Hipsta-Tilt

Posted by dkrashb on March 6, 2013

Looking down the walkway in the park and across the river at the Tennessee Aquarium

I learned one of the limitations of shooting with an iPhone using an app like Hipstamatic, which applies all of the edits as you shoot: fixing tilt doesn’t work out so well. Because the effects applied to the images include a noticeable border, when I tried to straighten some of the images, I ended up with a crooked border.

Hipstamatic doesn’t have a level (or at least I haven’t found it) that appears in the screen like some apps. When I’m shooting a scene with lots of angles and curves, I have a hard time telling when I’m level and when I’m not. Sometimes I suspect I walk around at an angle.

I really want to love the image below, but in order to get the bridge piers straight, I ended up with some weird looking edges. Notice the upper left hand corner compared to the right hand and how weird the lower right edge looks. It really bugs me.

Bridge, clouds, steam boat, water taxi house–what more could I ask for? Maybe a level.

The historic Walnut St pedestrian bridge in the background and the equally historic Delta Queen in the foreground with the little water taxi house/dock hovering over the water in front of it seemed like the perfect subject for tintype. I’m starting to visualize me walking around with my iPhone in its Lifeproof case with a level glued to it. That won’t look odd at all.

Tisen does not like Hipstamatic. He probably doesn’t know this about himself. None-the-less, his favorite part of photography is when I am sitting on the sofa with the laptop in my lap doing post-processing of the images and he is curled up next to me.

Looking up the street next to Market St bridge

Hipstamatic reduced my post-processing to 5 minutes since I discovered doing much to the images besides adjusting levels was rather destructive. That means less cuddle time for Tisen.

Unless, of course, it’s a Sunday morning, in which case it means setting aside my laptop sooner and giving him my undivided attention for an extra 20 minutes. In that case, he probably likes Hipstamatic a lot.

The Delta Queen peeps from behind Market St bridge

However Tisen feels about Hipstamatic, he’s definitely been enjoying cuddling. I’m not sure if it’s because the weather has been colder of late or if he’s just discovered the joys of being covered, but he suddenly needs to root under any available blanket. This started when the weather was warmer, but he only wanted his head covered then. We thought he was trying to block the light so he could nap more soundly.

Now, he burrows underneath until more or all of him is covered. After a few minutes, he starts sounding like he’s wheezing and we move the blanket so at least his nose is exposed, worried that he’s not getting enough oxygen. He often raises his head out from under the blanket and blinks at us as if he’s either confused or annoyed–or maybe both–when we do this. But his breathing quiets and he keeps his head uncovered, so I’m thinking we’re doing the right thing.

Uh, honey? Have you seen the dog?

Hipstamatic Hype

Posted by dkrashb on March 5, 2013

Hipstamatic stores the settings used with each image! Tinto 1884 Lens and Ina’s 1982 Film. Interesting blur effect.

Here’s a statistic for you: in 30 minutes, I took 36 shots with my Hipstamatic app on my iPhone. That’s while walking around a park with a dog (who was not exactly helpful when it came to setting up shots) by myself.

After shooting, I spent about 5 minutes on post-processing the photos making only a few slight adjustments to a few of the images. I ended up with 15 images I liked well enough to share on my blog and 4 I’m seriously considering hanging on my wall (we’ll see how they look in print).

So, in 35 minutes, I netted 15 shareable images. Comparatively, on our Christmas hike, hand-holding my DSLR and using only 1 lens, I took 165 shots in about 5 hours, spent at least another hour on post-processing, and netted 35 shareable images and none I would consider hanging on my wall. That’s nearly 2 minutes per shot.

In total, I invested over 10 minutes per shareable image with my DSLR compared to over 3 minutes per shareable image with Hipstamatic. Hmm . . .

Of course, I’m not ready to stop using my DSLR–the images I got with my DSLR are higher quality and better technically. I just don’t decide what to hang on my wall based on those criteria.

Sunbeams suddenly make their way through the clouds

One of the big challenges I discovered on my meander through the park is the bright sunlight problem. This is a universal problem for LCD display screens–you can’t see them in bright light. I literally held the phone up completely blind and tried to guess if I was pointing at the bridges at a good angle. While I might have framed the sun beams differently had I been able to see them, I was pretty impressed with the images.

Maybe not quite the framing I would have chosen, but not bad for shooting blind

That is one of the huge advantages of a camera with a view finder: you can see what’s in the frame no matter how much sunlight there is. Although, supposedly pointing the lens directly at the sun puts you in danger of damaging your eyes. That might explain why my vision seems to be failing.

Trail of Tears sculpture shot from observation pier

I love the trail of tears sculpture in the tintype settings in Hipstamatic. I also like it shot from this position–I’ve shot it from the other side many times, but this is the first time I incorporated the observation pier in front of it. The pole for the security cameras in the background doesn’t really work for me, but maybe I’ll see if it’s possible to remove that from the image without messing up the look.

Tisen ready to go sniff elsewhere

Tisen quickly lost patience while I was shooting at the end of the observation pier overlooking the river. I guess there weren’t any interesting scents on the pier to keep him entertained. He kept picking up on scents he needed to run to check out each time I was pushing the shutter button. I really need to provide better on-the-job training if he’s going to be my assistant.

Getting Hip to Hipstamatic

Posted by dkrashb on March 4, 2013

The aquarium takes on a whole new (old?) look in Hipstamatic

I did some searching on what other people are doing with their iPhones. I’ve been following Davide Capponi’s blog for quite a while now; he demonstrates that it’s possible to create art with the iPhone.

For now, I’m not after art so much as just discovering what’s achievable for people who don’t want to be photographers. I’ll worry about the next level when . . . well, when I’m ready for the next level.

This modern park shot with retro effects seems like an anachronism

I decided to further explore the Hipstamatic app. I found a blog post by photo journalist Antonio Olmos; he shares inspiring street images shot with Hipstamatic in Derry, Northern Ireland.

I learned Hipstamatic creates effects based on three components: the “film” you choose, the “lens” you choose, and the “flash” you choose (if you use flash). Basically, it mimics the effects of retro equipment in software. I also discovered that while it comes with one package of lens, film, and flash choices, you can purchase more for $.99 a pack.

A relatively uninteresting scene takes on a completely different character in tintype

I decided to start by imitating. I purchased the pack that included the lens and film options used by Antonio Olmos (at least, I thought they were the same).

On my next walk with Tisen through our daily haunt, I went armed with the Hipstamatic app set with what I thought was the Helga lens and the c-type Tintype film. Somewhere along the line, I ended up with the D-Type film and some other lens. This may have been because a) I was holding the phone and Tisen’s leash in the same hand, and b) Hipstamatic has a feature that randomly selects settings if you shake the camera.

This sculpture/structure seems like a good fit for the tintype effect

A few words about using Hipstamatic.

First, I left the app on the entire time I was walking and discovered my iPhone 4S battery died after only 30 minutes. This was the shortest period of time my phone ever lasted. I need to upgrade iOS, which might help, but I suggest turning off the screen (by pressing the button on top of the phone until the screen goes dark) when not shooting. On the plus side, Hipstamatic did not lose any of my images when the phone shutdown unexpectedly.

Tisen rolls for the camera

Second, the Hipstamatic mimics medium-format film, which, in a word, is square. Having practiced viewing the world through a rectangle for many years now, I found this disconcerting. For example, I kept looking at the scene and making decisions like, “I think I’ll shoot that vertically so I can get some sky.”

In fact, I turned my phone vertically on several occasions, feeling rather foolish by the third time I made that mistake. I mentally smacked my forehead and said out loud, “Oh yeah, it’s a SQUARE!” Tisen seemed perplexed by my commentary, but he’s pretty used to me talking to myself by now.

Third, some images have vignetting (in this case, dark corners) and some don’t. Sometimes it occurs in the top two corners, sometimes only one. I haven’t quite figured out what causes the variability.

Finally, even Tisen looks nostalgic using this combination of settings in the app. While the effect is fun, the one thing I don’t like about Hipstomatic is you get what you get. You can’t undo the tintype effect and try something else.

I like the tintype effect on the clouds in particular

Appventure

Posted by dkrashb on March 2, 2013

My silly boy “awesomized” by Camera!

I tried a little experiment comparing the collection of iPhone photography apps I have. I picked a vase sitting on a dresser in front of a mirror for a subject instead of trying to capture my rambunctious dog whose immediate reaction to having any form of a camera pointed at him is to either run towards me or start turning his head back and forth.

I learned some lessons I didn’t expect to learn from this test. First, no metadata is captured in the photos that identifies which app was used to take them. This made it difficult to identify which photos were taken with which app. Maybe when someone starts paying me to test iPhone photo apps I’ll do that.

“Awesomized” image from Camera! app (using their built-in editing)

While I did my best to reconstruct this (and in some cases it was obvious), I can’t guarantee I’ve accurately matched unedited photos with apps. I did, however, do editing one photo at a time so I could keep track.

Another surprise lesson was that some apps don’t save the image you’ve created automatically. HDR Pro was one that I tested, but then lost the image when I tried to find it after the fact. Same problem with Camera Plus. Or else I just couldn’t find the images because of the aforementioned problem.

Camera+ edited version using the black and white slider to make it not quite black and white–also darkened

Tisen did not, as usual, enjoy my photographic experiment. He started out lying in his bed at my feet undoubtedly thinking I was there for the purpose of giving him a belly rub. When I ignored him, he decided to try ignoring me and moved into the living room. When this didn’t result in me following him to the living room, he came back in to check on what in the heck I was doing.

I made amends by taking a few shots of him when I was done with my test. He seemed grateful enough for the attention to hold relatively still.

Here is my summary:

I tested 5 Apps: The iPhone default camera app, Camera+, Camera!, Hipstamatic, Pro HDR and Camera Plus. Since I lost the photos from Pro HDR and Camera Plus and Hipstamatic is more of an “instant photo editing” app than an enhanced camera, I haven’t included images from those two.

There is little difference in the quality of the unedited image from one app to the next with the exception of the Camera! app. This may be because I turned on image stabilization in this app. That feature does make a difference.

Camera+ Version

“Image Stabilized” shot from Camera!

The default camera app on the iPhone

The experience of getting the image is made harder or easier by the overlays available for framing the image. I like the Golden Rule overlay in Camera! the best.

The exposure control in Camera+ is minimal and I found it takes quite a bit more time to adjust the exposure and then have to reframe the subject because the act of changing the exposure causes me to move the camera all over the place.

Frankly, I think a tripod might help more than an app.

IPhone Dogs

Posted by dkrashb on March 1, 2013

Black and white in black and white

Since I worked too late to have time to do much experimenting with either my iPhone or my DSLR tonight, I decided it was a good time to review photos taken with my iPhone and determine its limitations and advantages.

I decided to pick only iPhone photos of Tisen and/or Twiggy, Tisen’s friend who sometimes stays with us. When we run into Twiggy in the park, Tisen bounds up to her like he can’t believe how long it’s been since he’s seen her. She seems less excited to see him.

Tisen is holding still; I am not

The first challenge with using a camera phone is stability–or, rather, lack there of. This results in many slightly blurry images. I believe there are several causes of the motion blur that occurs in so many of the shots that would otherwise be adorable:

Hand holding the phone far from the body (and sometimes in awkward positions) while looking at the screen to see the shot
Slow shutter speeds that cannot be controlled
Delay in firing that often results in a dog going from standing/sitting/lying still to a dog in motion by the time the camera actually takes the shot.

An adorable puppy pile, except the blown out whites on Tisen and the blur from motion

I will have to experiment more with the rapid fire mode in the Camera+ to see if that helps at all. With my DSLR, rapid fire mode helps to capture many images shot very quickly, increasing the odds that at least one of them will be sharp. Of course, with my DSLR, I can control the shutter speed to help stop motion as well.

Haze from the light at the right

The second challenge relates to shooting in lower light situations. I have taken to using the “flash” feature in my iPhone camera quite a bit when shooting Tisen and/or Twiggy. This helps with the motion blur issues as well as the problem of a camera with a tiny sensor. However, that introduces more issues:

The whites on Tisen’s face are blown out from the flash

In low light, photos become grainy and any motion is captured whether you want it to be or not.
Using the flash often blows out the highlights; they cannot be recovered in the software I have and result in having to choose between blown out highlights and gray patches.
Background light seems to create a great deal of haze, often leaving an otherwise sharp subject looking blurry.

The sun light on the left side creates a hazy effect

The depth of field is quite amazing, however. Although Twiggy’s head is blurred because she was moving, notice how the rug is sharp all the way to the front edge of the frame and Tisen is also sharp far in the background.

Sharp from front to back, except for Twiggy’s moving head

So, I need to work on finding a way to hold the camera more steady. I also need to work on controlling lighting. This is a bit counter-intuitive for me. After all, I usually shoot with my iPhone because it’s the most convenient camera I have handy when something i want to capture is happening. Usually with the dogs. Trying to get light on my subject would likely result in him running away. We shall see . . .

Still pups but more motion blur from unsteady hand holding

Over Googled

Posted by dkrashb on February 15, 2013

Distant Arch

Madrid is full of arches. Sometimes in surprising places. Buildings converge and converge again and just where it seems there should be a dead-end, there is an open arch leading into a square.

Sometimes a really big square.

Places that, if they existed in the US, would have 4-lane roads, lots of traffic, and would be surrounded by parking garages suddenly appear through a discrete arch in the midst of narrow pedestrian passageways. It gives the feeling of stumbling upon a well-kept secret.

This particular arch led to an extraordinary square that once again made me wish I’d looked up some kind of information about Madrid. Since I have the luxury of google to assist me now, I discovered it was the Plaza Mayor, one of the more famous plazas in Madrid that was originally constructed in the early 1600’s.

Discovering the arch opens into a huge plaza

It’s kind of interesting to have wandered around just seeing what we saw without knowing what it was we were looking at. I’m sure someone knew. They probably even told me. But, it’s nice to know that I made it to the Plaza Mayor while I was in Madrid. Kind of a second surprise to find out where I was! 🙂

The main sculpture in Plaza Mayor

That said, I find myself googling a bit too much to see if I can identify any of the other sites we walked by. Over-googling leads to regrets. It starts innocently enough. You wonder what that cool statue was you saw. You google something vague like “Madrid Square with Horse.” Along with the photos of the place you actually were, you see photos of places like Plaza Puerta del Sol, Plaza del Callao, and Plaza Espana. The list goes on. You look at the images and think, “Really?? I was minutes away from this incredible place and I didn’t get to see it!?? Really??!! I spent 18 hours getting from my house to the hotel in Madrid and I didn’t get to see any of this stuff!!??!”

I was perfectly content that I got to spend one afternoon wandering around Madrid taking in whatever was in front of me. Then, I over-googled and now I wish I would have done a little more research before the trip and made some sort of plan on how I was going to get to at least a few more of the incredible sites in the city’s center.

Sadly, it’s been nearly 15 years since I was last in Madrid. There’s no telling if I will ever be there again or not. You’d think I would think about these things before I went on a trip instead of after.

Another arch leads away from the plaza

When I was much younger, I wanted to take a summer off and backpack around Europe. There were rumors that people used to do that in college. I never took a summer off to do anything like that. Maybe I’ll take a summer off some day and make it to all the plazas in Madrid.

Archway towards the market

Market and outdoor diners through the arch

Mickey Mouse Valentine

Posted by dkrashb on February 14, 2013

Small church in Madrid

Here it is, Valentine’s Day, and I’m still working my way through photos from Madrid that have nothing to do with the holiday. To top it off, I’m fighting a sinus infection and not feeling either romantic or like writing.

But, since when has that stopped me?

So, let’s start with Mickey in Madrid and see if we can end up at Valentine’s Day, shall we?

My last several posts have been from a meandering afternoon through the center of Madrid. Here, we found yet another square but with the rather inexplicable surprise that Mickey Mouse was standing in the middle of it.

Mickey surprised us

Clearly, this is not Disney World. I suspect it was some sort of Disney recruitment program. Perhaps for a Disney training program targeting people who might not be qualified for jobs that require them to speak or perform duties, providing them with gainful employment after receiving their Disney Character Certification. I wonder if they offer classes online?

The final photo I will share today is of tables and chairs in yet another square. You might think these tables and chairs are just being stored here, waiting for the spring before they will be used again. However, on this sunny Sunday when it was about 45 degrees Fahrenheit, we witnessed many occupied tables in open squares. Granted, the ones that were occupied were mostly under tents and had outdoor heaters around the tables. But eating al fresco remains a priority in Madrid this time of year.

Outdoor eating

If I were in a more romantic mood, I would imagine a table in the corner of one of the more secluded squares. I see a big white tent, filled with flowering vines of one form or another. The heaters are on high, filling the tent with an enveloping warmth while the wind keeps the air moving through fast enough to keep it fresh.

There are candles. Many candles. And perhaps a young couple cozying up, sitting side-by-side at that corner table. Holding hands, kissing. Looking like the entire world is at their table.

Romance is for people who can forget about bills, jobs, dishes, laundry, and all the other realities of life. It requires the ability to suspend disbelief. The willingness to ignore our imperfections, our limitations, sometimes even outright lies. There was a time when I knew how to do that. But, somehow the suspension of disbelief seemed to also mean eliminating good judgment for me.

I’m sure there are people in this world who have found a way to combine romance with healthy relationships. In fact, I know there are books out there about how important romance is to healthy relationships. But, for me, I’ll take the guy who will walk the dog for me in the morning because I’m staying in bed with a sinus infection over the guy who takes me out for an expensive dinner in a romantic courtyard (even if it were in Madrid).

Entertainment in Madrid

Posted by dkrashb on February 13, 2013

Another lovely fountain in front of a horse monument (yeah, I should have bought a tourist guide book)

One of the popular sources of entertainment on a sunny Sunday afternoon in the center of Madrid seems to be street performers. We discovered a clown of sorts performing in one large square. We stopped to watch for a while, but as hard as the crowd was laughing, his humor didn’t translate for us.

Reminds me of when I was in Korea as a teenager. I went to see one of the Beverly Hills Cop movies with some Korean friends. It was in English but subtitled in Korean. I would laugh out loud about 10 seconds before the rest of the audience. That was embarrassing enough, but what was really embarrassing was when I would laugh so hard my eyes would water and the rest of the audience never started laughing even after they got caught up reading the subtitles. Not sure what was lost in translation, but I felt a little exposed laughing in the dark surrounded by people wondering what was so funny.

A relatively empty passage leading to an arch that opens onto another square

Back in Madrid, as we wandered from square to square and fountain to fountain, we discovered different forms of street performance around every corner. There was the fairly traditional “dress like something that shouldn’t move and hold really still” approach. Then, there was the “put three heads on a table and try to startle passers-by” approach that seemed like it had been borrowed from a haunted house. There were also collections of puppet-like animals that would start making a variety of noises as people walked by.

There were the requisite magicians as well. While I was tempted to take some shots of all of these clever performers, etiquette requires change if you take a picture. Since I only had American dollars on me, that wasn’t an option.

I did cheat on this rule. Two magicians were clever enough to create the illusion that one of them sitting on the ground was holding a chair over his head in one hand while the other magician sat in it. This was just so much effort on their parts that I had to take a picture.

Clever street performers

Unfortunately, so as not to breech etiquette too much, I took the shot from far away–hopefully you can tell from the image what they looked like. We figured out that the hand holding the chair was fake and that a metal support was going up the sleeve and down to the seat the guy on the bottom was sitting on, allowing him to balance the weight of the guy above him. It’s still rather ingenious.

I have to wonder what makes a person decide to invest this kind of creativity into their street art. Are these guys engineers Monday-Friday and magicians on Sunday afternoon? Were they watching some other magic trick one day of perhaps a guy spinning a chair on his hand and they suddenly looked at each other and said, “Hey! Wouldn’t it be cool if . . . “?

Whatever their story is, I appreciate the trick.

Another look at the cobblestone street bordered by buildings

Wandering Madrid

Posted by dkrashb on February 12, 2013

Looking down a main street in Madrid

After indulging in delicious Spanish dishes (not to mention Sangria), we wandered around Madrid at a slow pace perfect for how I was feeling. One of the questions I always ask myself is how do you describe the difference between a European city and a city in the US?

I’ve spent time in about a dozen major European cities over the years. While each of them has their own characteristics that make them unique, they also have something in common that I find difficult to articulate.

Perhaps it’s a factor of age. Or density of the architecture. The buildings are literally on top of each other. Entire city blocks have no gaps between buildings. Yet, there are blocks just as crowded in NYC. They still don’t look European.

Perhaps it’s the pavers they use for sidewalks and streets? Sometimes more like cobblestones than pavers. Rarely is the sidewalk simple concrete and the road plain asphalt. In fact, I often find myself walking in the street thinking I’m on a sidewalk because they are sometimes indistinguishable. The roads are often so narrow they seem like they must be for pedestrians only.

As I ponder exactly what it is that European cities have in common that make them distinguishable from US cities, we wander through a square. Rows of market stalls full of goods cover the majority of the square–it’s the Sunday market.

Entering the Sunday Market

Thankfully, my colleagues are not inclined to wander through the market for hours. I have little patience for shopping; particularly when I’m jet lagged and in a foreign country. Although, foreign markets are usually more interesting than the markets at home since you can learn something about a culture from what’s at the Sunday market. I need to be well rested for an anthropology expedition to the market, however. All I could think about at this point was how long could I stay awake. My belly was full and the sun was shining. Finding a spot to lay down was sounding appealing.

The first fountain

From the market, we found a fountain. This is not hard to do. There are many fountains in downtown Madrid. It would probably be harder to not see a fountain than to see one. As we made our way around the fountain, we looked up and saw a group of modern looking skyscrapers ahead of us.

I would have loved my full-frame camera with my 16-35mm lens–I could have captured the older buildings in the foreground against the modern buildings in the background. That’s definitely one of the characteristics of European cities–buildings that pre-date Columbus’s arrival in the new world juxtaposed against modern buildings like some sort of anachronism.

Rome is particularly surprising in how tightly integrated the ancient and modern can be. I suppose this is the natural outcome of having had a massive, ancient civilization and then having had the crap bombed out of it during the wars, leaving gaps that had to be filled.

Modern sky scrapers with just a smidgen of older architecture in the foreground

Sunday Afternoon

Posted by dkrashb on February 11, 2013

The front of the restaurant

Traveling to Europe is something I really do not enjoy. Don’t get me wrong. I love Europe. It truly is a different world from the US and everyone should experience at least some part of Europe first hand. I just don’t like getting there.

I left my home at 11AM on Saturday morning in the first “snow storm” we’ve had since moving here. It took nearly an hour to get to the airport (normally a 15 minute drive) because there was about an inch of snow on the ground. With no snow clearing equipment and lots of steep climbs, traffic was a mess.

It’s not a biker hang out–this is just typical in Europe where gas is so expensive

When I arrived in Madrid, it was about 9:00AM Madrid time Sunday morning. AKA 3AM Eastern time. Therein lies the problem. The vast majority of the time I would have spent sleeping evaporated into thin air. Fortunately, my hotel room was available for an early check in and I managed to lie down for a nap by 11AM.

One of my well-traveled colleagues called my room at 1PM and informed me we were going into town and we were leaving immediately. I had apparently missed a few text messages while I was napping. I jumped out of bed, splashed water on my face, threw on some clothes, and was in the lobby 10 minutes later.

Couldn’t help but drool a little over the Ducati

Getting outside is quite important to time shifting. The sun helps your body reset its clock. So, although still somewhat incoherent, I forced myself to join my colleagues on this little adventure.

Since the conference we were there to support was at an airport hotel, it was about a 20 minute cab ride to the center of town. Fortunately, one of my colleagues is fluent in Spanish and managed to convince the driver to go through town rather than taking the freeway so we got a bit of a tour on the way.

Closer view of the restaurant – not a big place

Armed only with an iPhone for a camera, I attempted to get some shots of the city. Wow is it hard to get decent landscape photos with an iPhone! I have admired other bloggers’ iPhone photos in the past–I am now in awe of their abilities. The dynamic range of the iPhone is not good and I found it impossible to hold it stable or straight. The dynamic range issue was exacerbated by the fact that it was early afternoon with strong shadows and bright sunlight. But, I wasn’t about to lug my 5D Mark III along on a business trip–the iPhone was better than nothing.

We wandered our way through the streets to a tiny restaurant known to my Spanish-speaking colleague. The couple who owns the restaurant greeted us and welcomed us in a way that made us feel like we were visiting their home. They patiently explained the menu to us, sometimes in English, sometimes in Spanish. They served us pitchers of Sangria freshly made and filled our bellies with traditional Spanish dishes.

Attempted to get a shot of the inside–not so good with iPhone, but gives an idea

I was really glad I’d gotten out of bed.

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