iPhone Photography

I've recently downloaded two photography apps for the iPhone that I simply MUST tell you about. The tiny 2 or 3 megapixel cameras are a frequent target of iPhone haters but I've found them to be good for snapshots provided I keep the lens clean. When you add the power of the camera bag and colorsplash apps you can easily create effects you'll be happy to show your friends.

The first app I downloaded is called camera bag by nevercenter.com. Once you select a picture from your library you can render the image in several different styles. Holga (which they insist on calling Helga) creates the unmistakable toy camera vignette. The app sports two different epoch styles, "1962" which turns the image into a high contrast black and white image and "1974" which adjusts the colors to give it a retro-faded-with-a-hint-of-brown look. Other styles include cinema (widescreen), instant (polaroid), Lolo (which I used to know the meaning of), and infra-red (which leaves much to be desired).

I've enjoyed using pictures of office environments and sporting events and using the 1962 rendering. All in all, well worth the $1.99.

But the REALLY exciting app is Colorsplash by Hendrik Kueck. When I first saw the app a few months back, the pictures looked good by I was convinced it would be too complicated. The colorsplash app allows you to take images from your library and selectively color or decolor. The ability to zoom and use a red mask for the detailed clipping makes the images look fantastic.

The app is a bit limited in that really all you can do is select areas of a picture to color but it does just that so simply and dare I say elegantly that it is a must for anyone with an interest in photography and faux art.

I've included a few pics I quickly edited using the colorsplash app. None of them took more than two or three minutes.


Me after a Tigers game in my kick-ass hoody


AnnArbor.com offices


16 days until Michigan football!

These are so fun to do that I'm sure more will follow!

Every Coed's Dream Job

For most people, and, I'm convinced, every female with an undeclared major, at some point in time they decide that they are going to be a photographer. For guys it's to impress the girls by being different and for girls it's to think of themselves as creative. Regardless of the reasons, I too, at several points in my life, thought that photography was the thing for me.

For a time, the only thing separating me from a career as an astrophotgrapher, marrying my passion for astronomy with an interest in photography, was the lack of funds to purchase a CCD imager - something that, at the time, was a little hard to come by (like plutonium in 1955).

Prior to that I, like many other kids, loved to take pictures. I thought my pictures through and tried to compose meaningful images. When I was about 14 or so I came up with an idea for a series of pictures that to this day I still think, if done correctly, would make any art lover proud.

The idea is simple, really, and undoubtedly has been done before. I would go around and take pictures of old barns, particularly ones in disrepair or that had been damaged by storms or fires. I see these images in my head, high in contrast, gently rolling hills of harvested fields in the background, a rusty fence in the foreground to add some depth. I've composed so many of these images in my head and driven past so many great opportunities but I've never just gone out and TAKEN a series of pictures, I've never just DONE IT.

I've had my share of lame excuses. When I was 14 I was totally convinced that one of the first things I would do with my drivers license was to take my 35 mm Canon camera out to take the pics, but somehow, an interest in the fairer sex ended up taking precedence.

Once again I am going to go for it. I might not end up with the greatest images but at some point this weekend I am gonna go out, enjoy a nice drive around Washtenaw and Monroe Counties, visualize some images and take a roll or two of pictures.

Sounds like a nice way to welcome in the season.