99, it's quite a steal!

[$0.99 - iTunes Link]

Pros

Browse photos from photostream, sets, contacts, groups, explore, or search
View photos as slideshow
No account required
Support for multiple accounts
Offline viewing in your "Stack"
Wonderful interface

Cons

Cannot upload photos
Offline viewing does not include EXIF data

Video and Screenshots after the break!

Quick Review: Photogene for iPad

Leanna Lofte — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 14:32:18 +0000

Photogene is one of the top selling photography apps for iPhone and now we have that same great editing power, plus more, in Photogene for iPad [$3.99 - iTunes link].

Editing images with Photogene for iPad is pleasurable. The big screen allows you to really see the changes and the tools provided by Photogene are easy and intuitive to use.

Enhance photos with multiple color adjustment: adjust color levels, exposure, contrast, saturation or manipulate the RGB.
Apply filters such as the sharpen or the pencil filter.
Crop, straighten and rotate your image.
Add fun effects like text balloons, frames or special filters.

I have encountered a few minor bugs when using Photogene for iPad, but I trust that these will be fixed in a future update.

To see Photogene for iPad in action, follow us after the break!

Quick App: Pro HDR High Dynamic Range Photos for iPhone

Chad Garrett — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 13:58:32 +0000

Pro HDR [$1.99 -iTunes link] is a fantastic little app that brings ">high dynamic range photography to your iPhone. The way it works is simple; Pro HDR asks you to take a photo of a "dark" part of what you are taking a photograph of, then do the same for the "light" part. Next, the app takes the two images, aligns, straightens and blends them automatically to give you a final result; it is quite clever. You also have the ability to save the photo when done, email it and adjust the subject's brightness, contrast, saturation and warmth.

If file size is important to you, you can change whether to save as full size or a lower resolution for your library or for email. Oh, and one more thing, you can take images from your library, you don't need to take the pictures in real-time.

I was very pleased with the results of this $1.99 app and I am sure you will too. It is a lot easier than doing it yourself! To see some great examples of what this app can do, check out their gallery.

App Review: DSLR Camera Remote Professional Edition for iPhone

Leanna Lofte — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:23:18 +0000

DSLR Camera Remote Professional Edition App Forum Review by llofte. For more Forum Reviews, see the TiPb iPhone App Store Forum Review Index!

DSLR Camera Remote Professional Edition [$19.99 - iTunes link] is a "the next-generation cable release" for your Canon or Nikon DSLR camera. With it you can trigger the shutter as well as change multiple settings, see through your camera's viewfinder, and view images directly on your iPhone.

To use DSLR Camera Remote, you will need a computer, a USB cable that connects your camera to your computer, a Wi-Fi network (internet connection not required), and onOne's free DSLR Camera Remote Server software installed on your computer.

The home screen has a big window that displays a photo or live view and your camera's current settings. The six settings in the center are the ones you can remotely change: aperture, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, quality, and exposure compensation. Just tap the setting you want to change and list of available options appear. Below these you will see what focus and exposure mode your camera is set to (you cannot change these remotely). If you are using a mode that is partially automatic, then you will not be able to adjust all settings. For example, in the screenshot above, you can see that I'm shooting with aperture priority, so the shutter speed is grayed out. In the center of the bottom toolbar, you will see how much hard drive space is available on your computer. The bottom right corner is the fire button to trigger to shutter and the bottom left corner is where you go to access more options.

Before I used DSLR Camera Remote, I was concerned that there was going to be a bit of a delay between tapping fire and my camera actually snapping the shot as this would be a major problem when shooting subjects like children or pets. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that there is no noticeable delay. This is of course only true when not using LiveView mode. There is a significant delay when utilizing LiveView because your camera must first exit LiveView before taking the shot - not a fault of the app.

In situations where instantaneous shutter releases aren't necessary, LiveView is awesome. From the home screen, the app displays exactly what you'd see by looking through your camera's viewfinder; rotate to landscape for a larger view. After taking the shot, the app will display the photo for a few seconds before going back to LiveView. There is not a setting to change how long you see the preview for. If you have your camera set to autofocus, tapping the LiveView screen will focus. (Note that LiveView is only available on cameras that support it).

With LiveView disabled, you can swipe through all the photos saved in the chosen folder on your computer. Double tapping the photo will zoom in. Zooming in is nice in theory, but isn't implemented well. It zooms in quite a bit and there isn't a way to pan around the photo or change the magnification percentage. It's easier to walk over to the computer and view the image there. You can zoom while in portrait or landscape, but you can only delete a photo from landscape - just tap and hold. Also from landscape you can trigger the shutter and access options.

Options

The intervalometer lets you take up to 999 shots anywhere from 1 second to 1 day apart. After choosing the desired interval and number of shots, just tap start

DSLR Camera Remote makes it easy to auto bracket. You can choose an exposure increment of ⅓ or a full stop and a total range between ⅓ and 5 stops above and below your current exposure. DSLR Camera Remote does the math for you and tells you how many shots will be included in your bracket given your chosen settings. You can also choose to lock shutter speed, aperture, or ISO speed and the delay between shots from 0 to 5 seconds. Once you're ready to shoot your bracket, tap start.

Burst Mode lets you shoot 1 to 12 shots at your camera's fastest rapid fire speed.

When turning on Live Preview, you will be given focusing options to choose from. Your choices depend on which camera you're using. Refer your camera's user manual if you aren't sure what the options mean.

Conclusion

DSLR Camera Remote really is the "next generation cable release". It's biggest drawback is that you must have your camera connected to a computer. Since an actual internet connection is not required, you can create an ad-hoc network with your computer and communicate with your iPhone that way. This is a great workaround to the Wi-Fi requirement, but still needs a computer. I did see a glimmer of hope on onOne's website about utilizing 3.0 to increase functionality:

Several people have asked if they can plug their iPhone directly into the camera's USB port and control it this way. This is something we are actively investigating, but until the iPhone 3.0 update, third party developers like us don't have any way to communicate through the iPod dock connector. In the future we hope to be able to add this support, we will keep you posted. They haven't said anything more since 3.0 was released in June, so I hope that this is something they are still actively pursuing.

Regardless, DSLR Camera Remote is an excellent application as is and well worth the $19.99.

Pros

Remotely control many settings and shutter release
Immediately see photo taken
Look through your camera's viewfinder with LiveView
Supports 16 Canon and 9 Nikon models
Intervalometer and auto bracketting

Cons

Zooming in on photo is limited
Must have computer to use

TiPb Review Rating

App Review: Photogene Photo Enhancer for iPhone

Chris Vitek — Sun, 03 May 2009 11:41:01 +0000

(Photogene Forum Review by cjvitek For more Forum Reviews, see the TiPb iPhone App Store Forum Review Index!)

Photogene is an iPhone "touch up" utlity that can be used to touch up or enhance photos you take with your iPhone.

First, what Photogene isn't. It isn't simply a series of filters that you can apply to photos. There are lots of apps out there that can apply a huge range of filters (oil painting, cartoon, black and white, sepia, posterize, etc). I have reviewed a couple of them. This app does have a few filters, but it is more about touching up photos (fine-tuning them, if you will) rather than simply applying a filter to make it "art".

When you start the app, you can choose to take a new photo, edit an existing phot, or continue a previous session. This last option is particularly nice, it means the app "remembers" where you were and what you were doing. If you get interrupted, you don't need to start over. One cool little thing is when you start the app, a "tip of the week" appears about taking photos with the iPhone. Normally I don't like tips that appear like this, but I like it here because the tip is specific to using the iPhone camera (not just a general photography tip).

I was using a general photo of some mosquito cages when testing this app. The touch up features include a crop option, rotate option, three filters, color adjust, symbols, and frames. When you finish with your editing, you can save the photo or start over (take a new photo or edit a new photo). There is an undo button to undo the last edit, but there isn't a complete "reset" button to undo all adjustments. I would like to see that in a future release. So let's talk about the touch up features.

With the crop feature, you can choose to crop it with a specific ratio (3:4, 9:16, etc). The area that will be cropped appears highlighted on the picture, and you can resize it or move it around. One nice thing is that as your resizing the crop, you can see the pixel size that the new image will be - very useful. You can't do a free-form crop however.

The rotate allows you to rotate the picture by 90% or flip the picture on an axis. If your image is at an angle, you can also do some slight angle adjustments to make it level.

The app comes with three filters - sharpen, pencil, and effect (which includes sepia, night vision, or infrared (heat vision). With sharpen and pencil, you can adjust the level of effect as well. Pencil is sort of cool, making your picture look like a pencil drawing. But as I said, this app isn't about having 30 filters - it is mostly about touching up photos to make them as nice as possible.

Next we move onto color adjustment. Here, you can see the color histogram and either adjust it manually or automatically for the best color image. You can also adjust the exposure, contrast, saturation, color temperature, as the actual RGB levels. These are, in my opinion, the best features of this app because this is the area that really helps you touch up a picture to optimal quality.

You can add symbols like stars, word ballons (with text), arrows - about 13 symbols in all. These aren't anything really that help the picture, but they can make a picture a little more entertaining.

Lastly, you can add a frame - ranging from a "blurred" frame that doesn't have a distinct edge to more tradition picture frames to a stamp border or photo album "taped on the corners" frame. There are about 15 frames in all to choose from.

Working on a couple sample pictures, I was able to make some nice adjustments and really make some of the pictures shine. You are still working within the limitation of the iPhone camera, so pictures that are outdoors or in bright light are going to be the best, but you can really enhance some pictures that you might have throught were lost. The features like frames and symbols aren't really that necessary, and I would have preferred more filters instead of having those, but they can be fun to add to some pictures.

Pros:

Touch up iPhone pictures to make them shine

Cons:

Some features don't really add anything,
no ability to completely reset a picture

All in all, this is a good, all around photo touch up tool for the iPhone. Rather than just rely on applying filters, you can make some manual adjustments to thingsl ike saturation and exposure to try to bring out the best in your pictures. Some of the effects don't really add anything to the picture quality, but they might be fun to include in some pictures. There is no way to remove all the touchups at one, however - you have to reset each feature individually. But the color adjust can really make a picture shine. The app is $2.99, so the price is great if you use the iPhone camera a lot. Four and a half out of five stars.

TiPb Forum Review Rating

[http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=309327900&mt=8">Photogene is available for $2.99 via the iTunes App Store]