10,Ten,X and one

And there you have it! I've posted to this blog for 31 consecutive days... Also known as one month.

I've discovered some new Apps along the way that I can't wait to explore further and became much more experienced with some old favorites.

This isn't the last of this blog by any means and since now I know I can post with ease on a much more regular basis stay tuned for more photos from my iPhone as well as brief reviews of more photo and blogging Apps.

Thanks for tuning in,

~ Gregg

The Abstract

I found a new app called Diptic which allows you to couple multiple photos into a single image. It's great for creating a montage or a photo series.

One of the fun things to do with an app like this is to put together a group of abstract images that together give a hint of a complete image or sense of place.

I'm sure most New Yorkers will instantly recognize the "place" I've conveyed in the images above.

Things that are creepy

The Gates of Hell

If you ever wondered what the gates of Hell might look like, I doubt this is it. However this is Hell's Gate Bridge in Astoria, NY. If it turns out that this IS actually the Gates of Hell, well then I guess Hell is in the Bronx.

The caged city

My Blog... Now in 3D!

There is a great iPhone App I discovered that will allow you to take 3D photos. The app is called 3D Camera and it's only $1.99. I haven't put it to very good use yet, but none the less I know it will become very addictive. It requires a two shot process and a tripod or a solid surface to hold the iPhone rigid to get the two shots however.

With a little practice and good subject matter, you can get some pretty amazing shots albeit all still life. They also have a lite version for free which only seems to limit the size of the photo.

Download the App On iTunes here and add a little dimension to your life.

Happy Hump Day

You should walk in my shoes

The Stigma of Stamens

I had some dreams...

...they were clouds in my coffee

Hydraulic wha?

Accidental self portrait

Double Tap

Ok.. I know it's lazy to put up another post with pretty much the same picture two days in a row, but it was just too gorgeous to let only one version get viewed.

It also brings me to another point. I've been contemplating on purchasing another camera lately, but this time a small point and shoot to have for those quick moments like the one above. I carry my DSLR with me pretty much all the time, because you never know when that Pulitzer Prize winning shot is just around the corner. But so many times it stays in the bag due to it's size and cumbersome use. I almost forgot I had it with me yesterday and almost didn't even shoot this sunset with it.

However, with the shots I'm getting with this "phone", does it really warrant having yet another camera to forget at home for just slightly better quality? I'm thinking no.

Patience pays off

While riding my bike home from work tonight, I noticed there was going to be the possibility a stunning sunset photo op based on the cloud structure that was over Manhattan. I stopped at this location as I have many times, because I knew this would present a fantastic image. I waited about 45 min for the sun to set and the shot just kept getting better and better as the mins passed. This really was a combination of luck, patience and being observant.

Of note, only the contrast was very slightly boosted. I didn't touch any saturation settings nor used any color enhancing filters. This is pretty much a situation of what you see is what you get. God's paintbrush was definitely active tonight.

Location:Astoria, NY

Something wicked this way comes

A case of the Mundays

Whine list

I'm thinking of starting a new blog to comment about things people do that bug me. I'd call it my whine list. Case and point, people who chew gum with their mouth open and sit right next to you on the subway.

Matchbox traffic jam

Some things are not as they seem

I know this is gross, but...


Just goes to show, you can't always go by first impressions.

Empire state of mind.

Took this shot out side of a bar on 35th St. here in NYC. I thought it was an odd perspective on the Empire State Building at night. You can just see the blue and white of the top peeking out between the two buildings. A long exposure is why the flags are blurry.

My favorite time of the year

It's only the middle of August and I'm already giddy with anticipation for Autumn. As a photographer in the Northeast, and since I bought a car, it has become a yearly activity to take as many weekend trips as I can to shoot the foliage. I put 2000 miles on my car a couple of years ago just to find the perfect spot to shoot. Soon enough this blog will be filled with more Fall shots like this.

We've got the biggest balls of them all.

Step 2: You put your stick in a box

Enough said.

And the winner is...

Congratulations to Barry Struhl! He was the closest guess with 333. The actual number of rubber-bands was 312. The color with the most rubber-bands was red, then green, yellow and finally orange. The blue and pink ball in the middle may have thrown some of you off.

Barry, I'll send you the ball just as soon as I put it back together. :)

Thanks to everyone for playing and visiting my blog. If you find this blog interesting, keep coming back this month as I'm challenging myself to post one photo each day through the end of August.

Best,
Gregg

Nature's Happy Ending

Ok, I know sunsets are cliché and overdone, but what a way to end the day. No matter how many I see, they always make me happy.

24 hours left of the rubber-band ball contest. Get your number in soon!

Just toying around

Professional photographer Vincent Laforet has had a lot of recent notoriety for his pioneering use of the Canon 5D MKII SLR camera, making stunning HD videos. Many folks don't know he is also a very well established still photographer with years of experience. Much of his work includes extensive use of Canon tilt-shift lenses. These lenses are typically used to correct distorted perspectives caused by tilting a normal lens up or down which is most apparent when shooting buildings and interiors.

However, there is an odd phenomenon that occurs when using a tilt-shift lens and shooting wide and distant or from above. When the lens is tilted it throws a portion of the image on a plane out of focus and a blurring effect occurs at the edges. Because of this, the photograph appears to make everything look like it is a toy or miniature, similar to a toy train scene.

Above is an image I took using an iPhone app that simulates the same effect. It's called appropriately, TiltShift. You should try it out. And for some inspiration, check out similar work by Vincent Laforet and other tilt-shift photographers at Smashing Magazine.

Remember, only two more days left of the rubber-band ball contest!

Happy accidents

In photography school I had a class assignment once where I had to shoot a roll of black and white film ( yes this dates me ), then hand that roll of film to a classmate. The other photographer would then shoot your roll again causing double exposures. Once the film was developed, it was a crap shoot as to whether you would get anything interesting or not, but quite often there was at least one image on the roll that was worth printing... "happy accidents" we use to call them.

The point of the exercise was to get you to not "think" when you shoot and just let the images come on their own. At the time it was a struggle to switch my brain from the technical side of photography, since we were taught from day one to shoot technically correct, to now being asked to shoot with the artistic or subconscious side. It was the first in many lessons to transform us from photographers into artists.

I still struggle sometimes with balancing the technical and the artistic sides of this melon of mine. Often when I'm feeling particularly uninspired I still aimlessly point my camera in a direction and shoot without knowing what the end result will be. No composing, no thought, just point and go. The image above is one of those times.

I recently discovered a few apps that let you do double exposures on the iPhone. One free one called BlendCam I have yet to try, but will post a photo or two once I do. I'm looking forward to taking double exposures again and seeing what kind of happy accidents I get.

Don't forget the rubber-band ball contest I'm running till Sunday! See previous post.

A contest for my readers

I was given this rubber-band ball today by a coworker for a job we did for a nameless client. So me being me, and having to know everything about everything... I tore it apart to find out how many rubber-bands it took to make it.

So the contest is, whoever guesses the closest (+ or -) to the actual number, will win the admiration of both my blog readers. Perhaps I'll even ship you the ball... Provided i can get it put back together. In the case of a tie, also guess the color with the most rubber bands. Choice is RED, GREEN, YELLOW or ORANGE.

You can respond either via the Facebook link or though the comments feature on this blog by Sunday, Aug 8, 2010 at 8:00 pm EDT. I'll reveal the answer on Monday's entry.

To give you some perspective it is the size of an MLB baseball. And yes, this photo was taken with my iPhone. :)

Good luck and have a ball!

Portraits and the iPhone

I shoot a lot of "snapshots" with the iPhone and have never considered it a professional tool. The photo above was a nice documentary portrait of a friend of mine, but was hardly shot in a professional environment. At a bar actually.

However, I recently ran across an article regarding professional photographer Lee Morris using his iPhone 3GS for a fashion shoot. The results were impressive. The key to his success was plenty of light, professionals to help out... and of course a beautiful model. It goes to show you don't need a $5000 camera to get stunning images.

Check out his results and a video of the shoot. http://fstoppers.com/iphone

Is it just me...

...or does the tile artwork on the wall of the Prince St. Subway station look like a homeless person throwing up in a trash can?

A month of daily photos

I haven't posted to this blog in quite a while, but have been inspired by several friends lately who challenged themselves to post a new blog entry every day for a month. As the blog states, all photos will be taken with my iPhone 3GS and only using apps on the phone to rework and polish the image. Hope you enjoy!