Archive for February, 2010

New! Hipstamatic 150 update – Hold on to your hats!

HipstaMatic for iPhone

HipstaMatic

I have much love for Hipstamatic. No other app (or Photoshop plug-in) creates such organic and analog-looking images so easily. The new Hipstamatic 150 update is available now in the App Store. From the list of features, it’s a terrific update to an already amazing app. The update adds a ton of new features and improvements, in-app file sharing to Flickr, as well as addresses several performance issues. Start-up time has been improved significantly. There’s also a new monthly photography contest accessible in-app. We’ll post more details as they become available.

As is the case with the previous Hipstamatic 110 update, there’s a new optional HipstaPak available as an additional in-app purchase, featuring two new films. I can’t wait to shoot with the new BlacKeys SuperGrain B+W Film!

The free update is live now or you can (and should) purchase the updated version if you don’t already own the app.

Here’s a list of what’s new and fixed in Hipstamatic 150:

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Review: PhotoSize tells you when apps cheat you out of pixels

PhotoSize
Version 1.0

Rating 4 stars

Bottom Line: Essential if you regularly buy photo apps

PhotoSize

PhotoSize

PhotoSize by Danny Goodman is a utility that does one thing — it gives you the pixel dimensions of any image from your iPhone’s photo library or camera roll.

Previously, checking this info might involve emailing the image from one of the third-party apps that can email a photo without downsizing it and then opening the image on your computer in Photoshop, or checking the pixel dimensions using Photogene’s Crop tool. With PhotoSize, simply choose an image from your iPhone and PhotoSize quickly and easily tells you the pixel dimensions.

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Cool Link: 7 Photos, 7 Songs, 7 Days

From The Random Photographer blog, here’s an interesting variation of the image-a-day concept — 7 Photos, 7 Songs, 7 Days. In addition to seven (really nice) iPhonoegraphy, “Random Sam” also tagged this set with seven songs — one corresponding to each image. I like his photography, especially his photo “Friday”. The music is a nice touch and adds one more element to each piece.

Here’s the link to “7 Photos, 7 Songs, 7 Days” on Random Photographer. >>>

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iPhoneography: No Model Release Needed: Louise

February 24, 2010
LAX

iPhoneography: Louise

Louise

Toolbox: CameraBag, FocalLab

Louise stands in the middle of the terminal, facing the travelers and the Chili’s-To-Go. She stands near her accessories, displayed in a glittered case. Her clothes say tropical, or thrift store. Her glasses implore “hide me in in First Class.”

iPhone App Review: Straighten Image, by Glyn Evans

Glyn Evans recently reviewed the app Straighten Image by appingo on his blog iPhoneography.com.

I was amazed at just how quick, easy and simple this app was to use, but the most interesting thing, and more importantly omitted from the AppStore description, is the save photos are upscaled, and so on my iPhone 3G, were saved at full-res.  Now I’m not sure if this app saves at full-res on the iPhone 3GS, so if anyone has an iPhone 3GS and this, then maybe they could comment on the resolution.

Read Glyn’s full review here on iPhonoegraphy.com. Read my thoughts below, after the jump.

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iPhoneography: Dinner With My Dad

February 23, 2010
Anaheim, California

iPhoneography: Dinner With My Dad

Dinner With My Dad

Toolbox: Vint B&W

I suppose I should probably get a model release for this image. I’m not worried about a lawsuit. I’m concerned about being grounded.

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Auto Adjust – Free For a Limited Time!

Auto Adjust

Auto Adjust

I like free. As an end user, free apps are always good. It’s nicer when the free apps are well done and useful. Auto Adjust is one of those.

Auto Adjust by Joe Macirowski is free for a limited time! This is not a feature-crippled “lite” version, but the full version.

I’ve reviewed Auto Adjust and it’s one of my favorite apps here on LoFi. Unlike many of the “flash fixer” apps available, it’s more than just a flash enhancer which simply brightens images. Auto Adjust uses “contrast stretching” or normalization to help correct exposure. Its adjustable enhancement produces excellent results on many images that would otherwise be lost due to underexposure as well as automatically correcting the contrast of more properly exposed images. Auto Adjust is one of my go-to apps.

This is one of the better exposure enhancement apps available in the App Store. It’s highly recommended at its regular price of $0.99 USD. I think it’s an essential app while it’s free. I’m not sure how long the free offer will last, so if you don’t already have Auto Adjust, grab it now!

App Store link: Auto Adjust

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How to Reinstall Older Versions of Apps on your iPhone or iPad

You just downloaded the latest update of your favorite app to your iPhone, but the new version crashes and the old version is no longer available in the App Store. Are you out of luck until the fix is released? Maybe not. If you downloaded the update on your iPhone only (not in your computer’s iTunes), here’s one way to downgrade back to a previous version of an app.

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iPhone apps and image size, by Dixon Hamby

iPhoneographer Dixon Hamby recently posted this to his blog:

If you want to make quality prints from your images, before you buy an iPhone photo app check to see if it saves at 100%. Many of the most popular ones don’t. After you download an app check the settings. Even though the app saves at 100% the default may be less than full resolution. I simply don’t use an app unless it saves at 100%. Why would I want to degrade the image? So if you ever plan to make prints, print calendars or books, check before you buy and save yourself some money.

Editor’s Note: Well said, Dixon. Thanks! Even if you’ve read a review of an app online, it’s always a good idea to read the app’s entire description in iTunes. If it’s mentioned, many times a developer will bury the size of output at the end of a description. Not all online reviews mention an app’s resolution (LifeInLoFi’s policy is to mention image resolution when we find lower than acceptable output. Often we mention the resolution anyway.). If no output resolution is mentioned in the online review you read — either full-size or reduced — check the user reviews in the App Store. Many times, the early reviews will mention low res output.

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Dixon Hamby publishes the blog dixon hamby iphoneography and has given me permission to republish his post here. You can follow Dixon on Twitter, @dixonhamby. You can purchase books of his iPhoneography here.

iPhoneography: Two Theaters — Ticket Booth