I just discovered this little camera app that has really been designed to be fun to use. There are quite a few iPhone camera apps that either emulate old film grains/formats and vintage or Lomo looks written already. Most come up short for one reason or another. The Hipstamatic [iTunes link $1.99] takes the vintage camera thing to the next level without the shortcomings of some of the other apps out there. It’s actually a digital version of a cheap analog camera that was inspired, not unlike the Lomo’s, on a 35mm plastic Russian camera that was produced between 1982-84 by that costs $8.25. There were only there were only 157 Hipstamatic 100s ever produced so if you haven’t heard of them it’s not a surprise.

Original Camera specs:

• Model: 100
• Material: Plastic Body, Plastic Lens
• Produced: 1982-84
• Type: View finder camera
• Lens: Hipsta A1
• Film: 35mm
• Picture Size: 28mm x 28mm
• Focus: Automatic
• Aperture: 2.8
• Flash: hot shoe

As soon as you switch on the app the UI feels like a Brownie or a Lomo Diana right down to the small little viewfinder that emulates the feel of looking through an old prism viewfinder. There is a faux plastic leather look with a flash button just under the viewfinder. Down on the lower right there is a return arrow that when pressed takes you to the camera options panel. Here you can swipe across the lenses to switch to a different one, change “film”, “Flashes” and go to the in app store to purchase other Hipstamatic accessories.

[Show as slideshow]

Hipstamatic Default Interface

The camera app comes with: John S Lens, the Jimmy Lens, the Standard Flash, Ina’s 1969 Film, and Kodot Verichrome Film that give you a bunch of great and funky looks out of the gate. There is a flash emulator that brightens shadows artificially with either white or coloured fills.

Default John Smith Lens

Kiamal Lens

Ina's 1969

Standard Flash

The settings are accessed via the general iPhone settings and give you the options of what you see when you start up [Camera Back or Camera Front] , view finder mode [Classic or Precision Framing] and it has full resolution and low resolution settings for final output of the pictures.

There is a build in sharing with in app email and Facebook via the Facebook connect but no direct links to Twitter or any other social nets as of this post.

Talking pictures is fun as there is a bit of a mystery on what you are going to get due to the viewfinder, film, lens and optional flash options that you have selected. You get used to the variables over time but it is a bit confusing at first. When you click the shutter it makes the classic shutter noise, then the viewfinder closes and three lights count down the “development” time. When your image is ready the ready light on the lower left illuminates and you can view the image with the build in image viewer. There built in gallery means there is no need to have to jump to the iPhone image gallery app and you can get back to snapping pics in no time. The original images are saved to the iPhone gallery if you want to export them or access them outside of the Hipstamatic app.

In app image preview pane

I like this app and feel that it’s worth the $1.99 price tag. It really makes you feel like you have a camera in your hand and for me it finished off the camera look and feel with the Geleskin I made the other month of the Leica M8 that is on the exterior of my phone.

The heavy effects that camera apps like these are not for everyone but are really making an impact on how people shoot images now a days. I guess there is a longing for analog looks in these modern times.

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I downloaded the much hyped version of Photoshop for the iPhone today and wow what a disappointment. The number one photo manipulation software in in the world for desktops and they produce a hobbled app that is not worth the price of free. Sure it has the following: crop, rotate, and flip, exposure, saturation and tint adjustments, and easy to apply filters including black and white, sketch, soft focus, pop, border, vignette blur, warm vintage, rainbow, soft black and white and white glow. But so do many other apps. I tweeted my disappointment and was rebuttaled with “It’s good for free” I argue it is not good for free because it is missing a major component that you need to manipulate photos to be the best that they can be. The lack of layers is a huge handicap for the Adobe application and one that a few others in the iPhone app world have already implemented. Photoshop for the iPhone makes you commit to only one of the pre-set effects or colour corrections. Anyone that does photography, either as a hobby or professionally, will tell you that it is the combination of effects and adjustments that are required to take a raw photo and add the magic or the specific look that you as a photographer are known for.

Sure you are thinking “It’s an iPhone app dude, whatever.” Well true is is a low resolution camera and I understand that but have a look at the type of work that can be achieved through iPhone only photo manipulation. This is an old school brand and company that tossed out a brand extension of it’s marquee product into the “hot” iPhone environment. Just the basics that will “get you by”. That’s not good enough for me. Photoshop is a leader and therefore should do the same in this space. Hey if it costs a bit for development then charge for it. God knows they do that in spades for their desktop apps. Be a leader in the app world and not a follower. If left alone this app will be a bottom dwelling in the Photography section of the App Store within a few weeks.

Want to do better with iPhone photo apps? Well you may have to pay a few dollars to do it. Here is a list of apps that are much better than the iPhone Photoshop app.

1. The Best Camera App [iTunes Link] – Sure the app is limited in the level of effects but you can layer them up to get the look you want. One maojor downside is that the app lets you post to almost every social media site but Flickr. You are forced to use it’s proprietary social site instead. – $2.99.
2. Photo FX by Tiffen [iTunes Link] – [Blog Review] This app has a huge feature list and utilizes layers and amazing slider control to get the image fx exactly where you want them.- $2.99.
3. Cool FX by Tiffen [iTunes Link] -More extreme FX list than Photo FX and utilizes layers and amazing slider control to get the image fx exactly where you want them.- $.99.
4. Mill Colour [iTunes Link] -  This has amazing presets and very detailed control over what effects and corrections you can apply to your photos and is….FREE!
5. Photo Gene [iTunes Link] Finally there is Photo Gene. Photoshop should have just bought this app and rebranded it. In fact is is closer to the desktop version of Photoshop then the Adobe version. – $.99!

So that is a big list of better bets. Pass on the free version of iPhone Photoshop and pick up one of these paids apps for a much better experience and far superior photo editing. Trust me “Free” is not always better and in this case that adage holds very true.

Here are some examples of how I have used the apps to edit my iPhone photos. Remember none of these have made it to a desktop photo editing application.

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So I just heard about this amazing site called Blurb.com. I guess they have been around since 2005 and sold 300,000 titles in 2008 alone. Who knew….Well I guess 300,000 people did and now there is 300,001 that think it’s cool. It is a site and software that lets anyone publish a book with little to no experience in book publishing. All you need is a computer, Blurb’s BookSmart software and some great content. Although the great part is not a necessity from what I have seen. Basically you download either the BookSmart software or the InDesign templates for more experienced designers and add photos and words to suit. There are templates in the software to help the more inexperienced book designers get going quickly. The site and software is really geared towards photography books but you are not limited to that and there are no approvals to go through for your book to get published to the site. Once published the thing that is really unique about blurb is the fact that you can add your book to the bookstore and make money selling your book. You can even get an ISBN number and sell your book elsewhere too.

Kodak and Apple iPhoto offer similar products but really are geared to the entry level and don’t let you push the boundaries of the templates much and always have an “out of the box” look to them. The BookSmart software is available for both the Mac and a PC and apparently there are very similar in functionality. I used the Mac version and it was pretty straight forward to use from the get go. The software is pretty dumbed down so it does not take too long to get a grasp on what to do to start compiling your book. I recommend watching the 37min video tutorial before starting  for those that are not total software pros as it really does explain the process well. The BookSmart software lets you place images from your computer or any number of photosharing sites that you may have your photos stored at like Flickr and Photobucket. I downloaded mine into the book from my Flickr account and it really was a breeze and had no connection issues at all.

I was not actally planning to make a book to be honest but rather was just going to test the software and return at a later date to do a book. Well one hour later I had finished, uploaded and purchased my book on my iPhone photography entitled “iPhone therefor iam”. I was so excited and the app was so easy to use that I just kept on going until the book was finished. I ordered a hard cover and a soft cover to get a sense of what the quality would be like before investing too much time on a book. Once my book was finished I added the markup and placed it in the bookstore for sale to the general public. Within just a couple of hours I had already sold my first book! I can see that this might get more that just a little addictive…The books are in transit and I will update this post with a report on the quality of the paper stock, printing quality and binding etc.

****UPDATE****

I just noticed that the book has made the staff pics as well. I better start working on my next one…..

On another note I just received my hard cover book in the mail. It is very impressive I’ll admit. There are only slight traces that it is a digital printed book. I ordered the hard cover and the cheaper soft cover. The soft cover one I upgraded the paper quality though and that made up for the lack of a hard cover. I can recommend the service now end to end.

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Well as some of you know I take a lot of shots with my iPhone. I like to use my iPhone because it’s always with me. The standard iPhone shots suck pretty bad and I have written in the past on what basic apps and techniques will help improve the overall quality. The latest in my arsenal for improving iPhone shots is one from Tiffen and is called Photo FX. They also make one with wilder fx called Cool FX that I have yet to test. If you are a photographer the name will already be familiar to you as they are probably the number one brand in lens filters. They also make the Stedicam for any of those film buffs out there.

Photo FX has over 70 different filters and FX that range anywhere from the subital soft focus fx of Perl Mist to the more gimmicky Night Vision FX. There are film grain fx simulation filters as well like Bleach Bypass, Cross Process and 60’s Slide that all emulate various film looks. They do a pretty good job of the emulation for an iPhone app I must admit. There are clour grads that you can use to enhance sunsets and blue skies. The gradient colour, amount and placement are all controllable with the easy to use UI. There is even a Polarizer that some how recognizes highlights as reflections and removes them from windows and water…pretty cool.

The Vignetting, Black and White and Old Photo Fx are also very well done and there is a lot of control over the look. You can also mix and match filtes by adding layers of filters before you save it down to a single image in your photo gallery.

I am not saying that the iPhone camera will ever replace your handy snap or SLR but if push comes to shove and you want to capture a have decent image in a jam. Photo FX can more that make up for the short comings of the iPhone camera.

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For all of those folks that are used to Blackberry and Nokia providing the convex mirrors on their handsets for self portraits. I know that you are wondering why Apple did not include one. Well they did. Just line yourself up in the shiny Apple logo and you are good as gold, or silver in this case. So there you have you happy self snapping, ego maniacs! Form and function meet in the middle again thanks to Apple.

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Noah gets a Wee Wii from JP Holecka on Vimeo.

This was my son’s reaction to receiving the Nintendo Wii for his birthday last year. Not much more I can add to this!

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I started the morning by putting the rest of the bacon from ‘09 out of it’s misery in a bacon and egg sandwich and then decided to work out on the Wii Fit. I had to do it as it was sitting in the fridge yelling “Eat me” every time I went in for something healthy.

With that out of the way I started day three of the Wii fit program and think that it is actually not a bad system. Not perfect, but not bad. Once you get past the overly cute and childlike Japanese look, feel and audio you really can benefit physically from the program. I guess being trapped under this three week arctic pressure system also makes it a more appealing option than running outside or in cold gym in our buildings basement! Since my initial weight in I have actual lost a couple of pounds and BMI. Now my first workout happened in the evening, in jeans, after a heavy meal and couple of glasses of wine so maybe that is not the best starting benchmark but what the hell that was back at the end of 2008 anyway. My workouts now are in the am and I mix the Wii fit with my usual 4-5 k run and weights at the gym.

What I like best about the Wii Fit is the balance and strengthening exercises. I have been on a budget lately and really am not interested in paying hard earned cash for attending group yoga session where I will totally suck and feel ridiculous. Just ask my yoga friends how I feel about it as there has been several heated debates on the subject. Anyhow if it takes the Wii Fit to get me stretching and becoming more flexible physically then so be it. As far as being for flexible mentally that is another issue all together that I don’t think even the Wii Fit can do that.

So so far I have done: Giant Slalom, Ski Jumping, Soccer Ball Head Butting, Dance Dance Step, Warrior, Lunge, Running, Push ups, Triangle Pose, Hula Hoops and a couple of other things. Tomorrow I will do the 4-5k on the mill and weights. Oh and one other cool thing about tracking your progress is that the Will Fit lets you add out side exercises to your progress report.  

I’ll be back baconless in a couple of days.

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So it’s that time of year again. That time of year that so many of us make resolutions! Have you made any mad cap unattainable ones yet? Say like quitting [anything] cold turkey, loosing [x] amount of unsightly poundage, be more [blank] to people, not hate everybody you meet right away, etc, etc? Well I have made a few and one of them includes to get in shape, again, and to do it I have enlisted the technical expertiese of the Nintendo Wii Fit. Yes the gadget freak in mii has taken the plunge into the world of video game fitness! The Fit Board is cheaper that a month’s gym membership and so if I actually maintain it for more that a few months I’ll not only be in better shape, have better balance, according to the manual, I will also be ahead financially. 

So It is the 1st of the year and no better time to get a move on with the Wii Fit. So after dinner we pried the Wii controller away from my son’s tight grip with the promise that the hour or so to follow would be just as exciting as Lego Star Wars…Yes I actually said that! Noah conceded and I began to assemble the Wii Fit. The hardware is quite a lot heavier that I thought [foreshadowing] and felt nice and solid. I pushed the game disk in as Denise and Noah looked on…”Wii fit set up let’s begin” chimed the overly happy childlike voice. OK I pushed ‘A’ on the controller and away we went. The Wii informed me that balance is a ‘good thing’ and that ’sitting my ass in a chair all day is not’ as if I didn’t know that. I went though a series of tests of balance and shifting of weight on the fit board to be told that I was ‘overweight’ but had the ‘Wii’ age one year younger than my actual age. To add insult to injury the cocky little fit mediator animated my Mii to be a lot more pudgy than I look in real life:( Sceptical I proceeded to choose some fitness and weight loss goals though the step by step set up. Ok 15lbs in two months. I can do that for sure…I think. I guess that bacon in the fridge will get tossed if the Wii has any say in the matter. So onto the first round of fitness. I was presented Balance, Stregnth, Yoga, Aerobics and one other option I can’t remember. I choose balance as I have an aversion to yoga and seeing as it was seven at night and I was in my jeans I did not feel like get my aerobic sweat on if ya know what I mean. Balance included giant slalom, ski jumping and weirdly enough head butting oncoming soccer balls! I chose giant slalom and proceeded to totally suck at it. A few more tries and I got the hang of it. Noah was dying to give it a shot and I was reluctant because I knew it was recording all of my progress and that Noah’s young spastic movements would taint my overall average! I am a scorpio and at times a bit selfish…well more than sometimes I am told. I reluctantly let him take a turn and I was right he blew the turns and brought my overall score down within minutes of play. Oh well I have plenty of time to make it up as it is only the first of Jan.

I registered Denise and the Wii told her that she was good with the weight but eight ‘Wii’ years older than she is in real life…I’m not sure how they got that as her balance was way better than mine. Oh well I am sure there is some super crazy accurate algorithm that the fit gurus at Nintendo have worked out. 

So now we are kicking off 2009 with fitness by Wii and have some pretty lofty targets to get within the next few months. I actually think that if I follow the regime and add weights and my 5k runs in that I will be able to make the targets. I am probably gonna have to make some adjustments to my diet as well. I will update this post with progress reports only if they are positive. In other words no news is NOT good news!

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So you have an iPhone and the pictures that you take, well no offence but they probably suck! Am I right or am I right. Well even if you have little to no training there are a few things you can do to improve your shots. Here is a handy list of things you can do to make the 2.0 megapix camera and yourself perform a little better.

1. Start by learning the Rule of Thirds and  the Golden Mean.
2. Pick up CameraBag [iTunes link] from the App Store. You can go retro, B&W and even Lomography with amazing app. 
3. Pick up Polaroid  [iTunes link] from the App Store. Polaroid my be filing for chapter 11 but your iPhone pics don’t have to.
4. Pick up Pano [iTunes link] from the App Store. Get that wide amazing panoramic look right from your iPhone it’s $2.99 but worth every penny.
5. Learn to use the ambient light to your advantage. Without a flash you have to be creative and work with what you’ve got.

Now if you follow these basic tips you can have shots like mine that are posted above. Good luck and send me your shots!

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