Subscribe
Podcast
Posts
Comments

You are here: Home / Archives for Frederick

2 Killer iPhone Photography Apps

By
TiltShiftGen
First up is TiltShiftGen. This app has got to be one of the most underrated iPhone photography applications in the iTunes store. That’s likely due to how its creators have positioned it… wrongly. Even the name hides the power of this thing. For example, in the all-important iTunes title, the developers call it a “Fake DSLR”, and say it “will allow you to create retro miniature pictures”. Sorry guys, but this application does SO much more than create fake miniature pictures. In short, TiltShiftGen has become my go-to application for creating the “look” I like from my iPhone pics. Now I’m admittedly fickle when it comes apps on my iPhone — some sexy new number might show up tomorrow and catch my eye. But for now, I’m completely in love with this one. But why?
Well, for starters I’m a HUGE fan of shallow depth of field, over saturation, vignetting, you know… that sort of stuff. The user interface, features, and speed of this application allow me to create some pretty cool effects very quickly, and just using my thumb. Take this image for example. It’s a simple shot of a Japanese garden taken at Hakone Gardens in Saratoga, CA. With about four quick corrections (Blur, Saturation/Contrast, and Vignetting). The image went from “oh nice”, to “oh my!”.
For $0.99, I don’t think this is an application you can afford NOT to purchase.
PhotoGene
Second on my list is PhotoGene. This app is my “Swiss Army Knife” of iPhone Photography. It’s kind of like Photoshop on the iPhone. Kind of what Adobe’s Photoshop iPhone app should’ve been really, complete with cropping, saturation, rotation, sharpening, borders and more. The power of this app becomes clear the first time you see a histogram on your iPhone with shadow, midtown, highlight sliders. Most of what I need for basic on-the-go pixel pushing is tucked neatly in this application. There are a few features I’d love to have, like some sort of rudimentary cloning tool, and more control over the size of borders, etc.
But for my $2.99, I’ve already gotten WAY more than my money’s worth out of this application.
Photographers like Chase Jarvis were early to recognize what a game-changer having a decent camera with you at all times is. But the iPhone camera is so much more than just a camera. Not only do you have a camera with you, but one with photo-manipulation software and a way to share your creations. All of this wrapped up in one pocket-sized package.
So celebrate the restrictions, and the new capabilities of this new kind of image-making. In future posts I’ll go into detail on my other iPhone apps, and how I use them. In the mean time, post your favorite iPhone apps in the comments, and check out a few of my iPhone pics on Flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fredjohnson/

1. TiltShiftGen

First up is TiltShiftGen. This app has got to be one of the most underrated iPhone photography applications in the iTunes store. That’s likely due to how its creators have positioned it… wrongly. Even the name hides the power of this thing. For example, in the all-important iTunes title, the developers call it a “Fake DSLR”, and say it “will allow you to create retro miniature pictures”. Sorry guys, but this application does SO much more than create fake miniature pictures. In short, TiltShiftGen has become my go-to application for creating the “look” I like from my iPhone pics. Now I’m admittedly fickle when it comes to apps on my iPhone — some sexy new number might show up tomorrow and catch my eye. But for now, I’m completely in love with this one. But why? [Read more...]

Filed Under: iPhone, Photography Tagged With: ,

2 Models + 100 Photographers = Fun

By

Wow. Just… wow.

The last TWiP/SmugMug event was a smashing success. The previous two photo shoots I organized were sold out, and as I was conducting the last event, I noticed that the attendees *really* wanted to shoot too — but I was hogging the model.

I wondered how could I make this more of an interactive experience where everyone could shoot. I decided to make the very next meeting *all* photography. The issue then became how to allow everyone to shoot. Setting up an 100+ equal opportunity shoot ain’t no joke — and all within the span of two hours. This was a huge challenge. The only solution was to remove the need for folks to be able to fire the strobes. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Events, Photo Shoots Tagged With: , , ,

David duChemin – Visionmonger

By

Audio MP3

I recently had the honor of sitting down to record this audio interview (via Skype) with author/photographer David duChemin. David is one of those “next generation” photographers that “gets it”. He is fluent in the latest and greatest photographic trends, technology, social media, etc. And along with being a sickeningly talented photographer, he’s also a brilliant marketer. Wrap all of that up and you’ve got an artist who can not only create masterful visual imagery and write about it — but one that can also publsih it. He’s a one-man creative ecosystem. Click through for the full audio interview…  [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Podcast Tagged With: ,

Katrin Eismann — The Photoshop Diva

By

Audio MP3

This audio interview is with Katrin Eismann – an internationally recognized artist, author, and educator. She’s been involved with digital imaging tools since 1989. She regularly teaches creatives about the latest tools and techniques of digital imaging and the impact they have on creative professionals.

She’s author of several books on digital imaging such as The Creative Digital Darkroom, Photoshop Restoration & Retouching as well as several online titles on Kelbytraining.

I first had the pleasure of meeting Katrin at the last PhotoPlus Expo in NYC where she gave an outstanding talk demonstrating Lightroom tips and techniques. I was really impressed at her uncanny ability to relate to, and inform an audience while keeping things light-hearted and candid.

Katrin is an wonderful educator, and along with chairing at the NY School of Visual Arts, and schooling flocks of right-brained hopefuls — she’s also an amazingly talented photographer.

Filed Under: Featured, Podcast Tagged With: ,

Sleepless in San Jose

By

Have you ever had one of those sleepless nights where your brain is preoccupied with so many things that you just lay there, staring at the ceiling… for hours (and hours)? I had a night like a week ago. It was the night before I was scheduled to do a presentation on model photography and Photoshop Lightroom techniques for the Silicon Valley SmugMug user group.

My brain is weird. When I have something big coming up, it (my brain) starts running “what if” scenarios; What if no one shows?  What if too many folks show up? What if the model flakes? What if my gear breaks? What if I come off like a doofus? And on and on it went… for most of the night. Now I’m not saying I wasn’t prepared, because I was. I’m very comfortable teaching folks about photography, and even more comfortable behind the camera.

But for what ever the reason, I was still nervous. Not stage-fright nervous, “Murphy’s Law” nervous.
Ok fast-forward to the next evening. Showtime! Thankfully everything went extremely well, and my “what-if” scenario nightmares stayed just that — fiction. Ok, yea maybe more folks showed up than I anticipated (150+), but that’s a good problem to have right? To manage the meeting, I used Meetup.com, a service that’s designed to help manage events, attendee lists, RSVPs, etc. It worked like a charm, in fact within hours of launching the event, and with the help of a few Re-Tweets from Alex Lindsay, Steve Simon, and Aaron Mahler — all 75 RSVP slots were taken!

That’s the power of Twitter, a few bursts of 140 characters to our Twitter followers and we filled an event. Nice. Still nervous though.

Ok, deep-breath… it’ll be fiiine Frederick.

Then boom, SmugMug sent out an email to their Silicon Valley customers — and the waiting-list started to grow… and grow. Again Gaaa! This was great! I mean, people were actually interested in coming to see me talk? Oh wait, I DID mention on the Meetup page that there’d be a “hot model” there, hmm. Yea, that must’ve been the draw, either the hot model or the chance to learn some cool Lightroom digital make-up techniques.

To make a long post short, the event went off without a hitch. OK maybe there were a few hitches, but because there were some really great folks there supporting me none of the gremlins that popped up were show-stoppers.
A huge thanks to Ziv Gillat, Co-Founder of Eye-fi, and Jeremiah Njoroge (also on the Eye-fi team). And a few other members of the user group as well for helping with set-up and break-down of the gear.

Having help from friends made the event far less stressful, and I was able to concentrate on trying to get my message across to the 150+ attendees which was; how to photograph models, and how to retouch them to perfection in Photoshop Lightroom.

I’m really looking forward to hosting upcoming TWiP, SmugMug, and other photography-related events. If the success of this one was any indicator of the future, it looks like these Meetups might become THE Bay Area photography event to go to each month.

And a HUGE thank you to everyone who came out to learn, meet, and mingle with other photographers. The turn-out to this event shows just how strong the photographic community is.

To keep track of these events and be notified of upcoming Meetups, be sure to join the This Week in Photography Meetup group.

I’ll look forward to seeing you at the next event!
Filed Under: Featured, Photo Shoots Tagged With: ,

Liana Lehua – Back in Action

By

Now she’s back, in full force. And though she’s still recovering and working to get her T-cell count back into a safe range she’s been extremly active, and has even started a new blog for Californians afflicted with HIV/AIDS helping with instruction on how to obtain free and low cost county and medical healthcare services.

For more on Liana, check out this interview I did with her about a year ago, check out her new blog, and of course… follow her on Twitter.

Keep kicking butt Liana!

The above video was shot entirely with an iPhone 3GS

Filed Under: Featured, News Tagged With:

Is Digital Manipulation Evil?

By

I’ve spoken at length about my stance on digital manipulation on the This Week in Photography (TWiP) podcast. On the show we banter about the topic, but in this quick video I explain how I really feel about it.

Pixels are born to be punished… unless they weren’t.

Filed Under: Featured, Photography Tagged With:

Gravity in Ambient Flight

By


I recently did some remodeling to my home and wanted some art (other than photography) to put on the walls. I wanted a piece that reflected my personality, you know – kind of whacky, colorful, and oh yea, it had to have an element of photography in it.

A friend of mine recommended an artist with whom he’d become familiar in Arizona. He introduced us over Facebook, and after trading a few messages she began work on my piece. I have never met this woman, and I believe we’ve only spoken on the phone one time.

In her own words, here is her creative process:

I create paintings with a combination of watercolor, India ink and hard pastel. My process has evolved from my earlier love of an illustrative and sketched style. Now, I sometimes sketch several thumbnails in advance of a painting, and other times the paint leads the way without any advance thought.

In the case of “Gravity in Ambient Flight”, I created a series of thumbnail studies, then pieced them together for the final idea. Of course, all along the way, I am totally open to suggestion from the “creative verve”. It has been a wonderful experience creating a painting specifically for you, keeping in mind a theme open to the essence of photography.

One art meeting another. The dichotomy of observation vs. participation. There is a story in this painting, but I think it is now up to you to finish it.

One of the original sketches:

The final painting is currently at a frame shop, I’ll post a photo of it hanging in a week or so.

What story do YOU see in the finished painting? Please comment!!

You can check out more of Charmagne Coe’s work here:

Flickr
Blog
MySpace
Website

Filed Under: Featured, News Tagged With:

Jim Heid – Author, Photographer, Flickr-er

By

As far as I know, there is no bigger fan of Apple’s iLife software than Jim Heid. He’s a self-described poster child for the software and has been using it since pre iLife, when there was only iMovie. Jim is also the author of the extremely popular book entitled The Macintosh iLife. I met Jim during my time at Apple and we became good friends, mainly because we’re both pretty rabid about Apple software, though we disagree on one or two points.

Jim and his standard poodle and mascot, Sophie, divide their time between San Francisco and the rugged coast of Mendocino, California. On most Wednesday evenings, he co-hosts “Point & Click Radio,” a weekly computer radio show, which you can listen to here.

You can pick up the book from your favorite book reseller, or get it directly from the publisher. Jim is currently putting the finishing touches on the 2009 revision to the book that will cover the new features we discuss in this video. It should be available in May.

You can check out Jim’s very active Flickr stream here.

Filed Under: Apple, Featured, News Tagged With: , , ,

Steve Simon – Photojournalist

By

Steve Simon, born in Montreal Canada – and now a resident of New York City is one of the busiest photographers I know. He’s created an impressive body of work that can be viewed on his website, and looking at his work you’ll see that he is one of those photographers that always seems to be “in it”. He’s a true photojournalist, and seems to be willing to put himself in harms way to get the story.

Steve has published several books, including a favorite of mine Heroines & Heroes: Hope, HIV and Africa. I had the honor of sitting down with Steve for a few minutes last week in San Francisco to record this video.

Steve is also a regular guest with me on the This Week in Photography podcast, and it was great to have this informal off-air conversation with him.

Filed Under: Featured, Photography Tagged With: , ,
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »