Life in LoFi: iPhoneography | iPhone Photo News, Showcases, App Reviews

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Vignettr
Version 1.2
Price: 99¢

Bottom Line: Creates good vignettes with a nice, subtle gradient in full range images, but has big problems with images with a lot of bright areas.

Vignettes are a classic method of drawing a viewer’s eye to the focus of the image. They’re also produced often in old and toy cameras and today give an image a retro look. Vignettr by Darran Boyd is a fairly recent app that gives you control over several parameters of vignette creation.

I love vignettes in my photography. When I was offered a promo code to review the app, I jumped at the chance. Unfortunately, Vignettr has some problems and falls short in a a few important areas.

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Photographed with an iPhone 2G.

Toolbox: AutoStitch, FILM LAB, Photo fx, FocalLab

Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio
July 19, 2010

The cockpit of the Boeing 707. The Boeing 707. For me, there are three that matter — John Travolta’s personal 707 painted in classic Qantas livery, the original Dash-80 prototype that’s in the Smithsonian, and this one. But, this is the one. This is the aircraft that landed at Dallas Love Field that autumn morning. This is the aircraft that carried the President’s body back to Washington, DC. LBJ was sworn in as President in this aircraft — in an aisle just behind the wing. I got chills when I stood in the spot and faced forward.

Living near Dallas and appreciating its past, you can’t help but feel a connection and a sense of history where JFK is concerned.

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Blurred Photo
Version 3.0
Price: $0.99

Bottom Line: Well worth a dollar for the powerful blur effects.

Blurred Photo got an update, a new look and a new name — BlurFX — this week. I didn’t mind the old name and but like the new name better. Under the hood, though, it’s still a very nice, powerful tool for creating blur effects on your iPhone.

I’ve forgotten why I’d overlooked this app when it was first released. For various reasons, it didn’t appeal to me. Having recently seen it used in a great photo by iPhoneographer Sion Fullana and seeing what this app is capable of, I decided to revisit it. BlurFX (formerly Blurred Photo) by DD Studio just got a new update and it serves up some powerful tools in creating gaussian and motion blurs on your iPhone. It’s not a simple click and drag app — the tools are deceptively complex. But with a steady hand, Blurred Photo can be used to create precise blur effects on your images.

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Level 3

Toolbox: Trusight Pro, TiltShift Generator, FocalLab

DFW International Airport
May 1, 2010

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Mozart

April 9, 2010
Chicago, Illinois

Toolbox: Film Lab, Photogene, FocalLab, Best Camera

I love the buskers on the train platforms. New York, London, and Chicago are especially rich with musicians of widely varying talent playing for you for tips and spare change as you wait for your train.

His name isn’t Mozart. Maybe it’s an epithet passers-by throw his way as they talk among their friends. Mozart is what he played so very passionately on his Erhu while I waited for the Red Line to take me downtown.

Accompanied by a CD on his boombox, this clash of cultures created a sound that was mesmerizing and one that I don’t think Wolfgang Amadeus himself would have minded.

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Slow Shutter Cam sample image

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Slow Shutter Cam
Version 1.1
Price: $1.99

Bottom line: The excellent motion blur effects make this app worthwhile despite not supporting full resolution.

[UPDATED 10.19.10 @14:45]

Slow Shutter Cam by Cogitap Software is an app that simulates control over exposure and shutter speed. The long exposures and slow shutter effect can be used to compensate for low-light situations. Where the app excels, though, is its ability to create some really superb blur effects.

Slow Shutter Cam does not actually change the shutter speed of the iPhone’s camera, which is fixed. Through software magic, it mimics the camera effects available with a variable shutter.

The app has some flaws, but it also creates some really great effects that I’ve seen no other app produce. It’s one of those rare photography apps that creates effects that few others are capable of, and it does it easily and with better results.

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The Dude's Abode

The Dude's Abode 02

Toolbox: Vint B&W, Perfectly Clear, CameraBag, FocalLab

The Dude abides.

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March 14, 2010
Dallas, Texas

Mockingbird Station

Toolbox: FocalLab, CameraBag

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

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February 18, 2010
Hurst, Texas

Protect This House

Toolbox: MonoPhix, FocalLab

Protect this house. Okay, I will.

No model release needed.

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February 24, 2010
LAX

Louise

Toolbox: CameraBag, FocalLab

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