All of these pictures have been stylized using Snapseed software to give them an aged look. Not a normal procedure for me, but a welcome departure from the normal photojournalistic documentation of the races.  (3 photos below)

One thing that is not late is my enthusiasm for shooting with the iPhone.I’m joining the bandwagon, it’s a blast!  I feel the same joy and abandonment that I had when I was a young photographer. Frame, tap for focusing and exposure and shoot.  Im sold.

Today I went down to Capitol Hill to cover the Supreme Court / Obamacare Rally. Like any other venture to cover a story like this, I had two DSLR’s and 3 lenses with me.  Next thing that I knew, I was shooting all the pictures with the iPhone and it’s accessory handgrip – The Big Red one.

I’ve used the grip know for three weeks and love the handling capabilities that it brings to the iPhone camera. It’s well built, fit’s tight on the phone, provides you with  a tripod socket and the company is already working on upgrading the software and color offerings.  They are determined to make this the go to accessory for iPhone photographers. I offered my suggestions to the company and they received the praise and criticism with a desire to make changes and look into  how they can improve it.

I’m in the process of launching a new website that will be dedicated to conducting Digital Photography Tours & Workshops. One of the offerings will be the iPHONEAGRAPHY Photography Tours. Going out to different locations with 10 other persons and having fun shooting and capturing the moments.

It will be open to all mobile camera users. Although the iPhone is the top dog, many other phones have excellent cameras and capabilities. As far as software – my favorite at this time is FREE. SmugMug’s Camera Awesome.  Free and awesome, no other words needed.

It took a while, but we are finally at the point where a few phones out there (and more will be coming) are also competent point-and-shoot cameras. A recent article that I read had this to say, “The numbers work out to 144 million compact (point-and-shoot) cameras in 2015, 1.515 billion cell phone cameras will be produced in the same year.” So with that in mind I migrated to the iPhone.

This past weekend was my first full weekend experimenting and learning to do photography all over again. I ventured out with just the iPhone. The equivalent of going out years ago with my Leica M4P with a 35mm f2 lens. The DSLR with the zoom lenses stayed in the bag, back home. And I must admit, I fell in love with taking pictures once again.

The file that comes out from the iPhone is a 22MB file. Plenty big enough to blow up and play with. Big enough for a magazine front cover. If you do your work, the iPhone will give you excellent results. If you want to zoom in, you begin walking forward. Forget the two finger swipe, it will only degrade your file by enlarging your pixels.

As with anything you have to learn what works best. The iPhone is not a camera to shoot sports with. But for capturing street scenics and still life it’s just about perfect. And after you capture the image, the App’s that are available give you the opportunity to create works of art with them right in your mobile device.

I choose to download the files and processed them on my MAC. I used the software; Snapseed and Topaz Adjust, to process the images seen here. For a FREE camera App there in none better than SmugMug’s – CAMERA AWESOME. Another that you would have to buy (for the cost of a soda) is CAMERA+. They both have all that you need to get the job done.

Overall the whole experience was fun, exciting and fresh. After a weekend of shooting over 2500 NCAA basketball action images, it was like learning the joy of photography once again.

So come evolve with me and join me in some new – iPhoneography Safari’s. Contact me at: andres@araphotos.com for more info.

Im doing a project covering the circuit for the next two months. I found myself at a point where I needed to photograph a project. Then an old roommate from Leesburg asked me if I would like to have a month long show at his real estate office, so off to the races I go.

For now I just have to go out and practice. The photos will come.

Godspell

Godspell - "Chuck's"

Caverns-Shennandoah Valley-Virginia-New Market-Andres Alonso Photographer