Life in LoFi: iPhoneography

This is all you get. Full-size output from one of the recent super-low res camera apps (300x400 pixels)

Another day, another super-low-res monochrome camera is released in the App Store.

With the number of monochrome camera apps that save at the iPhone’s full resolution — Vint B&W, Spica SuperMonochrome, and others — and the number of apps that do an excellent job of converting images to monochrome — CameraBag, MonoPhix, CameraKit — I don’t understand why it’s suddenly become so difficult to produce apps that save to at least 1200×1600 resolution.

One of my biggest peeves in the App Store is the recent glut of super-low-res photo apps. These are the apps that save images at 320×480 pixels (or less) — the iPhone’s screen resolution. Seriously, that’s 0.154 megapixels. The original VGA resolution from the late 1980’s was 640×480 pixels.

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Pixels at an Exhibition
www.pixelsatanexhibition.com
through March 2010

PixelEx/Pixels at an Exhibition: Dada Left

As part of my Featured Photographer for March 2010, we’ve just posted more exclusive images at Pixels At An Exhibition. You can browse them all if you click here.

Much of it is photography of the street art in Deep Ellum — the area of Elm Street just east of downtown Dallas. Deep Ellum is a strip of three, maybe four streets of bars, restaurants, clubs, tattoo parlors, art galleries, vintage stores, old warehouses and lofts. Baylor Hospital where Mickey Mantle died is a couple of blocks away. Most of the buildings are old — old for Dallas, anyway. Many of them surviving gentrification since the 1920’s.

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Flash Hero
Version 1.2

Bottom line: Not recommended. Two of the three filters work poorly.

Flash Hero is a new “flash fixer” app from Asasa Software which uses three different kinds of exposure enhancements to fix the lighting of a photo.

No two images are the same and many times an exposure enhancement app that does a great job on one image works poorly with another. That’s why I keep several exposure enhancers in my iPhone. Flash Hero attempts to give you three different types of exposure enhancement in one app. The idea is that of the three, one of them will work best to fix your image. It’s a great concept. Unfortunately, two of the filters work poorly and the third is redundant and unnecessary if you already have another slider-based flash fixer, such as Perfectly Clear, Auto Adjust or FlashPhix. All three of these apps produce better results more easily.

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March 14, 2010
Dallas, Texas

Mockingbird Station

Toolbox: FocalLab, CameraBag

If you’ve taken the Blue Line or the Red Line south from Mockingbird Station, you know the big, long escalator down to the platform. Once you step on, there’s a long time to think about where you’re going, the train you’ll take. Three stories below, you step out on to the platform, only a short distance from where the twin tunnels engulf the yellow and white trains.

=M=

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March 14, 2010
Fort Worth, Texas

DST

Toolbox: ClassicTOY

I love Spring! I love Spring! I love Spring! The first workday after daylight savings time begins, not so much.

Golden hour shadowplay in the trees in the park.

=M=

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ClassicTOY – Plastic Toy Camera
Version 1.0

Bottom Line: Very nice! The same great filters as ClassicPAN in a more versatile 3:2 frame.

ClassicTOY

ClassicTOY – Plastic Toy Camera is the latest camera app from misskiwi. Drawing from the filters of ClassicPAN which we’ve previously reviewed and liked very much, ClassicTOY is another app that applies analog and other vintage filter effects to your images. ClassicTOY presents these effects in a standard 3:2 aspect ratio — a common standard for 35mm film and many DSLR cameras.

Overall, I think the presentation and implementation of the filters in ClassicTOY exceeds that of misskiwi’s previous apps. If you like the filter set of ClassicPAN — whether or not you cared for the wide aspect ratio — you will like ClassicTOY.

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Celebrating the creativity of iPhone users

iPhone Photography Awards is accepting submissions for their annual 2010 competition.

All photographers compete for the top award, the IPPA Photographer of the Year. Images will be reviewed on the basis of artistic merit, originality, subject, and style.

This year’s top prize is an 8GB iPod touch. The work of the top winner and the 1st, 2nd, 3rd Place Winners on each category will be publicized on IPPA online gallery and published in the IPPA Annual Winners Book, published at Blurb.

All 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners from each categories will receive an IPPA certificate. Judges will also award several Certificates of Honorable Mention to entries to acknowledge talent.

Copyright and all other rights remain that of the photographer. Any photograph used by IPPA shall carry the photographer’s credit line. Use may include publication in any IPPA media sponsor publication.

Entry fees range from $2.50 to $18.50 and are based on the number of images you submit at that time. Entry fees cover the cost of administration and promotion.

Deadline for submissions is March 31, 2010.

You can also view the 2008 and 2009 winning entries at www.ippawards.com.

Click here for more information or to submit entries.

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Sunlight Tracker

We just ran across this in the U.S. App Store. Sunlight Tracker by RLSP is a new app which displays a whole bunch of information about the sun, allowing you to plan your photo shoot around your light. This is similar to what BlueHour and CityTime do, except Sunlight Tracker seems to provide a lot more information geared specifically towards photographers.

Sunlight Tracker is free in the U.S. App Store for a limited time.

It features sunrise and sunset times, twilight times which are good for shooting in the Blue hours, angle and elevation of the sun and other information. Although we just grabbed it and haven’t tested it yet, it looks really comprehensive and if you find yourself planning around the good light, this is an excellent opportunity to grab this utility while it’s free!

Detailed information on the app’s features and functions can be found on the RLSP website.

App Store link: Sunlight Tracker

=M=

Update Saturday, March 13, 2010. Well, that didn’t last long…. Looks like the limited time has passed. The app is now available for its regular price of $1.99 USD. Still, give it a look if you think you might need a sunlight tracker. For the extra dollar, this app does a lot more than give sunrise/sunset times.

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Related links: BlueHour review |   CityTime (App Store link)

iPhone lens and microfiber cloth

The iPhone camera lens is teeny. The actual lens itself is protected by an external lens casing. While the lens casing is about 4-5 mm, the lens itself is less than 2 mm. Even a small smudge or a fingerprint on your lens can really effect the quality of your images. Fortunately, keeping your lens clean is quick and easy.

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EYE’EM CALLING FOR ENTRIES NOW!

EYE’EM has announced a call for entries for the EYE’EM Mobile Photography Award 2010. Entries from any mobile device are accepted, not just iPhones. Also, you are permitted to use desktop apps such as Photoshop to retouch your images.

Sion Fullana is judging this year’s EYE’EM Award. Sion is a professional photographer, journalist and filmmaker living in New York City. He has been featured in photography blogs and magazines, such as Time Out NY, Photocritic.org, American Photo Magazine and Wink-Magazine. In a very short period of time, he has become a celebrated pioneer in cellphone photography, using his 3G iPhone and experimenting with a select group of iPhone photo apps. He is one of iPhoneography’s most recognized members.

More information and links follow the jump. >>>

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