Tuesday 10 June 2014

10 Weirdly Clever iPhone Camera Tricks (Video)

10 Weirdly Clever iPhone Camera Tricks (Video)

Link to PictureCorrect Photography Tips

10 Weirdly Clever iPhone Camera Tricks (Video)

Posted: 09 Jun 2014 08:14 PM PDT

Want to get more mileage out of your iPhone camera? Kai has a list of out-of-the-ordinary suggestions for you in the following video:

(for those of you reading this by email, the video tutorial can be seen here)

1. Use your headphones as a remote control

If you’ve got the current incarnation of iPhone earbuds, you can use the volume control on the cord as a remote control. This can give you better camera distance for the ubiquitous selfie.

iphone photo selfie

2. Use the HDR feature to create motion blur

The built-in HDR feature auto-merges three shots, which is normally great for HDR. This can also be used to achieve weird motion blur effects.

iphone HDR motion blur

3. The ultimate selfie: Face Montage

The Pano feature of the camera is something you’d probably normally use for, well, panoramas. You can, however, turn the camera on yourself while using the Pano option for a face-montage selfie.

iphone photo face montage

4. Color Gel = Lomo Style

Want to get Lomo effects without going back to film or using an app? Stick a sheet of colored plastic between your phone case and the camera lens.

iphone photo color film

5. Superman

The iPhone camera has the ability to focus at short range. Grab an action figure and create superhero shots by holding it in front of the lens.

iphone photo superhero

6. Random Objects = Random Effects

If an object is transparent, you can probably use it for random abstract images, as Kai does with his water bottle.

iphone photo bottle filter

7. Use an Optical View Finder for wide-angle conversion

Kai uses an optical view finder to get a wide-angle shot of his cameraman. He notes that the result also looks like he’s shooting a TV screen.

iphone photo optical view finder

8. iPhone lens accessories

Kai demonstrates the use of a fisheye/macro attachment for the iPhone. These are available in kits and as camera-enhancing protective phone cases and can really give your shots a boost.

iphone photo macro attachment

Close-up of the photographer’s hand using macro lens attachment.

9. Make use of broken lenses

Kai has a broken 18-135mm lens from which he’s salvaged parts. Holding these lens parts in front of the iPhone camera lens yields a few interesting effects, including a tilt-shift/fisheye shot. Kai happily notes that his iPhone now has Canon optics, and that holding your broken lens bits in front of your phone will make you look pretty silly.

iphone photo lens attachment

10. Use a telescope or binoculars as a telephoto lens

Kai uses a toy telescope to get a extreme closeup of some faraway plants. The quality of telescope or binoculars you have will obviously have an effect on your results.

iphone photo telephoto

These fun tips are useful for taking your smartphone photography to the next creative level. Experiment with them and show us your results!


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Article from: PictureCorrect Photography Tips

Can a Photograph Ever Be Perfect?

Posted: 09 Jun 2014 06:35 PM PDT

On a beautiful spring morning, I chose to take a picture of the flawless, perfect blue sky overhead to use in my blog. There was not a single wisp of cloud, not the hint of a contrail, not even a bird to spoil the perfect blueness. So I pointed the camera straight up and took a picture of infinity.

The resulting photograph raised some questions about the pursuit of perfection. There was a technical issue, as the automatic focus of the camera had nothing to work on, and so the camera didn’t want to shoot. I was in a hurry, so I took the easy way out and included a piece of roof in the picture, which I later cropped out, otherwise I would have needed to resort to full manual mode.

There were even bigger aesthetic issues with the picture.

The perfect blueness was almost unrecognizable as sky, and so the photograph was less impressive as a whole than it would have been with a flaw to act as a feature: a single bird or a picturesque cloud would have provided focus (both for the camera, and for the eye).

nature photography

“Flies Away” captured by Lubica (Click image to see more from Lubica.)

Without a scaleable feature, the photograph failed to capture the impression of a huge blue expanse. In the same way that, when viewing a photograph of an exotic fish in an underwater setting, you have no idea of its size without having something to compare it with (such as a diver’s hand), the sky in itself could just be a rectangle of photo-edited blue.

underwater photography

“Ornate Boxfish” captured by Xinmin Li (Click image to see more from Li.)

Now, my photograph served its purpose well enough, as it was the illustration for a blog rather than needing any deeper artistic quality. However, it reminded me of points that all those beginning serious photography need to remember.

Of course, you take each photograph with the intention of creating as good a photograph as you can, adjusting the settings on the camera appropriately for the subject, composing the picture to capture the details or atmosphere that you are aiming for. However, it is essential to photograph the same subject from different viewpoints, with different settings, to give yourself a range of images to work with. It is only when you view the images that you can identify the ones that work best. They will probably need minor editing, such as cropping or increased saturation to achieve a result that you are happy with, but remember that your work as a photographer only begins with planning the shot.

Don’t immediately dismiss those images that seem flawed. They are worth looking at more closely, as there is often a worthwhile image waiting to be discovered within.

About the Author:
This article was written by Margaret Cranford. She has work featured on RedBubble and also on her blog.


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Article from: PictureCorrect Photography Tips

Interesting Photo of the Day: Falling Out of a Hot Air Balloon

Posted: 09 Jun 2014 02:37 PM PDT

While out on a nice, peaceful hot air balloon ride with his friends one fine Sunday morning, one man was pushed over the edge. Well, all right, he wasn’t pushed, but he did jump out of the basket at about 5,000 feet in the air. Don’t worry too much; he’s an avid skydiver who took the parachute-packed plunge and shot the whole thing with his helmet-mounted GoPro:

skydiving helmet cam

Skydiver Gets Kicked Out of Hot Air Balloon (Via Imgur. Click to see full size.)

Want to see more of the photographer‘s adventure? Here’s his video footage:

Helmet-mounted cameras are quickly changing the possibilities of photography. Have you captured any of your own daredevilish feats with a GoPro or similar device? Share in the comments!


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Article from: PictureCorrect Photography Tips

How to Use Cheap LED Lights to Enhance Your Macro Photos (Video)

Posted: 09 Jun 2014 01:09 PM PDT

Speedlights, strobes, reflectors, filters, umbrellas, cables, and batteries. Lighting gear can certainly come with an expensive price tag. But it doesn’t always have to. In this video, Pye from SLR Lounge explains how to use cheap camping lights to enhance ring and macro shots:

Pye uses simple Grip 6-LED camo pocket lights to add highlights and dimension to his macro images. These particular lights are daylight balanced, resulting in a blue tone of light.

"They’re great lights for accentuating your rings or your details, or whatever macro type stuff you're shooting… There are a million ways to use these guys."

These lights are only $10 each and are an affordable and useful tool to add to your photo kit.

Tips To Enhance Your Macro Photography Using LED Lights

  • Place LED lights on either side of your subject. This will create full highlighted edges that will make your subject "pop."
  • Place LED lights off to the left or the right to create interesting highlights on just one side of your subject.
cheap-camping-lights-for-macro-photography

Place the lights to one side of your subject to create interesting highlights and shadows.

  • Tuck your lights behind a sofa cushion, shining upwards against the back of the sofa. Place your subject close to the edge of the seat cushion. Shoot from a low angle to capture a beautiful light fall off in the background.
cheap led lights enhance macro photo

When placed behind a couch cushion, these LED grip lights create a beautiful glowing blue background.

  • Use the LED lights to bounce light off of reflective surfaces, like a glass table top or a shiny clutch. Use a reflective surface to add a mirror effect to your image.
cheap led lights enhance macro photo

Lights on either side create beautiful highlights against a woman’s clutch background and glass table top.

  • Try out lights with different color tones. Try using daylight balanced LED lights to mimic the look of a window in a room. Shine the lights from one side of the room to create highlights on one side of your subject. Try contrasting the light's color with that of a room's artificial lighting.
cheap-led-lights-for-portrait-photography

LED lights work well for accentuating portraiture, too.

  • Be resourceful and use what you have around you to create interesting backgrounds, bounce light around, or add context to an image.
  • Use putty to prop up objects in macro photography. It doesn't leave residue and can be molded to stay out of sight.

Besides trying out these tips, practice and experiment on your own. Try using these LED lights in other forms of photography; they work great in portraiture. What’s your favorite cheap, portable light source?


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Article from: PictureCorrect Photography Tips

Photographer Raises Over $90K to Stop Human Trafficking After Being Offered a Baby for $50

Posted: 09 Jun 2014 11:21 AM PDT

One of the greatest aspects about being a photographer is the impact we can make on the world around us. Our images can inspire change, and in many cases, help people work toward a better future. After being offered a baby for fifty dollars while in Bulgaria, photographer Tanner Wendell Stewart decided to take action to help a cause close to his heart:

In 2012 Tanner traveled to Bulgaria to volunteer for the A21 Campaign, which helps fight human trafficking. (Via PetaPixel) His many years of photographing and volunteering couldn't set him up for what was to come next.

It was a life altering experience when a father offered up his baby in exchange for some cash.

"That moment really was the most life changing moment of my life; to experience human trafficking on a first hand level. That it's not just a statistic. That now it's actually the face of this baby has completely shifted my passion and desire to help this cause."

Tanner used his talent as a photographer to make a difference. Taking pictures every day, he compiled a book called Shoot the Skies. One hundred percent of the book’s profits go to A21. Tanner projected an incredible $50,000 would be donated. The book has become extremely popular and has since raised over $90,000.

"I think generosity is about your heart and about how you give things, whether it's your time or your art or your money. Whatever it is, as long as you give with a generous heart and you're passionate about it, I think that is being generous."

photographer fundraises against human trafficking

Images from Tanner’s book, titled Shoot The Skies, an official partner of the A21 Campaign

This is an inspiring tale of how a single person is able to create change where they wish to see it. I hope we all take a lesson from Tanner and encourage transformation in our own lives or the people around us—no matter how big or small.


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Article from: PictureCorrect Photography Tips

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