When we ventured out this morning, I left my cameras at home, and went out armed with only my iPhone. This is a conscious choice I make every so often just to challenge myself a little. These days, however, the challenge consists more of being able to see the LCD sufficiently well in sunlight, and not trying to work around limitations in the "camera" software. When I first got an iPhone, it was the 3G, with a 5 MP sensor, and now I shoot with the 4S and its 8 MP sensor. Either sensor delivered a perfectly adequate file size for posting to my blog, and indeed, I down-size my images to 1200 x 900 pixels, so the hardware performs as required.
Where I've seen the biggest evolution is in the apps I now use for capture and processing. At first, I used the OS's built-in camera app, but soon started to explore the world of dedicated camera apps that were emerging. I've bought and tried virtually all of them, but the one I kept coming back to and have long since settled on is ProCamera (now ProCamera 7). While occasionally I'll use Hipstamatic, by and far, ProCamera 7 is my standard camera app. I much prefer to capture the image in the best possible way, and then later process it as I wish. ProCamera 7, with its ability to easily and separately choose and lock focus and exposure, gives me the best starting point from which to then "build" my finished image. The app also has a number of additional useful features, such as white balance, aspect ratio choice, tilt meter, rapid fire and you can even save your files as TIFF if you wish. (Because I always use other apps to process my images which do not allow a consistent TIFF workflow, I simply save to the best quality JPEG. I would point out, however, that being able to save in TIFF format is great if I want to capture the best file for use in my desktop software workflow.)
ProCamera has another important plus for me: it is very quick to start and use. Since the iPhone shuts off, or I shut it off, in fairly quick order, this performance factor is an important one. My shooting strategy with ProCamera is the same as if I'm using my other cameras: expose for the highlights and let the other areas of the image expose where they are. And as with post-processing files from my cameras, I use app software to adjust the shadow areas to compensate for an overall satisfactory luminace distribution. Exposing to ensure the highlights do not blow out is extremely important on the iPhone, and ProCamera's excellent method to separate and lock focus and exposure is critical to my image making.
Once I have the captured the scene to ensure an exposure that I can later work with, I will then typically transfer the files to my ipad so that I have a larger working surface, and then use a post-processing workflow that starts with Snapseed, using the Tune Image functions, then Selective Adjust if necessary (most often to darken skies), then Details for a touch of Structure and Sharpening. This final image is then saved to my Photo Library, and quite often, I'll then use a custom preset in Painteresque to add a little "tooth" to the image.
Sometimes, I'll get a bit more daring and use apps such as Glaze, Moku Hanga, MobilrMonet or lately, Waterlogue to give a more traditional media look to the work. Sometimes it works, and sometimes... meh! But the fun is in the trying, and just as the digital darkroom supplanted the wet darkroom for me, the joy of using these wonderful and astonishingly inexpensive apps have made mobile photography a never ending source of wonder and amusement.
Here are a couple of shots I took this morning up in Tofino, first I'll show you the scene as ProCamera captured it (giving me the perfect platform upon which to build the finished image) and below them, the image after my above-mentioned processing routine.
As you can see, if you get a good initial capture, the amount of detail and luminance detail that can be pulled out and massaged is quite astounding.
Here are some more iPhone pictures that I've done over the last couple of years.
With a camera phone, photography is available to everyone, everywhere, at almost any time. Try taking a break from texting and take some pictures!
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