New Feature: My photo, by...

Following on from the success of "The iPhoneography Showcase of..." series and following comments about Steven Mc Garr showcase, I am introducing a new feature to the blog.

This new feature will be called "My photo, by...", and its aim is to share details on where and how a photo was taken and created.

To get the ball rolling, here is my photo titled "Soldiers Bride"

Back in September 2009 my wife and I went to London for a short break. At the time it was London Fashion week, and one day whilst walking through Horse Guards Parade we spotted a group of people and an attractive lady wearing a wedding dress, so decided to stop and see what was going on.  I was a little confused that there seemed to be no groom, as I thought this was a wedding day shoot, and even more confused when she walked up to the guard and began to pose. Then the penny dropped, of course it was fashion week, and I had just stumbled across a fashion shoot, and so as this was in a public place I grabbed my iPhone and snapped away.

I was quite chuffed that I'd stumbled across this photo shoot, but of course new that the shots would not be that good as I would have liked, as I could not get very close to the model.

Anyway that's how the photo came to be, and here is how it went from this...

...to the final photo the "Soldiers Bride".

I took the original photo (which was shot on my iPhone 3G) and cropped it using Cropulator. Then because I new by cropping the photo it was going to affect the image sharpness, I loaded it in to Tiffen Photo fx and applied a Soft/FX filter to soften to photo, before finally loading it in to CameraBag and applying the Magazine effect.

If you want to see more of the "Soldiers Bride" or my other CamerBag shots, then check out My CameraBag Tumblr site.

So this is how I got my shot. If you would like to share your shot with the rest of us, then send me an email and I'll reply with details on how to submit.

Digital Film Tools apps get an update

All three Digital Film Tools apps have recently been updated with the following features.

Photo fx

• Ability to add multiple filters using Save (Disk Icon) > Add Layer
• Crop and Rotate
• Integrated Help
• Filters with presets automatically display the presets once the filter is selected
• Streamlined image loading and picture taking
• Camera photos are always saved separately at full resolution when Options > Save Original Photo is selected
• New Maximum Output Resolutions on Options screen

AppStore Link: Photo fx - Price £1.79 ($2.99)

Cropulator

• Image filtering is no longer used when only cropping
• Removed 1 pixel border from cropped images

AppStore Link: Cropulator - Price £0.59 ($.99)

Light

• Streamlined image loading and picture taking
• Camera photos are always saved separately at full resolution when Options > Save Original Photo is selected
• New Maximum Output Resolutions on Options screen
• Image filtering is no longer used when only cropping

AppStore Link: Light - Price £1.19 ($1.99)

Crop your photo's with Cropulator

From Digital Film Tools, the developers of "Photo fx" and "Light" comes the next addition to what is already a set of quality photo apps, Cropulator.

Cropulator as the name suggests allows you to crop your photo's directly on your iPhone, and works pretty well.

Launch the app, and after the splash screen you are taken directly to the Photo Albums where you can select the photo you want to crop.

Having selected your photo, you are then presented with the apps interface, and the first thing you will notice are the 4 large squares in each corner of the photo, which are used for cropping the photo.

Across the bottom of the screen are the apps controls, and going from left to right you have:

• Crop - this is used to turn on the squares, that allow you to crop your photo
• Rotate - this allows you to draw a horizontal line and have the app snap to that horizontal
• Lock - locking, unlocking this allows you to have added control over your cropping. Locked and your crops will keep the same ratio, unlocked and you have full control over your cropping.
• Rotate Left, Rotate Right - this allows you to fine tune your rotates by allowing you to rotate your photo 1 degree at a time.
• Reset - this allows you to jump straight back you the photo's original size and shape etc so that you can start all over again if you need to
• ? - this is where you will find info about this app

This app is really simple to use to crop your photo's. First you need to decide if you want to keep the photo's ratio or not by locking or unlocking the padlock, and then touch on one of the squares, which will then change from white to blue, and just drag the squares around the screen until you have cropped the photo as you want it. Once cropped or alighed as you want, then simple tap Save, and your cropped photo is saved to the Camera Roll, and that's it you're done, it's as simple as that.

In addition to cropping you can also correct any sloping horizons by selecting rotate and then drawing a straight line across the horizon, and then the app will auto rotate the photo to give you a level horizon. You will then need to use the crop options to frame the photo before saving it.

Features:

• Crop and/or rotate images
• Lock the aspect ratio when cropping
• Straighten the image by drawing a line along an edge in Rotate mode
• Rotate by one degree in either direction for fine tuning
• Automatically crop the image based on the amount of rotation
• Edit in portrait or landscape mode
• Integrated Help

So is the app worth having? Priced at £0.59 ($.99), the simple answer is YES. With this app it's almost like having a digital zoom feature on your iPhone, but like a digital zoom the more you crop/zoom the smaller (in pixels) the image gets, but is perfect for cutting out unwanted areas of your photo, or zooming in on your subject, as the photo's below show.

Above: Original photoAbove: Cropped/Zoomed as much as possibleAppStore Link: Cropulator - Price £0.59 ($.99)

New iPhone Photo Apps

Photo Flare - Price £1.19 ($1.99)

Photo Flare allows you to easily add lens flare effects into any picture using your iPhone and iPod touch.

CardPuppy - Price £1.79 ($2.99)

CardPuppy is a one-of-a-kind application that allows you to instantly send real, tangible postcards to your friends and family.

Bokeh - Price FREE

Bokeh is a simple application for photographers. It is designed
to help you control the depth of field in your pictures more effectively. It offers two modes of operation, Hyperfocal mode and DoF mode.

Photo Dock! (Digital Photo Frame) - Price £0.59 ($.99)

With Photo Dock you can turn your device into a digital picture frame, displaying pictures from your photo library. It also has a built in clock, so this app also doubles as a great nightstand clock too!

Cropulator - Price £0.59 ($.99)

A little nip here, a little tuck there. Cropulator allows for quick cropping and rotating of images using simple, but elegant tools.