cell phone camera photography

Interesting article on shooting low-fi using cell phone camera and apps.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/19/living/iphone-art/index.html

I have started to really embrace cell phone photography. With all the filters and adjustments available through mobile apps, shooting with the cell phone has become a whole new photographic art form. In addition there are  a variety of lens on the market that allow you to shoot with various focal lengths. My latest endeavor has been to email my SLR photos to myself so that i can then open them in my smart phone, download to my iphone's photo gallery and then re-open and run them through a mobile app. 

That being said, more times than not the photos you take with your phone's camera (especially the smart phones--I have an iphone) are a pleasant surprise and the image quality justs keep getting better. A big advantage to shooting cell-cam pics is that you always have a camera on you and it weighs very little.  

Photos below were taken with my cell phone:

                                          

                                          Wild Parakeets at White Rock lake 

         

                                          Apples in Maine

                                          Purcie the kitten

                                            Deer in the woods in Denton TX

                                           Winter Acorns

                                          Birds on the UNT campus

                                       

                                          Summer shower - dividing line of rainfall

Happy Holidays from Texas Photo!

We are signing off for a few days (Dec 21 - 25) for the holidays - but can't go without sending BIG, TEXAS-SIZED HOLIDAY WISHES to all of our students, supporters, business partners, and just a whole bunch of nice people we have been so lucky to meet this year! We can't believe how Texas Photo has grown - and the many ways all of you have helped us grow. We are truly thankful!

Using the camera's timer - an afternoon in Monhegan Maine

This afternoon i had a bit of free time after my FCPX workshop so i took a ferry out to Monhegan Island. It was gorgeous! I will be uploading photos from the excursion in the next few days, but first i would like to share a collection of images i took with my Nikon's automatic timer. I hiked out to a lovely spot with rocky cliffs and boulders and spent the afternoon there watching sea birds, listening to the ocean and making photographs. Being alone, i decided to set the Nikon's timer and do a few self studies. I timed the shutter to release in increments of ten seconds, then 20 and lastly one minute. I then moved freely not ever knowing exactly when the shutter would release (especially since i couldn't hear it over the crash of the waves). Let's not forget what a handy tool this is, certainly a wonderful way to document your experiences and consider self though the lens, but the best part, a patient subject always at your disposal...  

More of Angilee's Rockport, ME

DAY 3 // As I wandered down to the  pier in the evening, I found myself in a little gallery that was just closing its doors for the day. I became immediately enthralled  with a collection of works by artist Cig Harvey.  Her photographs have a painterly quality reminiscent of the rich hues of a vivid morning dream, and like a dream, her images resonate as a fading imprint might, magically animated in a moment less real than imagined. It's as if the stillness in each image magnifies the potential of the moment she constructs. These works feel feminine and are layered in metaphor. I found it easy to lose myself in them, or perhaps to be more exact, find myself in them... 
 

Angilee's Rockport, ME

DAY 1 & 2 // Driving from Portland to Rockport, I pulled over to buy blueberries and local wild honey from a stand next to the road. I was surprised by how the fragrant floral aroma of the honey was inseparable from it's sweet flavor. Seemed I timed my arrival just right as blueberries and lobster are both in season. This place is a photographer's paradise of green lush vegetation and colorful flowers scattered along the landscape and climbing out of brightly painted window boxes. On my first day here, the harbor was heavy with fog and summer rain. The light, heavily diffused in slate gray, reminded me of my days in Scotland as a kid. Today on the other hand, the sun was warm and cheerful and the previous days rain had left the dewy landscape saturated in color. I attended two lectures tonight in Rockport's old Opera house– by internationally acclaimed photo artists Connie Imboden and Sylvia Plachy. Connie said that art is a way to express complex emotions and both artists said they work from a place of intuition rather than concept. I can relate to this method of work. For me, the concept often reveals itself only after the creative work has taken place. 

Lens, lens baby...

Continuing with the camera effects theme from my last two posts – here are some options on attachable lenses that create effects. Photographer Chung Dha shows the basics of free lensing or lens wacking which involves shooting images through an old camera lens to create lens tilt and light leak effects. A Bokeh kit can also make interesting effects and utilizes a circular piece with a cut-out shape that attaches to the front of the camera. Jelly Lens makes effect lenses for camera phones, and Lensbaby lenses work with digital SLR cameras. Angilee uses Lensbaby quite a bit, and finds that they deliver results  as beguiling as the plastic cameras, but  without the wait or inconsistencies. 

"The tilts, point of sharpness and breadth of shallow depth of field are unique to Lensbaby. Somehow this lens simultaneously references many of the camera formats I love--the playful and poetic qualities of  plastic cameras, the distortion of a pinhole and the realm of ambiguity achievable through a view camera's bellows."  

Above and below are just a few examples of Angilee's Lensbaby work.