Here’s a cool tip recently posted to the LensFlare Studio Facebook page. It’s a quick and slick tip for using LensFlare Studio to add great-looking lens aberrations with Photoshop.

This is a Mac OS-only tip, not an iPhoneography tip per se. But LensFlare Studio was created by BrainFeverMedia, the same developer who gave us the excellent LensFlare, LensLight, and Alien Sky apps for iOS. >>>

LensFlare Studio is easy to use with Photoshop. Here’s how to add flares to your Photoshop projects:

1 – Select and copy a layer or photo in Photoshop – Cmd-C

2 – Paste into LensFlare Studio – Cmd-V. LensFlare Studio will auto-size to the pasted layer. Add flares!

3 – After adding flares, turn off Image Layer so you only see the flares.

4 – Do copy in LensFlare Studio – Cmd-C.

5 – Paste in Photoshop Cmd-V, which adds the flares layer to your Photoshop project. Set flare layer blend to Linear Dodge (Add).

That’s it!

LensFlare Studio is a Mac OS-only app. It brings the same great light effects from the iOS version to your Mac. You can choose from anamorphic lens flares, lighting effects, sci-fi flares, sunlight glare, and more. With over 100 effects, you can choose from lens flares, lighting effects, glares, bokeh, and more.

LensFlare Studio is $19.99 in the Mac App Store. Requirements: OS X 10.7 or later, 64-bit processor

There is also LensFlares, a “Lite” version for Mac OS with 15 lens filters. It runs $4.99 in the Mac App Store. |

Photoshop is, well… Photoshop.

=M=

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"Cool Tip: Using LensFlare Studio With Photoshop." originally appeared on Life in LoFi: iPhoneography. © 2013 LifeInLoFi.com. All rights reserved.

Cherry Blossoms by Sid Peña

Most of the time, Life In LoFi focuses on getting the highest quality image in camera so you can app it into digital lo-fi afterwards. In his first post for us, Photographer/iPhoneographer Sid Peña explains how he gets impressive results getting high quality images for oversize prints using his iPhone. =M=

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My Workflow Secrets:
Creating High Resolution Images on iPhone 5

by Sid Peña

Most iPhoneographers would love to create high resolution, detailed, print-ready images.  High quality output greatly increases the desire for your work across many venues of the graphics industry.  Larger prints mean more potential buyers, higher DPI means more detail in those reproductions which could lead to more industry recognition and possibly more green in your pocket.

Cherry Blossoms by Sid Peña

I’m going to show you the basic workflow I use on 90% of my photos.  This tutorial will take you from snapping the photo to a finished image with a resolution of 4896 x 3672, DPI of 300 x 300 and a way to create a master RAW image in TIFF format for archiving.

To follow this tutorial you will need:

• an iPhone 5 (an iPhone 4S should also work nearly as well. =M=)
• ClearCam ( )
• SnapSeed ( )
• Photogene2 ( )
• KitCam ( )
• Filterstorm 4 ( )

The Base Image

When I worked as a roadie, a sound engineer once explained why the band onstage sounded so bad.  He said, “Crap in, loud crap out.”  In other words, if you want a high quality result you need to start with the highest quality ingredients.  The first ingredient is a crisp, clear photo which incorporates a great subject, composition and tone.  I can’t help you with subject, composition and tone but for a crisp clear photo; “There’s an app for that!”

ClearCam is my goto Camera Replacement app for 95% of my shots, and for good reason.  It does what it does amazingly well, which is produce sharp, high resolution images.  With a tripod you can get images so tack sharp that only a pro could discern them from DSLR images.  The way it works is it shoots 6 frames in fast succession and then you apply an align and enhance process from the app’s photo queue.

There are two shooting modes in ClearCam, Quick and Enhanced.  I use the Enhanced mode because the Quick mode only produces native resolution images.  ClearCam also has some quirky characteristics you should take into consideration when framing your images or preparing for the next shot.  The ClearCam screen only displays 16:9 aspect ratio but the resulting photo will be in full 4:3.  This means that in portrait mode you can’t see what is just to the left or right of the screen or in landscape mode what is just above or below the upper and lower limits of the viewable screen.  When you process the image that area will be visible.  After I got used to this issue it was easy to frame my shot properly.  Also, I found that if you close the app with the home button or turn off the screen by pressing the power button before ClearCam has finished processing your last shot, that image will not be there when you go back to the app.  If you need to shoot a burst or rapid succession, this is not the app you’re looking for.

Original image as captured by ClearCam

The size of the processed RAW images in ClearCam is formidable (about 70MB to 90MB).  On my first day of SXSW 2013, I had about 4GB of available space on my 16GB iPhone 5 and hit capacity after about 40 photos.  Since I didn’t bring my MacBook Pro with me I was forced to align, enhance, export and delete lots of the ClearCam files to free up the needed space (the next day I had my MacBook with me).

One quirky characteristic of ClearCam that I love is the effect the align and enhance process has on moving subjects.  In my photo, The IT Crowd, the motion blurs and double and triple exposure effects really provide a dynamic feel to the image.  I suggest playing around with this to see what kind of results you get, your mileage may vary.

The IT Crowd by Sid Peña

The Sharper Image

Once you have a good base image from ClearCam, it’s time to take it into SnapSeed for a little Detailing.  This is a quick and simple way to really make the final image pop.  I always dial Sharpening to 20 and Structure to 5, then save and export to Camera Roll.  Anything higher and you start flirting with Edge Glow and what I call Retina Burn (a common result of over zealous HDR).

Enhance Yourself

Now that we have a sharp base image to work with, it’s time to edit the image into the final vision of what was in your mind’s eye when you snapped the photo.  I prefer staying within the realm of organic photography but if you want to go into full blown digitally altered version of a Stephen King nightmare, knock yourself out.

My current goto app for editing most of my photos is KitCam. It handles large resolution images without breaking a sweat. KitCam also has amazing white balance and exposure compensation. There are a ton of film types/lens/frames combinations. Since I shoot mostly for black and white output, I use the Newsprint and Rorschach films almost exclusively, (although I have been known to use a color film for its tonality and then drop the saturation to zero).  I also love that KitCam preserves EXIF/IPTC data.

Once I’ve imported the image into KitCam, I check if Clarify will take the image closer to my vision without blowing out the highlights. If it does, then I set it to that with the knowledge I can always turn it off again should later adjustments take it closer to Retina Burnout.

The image with Clarify turned on.

Next, I set the Aspect Ratio and set the flow and composition of the image by zooming and/or moving and cropping. KitCam maintains the size of the image regardless of the amount of zoom and crop you apply.  This is a great feature that doesn’t get the recognition it deserves.

Aspect ratio set to 16:9.

Zoomed image will maintain 4896×3672 size.

Now that we have Aspect set, we can add Vignette (if needed), set color and tone via the film type and add a frame (again, if desired).

Vignette Lens applied.

Newsprint Film applied.

The Newsprint Film in KitCam usually blows out the highlights of a picture by just a tad.  Luckily, KitCam has one of the best Exposure features of any app I’ve ever used.  Usually, one half step to one full step down will suffice to reduce solarization and highlight blowout.

Exposure set to about -.5.

My goto setup is 16:9 aspect, Vignette Lens (wide open), Newsprint Film, Exposure set to -.5 to -1 and rarely a slight adjustment to Contrast and/or Brightness.   Save to camera roll.

The Devil is in The Details

Ok, we are almost finished. We just need to set additional IPTC information (copyright notice, artist credit etc.) and to set the image DPI.   I use Photogene2 for these tasks.  Open your masterpiece in Photogene2 and select the image info button.  I have a preset with my information that I insert.  Once you’ve entered your info close that window and open the Export menu. Click on the Resolution/Resize line. Scroll to the bottom and set the JPEG Quality to 1.00.  You only need to do that once unless you change it again.  The DPI section is just above JPEG Quality.  Set that to 300×300 (this only needs to be set once). Scroll up to the Resolution section and select the 4896 line (3672 if you chose 1:1 in the Aspect step of processing).  The resolution selection has to be made each time you go through this process.  Save to camera roll.

The EXIF data in Photogene2

JPEG quality, DPI setting and Resolution.

Wake the Kids, Call the Neighbors

Now your masterpiece is finished and ready to display in your online gallery or print and hang in your humble abode.  What else should you do?  If longevity is a concern, creating multiple backup copies is a good idea.   I keep a copy in the cloud on Dropbox and a copy on an external hard drive.  Steer clear of cloud services that reduce image quality when you upload or download.

One More Thing

I’ve recently started creating “Master” versions of my work in Filterstorm.  Filterstorm will create a RAW TIFF copy of your image that will be about 35MB to 40MB.  The downside is that Filterstorm only preserves the EXIF data and strips the IPTC data.

Export settings for Filterstorm

EXIF data for finished RAW image.

The finished image in TIFF format

Detail of TIFF at 100%

Happy Hunting

Well, that just about does it.  This is my current work flow for processing most of my photos.  Of course, this is meant to be just a basic guide.  I encourage you to experiment, take chances and develop a flow that suits your style.

The take away here is your photograph is like a lasagna, it requires a recipe (plan), good ingredients (apps), careful layering (processing), attention to detail (composition, tone) and some elbow grease (get off your butt and go shoot something)!

SXSW Tuesday Morning by Sid Pena

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Sid Peña began his photographic journey in 1985 when he bought a Nikon FG in Kitzingen, Bavaria, West Germany.  He has worked as a photojournalist and graphic designer, among many other interesting jobs.  He is currently working for a very well known computer firm in Austin, Texas.  When he’s not at work he can be seen lurking around downtown with his iPhone 5, on the hiking trails of Walnut Creek with his dog, Angie or hosting a MST3K marathon at his house for fellow MSTies.

Flickr Photostream: www.flickr.com/photos/sidpena
Twitter: @sidpena

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"Creating High Resolution Images on iPhone 5, by Sid Peña." originally appeared on Life in LoFi: iPhoneography. © 2013 LifeInLoFi.com. All rights reserved.

It’s no secret that Hipstamatic app has many thousands of happy users the world over. Many of them however, are a little mystified by some of its features.

The ‘Favourites’ feature is perhaps, the most useful and yet the most under-used of all. Here’s how to get the most out of it. >>>

The idea is that you can save your fave combos to enable quick and easy access. Unfortunately, what often happens is that you end up with so many favourites that it takes just as long to find what you’re looking for. This is often due to not knowing how to delete them.

Here are a few tips on how to use the feature to your best advantage:

To add a Favourite: Tap the star icon under the viewfinder. The current combo setting will appear. To add this combo as a favourite, tap the camera icon and select Save (top right). The camera icon will then go from B&W to colour and a selection of your album pics will be displayed.

To add a different combo: Tap the star icon, select the + icon (top right) then select your preferred lens, film, flash etc. then save

Once you have more than one favourite saved, you can swipe through them and tap to select.

To remove a Favourite: Press and hold the selected combo. Then tap ‘remove favourite’.
At this stage you will also have an option to re-name your combo. This is a useful feature once you know which combo’s suit which situations, naming them according to their best application.

The key to getting the most from this feature is organization. Try alternating a colour combo with a B&W combo so that you don’t have to swipe through too many of one sort to find another. Keep reviewing your chosen combos and delete any that aren’t used often. If you’re off on a photo safari, select a fresh set of combos that are best suited to the subjects and light conditions of the day… six or eight should be plenty at any one time.

Another way of selecting a previously used combo is to select an image in your Hipsta album and tap the cog icon (top left) then choose the camera/star icon (bottom center). This will give you two options: New Favourite or Match Setting. Match setting will instantly change your combo to the one used in your chosen image.

Happy snapping!

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"Firm Favourites: Getting the most out of your Hipstamatic, by Fiona Christian." originally appeared on Life in LoFi: iPhoneography. © 2013 LifeInLoFi.com. All rights reserved.

by Simon Ellingworth

To take a good photograph you need to know what good looks like. Sounds daft, I know, but training your eye is very important. In this article, I’m going to show you several free sources of amazing photography, one of which even tells you “pro tip” per picture, plus an exercise to train your eyes. This exercise will help you take better pictures on an iPhone or any camera.

The first and my all time favorite is the British newspaper, The Guardian: Eyewitness series. Although photo journalism is not my thing, you can’t help but be amazed, intrigued and learn so much from these images. It’s available on the web or where it really shines is on an iPad ( )  if you have one.

The pro tips are on the right hand side online, or behind the info button bottom left hand side on an iPad.

This tells a story with a single powerful image and I feel its simplicity is its strength.

Photo courtesy The Guardian UK.

When you take a look at each image I want you to start to do the following exercise:

Your mind analyses pictures in a fraction of a second without you consciously understanding the logic or the process. I want you to become very aware of the process, its super quick so pay attention.

Your eye will enter an image at a point it is drawn too, then wanders around gathering information until it can exit and move on to the next task. That’s why some images hold your eye for longer than others.

I often close my eyes load the images and then concentrate on observing my mind and my eyes.

1. Put your finger on the point your eye is draw towards
   (often the lightest, brightest or most colourful point)
2. Mentally trace the path your eye takes around the picture.
   (spot any S shapes or reverse S shapes?)
3. Has the photographer used the rule of thirds?
   (Here’s a link to one of Lightism.co.uk’s 10 easy lessons on composition)
4. Has the photographer shot from his eye level
   (a lower or higher perspective make a huge difference)
5. What is the photographer trying to SAY?
   (Strong pictures have a narrative)
6. How has the photographer used the environment to do this?
7. How has the photographer used light?
   (i.e: darker edges keep your eye in the picture for longer)
8. Why does the picture work?
9. Does it evoke an emotional response?
10. From the above list, what could you apply to your pictures?

The second source I can recommend is from the news agency Reuters called The Wider Image ( ) and is only available as an iPad app. It has a lead image and then a slideshow per story, but no pro tips I’m afraid.

Screenshot courtesy of Reuters

Give the exercise a try. I want you to become very conscious of good images and why they work. Once you have mastered this, I’ll teach you to apply it to your own images.

If you like the simple way this tip taught you a complex subject, you’ll love my Lightism blog’s 10 free simple lessons to take your photography to the next level or many of the other great blog articles which are updated weekly.

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“How to train your eye to take better pictures” originally appeared on Lightism.co.uk and is reposted here with permission.

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"How to train your eye to take better pictures, By Simon Ellingworth." originally appeared on Life in LoFi: iPhoneography. © 2013 LifeInLoFi.com. All rights reserved.

by Simon Ellingworth

This is a simple blueprint that will enable anyone to master iPhonography and start producing amazing images. This blueprint is inspired by my friends always asking me why my iPhone pictures are so much better than theirs. Having given this some considerable thought here’s an article sharing my secrets and philosophy.

As a Professional Photographer and recent runner up of the Mobile Photography Awards, I view photographic equipment as tools, all with different purposes and strengths. This philosophy extends to my iPhone and the apps I use. Did I mention that I also love simplicity?

I have one folder on my phone which I’ve called ‘Camera Bag’ and in it I have only 4 camera apps all with a different purpose.
(now I’ve jailbroken my phone there is only three and I can load my camera much quicker too)

Firstly and most importantly, I assess the whatever has caught my eye. It may be the graphical shape of something or the way the light is catching it. For some photographers, it’s colour. I tend to be that oddball photographer off on his own photographing something that apparently no one else can see if that makes you feel any better!

I think which tool (app) would capture that best and I start with that one. If I can’t capture or better still emphasize what originally caught my eye quite quickly, I’ll move on and try another app… never be afraid to experiment, never be afraid to fail.

Black & White (mono)

For black and white images, I use Hueless it’s wonderfully simple app and has the ability to slide the brightness (exposure) up and down so you can instantly see the results. When I do this I’m looking for that sweet spot, the one you’ll find just before the point of way too much!

I love, love, love it!

It works really well with strong light and produces images that remind me of my Leica M9.

Low Light and Night Time

NightCap is a great tool to capture pictures without flash and produces strong results long after other Iphoneographers have given up and put their phones away. To gather up the extra light takes a few moments longer than a normal shot, so you do need to try to keep your phone still with this one.

80% of everything else

First, a quick pain free technical bit:

If you look at something and squint (half close your eyes) then the mid tones disappear and you will be left with only the brightest (the highlights) and darkest (the low lights)

When you take a picture your camera will expose for the overall average and often the results are just that; average.

With Camera Awesome from SmugMug you can simply tap the screen on those highlights or lowlights (squint if you need to) and it will base the exposure on that spot (spot metering)…this will dramatically change the picture in front of your very eyes. Sometimes it’s worth experimenting on or around an area again to find that sweet spot.

This alone will change your photography and is the thrust of a recent article called: One simple trick to dramatically improve your photography.

The Final 20%

Finally there are some scenes where the difference between the highlights and lowlights (the dynamic range) is just too much for the iPhone (or any camera) to capture.

This is where HDR (High Dynamic Range) comes in; it involves taking multiple pictures of varying brightness and blends them automatically to give a single image.

Professionals do this manually like this:

You can simply turn on HDR in the native camera options and it will blend three images very well indeed and save both the HDR and the normal exposure in the camera roll. To illustrate a point; below is the normal exposure and then the HDR version:

Apple Camera, Normal Exposure

Apple Camera, HDR image

Notice it manages to recover the details in both the highlights and low lights.

Although you’ll get some really quick and easy benefits from the standard camera app with HDR turned on, you can get much more from a dedicated HDR app such as Pro HDR quite simply, as shown below.

And that’s it really! Do try my 10 FREE simple lessons, experiment, and let me know how you get on!

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“Simple blueprint to enable anyone to master iPhonography” originally appeared on Lightism.co.uk and is reposted here with permission.

http://lightism.co.uk/blueprint

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"Simple Blueprint to Mastering iPhonography." originally appeared on Life in LoFi: iPhoneography. © 2013 LifeInLoFi.com. All rights reserved.

By Simon Ellingworth

If you want super quick access to your iPhone camera, to add amazing spot metering to the generic camera or to take pictures without anyone knowing, as well as some cool non-photographic tweaks, then ‘Jailbreaking’ your iPhone or other device may be for you.

I use my iPhone 5 heavily as a camera and when I’m out shooting with it I’m constantly unlocking it then loading Camera Awesome because I love the simple spot metering feature… so much so, it had become my app of choice when I need exposure control.  This may only take a few moments each time, but life is too short.

So, I Jailbreaked (should that be Jailbroke?) my phone to solve this and see what other benefits I could find for photographers out there. As dramatic as Jailbreaking sounds, it involves downloading some software and then you get access to a non-Apple regulated app store.  It voids your warranty, but based on the non-helpful response from Apple when I found rust on my 4 month old iPad, I’m not too worried. I obviously backed up my device first, so could easily restore it if I encounter problems requiring the warranty.

Here’s the best few camera tweaks I’ve found so far:

Camera Tweak – $0.99
This gives the standard camera a host of new features including: Timer, Time lapse  Spot metering, improved composition overlays and a host of video tweaks too.

If you’ve read my recent article One simple trick to dramatically improve your photography then you’ll agree it’s worth it for the spot metering alone.

Camera Tweak for Jailbroken iPhones

(The blue square is the focus point and the yellow circle is the exposure spot)

In terms of composition you can overlay various composition rules including square (pictured above – for all you Instagram users out there) and the Golden Mean. More on that in another article coming soon.

For me it makes the generic Camera app the app of choice and Apple should definitely incorporate these changes into the next version.

CamFast – Free
This little beauty allows you to access the camera from ANY screen with a gesture of your choice.
I selected double tap the clock and it loads instantly.  My iPhone just got way better!

Spy Photo – $1.50
This allows you to secretly take photos without making any sound or flash again using the gesture of your choice from any screen…a single tap on the clock. The best of all, you also don’t even have to load an app, making it great for street photography.

So, overall it took me around an hour to jailbreak, load and customise the apps and was very straightforward. Personally, it made my iPhone photography experience richer and whilst I was there, I introduced Siri to Spotify & app aliases, totally improved multi-tasking and made the lock screen cool (yes you swipe anywhere and it peels away!).

Jailbreaks don’t last forever and once Apple introduce IOS 6.2 the game’s up I believe. But 6.2 needs to blow my socks off for me (and 4 million other jailbreakers) to upgrade and loose all this!

So here’s a how to Jailbreak your iPhone:

Step 1: Make Sure You Have Everything You Need

Luckily, the evad3rs team launched a jailbreak for Windows, OSX, and Linux users. This jailbreak is compatible with every iOS device that runs iOS 6:

• iPhone, including iPhone 5
• iPod Touch
• iPad 2, 3, & 4
• iPad Mini

You will need Windows XP or higher, OSX 10.5 or higher, or an x86 Linux machine.

Step 2: Backup Your Phone In Case Something Goes Wrong

Jailbreaking with evasi0n is very quick and painless, but in the rare case something might go wrong, make sure to backup your phone using iTunes or ICloud beforehand. Evad3rs also recommends to remove the pass code lock from your phone to avoid any complications during the jailbreak.

Step 3: Download The Jailbreak Application

You can download the jailbreak directly from evasi0n’s website. The jailbreak application is also available on the following sites:

• Google Code
• Rapidshare

If any of the sites above are unavailable due to exceeding bandwidth, keep checking the evasi0n site for updates.

Step 4: Plug Your Phone Into Your Computer And Launch The Jailbreak Application

Launch the evasi0n application you just downloaded. If you are using OSX, you may need to allow unauthorized applications to launch. To do this, launch Settings > Security & Privacy. Click on the General tab and select “Allow Applications From Anywhere.”

Once evasi0n is launched, it will instruct you to plug in your iOS device to your computer using a USB cable if you haven’t already done so.

Step 5: Click Jailbreak

Click the Jailbreak button in evasi0n, sit back, and watch the magic happen. Your device may reboot a few times during this process. If you didn’t remove the passcode unlock setting on your device, you may need to unlock the device manually once has rebooted.

Step 6: Click The New Jailbreak Icon On Your Device

Evasi0n will install a new Jailbreak icon on your device. Once it’s installed, evasi0n will instruct you to tap it only once. A few moments after you tap the Jailbreak icon, the jailbreak process will be complete! The device may reboot one more time before you can use it.

Step 7: Launch Cydia

Congratulations! You now have a brand new jailbroken device! As you can see, you now have a Cydia icon awaiting you on your home screen Tap the icon to launch Cydia. Cydia may need to organize its file system which will reboot, or “respring” your device. If this happens, launch Cydia again.

Step 8: Choose Your Cydia Mode

Once Cydia is launched successfully, you will be asked what kind of user you are. The differences between the three selections depends on how much access you want underneath the hood. Most likely, you are a casual user, so choose “User.” Select the other two at your discretion.

Step 9: Have Fun Downloading!
Depending on how much tweaking you’d like to do with your device, you may spend hours and hours browsing Cydia and installing apps. Enjoy being a new jailbreaker!

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This post, “A Photographer’s View of Jailbreaking IOS6 Devices” originally appeared on Lightism.co.uk and is reposted here with permission.

EDITOR’S WARNING: In posting this story, Life In LoFi does not recommend that we all simply go out and Jailbreak our iPhones. Jailbreaking your iPhone still voids the device’s warranty. If not done correctly, Jailbreaking your device can “brick” your iPhone, rendering it unusable. Jailbreaking means you must wait to update your system software until there’s a jailbreak for it; if you accidentally update your system software, you may lose your Jailbreak or the functionality of your iPhone for a while. Please read more about Jailbreaking your iPhone before your try to do it to your device. Life In LoFi and its authors are not responsible for any damages as a result of this post. I have not Jailbroken my iPhone in years. =M=

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"A Photographer’s View of Jailbreaking IOS6 Devices." originally appeared on Life in LoFi: iPhoneography. © 2013 LifeInLoFi.com. All rights reserved.

Written by Misho Baranovic. Originally published on the ProCamera blog

The Tone Correction tool is one of the most exciting additions to the latest ProCamera 4.0 for iPhone.

In this tutorial I’m going to show you how the tool works and what it can do. Here is the photo that I’ll be working on. I shot this picture on a day trip to Hanging Rock in Victoria, Australia. I’ve already pre-cropped the picture into square format using the ProCamera ProCut tool.

We’re starting this tutorial in the single image view within the ProCamera Albums and Studios. This can be accessed from the Capture Screen by either using the QuickFlick function (left to right swipe) or by pressing on PRO>Albums and Studios. You can see a video of the QuickFlick function in this tutorial.

Press on the Edit Button (Scissor and Brush Icon) in the bottom-right corner. This brings up three options – we’re using ProLab for this tutorial.	Here is the ProLab screen, the Tone Correction tool is located top-left and bottom-left respectively. The rest of the image adjustment sliders are located on the right. Click on the Tone Correction button to slide it out.

This is the Tone Correction tool. You can place editing points on the diagonal line, dragging the line into a curve changes the light levels in the photo.	As a guide, pulling the curve upwards makes the image brighter.	Pushing the curve downwards makes the image darker.

Note* A full technical explanation of the curves tool can be found in this article.

The S-Curve

For the first edit I’m going to use a standard S-Curve, this is one of the most effective and popular image edits used by professional photographers. In simple terms, an S-Curve makes an image ‘pop’ by making bright areas brighter and dark areas darker.

Here I’ve added an adjustment point to the bottom half of the diagonal line pulling it down slightly. This darkens the stone wall and draws attention to the figure.	I’ve another adjustment point to the top part of the curve, this time I’ve pulled the curve upwards, brightening the light areas of the image. I’ve been careful to move the curve just enough so I don’t blow out the highlights in the white shirt.Now you can see why the adjustment is called an S-Curve.
Before	After
The S-Curve has added more contrast to the initial photograph, drawing the eye to the figure against the textured rock face.

Black and White Editing with Tone Correction

You can also use the Tone Correction Tool for black and white edits.

Using the original colour image, first press the Saturation Slider (fourth down on the right-hand side). Now move the slider all the way left (-100%) to make the photo monochrome.Now you can close the Saturation Slider by pressing on the far-left easel symbol (highlighted above).	Open the Tone Correction Tool and experiment with different curves to change the light levels for the black and white image.Here I’ve also applied a similar S-Curve to add contrast.
And here is another curve which replicates the currently fashionable low-contrast washed out filters found in apps like VSCO CAM. You can see that for this curve I’ve moved the bottom-left point (the black point) upwards. This shifts the blacks to dark grey, grey, light grey and then white as you move up the line. Here I’ve moved the black point about 1/8 of a way up the line, changing the black areas of the photo to a dark-grey.

Which version do you like more?

Duo-tone editing

Here’s one more example. Using the original colour photo, this time were going to switch into the single colour channel mode available in the top bar.

I’ve selected the blue channel (The colour of the line indicates the channel selected).	Pulling the curve up tones the image blue	Pushing the curve down tones it yellow

As you can see the Tone Correction Tool can be used for multi-colour, black and white and duotone image correction.

Do you have any tips and tricks when you edit with curves? Share them in the comments below!

—

ProCamera 4.0.2 is available from the AppStore for $2.99. The latest update fixes a few small bugs.

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"Tutorial: Creative photo editing with ProCamera’s Tone Correction Tool." originally appeared on Life in LoFi: iPhoneography. © 2013 LifeInLoFi.com. All rights reserved.

Cortex Camera is free for a few more hours today, February 6. An App Store link is after the jump.

We get questions. Often times, I just respond with a short email. However, every time I mention the camera app Cortex Camera, I usually get at least one query, “What exactly does Cortex Camera do?”

Cortex Camera is actually a pretty cool app to have in certain situations, including low-light situations and others where reduced noise is desirable. Keep reading for what Cortex Camera does, some comparison shots, and why I have it on my iPhone. >>>

Cortex Camera is a simple, camera-only app that combines dozens of individual exposures to create a single high-quality and noise-free image. It creates the high quality still photo by combining 100 frames of video. It aligns the captures in real time so the image will be sharp even when no tripod is used. All of this happens automatically and in a matter of seconds. On an iPhone 5, the raw images that the app combines are pretty good sized — 1920×1080 pixels. They are combined into the full native res 8 MP files or larger 12.6 MP, 4096×3072 pixel files that are saved to the camera roll.

Cortex Camera and the excellent ClearCam do the same thing, except that ClearCam shoots 6 full-resolution source images and doubles the image resolution in-camera. ClearCam images also share the reduced noise and improved exposure of Cortex Camera, without many of the low-light benefits 100 exposures provides.

The good? Your images will have much less visible noise. The app automatically applies digital blending algorithms. When the source images are combined, the noise (which is random) will cancel out and the detail (which is constant) will hold and in many cases enhance.

This is especially handy in low-light situations where a fast ISO single exposure would also add a lot of noise to the image. Using Cortex Camera, darker images have greater detail and clarity without the noise, even with the new low-light enhancement of the iPhone 5. You can read more about here on the Cortex Camera website.

One of the things that I noticed using Cortex Camera in normal light situations is better, more vibrant colors and a fuller, more balanced exposure.

The bad? Cortex Camera is not for every shooting situation. Cortex Camera is a slow shooter. In my tests, Cortex Camera took 7 seconds to go from shutter release to image save. Almost 4 seconds of that were the image captures. Overall, Cortex Camera does an excellent job of aligning its raw exposures, but it’s not for scenes where there is a lot of movement, such as scenes involving people or windy landscapes.

Cortex Camera can be used handheld, without a tripod with good results, however if you drink a lot of coffee (like me) your results may be iffy more often. When Cortex Camera does align all of its exposures properly, the results are very impressive. Image clarity is visibly sharper than a comparable image shot with an iPhone 5. If the exposures are off just a hair too much, parts of the image may show blur when blended.

Cortex Camera supports the full native resolution of the iPhone 5 and 4S. The image quality, sharpness, and reduced noise from the app make its photos a prime candidate for upsampling and enlarging using Big Photo on iOS or Photoshop on your Mac or PC.

I don’t use Cortex Camera often, but I keep it on my iPhone for times I need super clear, noise-free image images; static, low-light shots; or noise-free, vibrant landscapes.

Cortex Camera is $2.99 in the App Store. It’s FREE today only, February 6. Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.

Here’s a gallery of test shots I did with both Cortex Camera and Apple’s Camera on an iPhone 5. In particular, notice the improved detail and lack of noise in the Cortex Camera samples. The first two sets of images were shot in fairly low light. All images are unprocessed. They’ve only been cropped.

There’s more information and photos on the Cortex Camera website.

Cortex Camera sample, detail. Click to enlarge.

Apple Camera sample, detail. Click to enlarge.

Cortex Camera sample, detail. Click to enlarge.

Apple Camera sample, detail. Click to enlarge.

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UPDATE 01: Clarified the app’s resolutions a bit better. =M=

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"What Exactly Does Cortex Camera Do?." originally appeared on Life in LoFi: iPhoneography. © 2013 LifeInLoFi.com. All rights reserved.

It’s no secret that I love anything Hipstamatic, including the sibling apps SwankoLab and IncrediBooth. iPhoneographer Fiona Christian recently posted a great tutorial on the Hipstamatic New England Facebook Page as part of the ongoing HIPSTACLASS. In it, she gives a short tutorial on using the photo booth app IncrediBooth to create some very cool and unexpected photos. She’s allowed us to repost it here. Keep reading for more. =M= >>>

HIPSTACLASS 008 – INCREDIBOOTH

005 – SHOOTING TECHNIQUE: The rapid-fire, four image strip was designed for facial portraiture. However, for photographers who think outside the booth, some forethought can produce interesting results. Image order begins from the top of the strip to the bottom, or if you hold the camera sideways, from left to right.

There are some challenges to filming a perfect strip. If you leap from one subject to another, the device may want to auto-focus. The interval between exposures is short; the user may need to practice their timing from leap to leap.

Finally, there have been some bugs observed. First, the device’s camera may freeze, recording an image mid-leap even though the next image had been properly framed by the next exposure. Second, taking multiple strips in rapid succession may create a ‘runaway booth’, where the camera doesn’t stop after four images. This is particularly a problem in the Haus O Haunt and Holidaze Booths.

Random Subjects
From an IncrediBooth in West Sussex UK, United Kingdom
Booth: Incredible Cowboy
Lens: Alfie K
Photo by Fiona Christian

••••

IncrediBooth is $0.99 and features in-app purchases that are similar to Hipstamatic’s. It’s a Universal app that will run great on both iPhone and iPad. Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch (4th generation), iPod touch (5th generation), iPad 2 Wi-Fi, iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G, iPad (3rd generation), iPad Wi-Fi + 4G, iPad (4th generation), iPad Wi-Fi + Cellular (4th generation), iPad mini and iPad mini Wi-Fi + Cellular. Requires iOS 4.2 or later.

••••

Fiona Christian Her working career has included such diverse occupations as Photographic Assistant, Graphic Artist, Exhibition Florist, Gilder & Frame Maker and Interior Decorator. Her work has recently been selected to hang in exhibitions as far afield as Las Vegas and Atlanta and has been regularly accepted on the prestigious iPhone art website, P1xels The Art of the iPhone. Her work can be seen on her website, fionachristianiphoneography.com.

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"IncrediBooth Outside the Booth, by Fiona Christian." originally appeared on Life in LoFi: iPhoneography. © 2013 LifeInLoFi.com. All rights reserved.

Many iPhoneographers prefer to watermark their images with photographer and copyright information. There are many apps available which allow you to create them. On the Mac OS, creating a real © copyright symbol is as easy as typing Option + g. Often, in iOS, there are hidden characters that show up if you press and hold a key while typing — diacraticals and alternate punctuation. In the name of simplicity, the © symbol is nowhere to be found on the standard iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch keyboard.

A copyright mark is a symbol that photographers are inclined to use. If your watermarking app doesn’t automatically add a proper copyright symbol, here are a few quick and easy-ish ways you can make a real one instead of the alternate and less attractive (c). >>>

Glyphboard

My favorite method is to install a small, free web app called Glyphboard. Using Safari on your iPhone or iPad, simply click this link here to install it, http://mrgan.com/gb/ . It adds a new icon to your homescreen for easy access. In addition to the ©, it has a complete set of ASCII symbols that you can easily select, copy and paste into another app. It’s the fastest, easiest, least-clunky method I’ve found and once downloaded, the web app works even in Airplane mode.

Enable Emoji

Recent updates to the iOS have enabled many new keyboards, including a comprehensive Emoji keyboard. The ©, ® and ™ symbols are in this keyboard, along with many other standard and Emoji symbols. It’s not enabled by default. To enable the keyboard, simply go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards > Add New Keyboard…. From there, you can enable Emoji which will show up as an alternate keyboard under the Globe key. Copyright is in the last set of Emoji symbols. After you use it once, it will show up in the keyboard’s Recently Used window for easy access. Although this is more clunky than Glyphboard, it gives you access to many more optional characters and symbols.

Enable Shortcuts

Life In LoFi reader Chase Masters posted this great tip to our Facebook page:

I have a keyboard shortcut enabled on my iPhone so whenever I type (c) it automatically changes it to ©. Even easier, IMO!

Enable Emoji in Keyboards. Go to Add New Shortcut… to make the shortcut. Once added, you can disable the Emoji keyboard again unless you want to keep it around for adding smileys to text messages….

Free Alternate Keyboard Apps

There are several “free” alternate keyboard apps which pretty much do everything that Glyphboard does and more, but many of them also serve up iAds. The free Fast Keyboard is a popular option.

=M=

Do you have your own tips on making a real © symbol on iPhone or iPad? Share them in the comments below!

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Update 01: Added Keyboard Shortcut tip

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"How To Make a Real (c) Copyright Symbol on Your iPhone and iPad." originally appeared on Life in LoFi: iPhoneography. © 2013 LifeInLoFi.com. All rights reserved.

Recently, the developers of Photoforge2 released KitCam, a new super-camera app that pretty much does everything and does it well. It’s a great camera replacement app on its own and it has an excellent set of filters and editing tools as well. I reviewed the app here and it’s since gotten a couple of great updates which have added even more features to the app.

The app has three Easter eggs. You can get up to three free films, if you know where to look and you know what to do. Keep reading to find out how you can unlock these freebies. >>>

The Easter eggs are the Menthol, Bluebird, and Angeles films. Many of you have already unlocked these freebies — these are not new. If you haven’t, Life In LoFi reader Kent Langley explains what you need to do:

There are three free films available. The first is called Menthol and you get it if you already have Photoforge2 installed on your iDevice. If you go to the lightbox and press the button in the upper right, you can tweet about the app and get a free roll of Bluebird film. Finally, if you join their newsletter from the same screen, you can get the Angeles film.

Menthol and Bluebird, not surprisingly, have a green and blue tint respectively. Angeles is gritty and desaturated.

KitCam currently has mostly five star App Store reviews. I love the app as well. It’s $1.99 in the App Store with a few in-app purchases to give you more films, lenses and frames. Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 5.1 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.

=M=

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Kent Langley contributed to this post.

UPDATE 01: Corrected quote attribution.

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"Get Three Free Films from KitCam!." originally appeared on Life in LoFi: iPhoneography. © 2013 LifeInLoFi.com. All rights reserved.

New Year’s Eve is nearly here and globally it’s one of the biggest nights for shooting off — and shooting — fireworks. I still love fireworks. Every time I see them, I’m in awe with childlike wonder. My favorites are the huge ones with long ember trails that seem to take forever to float down. And, of course, the big ones that are shaped like Texas….

Fireworks can be tricky to photograph with a regular camera. It’s even harder with an iPhone camera. If you’re going to be shooting fireworks over the next day or so, I’ve updated my classic post with tips to help you get the best shots possible using your iPhone’s camera, including options for the iPhone 5. >>>

First, a little background on why it’s so hard to photograph fireworks. You’re shooting fireworks in extremely low light situations, almost dark. The iPhone’s camera and lens isn’t really optimized to shoot in situations that dark.

The camera will automatically adjust to a fast ISO rate. This makes the camera more sensitive to light but it can potentially make your photos look noisy and grainy. It will also adjust to a slow shutter speed, making it more difficult to get sharp photographs without a tripod, but you will get some cool light trails in your photos.

The new low light mode of the iPhone 5 will almost definitely kick in, boosting your camera’s maximum ISO from 800 to 3200. This will make the shutter speed faster which is something you don’t want and will decrease image quality even further. If you have an iPhone 5, I recommend shooting with one of the third party camera apps below which will give you more control over the ISO and shutter speeds.

Fireworks aren’t limited to New year’s Eve, the 4th of July, or Guy Fawkes Night. These are great tips to keep in mind all year long.

Use a tripod or steady yourself and your iPhone.

Even on the newest iPhones, the shutter will probably be open longer than normal. Without a tripod, any movement at all, even the slightest, could mean blurry photos. The best tripod mount I’ve found for an iPhone 5 is the ANYCASE Universal iPhone Tripod Adapter. It’s an extremely versatile tripod mount that will work with any iPhone, including an iPhone 5 — with or without a case. You can also mount your iPhone 4 or 4S to a tripod using a tiltpod, Glif mount, a Diffcase or many other options. The Hipstamatic iPhone case for iPhone 4 and 4S even has a standard tripod mount.

Turn off your flash.

All it will do is bounce light back from anything that’s near you and cause unwanted light anomalies in your photo.

Use a separate exposure lock.

Use one of the third-party camera replacements with separate focus and exposure lock,such as ProCamera, Camera Genius, Camera+ or the free Camera Awesome. Lock the focus to infinity (or distance). Lock the exposure to the fireworks. The focus and exposure will probably stay locked for several shots. Locking the exposure on the fireworks will help hold the color and help prevent the colors of the fireworks from blowing out in your photos.

Lock focus on a distant object before shooting.

While the regular iPhone camera can do this, you’ll have better results using one of the thrid party cameras mentioned in this post, specifically those with separate Focus and Exposure locks. Thank yous go to Twitter follower Jag.gr for this tip.

Use a self timer set to about half a second.

This gives the camera a tiny bit of time to steady after releasing the shutter. All of the camera replacement apps mentioned have self-timers.

Even better, try one of the long-exposure, low-light cameras for effect

Camera apps 645 PRO ( $2.99 | ) and NightCap ( $0.99 | ) both have better low light capabilities by allowing the iPhone’s shutter to stay open as long as 1 second. Not only does this help bring out and hold the colors of the fireworks, but will also improve your chances of getting some good light trails shots. Allow plenty of time for experimenting.

I also got very good results using Cogitap Software’s Slow Shutter Cam ( $0.99 | ). I started with an exposure of 1 second and also used the app’s Light Trail mode. Slow Shutter Cam makes you preview and manually save every shot, which increases your chances of missing another great shot, but in my tests, I got a higher percentage of good captures with Slow Shutter Cam. The image with lighttrails above was taken with Slow Shutter Cam.

Don’t laugh, but try practicing beforehand with a YouTube video of fireworks. Be sure the room you’re in is completely dark.

Go easy on the digital zoom

Resist the temptation to use it at all. If you have to, don’t use it very much — not more than 2x. The more you zoom, the more your iPhone camera is susceptible to movement and the greater the chance your images will show blur. Get as close as you can and then crop your images down.

Take a lot of pictures

Whichever iPhone you are using, fireworks photography is hit-or-miss. In my experience, it’s mostly miss. Take a lot of photos. Most of them won’t come out well. The more photos you take increases the odds of getting more usable fireworks photos.

Don’t expect DSLR-quality images, but you still should be able to get some good photos for sharing. Above all, have a safe and happy holiday. Take the time to look beyond the viewfinder and enjoy the fireworks!

=M=

Got any other fireworks shooting tips? Share them in the comments below.

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"Shooting Fireworks with an iPhone (Updated)." originally appeared on Life in LoFi: iPhoneography. © 2013 LifeInLoFi.com. All rights reserved.

If you’ve spent any time browsing Instagram’s Explore tab, you’ve seen the unsightly black matte on the edges of some images. That used to be how Instagram fit an uncropped tall or wide image into its square format. I always thought that the black bars looked horrible and jarring against the white of the Instagram feed.

Out of the hundreds of Instagram support apps, the ones I use the most are the Squaready apps. It’s a great utility that comes in both Pro and ad-supported free versions. With recent updates to Instagram, using Squaready to prep your instagrams has become even more essential.

Squaready is an easy to use utility that crops a photo into square format, then lets you easily share it straight to Instagram. It not only crops down, but lets you shrink full landscape or portrait photos into the frame. It creates a more visually pleasing white matte which blends seamlessly into the background of Instagram’s Feed and Explore screens.

Both the free and the Pro versions let you easily crop an image for Instagram.

- First, import your image. Squaready imports it centered and filled in the screen, just like Instagram does now.

- For a square crop, grab the images by the edges of the frame to move. This constrains adjustment to either horizontal or vertical movements allowing for a more precise crop. You can also pinch to zoom.

- For a tall or wide crop with matte, press the “Fit” button. Squaready automatically shrinks your image down to square format and adds a white matte. The white matte looks much more natural in your feed than the old black bars.

- Share to Instagram or a number of other apps with “Open In…” support.

Want to start over with the image? Squaready has an easy center button that fills the crop and centers the image. The free version of Squaready has Rotate and Mirror tools as well. The Pro version gives you many more tools to adjust an image. Both versions let you change the color of the matte if you wish.

With the recent updates, Instagram’s answer to the black matte is to now force a square crop. It’s removed the ability to pinch a wide or tall image down. These recent updates have made Squaready and Squaready Pro even more invaluable to photographers who don’t want to cut off the outside edges of their images to share them.

Squaready is a free, ad-supported app and does all you need. I bought and use Squaready Pro. It’s only $0.99. While I don’t use the additional effects and borders, it’s ad-free and it’s good karma to help support this app.

••••

Squaready Pro is $0.99. Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later.

Squaready – Instagram layouter is FREE. The current version will also run on slightly-older iPhones. Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later.

=M=

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"Using Squaready to Crop Instagram Pics." originally appeared on Life in LoFi: iPhoneography. © 2013 LifeInLoFi.com. All rights reserved.

Today, we’re still giving away several copies of new photo app Geló. Although the concept is simple — it’s the digital equivalent of using Cokin gels on your iPhone — the app does much more than adding colored gels, shape overlays and gradients to your images.

Fotosyn, the developer of both Geló and the excellent Bleach Bypass apps, have created some online tutorials to illustrate some of the capabilities of this simple, yet versatile app, including sunrise and sunset enhance as well as a killer duotone effect. They’ve allowed us to reprint several of them here. >>>

Geló – Tutorial #1 – One touch colour enhance

This is the first in a whole series of quick tutorials on using Geló.

We’ll start simple with a one touch enhance using the standard palette.

After loading an image, dial the colour selector to the third colour (yellow-orange) and apply to image. Select TINT blend mode and SOLID gel mode.

Within the edit panel, select COLOUR image mode, and STANDARD contrast. Ensure the RGBA values are roughly as shown in the image – and adjust to suit (236, 180, 42, 100)

This effect is great on images with autumnal tones and deep orange/yellows. The resulting image has a glow to these colours and overall the image has more visual impact.

It would also add dramatic impact to a sunrise image – I’ll need to find one to try this out.

Geló – Tutorial #2 – One touch sunset boost

Following on from the first tutorial we’ll take another look at enhancing an image using the TINT function.

The image we’re working with here was taken just around sunset during summer. There was still quite a lot of light in the sky which makes for a lot of contrast between light and dark as the sun is not high enough in the sky to illuminate the shade as it would during the brighter hours of the day, yet bright enough to light the sky.

There are also a combination of textures to add interest, in the form of clouds in the sky and ripples on the water. These will all respond well to enhancement.

Sunset always makes for vivid dramatic colours, weather permitting of course. Sometimes however, we’re not quite there with the light; we’re roo early, or too late. This is when some simple enhancement can be applied to add impact to a photograph.

In this instance I have chosen a purple colour (there are a few in the standard palette), with a SOLID gel overlay, COLOUR image mode and STANDARD contrast. Of course, an orange or red, or more reddish purple would work, and you can adjust the intensity using the alpha slider. It’s all about trying out settings to get it right and to suit your taste.

You could also apply a grad, as many photographers do with real glass lens filters to add colour to the sky and maintain the tone of the foreground. We’ll cover grads and how to use them in a number of ways in upcoming tutorials.

Geló – Tutorial #4 – Duotones

Like tints and sepia tones, duotones are a popular way to add character to otherwise monochrome images. Often used for feature images in design, or to subtly enhance an image it’s a simple technique that involves the overlaying of one colour onto another.

The term duotone is inherited from the printing industry, where two colours are used in printing an image.

In this example, and as homage to the printing process; I have used an image of caseroom lead type taken up close with an Olloclip.

The image is then TINTED to a medium blue in this case over a MONO image with STANDARD contrast.

Other colours work equally as well, more deeper or stronger colours as opposed to lighter tones to work for the shadows; but as always it’s a case of trial and error and what works for your image.

Save this image to your camera roll.

Selecting load image, bring this newly saved version into Geló and dial to a different colour. I have used a golden yellow although a pale purple or light green might work well. As we are working on the highlights; generally lighter colours work best. Apply this colour with the OVER blend mode.

Using the ALPHA slider, the intensity is reduced to give a more subtle effect. Again this depends on your image and personal tastes but this gives you an impression of the scope of image editing available.

Save this new image to your Camera Roll. The final image can be seen here…

More Geló app tutorials can be found here.

••••

Geló is only $0.99 in the App Store. It’s worth it for the geometric gels you can add to an image, but as you can see, there’s a lot more you can use this app for. Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.

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"What Can You Do With Geló? We’ve Got Tutorials!." originally appeared on Life in LoFi: iPhoneography. © 2013 LifeInLoFi.com. All rights reserved.

A couple of Instagram 3.2 bugs

Yesterday, the Instagram 3.2 update was released. Looks like the new IG update may need a big bug-fix update. Keep reading to find out what’s changed in a bad way in the new Instagram 3.2. I’ll also have a way you can possible reinstall the previous version of Instagram to restore the functionality you prefer. >>>

For Instagram, version 3.2 a fairly big update. It’s heavier on new features and light on bug fixes. However, the new update changes a lot in the app and some of the changes which weren’t dealbreakers for me have been quite unpopular among other iPhoneographers.

First, my apologies for missing or minimizing these the first time around. Second, thank you for the talkbacks that have pointed these issues out.

Square Format Import

Squaready Pro, cropping app for iPhone

In the talkback on my post on the update, readers polimorfos and Orson Willis mentioned that Instagram now crops all images square. Previously, you could pinch an image in to leave it tall or wide, but you’d get a black matte around the long edges.

There’s no way to fix this in Instagram yet, but there are excellent third-party workarounds. The one I use and recommend is Squaready Pro by FANG Inc. There’s also the free, ad-supported version Squaready with all the functionality you’ll need for creating crops and mattes.

Either version of Squaready gives you more precise control over your crop and lets you add a white matte to the long edges of your imported image producing a more visually pleasing result that blends seamlessly with the background of the Instagram feed page. Squaready Pro also has a number of other great tools lacking in Instagram. With much more tools and power, you should be using one of these apps anyway to crop your images for Instagram.

“Open In…” Bug

Reader @oniontears noticed that Instagram’s shutter remains closed when you send an image to IG from a third-party app using the Open In… protocol. Yup. I was able to duplicate this, sadly, using Squaready mentioned above. For now, the workaround simply to click Next and continue on. The image will still import. Unfortunately, if you want to apply a filter, you still can but you’re flying blind and have to guess how the image will look. There’s no way to preview the filter or frame at this time.

Definitely a huge bug. Instagram is aware of the issue and will have it fixed shortly.

Only Imports from Camera Roll

Reader Bambang notes that you can now only import images from your Camera Roll. The ability to import from any of your other photo albums or Photo Stream is missing from this update. Yup. I don’t know how I missed that one. Because I use Instragram “in the moment” so to speak, anything I’d ever want to import is probably right near the top of my Camera Roll. Actually, for that reason, Instagram’s new import made sense to me.

But removing the ability to import images from other albums on your iPhone is a huge omission, especially the Photo Stream, which lets you easily access your images from all of your iOS and Mac devices.

The only workaround until this bug is fixed, is to access these images from a third party app and “Open In…” Instagram. Remember the first two tips above — they’ll come in handy.

Instagram’s New Save To “Instagram” album on your iPhone

Reader @_randomthoughts asks if there is anyway to turn off the new “save to Instagram album” feature where your Instagrams also save to a new album in your device’s photo library. Unfortunately, there is no easy option. Turning off save Original Photos in the app’s settings does not stop the app from saving to its newly-created album.

Downgrade Instagram on your iPhone

If you want to downgrade until these issues have been worked out, you may be able to recover and reinstall the last version, 3.1.2, or other previous version of Instagram to your iPhone. You’ll have better results recovering an older version of the app if you do this sooner rather than later.

Read our classic post, “How to Reinstall Older Versions of Apps on your iPhone or iPad” to help you possibly reinstall a previous version of Instagram. The filename you’re looking for is “Instagram 3.1.2.ipa”

Instagram Feedback

Instagram’s help page isn’t really much help here. There are tons of articles there, but no link to a forum where you can interact with a tech or customer support. Your best bet is to post to Twitter using the @Instagram or post to Instagram’s Facebook page. My hunch is that they won’t respond to you directly, but at least they’ll be aware of your issue. Maybe Instagram can use a few of those Facebook billions and spring for a GetSatisfaction account.

I still think the 3.2 update is a solid one. After working with it a little longer, I realize that it has a few problems. Looks like the next update will be a fairly comprehensive bug-fix update.

=M=

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"Checking Out Some of the Not-So-Great Stuff in Instagram’s New Update." originally appeared on Life in LoFi: iPhoneography. © 2013 LifeInLoFi.com. All rights reserved.

“i accidentally deleted an app on my iphone how do i get it back?”

Actual question asked on the Google, typos and all. If you accidentally delete any of your favorite apps from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, you now have more options than ever to at least get the app itself back. Most of the time, it’s a very easy fix — iPhone 101.

If you’re new to iPhone, you might find this post helpful. If you’ve had your iPhone for a while, there’s still a tip or two in this post you might might have missed. Click past the jump for a few of our favorites on how to restore deleted apps on your iDevice. >>>

Need to downgrade an app or reinstall an older version? Check out “How to Reinstall Older Versions of Apps on your iPhone or iPad“.

Redownload the App

Probably the easiest way to restore the most recent version of an app is right on your iDevice. Open App Store on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. Search for the app you need to reinstall. Install the app. It’s that easy.

You will not be charged twice for an app provided you use the same iTunes account login. If you have any in-app purchases that need to be restored as well, such as Hipstamatic Paks or the Camera+ I Heart Analog pak, simply restore them in-app. Again, you shouldn’t be charged twice for something you’ve already purchased in the App Store.

This will only reinstall the app itself and not any of the app’s data, photos or lightbox images. Nearly all photo apps save directly to the iPhone’s camera roll anyway, virtually eliminating the possibility of losing any images.

Restore Deleted Apps Using the App Store app

The App Store app gives you two options for restoring your deleted apps. The second lets you reinstall an app that may have been discontinued.

Open the App Store app and go to the Updates tab. At the top of the updates is a “Purchased” menu. From there, you can redownload nearly any app you’ve ever purchased, including many apps that are no longer available.

I had pretty good luck. I was able to reinstall deleted discontinued apps on my iPhone such as Snapture and some of the SmartCam iterations. I was not able to redownload other discontinued apps like the famous Polarize or the infamous Hipstamatic Disposable. However, if the app you need to redownload is still available in the App Store, you should have few problems getting it back.

Again, this only reinstalls the app itself and none of the app’s data or lightbox images. Your photos will most likely be okay. Relatively few apps don’t save directly to your iPhone’s camera roll. We’ll talk about those below.

Restore in iTunes on Your Next Sync

Plug in your iDevice, open the Applications tab in the Sync screen in iTunes and check the apps you want to reinstall. Then sync your iPhone. Again, this will only reinstall the app itself and not any of the apps data or lightbox images. See the caveats above.

Try the iPhone Backup Viewer for Mac

Do NOT backup your device yet! Doing so will save over your last backup and eliminate any chances of restoring your photos!

If you’re on Mac OS, iPhone Backup Viewer is a very spiffy Mac app that lets you peek around the iPhone backup files that iTunes creates on your Mac. From there, you can peek into the hidden directories of apps like Camera+ and Hipstamatic and save the JPGs without ever leaving on your Mac.

It’s pretty easy to figure out. Best of all, it’s read-only, so you can’t damage your iPhone’s data or the backup on your Mac. It’s slow to scan your backup, especially on larger capacity devices, but it gives you access to a lot of data that would otherwise be lost. It’s Donationware and it’s a great utility to have for emergencies.

You can download iPhone Backup Viewer for free from iMacTools.com. Support this developer and be sure to send a few bucks their way.

This is a much safer method of restoring lost images than our final one….

Restore Your iPhone or iPad

This is not iPhone 101. This is a very tricky, advanced technique for restoring some images which may otherwise be lost. It’s a tip of last resort. I don’t recommend this. Life In LoFi or myself are not responsible if you try this and bad things happen to your data, like if you lose all of it. But, if there’s an important image that would otherwise be lost, this method is an alternative. A dangerous alternative.

There are a lot of photo apps with their own Lightboxes — apps that save images to their own private photo library and require you to then take additional steps to save images to your iPhone’s camera roll. These lightboxes contain images that may be saved nowhere else on your iPhone or iPad — camera roll, photo library, PhotoStream… nowhere. Once these apps are deleted, the images contained in their lightboxes are deleted as well and cannot otherwise be easily restored.

Some of these apps, such as PhotoForge2 others, save their data in a non-standard, proprietary file format. Using iPhone Backup Viewer won’t let you save a file you can open on your home computer.

Make sure you back up your important images often to your camera roll. While a lightbox workflow is convenient, storing images on your iPhone’s camera roll is a safer place for them.

If, for whatever reason, you have to delete one of these apps, it’s possible to retrieve them and their data. PROCEED WITH CAUTION! This method is a tricky and difficult technique and it’s not for the faint of heart. You WILL lose data on your iPhone if you do this, but you may be able to retrieve some or most of those images. it’s up to you to weigh the tradeoff.

This method does NOT restore any images in a lightbox that were added or processed after your last backup. Those images are pretty much gone.

Restore From Backup deletes all data from your device. Again, it’s a dangerous operation that DELETES ALL THE DATA FROM YOUR DEVICE. Proceed carefully. You’ve been warned. One misstep can hose all of your iPhone’s data.

Restore From Backup can also be used to restore your iPhone or iPad into the exact same condition that it was in when it was last backed up to iTunes. If it goes well, all of your data at that point will be restored, including images in Camera+, Hipstamatic, and PhotoForge2 lightboxes. On the downside, any data added to your iPhone after that backup — photos, contacts, notes, appointments, data in other apps — will be lost if they’re not backed up somewhere in the cloud. Again, if those photos are more important, this is an option, albeit a “nuclear” one.

“Restore From Backup” is different than just a run-of-the-mill Restore, which nukes everything and replaces it with a clean slate.

1. To Restore From Backup, plug your iPhone into your computer.
2. Open iTunes.
3. When your device mounts in iTunes, right-click on it in the DEVICES list in the left pane.
4. Do NOT backup your device first!
5. In the contextual menu, choose “Restore From Backup”.
6. In the pop-up menu, select which backup you wish to restore from. Be certain that you are choosing the correct backup. You may only get one try at this. Once you select the backup source, the restore starts right way. There isn’t even an “Are you sure you want to do this?” dialog box, so be sure you want to do this.
7. Do not touch anything until it’s all completed. You will feel sadness, fear, uncertainty, dread and the urge to cry. These are all normal.
8. Never ever ever under any circumstances cancel the restore or disconnect the device until the restore is complete. Bad things will happen.

When completed, your iPhone or iPad should have all the apps and data that it had when you previously backed up your device. Again, all of the data you added to it since then will be gone and have to be recreated. Something as important as an irreplaceable photo of a loved one can sometimes be worth the trouble and the risk.

This makes backing up your iPhone and iPad often even more important. Keep your backups as current as you can.

=M=

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"iPhone 101: How to Restore Deleted Apps to Your iPhone." originally appeared on Life in LoFi: iPhoneography. © 2013 LifeInLoFi.com. All rights reserved.

Our iPhone Photo App Compatibility Grid page is tucked away in the menu bar above, but it’s worth checking before dropping a buck or two on a new photo app. Here’s a link to the page. I’ve also included the same searchable grid below. If you have a set of iPhoneography bookmarks, this is a good resource to add. It’ll also give you the minimum iOS requirements, image resolutions of almost 500 iPhone photo apps and some other info on each app as well.

Check to see what that sexy new filter app is going to do to your file size.

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=M=

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"LoFi’s iPhone Photo App Grid updated." originally appeared on Life in LoFi: iPhoneography. © 2013 LifeInLoFi.com. All rights reserved.

Left: Simulated screen dimming. Right: Screen at standard brightness

When using your iPhone everyday, many of us have the device’s Auto-Brightness turned on to help the screen compensate for optimal viewing under the varied lighting situations we find ourselves in all the time. This works great for most uses but the variances in iPhone screen brightness can really mess with image editing.

Here’s a tip I’ve been using for years to help get better results when trying to do more precise photo edits on my iPhone. >>>

Try editing your images with the Auto-Brightness turned off. It’s a great feature for most uses, but it constantly adjusts the brightness of your screen depending on the light around you. This actually creates an inconsistent viewing experience.

I have my Brightness level set at around 50%. You can adjust to your own personal taste. When I’m editing images, I try to find a normally-lit area, indoors and out of direct sunlight. I switch off Auto-Brightness while I edit images.

Without a good eyedropper tool and constant Info palette, the only way to edit on an iPhone (and the way most of us edit images) is by sight. Keeping the screen brightness consistent will help you get more consistent color, brightness, contrast and shadows across your images when editing them.

The brightness of the iPhone’s screen doesn’t effect the brightness of the image, only how we see it. If the screen is dark, we may be likely to overcompensate our adjustments and potentially blow out areas of an image. The same holds true if the screen is too bright — darker areas may be left muddied up. Check out the sample image above. The screenshots are identical. The only difference is that the image on the left simulates automatic screen dimming. Notice how shadow areas have plugged up.

Don’t go crazy with the screen brightness by cranking it up. We’re looking for color accuracy on a tiny monitor that’s almost impossible to calibrate. Also, the brighter you keep your screen, the faster your battery will drain.

After editing, I’ll switch back Auto-Brightness back on to surf, play games, and help preserve battery life a little bit. Screen brightness isn’t as critical.

This tip should work with any iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. Until there’s a way to more accurately color calibrate an iPhone screen, turning off Auto-Brightness is one way I use to help make more color accurate edits on my device.

=M=

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"Tip: iPhone screen brightness and image editing." originally appeared on Life in LoFi: iPhoneography. © 2013 LifeInLoFi.com. All rights reserved.

“Operation” is a short film that’s making the rounds on the Internets this evening. It’s a short film by Ryan Connolly that was shot on an iPhone 4S. It’s an entertaining little vignette that’s got the cinematic look of a much bigger production.

Here’s a great companion video that iPhone videographers may find just as interesting as the film itself. Ryan Connolly is also the host of Film Riot and the latest episode shows how the film was made — apps, gear, lighting. It’s an entertaining, sometimes smarmy, very informative look at how to make a good-looking film with little budget.

Some of the gear used to create the film are the FiLMiC Pro app, which we’ve reviewed and highly recommended here and here. Because the film was shot handheld style, Ryan also used the OWLE BUBO video rig to help stabilize the camera. The BUBO is now called the ALM mCAM Stabilizer Mount for iPhone 4/4S. It’s a little pricey at about $162, but I have the mCAM and it’s an excellent rig to own for either video or still iPhoneography. It feels like a game controller in your hands. He also describes several light units he used for the production.

The entire short film “Operation” appears at the beginning of this video. When you’ve got 13:26 to spare, both are worth watching. Mostly safe for work. Profanity has been bleeped, but there are gunshots and implied violence. And it’s loud. And did I mention smarmy?

If the above video doesn’t work for you, the YouTube link is here.

=M=

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"Cool Link: Operation – How to Shoot a Film With an iPhone!." originally appeared on Life in LoFi: iPhoneography. © 2013 LifeInLoFi.com. All rights reserved.

Your iPhone is a computer. To help keep it running smoothly, rebooting should be a regular part of your iPhone’s maintenance. When I did Mac desktop support, rebooting the computer fixed about half the problems. Seriously.

I originally wrote this post almost a year and a half ago. Since then, the iPhone 4S and iOS 5 were released (and we’re on the verge of iOS 5 and a new iPhone 5). After I originally posted this, there was some pretty heated debate here and on a few other blogs as to the effectiveness of quitting apps and rebooting your device. I still stand by my original assertion that quitting and rebooting should be a regular part your iPhone’s routine.

Find out how and why after the jump. >>>

The iPhone 4 and 4S — both the original AT&T model and the Verizon CDMA model — really needs more than just an occasion reboot. On any iPhone running iOS 4 or iOS 5, quitting all open apps will help free up even more memory on the device and help RAM-intensive apps run more stable. I recommend this for any iDevice — iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.

iOS 4 introduced multitasking and background processes to the iPhone. Briefly, the iOS leaves apps without actually quitting them — they are “on pause” in the background. More and more apps are working — albeit slowly — in the background. To a point, the processes still use memory and CPU clock cycles. With a lot of apps on your phone, it’s easy to have 50 or more open apps in no time.

Before rebooting, I quit all of my open apps. To quit open apps, double-click the home button to show your recently accessed applications. Press and hold any of the icons. They’ll start shaking. Then just tap the red-circled minus buttons to quit each app. One tap of the home button stops the shaking. One more takes you back to your home screen.

I have read other bloggers who disagree with this, saying that apps “shut down” in the background after anywhere from 30 seconds to 10 minutes of non-use. Regardless, in my own experience, I almost always free up a significant amount of memory by quitting out of all apps. See the screenshots above. The left screenshot shows iPhone 4 memory usage with just six apps open. The screenshot on the right shows the device’s memory usage after quitting all open apps. Even more memory was recovered after rebooting the iPhone.

How to reboot your iPhone

To reboot any iPhone, hold the Sleep/Wake Button at the top right-hand corner of the iPhone for a few seconds and run the slider across the screen when it asks. When your iPhone shuts down, wait a few seconds and press the Sleep/Wake button to power it back up again. This will fix many problems preemptively.

Reboot your iPhone when normally rock-solid apps start crashing. Although the iPhone 4 is has much more memory than its predecessors, you should still quit and reboot on a regular basis, even if it isn’t acting up. For the most part, my iPhone just works and it’s easy not to think about it. It’s one of the reasons we love Apple products.

Inside, your iPhone is a computer and as you use it — opening and using apps — its runtime free memory (RAM) can become fragmented over time. Quitting apps and rebooting your iPhone flushes the memory and the fragmentation. Instantly, your apps have a lot more memory to play with (and photo apps can be memory hogs sometimes).

I try to reboot my iPhone at least once a week just to do it — basically, when I remember to. I quit all open apps and reboot when things start crashing on me. Quitting and rebooting helps keep stable apps stable and can help cranky apps behave a little better.

=M=

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UPDATED: Made a few wording changes. A few sentences struck-thru, but left in so the comments below remain relevant. =M=

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"iPhone 101: Why you need to reboot your iPhone and iPad." originally appeared on Life in LoFi: iPhoneography. © 2013 LifeInLoFi.com. All rights reserved.

ProCamera (left) and Camera+ (right) screenshots

The most important app any mobile photographer has on their device is a good camera app. Capturing the best photo is paramount.

Since I first wrote this post back in October 2010, a lot has changed with iPhone camera replacement apps, the iPhone’s Camera app and how we use and share photos. This has added even more tools, features and requirements to the apps that iPhoneographers use every time we shoot.

Rather than keep patching my original post, I thought I would revisit and update it here. There are several camera replacement apps that have all of these features, including ProCamera, Camera Genius, and Camera+. There are many other high-profile apps that are frustratingly missing one or more key features. When I test a camera replacement app, this is my checklist.

Apple’s Camera app is fast and easy to use. The latest version of Camera has an excellent zoom and HDR in addition to the geo-tagging it’s had for a while. With the improvements in the iOS 4 and 5 Camera app, there are fewer and fewer compelling reasons to purchase and use a camera replacement app. By camera replacement app, I don’t mean a camera app that applies specialized filters. I mean a camera app with additional, specialized tools and features that give you greater options than the stock Camera when capturing your photos.

A good camera replacement app should build on Apple’s Camera’s foundations and offer more advanced tools to the iPhoneographer. A camera replacement app has to do a good job with the over-and-above features in order to get me to use it instead of Apple’s Camera. Here are the features that I look for in a camera replacement app. The list has grown quite a bit since the original six features.

For me, a camera replacement app needs to do these things well:

1. Speed. A good camera replacement app needs to be fast and nimble. It needs to get you shooting (and shooting again) quickly so you don’t miss your shot. This means that the app has to be fast itself. Also, its set of tools need to help the photographer, and not hinder. They need to be quick to figure out and easy to access and use. The best camera replacement apps have the most-used tools in easy reach. Tools should not get in the way of the camera or the viewfinder. The tools should never come at the expense of the size of the iPhone’s viewfinder, which is pretty much most of the screen.

2. Good composition grid lines, preferably rule of thirds. Many of the more usable camera replacements are offering other user selectable composition grids, such as a pro grid and the Golden Rectangle, making the viewfinder work more like a DSLR or point-and-shoot. It’s a good option.

3. Easy to use focus and exposure targets. Nearly all high-end camera replacement apps now separate the focus and exposure targets, letting you choose the best spots in your image for the camera to set to. Best focus and exposure may not always be the same spot in an image. This feature is easy to figure out and use in the best apps. My favorite is hold and drag to split and set the targets. It’s a camera, not rocket science. It shouldn’t be a confusing series of double and triple taps to set the exposure.

4. Good anti-shake image stabilization for my often caffeinated hands. Basically, the camera waits until your hands are steady enough before releasing the shutter. Some camera replacement apps let you adjust the levels of shake. Regardless, the level of anti-shake needs to be high enough to help make your images sharper and less blurry, but not set so high that you miss your shot while the camera stabilizes.

5. It absolutely needs a fast recovery or shot-to-shot time — less than a second before the camera is ready to take another shot. This is one area where Apple’s camera has always excelled. I like to take multiple safety shots and having a quick turnaround time makes that a lot easier. Before Apple opened up the camera APIs in the latest operating systems, some camera apps took between 3-7 seconds before they were ready to shoot again. Some camera replacements still do, which is really unthinkable now and lazy development. By that time, your shot is gone.

6. A good burst mode is another reason for a third-party camera app. Apple’s Camera doesn’t offer a burst mode. If you need multiple shots for an action sequence or just for safety, a good, fast, full-resolution burst mode is a nice feature to have.

7. Full-resolution support. It needs to support the full resolution of the device you are shooting on. An essential feature, this one is a no-brainer.

7. Geotagging. Location data has become an essential feature of any good photo app. Now, so many apps and online services take advantage of the embedded Geotags in an image, which help map images for people you share them with or just to help you remember where you took the photo.

8. A good, full-resolution digital zoom — something more than just an in-app crop. I like a camera replacement app with a good digital zoom that resamples images to the iPhone’s full-size output. Apple’s digital zoom in iOS 4 and newer operating systems has raised the bar for iPhone digital zoom. It’s sharp without the halos, noise and artifacts of some sharpening algorithms. While there are those who would argue that any digital upsampling is worse than simply cropping, Apple’s new zoom proves that with a good algorithm, a good digital zoom when not used excessively is better than cropping or nothing at all.

Many camera replacement apps also include other really good advanced features, such as exposure control and white balance lock. For me, these other features are great, but not deal-breakers.

Camera replacement apps aren’t needed by everyone. The Apple Camera app works great. But a good camera replacement with the right tools and features can sometimes help make the difference between a good shot and a great shot, whether it’s through the leveling and composition capabilities of viewfinder grid lines or improved sharpness in a photo.

What are some of the features you look for in an iPhone camera replacement app? Share them in the comments below.

=M=

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"Things to look for in an iPhone camera replacement app (updated)." originally appeared on Life in LoFi: iPhoneography. © 2013 LifeInLoFi.com. All rights reserved.

UPDATE 12.30.12: I’ve updated this post with tips on shooting fireworks with the iPhone 5. Check out my updated post here.

Many of Life In LoFi’s readers live where there will be fireworks for the next day or two. I love fireworks. Every time I see them, I’m in awe with childlike wonder. My favorites are the huge ones with long ember trails that seem to take forever to float down. And the big ones that are shaped like Texas….

They can be tricky to photograph with a regular camera. It’s even harder with an iPhone camera. If you’re going to be shooting fireworks over the next couple of days, here are some tips to help you get the best shots possible using your iPhone camera. >>>

First, a little background on why it’s so hard to photograph fireworks. You’re shooting fireworks in extremely low light situations, almost dark. The iPhone’s camera and lens isn’t really optimized to shoot in situations that dark.

The camera will automatically adjust to a fast ISO rate. This makes the camera more sensitive to light but it can potentially make your photos look noisy and grainy. It will also adjust to a slow shutter speed, making it more difficult to get sharp photographs without a tripod, but you will get some cool light trails in your photos.

Fireworks aren’t limited to the 4th of July. These are great tips to keep in mind all summer long.

Use a tripod or steady yourself and your iPhone.

Even on the newest iPhones, the shutter will probably be open longer than normal. Without a tripod, any movement at all, even the slightest, could mean blurry photos. you can mount your iPhone to a tripod using a Glif mount, a DiffCase, or many other options. The Hipstamatic iPhone case even has a standard tripod mount.

Turn off your flash

All it will do is bounce light back from anything that’s near you and cause unwanted light anomalies in your photo.

Use a separate exposure lock.

Use one of the third-party camera replacements with separate focus and exposure lock,such as ProCamera, Camera Genius, Camera+ or the free Camera Awesome. Lock the focus to infinity (or distance). Lock the exposure to the fireworks. The focus and exposure will probably stay locked for several shots. Locking the exposure on the fireworks will help hold the color and help prevent the colors of the fireworks from blowing out in your photos.

Use a self timer set to about half a second.

This gives the camera a tiny bit of time to steady after releasing the shutter. All of the camera replacement apps mentioned have self-timers.

Go easy on the digital zoom

Resist the temptation to use it at all. If you have to, don’t use it very much — not more than 2x. The more you zoom, the more your iPhone camera is susceptible to movement and the greater the chance your images will show blur. Get as close as you can and then crop your images down.

Try one of the long-exposure, low-light cameras for effect

Camera apps 645 PRO and NightCap both have better low light capabilities by allowing the iPhone’s shutter to stay open as long as 1 second. Not only does this help bring out and hold the colors of the fireworks, but you can also get some great light trails shots.

Take lots of pictures

Fireworks photography on an iPhone is hit-or-miss. In my experience, it’s mostly miss. Take a lot of photos. Most of them won’t come out well. The more photos you take increases the odds of getting more usable fireworks photos.

Above all, have a safe and happy holiday. Look past the camera and enjoy the fireworks!

=M=

Got any other fireworks shooting tips? Share them in the comments below.

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Fireworks photo by Joseph Hart

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"Shooting fireworks with an iPhone." originally appeared on Life in LoFi: iPhoneography. © 2013 LifeInLoFi.com. All rights reserved.

Richard Koci Hernandez is a photographer who brings more than 20 years experience to his iPhoneography. His excellent iPhone photography series of tutorials “iPhone Photography, from Shooting to Storytelling” is currently free for two weeks on the popular online tutorial site, Lynda.com.

The course covers a broad range of subjects, from Richard’s shooting techniques, selecting your best shots, using and combining apps, the importance of telling a story with your photos, and much more.

There’s good content here for iPhoneographers of nearly every skill level. The course includes both on the street and in the studio video. Richard shares his knowledge and enthusiasm for iPhoneography, and it’s done in an entertaining and intelligent format. It’s a great set of videos and worth the investment in time.

The videos are free on Lynda.com until July 14, 2012.

Click here for “iPhone Photography, from Shooting to Storytelling” by Richard Koci Hernandez.

=M=

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"“iPhone Photography, from Shooting to Storytelling” free now on Lynda.com." originally appeared on Life in LoFi: iPhoneography. © 2013 LifeInLoFi.com. All rights reserved.

Instagram 2.5 was just released this week. It’s the first significant upgrade to the popular free social photo app since being purchased by Facebook.

The update features a revamped profile tab, improvements to commenting, user search autocompletes based on people you follow, and (surprise) improved Facebook sharing. There’s also a new undocumented shortcut to your iPhone’s camera roll. It’s a pretty cool Instagram tip for a lot of users. Read past the jump for more info. >>>

The new Instagram 2.5 update features an undocumented shortcut for direct access to your iPhone’s camera roll. iOS users can now simply press and hold the camera button on the main screen for a few seconds. Instagram then takes you to straight to the camera roll, saving you a few clicks from navigating an extra couple of screens.

It’s not ideal for all Instagrammers yet. You are taken to the top of your iPhone’s camera roll where all the oldest images are, rather than the bottom of it. It’s a nifty shortcut if you keep your camera roll pretty cleaned up. If you keep thousands of images in your camera roll, you’re probably better off navigating through the import screens. Hopefully, we’ll see this fixed soon. It’s a pretty neat trick.

Unfortunately for Android users, this shortcut isn’t yet available in the Android version of Instagram.

Instagram is free and still works on any iPhone ever made. Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 3.1.2 or later

=M=

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This tip originally appeared on Twitter in Keegan Jones’ feed, @keeg.

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"Cool new hidden feature of Instagram 2.5. Hint: it’s not Explore.." originally appeared on Life in LoFi: iPhoneography. © 2013 LifeInLoFi.com. All rights reserved.

Annular ring eclipse photo, courtesy of National Geographic

Today, the western United States gets treated to a rare astronomical event, an annular eclipse of the sun. Depending on where you are, the show starts around 5:00 PM Pacific Time and runs to almost 8:00 PM. During the moments of annularity, the moon will be completely in front of the sun, but not covering it. The result will be a pretty spectacular “Ring of Fire”. I was fortunate to catch an annular eclipse 18 years ago when we were in Lubbock, Texas. It was spectacular.

Many of us who are in the eclipse’s path will be tempted to look at the eclipse or shoot the eclipse with our cameras or iPhones. Here are some links to great tips on how to safely view and shoot today’s eclipse.

IMPORTANT! Do NOT look straight at the eclipse! You will damage your eyes. Really.

Also, USA Today writes:

If you have a compact camera with an LCD screen (such as in iPhone. — =M=), you could, in theory, watch the eclipse on the screen, but it will still probably damage the camera’s image sensor, so we wouldn’t recommend it.

User Charlemagne in the Canon Digital Photography Forums writes:

If it is a full eclipse, I would try capturing the landscape at that moment. It’s magical. As if life suddenly comes to a stop. So wide angle for me. If it lasts long enough, might try to capture the diamond ring around the moon, but I’m not sure that is safe without extra protective filters. You don’t want to toast your sensor, or your eyes.

Here are a few links I found which are written for DSLRs and traditional cameras, but many of the techniques can easily be adapted for use with an iPhone camera.

How to photograph a solar eclipse, by Katherine Gray, Tecca, USA Today

How to photograph Sunday’s solar eclipse, The Christian Science Monitor

I’ll be shooting the eclipse today with an OWLE BUBO along with it’s very nice, huge, light-gathering wide angle lens to capture what’s around me.

Have fun, view safely and if you get any good, striking or eerie eclipse pics, share them in Life In LoFi’s Flickr Group!

=M=

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"Cool Links: How to photograph today’s annular solar eclipse." originally appeared on Life in LoFi: iPhoneography. © 2013 LifeInLoFi.com. All rights reserved.