Whisper it Loud

It's been no secret that I really have come to enjoy photography.  I have no delusions of grandeur.  My love for photography does not go so far as having ambitions of having fancy portfolios.  I consider myself simply an enthusiast.  Yes, I have a handful of cameras and even lenses, but all that means is I have invested into perhaps my favorite hobby.  Over the years, the iPhone has led to so-called iPhoneography.  I figured, I own an iPhone and I enjoy photography...why not take on this "trend" and offer my own interpretation of it.  What I discovered is that iPhoneography is not just simply using the iPhone's own camera to capture photos.  While it may certainly include that, it goes so far as to incorporate various photography apps, and then manipulating a photograph using one or more of these apps.  One only need search the iTunes App Store to find myriad photography applications.  For someone who considers himself just an enthusiast and does not quite yet understand some of the intricacies of some of the many applications out there, I figured I'd list some of my favorites.  As this new year started, I decided I would try and make use of my iPhone's camera and use some of the apps I've downloaded.  Here are some of my faves:

• Instagram: This app is very simple to use.  It really is just about taking a photograph and applying one of several filters such as the Kelvin, Nashville, Hudson, Lomo-fi, and others. Once you've applied the filter of your choice, you add a caption and maybe your geotag and share it via your Instagram account.  Instagram is a photo-based social network.  Think of it as sharing your work for others to see your art.
• Hipstamatic: This, by far, is my favorite.  I like the idea of paying homage to the old plastic cameras where the user had to wind and unwind a roll of film.  This is Hipstamatic.  The folks at Synthetic have provided us with several photo-paks.  Recently they even brought back some limited-edition favorites.  The idea of this app is to take a roll of film of your choosing - and there are several to choose from - and combine it with one of several lenses, flashes, and maybe even a camera case.  The results are awesome! I truly have come to love, love, love my Hipstamatic app.
• Snapseed:  This app was named the iPad App of the Year for 2011.  I have to say the "award" is well-deserved.  With Snapseed, I have been able to either take a photo or upload one from the iPhone's library, run it through several editing features.  Some of these include making adjustments to exposure, saturation, and even applying tilt-shift effects.  There are also some vintage effects available, but I have found that other apps have a bit of an edge when it comes to some of the vintage filters.  Nonetheless, I would highly recommend Snapseed as a must-have on your iDevice.
  
• Pixlr-o-matic: If you like retro, lighting, vintage, and frame effects, then Pixlr-o-matic is an app that will not disappoint.  While I enjoy the various filters, lighting effects, and frames that are available through this little app, the one complaint I have about it is that you have to spend quite a bit to have many of these.  Granted, the app itself is a free one.  But there are several filters available, and each comes at a price.  I read somewhere that Pixlr-o-matic is the most expensive free app out there.  This drawback aside, though, I really like this one and you might too.
• FX Photo Studio: I didn't start using this app until recently.  But the more I use it, the more I like it.  FX Photo Studio has some features allowing you to add text labels to your photos that add a nice element of pizzazz.  There is also the ability to manipulate color without having to really use another app...if you want to do so in this same app.  There are also quite a few filters as well.  Some of these include the "frosted window", and even some bubbly-looking effects.  Of course, there are also some frames to choose from.
• HDR Fusion:  Then there's HDR.  What does HDR mean? The acronym itself stands for High Dynamic Range.  The results are stunning.  A good place to start is with Trey Ratcliff's work.  The images can truly be amazing.  HDR, as best as I understand it, is about manipulating the light and dark areas of a series of images to obtain a greater "dynamic range" than you could possibly get with just the original image.  Nope! I'm nowhere even close to pontificate on HDR photography, but this app is decent in rendering some HDR-ish photographs.  I don't use it often, but for now, it remains in my library.

There are several other photoraphy apps on my iPhone.  Some include BlendMaster that I occasionally use to do some blending and masking of images.  I also like the Diptic and Picture Frames app that allows me to put together some collage-like combinations.  The ones I highlighted above are some of my favorites.  Yes, I've hopped aboard the iPhoneography train.  I am having quite a blast with it.  Feel free to offer other helpful resources that showcase iPhoneography.  I'm always looking to appreciate other people's art. Cheers!