So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish!

Any future recordings will be posted to my Youtube account - http://www.youtube.com/user/tmaSteve

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isee_005.mp3 Listen on Posterous

Flickr group - http://www.flickr.com/groups/iseeishootiphone/

iSee iShoot iPhone on iTunes - http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/isee-ishoot-iphone/id457263248

On this episode I am joined by award winning photographer, instructor, international photo tour guide and app developer Ralph Velasco. Ralph released his first app for iPhone and iPod Touch called My Shot Lists for Travel and is the author of "Ralph Velasco On Travel Photography: 101 Tips for Developing Your Photographic Eye & More".

RalphVelasco.com/blog

MyShotLists.com

Ralph Velasco On Travel Photography: 101 Tips for Developing Your Photographic Eye & More

Seeing vs Looking (a.k.a. Put the Camera Down)

Travel & Adventure Show in Chicago - January 28 - 29, 2012

Travel & Adventure Show in San Francisco - February 18 - 19, 2012

Ralph's Cultural Photo Tours

This episodes assignment:

Tell a story of a place using iPhone photos. It could be as your town, a place you visit regularly, a piece of architecture or even your own home.

Please post to the Flickr group so we can see what you come up with.

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isee_004.mp3 Listen on Posterous

Flickr group - http://www.flickr.com/groups/iseeishootiphone/

iSee iShoot iPhone on iTunes - http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/isee-ishoot-iphone/id457263248

Photographer David duChemin

When we first look at an image we notice certain things before others, and our eye follows a path.  The path is influenced by compositional elements. The better our understanding of these elements the better our ability to influence how people view our images.

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isee_003.mp3 Listen on Posterous

Flickr group - http://www.flickr.com/groups/iseeishootiphone/

iSee iShoot iPhone on iTunes - http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/isee-ishoot-iphone/id457263248

The The Mac Attack episode I mentioned during the show - iOS and iDevice tips, tricks and some troubleshooting

Please remember that these rules of composition aren’t set in stone. Instead, use them as guidelines for your own ideas. Play around with these rules and have fun.

Rule of Thirds - Imagine that your image is divided into 9 equal parts, think if a tic-tac-toe grid. Place the most important elements in your scene along these lines, or at the points where they intersect. Some iPhone photo apps even offer an option to turn on a rule of thirds grid.

Lines - Our eyes are naturally drawn along lines. Thinking about how you place lines in your photo. Are you pulling the viewer into and though the photo.

Patterns - Emphasizing and highlighting patterns can make for very interesting shots. What’s even more interesting are photos that show patterns that  are broken.

Symmetry - Placing the point of interest dead center of a photo where both sides or the top and bottom of the photo you look like mirror images of the other side. TIP: Not sure when you’re creating an image. Shoot the photo twice. One symmetrical then again Asymmetrical. 

Viewpoint - Don’t just shoot from eye level. Photographing from high above, down at ground level, from the side, from the back, from a long way away, or very close. Extreme view points can make for really interesting photos but don’t endanger yourself or anyone else when your trying to get yourself to a good vantage point. 

Balancing - Placing your main subject off-centre, as with the rule of thirds, creates a more interesting photo, but it can leave a void in the scene which can make it feel empty (that’s called ‘empty space’ and that’s OK too). Try to balance the "weight" of your subject by including another object of lesser importance to fill the space.

Background - Our eyes and brain distinguish between different elements in a scene. The camera does not. Camera’s have the tendency to flatten the foreground and background, and this can often ruin a great photo. Look around for a plain and unobtrusive background and compose your shot so that it doesn't distract or detract from what you are shooting. Sometimes this requires you to move your subject, but usually it means you, the photographer will have to move to make a more pleasing photograph and shoot from an angle that eliminates any kind of background distractions.

Depth - Photography is a two-dimensional medium, it’s up to you to convey a sense of depth. You can create depth in a photo by including objects in the foreground, middle ground and background. 

Framing - The world is full of objects which make perfect natural frames - trees, archways, holes and windows (to name a few). By placing these around the edge of the composition you help isolate the main subject from the outside world.

This episodes assignment:

Pick one of the photographic "rules" discussed during the show and shoot a few photos that demonstrate that rule.

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isee_002.mp3 Listen on Posterous

Flickr group - http://www.flickr.com/groups/iseeishootiphone/

iSee iShoot iPhone on iTunes - http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/isee-ishoot-iphone/id457263248

Award winning Los Angeles Times photographer, photo editor and iPhone photography enthusiast Robert Lachman joins me on this episode of iSee iShoot iPhone. We discuss social media, iPhone apps and peripherals, processing, printing, situations when the iPhone isn’t the best camera, and of course a lot of photography talk!

Where you can find Robert online:

http://www.photographyandthemac.com/

http://robertlachman.com/

http://framework.latimes.com/author/rlachman/

http://framework.latimes.com/who-we-are/robert-lachman/

Links from the show:

Hipstamatic - http://hipstamatic.com/the_app.html

Topaz Photoshop plugins - http://www.topazlabs.com/

onOne Photoshop plugins - http://www.ononesoftware.com/

Lightroom - http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshoplightroom/

Instagram - http://instagr.am/

Snapseed - http://goo.gl/dIhOh

Google Plus invites - https://plus.google.com/i/oLmmbCWnQAA:u6BdwSa57YQ

A Steadicam for the iPhone? Yep. - http://steadicam.com/smoothee_home.html

Blurb photo books - http://www.blurb.com/

This episodes assignment:

 Shoot a landscape with something of interest in the foreground

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isee_001.mp3 Listen on Posterous

Flickr group - http://www.flickr.com/groups/iseeishootiphone/ 

twitter: tmasteve

Tips for shooting:

• Use two hands to hold the phone when taking pictures.
• With almost all of the photo apps the picture is not taken until you release the onscreen shutter button. This allows you to steady your iPhone before taking the picture.
• The iPhone loves lots of light! In low light you really need to steady the iPhone. In low light find a steady, level and safe surface to place your camera and use the timer setting in your camera app.
• If your app offers a "steady" feature use it. This feature will only snap a photo when it detects your iPhone is still.
• If at all possible don't zoom. Get physically closer to what you are shooting if you can.
• Get creative with focus and exposure with apps like Camera+ and KingCamera that allow you to control them separately.
• Get close. The iPhone is an unobtrusive camera. Photograph the details.

Tips for processing:

• Less is more! Many apps allow you to roll back an effect via a slider. The idea is to mix the effect with the original photo.
• Just don't stick to one app. Process in one and save it. Open your photo in another app to add another effect or border. It's your photo. Do what you want!
• Give the illisuion of greater depth of field using one of the tilt shift apps. I use TiltShift Video (it does stills too). You can even use the tiltshift feature in Instagram.

Examples of a tiltshift photos: - http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/11/16/beautiful-examples-of-tilt-shift-p...

Examples of tiltshift video: - http://www.photoble.com/photo-inspiration/astonishing-tilt-shift-videos

Some of the photo apps on my iPhone/iPad right now:

Photography:

• Instagram - http://instagr.am/ 
• Camera+ - http://campl.us/ 
• Snapseed - http://www.niksoftware.com/snapseed/usa/index.php?view=intro/main.shtml 
• Iris Photo Suite - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/iris-photo-suite/id377598786?mt=8
• BleachBypass - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bleach-bypass/id428240068?mt=8 
• PictureShow - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pictureshow/id324243655?mt=8
• Hipstamatic - http://hipstamaticapp.com/
• 100CamerasIn1 - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/100-cameras-in-1/id408481287?mt=8
• picfx - http://picfx.co/
• Increibooth - http://incredibooth.com/
• Tiltshift Video - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tiltshift-video/id395953517?mt=8
• TinyPlanets  - http://www.infoding.com/tiny-planet-photos/
• Diptic - http://www.dipticapp.com/

Photo Utilities:

• FlickrStackr - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/flickstackr/id364895358?mt=8
• Flickr - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/flickr/id328407587?mt=8
• Transfer - http://www.phototransferapp.com/
• Scotty - http://www.galarina.eu/PhotoToMac/Home.html 
• Flickpad Pro - http://www.flickpadapp.com/ 
• SoftBox Pro - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/softbox-pro-for-ipad/id415056105?mt=8 
• Postalpix - http://postalpix.com/

My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-9a475906f397990798afd778799916c0}

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