sunday selections – hipstamatic
Posted On 24 July 2011
I thought I’d use the opportunity to participate in Kim’s Sunday Selections project to show off some of the Hipstamatic photos I took this week.
On Monday I wrote about how, at the suggestion of one of my Twitter friends, I was going to use the Hipstamatic app for my photos this week to try and add something different to my photo project.
You can read about how I went on my first photo shoot here.
After a week of shooting, I haven’t changed my initial views on the app. It produces some really interesting effects on my photos, which I really like, if I choose the right lens and film combo.
Actually, I’ve not been very adventurous and have stuck with the same film all week (boring! but in my defence, I have been sick), but I have tried out a few of the different lenses. Admittedly I’ve only tried the ones that came with the original app and a couple of freebies that were recently released, so I’m missing quite a lot of what is available. (Think of it as the cheapskate approach, until I decide whether this app is for me, and whether I want to shell out a hard earned couple of bucks for some more variety . . . did I mention I have a reputation as a tightarse?!)
The hard part is remembering that there is no zoom function, so what you see in the ‘viewfinder’ is pretty much what you’re going to get – and if you want the cute little frame that the photos come with, there’s no option to crop later either.
The whole feel of the app reminds me of my very first camera. I got it when I was in primary school. I won $10 in a competition and decided to spend it on a camera. It was a gaf 100 XF (no, Slabs, it’s not a Falcon) that cost me $9.95. (I can’t remember what I did with the change.) The camera, which I still have, took 126 film cartridges that produced square pictures. Oh, and used external flashes that you bought in packs of three four-sided cubes, each side of which had a bulb that flashed and then blew, as bulbs do.
Hipstamatic, as a ‘retro/analogue camera’ app has that same fixed lens thing happening, produces square photos, and has no ability to adjust the lighting – what you see is what you shoot is what you get. It has a range of flashes that are supposed to produce different lighting effects as well.
The beauty of the app that I never got with the trusty old gaf (which I used until I was 18) is the wide range of lenses (or filters) and different films that you can use to create different effects.
So first up today is a little montage of my camera, using the same Ina’s 1969 film in all shots, but with the seven different Hipstamatic lenses that I have at the moment, plus the one from the normal phone camera as a comparison.
And then some of the photos that I took this week.
Bear in mind that for the outdoors one, it was quite glary and I really couldn’t see what I was shooting on my screen, so it was very much point, shoot and hope. And at times, I couldn’t get as close to the subject as I wanted to. As a result, the composition isn’t always ideal, but it’s certainly taught me a lot about this app and I intend to go back and try again soon. Unimaginatively, they were all taken using the John S lens.
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| I reprocessed this one, because the bird was just too far away and was the whole point of the photo |
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| Hobart |
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| Hobart |
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| Hobart |
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| I love the reflections in this one, but not the side of the dock – lots of the photos had that problem because I couldn’t see what I was shooting. |
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| Franklin Square |
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| Juniordwarf – not sure I like the green tinge. Normal flash. |
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| River |
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straightlinesgirl
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Thank you Kim :)River, I think each "lens" is a filter that is applied to the photo in the app, once you've taken the picture. But to set it up you select a different lens on the fake camera in the app, if that makes sense. It's not an actual physical lens on the phone camera (if that's what you were asking). Each one has a different effect on the final photo. Then there are different 'films' that produce different effects too – like if you used a B&W film in your camera vs a colour film vs a ISO 800 film vs a pro film – or whatever sort of films you can get.Yes, I prefer taking pics with my camera, if I'm doing 'serious' photos, but I love the cool things I can do on my phone that totally change the photos, that I could never hope to copy with my limited digital editing skills. The phone has become a secondary function of the device, to the other stuff it does!
The Hobart ones and the River look like picture postcards! I love the boat reflections. So are the lenses all the same just with a different colour effect? I think I'd prefer my camera to a phone app. For me, a phone is just a phone.
I like the lens effect on the first photo it gives the shot an old feel. You have a lovely eye Barb, even when you aren't looking. x