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!