Winter Park Bay, Ballintoy, Ireland

White Park bay, Ballintoy, Ireland

Had quite the day today...Sun, Rain, Sleet and howling winds sometimes hitting 60-70miles per hour -  wind that one could actually lean into....did manage to get around though doing the Scenic Causeway Coast Road.

Left Belfast and motored north and east to Larne where we picked up the Scenic Coastal Causeway. Then it was north to Glenarm, Cushendon, Ballycastle, Ballintoy (White Park Bay) and finally finished at the Giant's Causeway before motoring back to Belfast. Notice me picking up the lingo by saying 'motoring' instead of 'driving'. I like the word 'motoring'.....

Late yesterday I noticed that I forgot my DSLR battery charger at home but got lucky as Belfast has the only Calumet in Ireland. Also learned the Northern Ireland is actually British....guess I missed that in school....

Today's image was made at White Park Bay in the town of Ballintoy.  Fell onto it by accident - was looking at a church from the road and decided to see what was behind the church......got really lucky...

Have I mentioned how good the food is in Ireland....and the soda bread.....nuff said for tonight.....

Belfast, Ireland

Old Mill, Annalong, Northern, Ireland

Finally made it Northern Ireland. Landed in Dublin early this morning, rented a car and headed north for Belfast. About 60 miles outside of Belfast got off the M1 and headed out to the Irish sea for a bit of exploring the coastal regions. Does not get much better then a fresh coffee and croissant to get the juices flowing -  always nice to be back on the road exploring new places...

Today's image is from Annalong, a coastal village in County Down at the foot of the Moume Mountains. Annalong is mostly a fishing village and vacation resort town. According to Wikipedia Annalong was first settled somewhere around January 1843.

Mostly the weather was alternately rain and then sun every 20 minutes or so - sometimes rather heavy...Managed to make a few images between the drops....Ireland is such an amazing place to visit not to mention visit with a few cameras - one of course being an iPhone...Anyway a good first day - 9 more to go.....

iPhone 4s on a tripod
ProHDR
Filterstorm
Photo FX Ultra
Photo Wizard
Transfer

Old House - Kent, Ohio

Old House - Ohio

I am on a long drive from New York to Indiana and noticed I was low on gas. Got off the freeway but the gas station was closed. Low and behold across the street was this old house that simply called out to be photographed. It was late, sun was low but I managed to off a few images. Sometimes I wonder - why....

Lewes Beach

Stopped at this location on the way home from my drive to the Everglades several years back. Located just south of Lewes, Delaware where you take the ferry to Cape May.....And then of course,. there is Cape May - a different story for a different time...

iPhone4
prohdr
photo forge
photo toaster
filterstorm

Grain

Original ProHDR Image

The much anticipated upgrade to ProHDR was released a few days ago and thus far I am impressed with the changes they made. ProHDR is much faster and the new dialog is much easier to navigate then the last version.

What I first noticed was the addition of filter choices - seems like every application is starting to offer this feature. I just happened to be in the second oldest city in Denver, Georgetown, and decided to try the vintage filter while shooting the Georgetown Museum. 

In addition to the color Pro added some grain - seemingly to enhance the vintage look and feel. Honestly, I never noticed the grain addition (using the iphone not the ipad) until it was mentioned on a facebook page I participate in. After getting a closer look on the iPad I found the grain to not be to my liking and decided to run a few test on other applications that had 'grain' as a processing choice. Admittedly I did not try all the options, instead opting for my own application preferences.

MONOPHIX:

MonoPhix Version

 MonoPhix Dialog where you would pick FAST FILM...

MonoPhix Noise Grain Generator for amount of grain

SIMPLY BLACK AND WHITE:  Dialog for grain....

PHOTO WIZARD: After importing your image choose the FX icon at the top of the screen. On the right you will find both the 'GRAY PRESETS' (for Silver) and the 'ADD NOISE' ' icon for the grain.

Photo Wizard - Choose Silver under the ''GRAY PRESET' Icon

Photo Wizard - Adjust the grain/noise under the 'ADD NOISE' icon

I would welcome any feedback or experience you might have had in the search for the perfect 'GRAIN'....

Paris - Bank Machine

Paris, France

A slice of life made from a moving car traveling through Paris using the  iPhone4.

Carnival

Carnival 2, Bath, Maine

'Memories they can't be boughten
They can't be won at carnivals for free
Well it took me years
To get these souvenirs
And I don;t know how they slipped away from me'.....John Prine

Steps and Shadows

Steps and Shadows, San Diego, iPhone4

Marina Morning

Marina Morning, iPhone4

Sometimes simplicity is all that is necessary. I read somewhere the if it ain't grungy it is not happening...I totally disagree...so many ways to tell a story and pass on the sense of place when you clicked the shutter - or in this case tapped the screen - so many tools at our beck and call - not necessarily to be used on every image....enough said..

Outdoor Rock Show

Rock Show, iPhone4

'Forget all about that macho shit and learn how to play guitar'........John Mellencamp

Zion National park

Zion National Park, iPhone 3Gs

'There is nothing so American as our National Parks.....The fundamental idea behind the parks...is that the country belongs to the people, that it is in process of making for the enrichment of the lives of all of us'.......President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Death Valley

Death Valley, Mesquite Dunes

In one of the workshops I attended over the past few years the leader had mentioned making sketches of ideas either on pieces of paper or in some sort of day book. What I realized this morning (and I may have already been aware) is that the iPhone is particularly suited for this - a virtual visual diary of ideas. For me, I get to work out ways to post process with the bonus of getting to think about new ideas for making the actual photograph in the field....whether it be big boy camera or iPhone.

London Street Scene

London Street Scene

This photograph made on Kensington High Street.....

Iceland Landscape 7

'Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished'......Lao Tzu

Portree, Isle of Skye

Waterfall, Portree, Isle of Skye, Scotland

Image Management:

iPhone 3Gs
Prohdr - handheld
Photoforge
perfect photo
filterstorm

Missoula, Montana

Missoula, Montana

Sunset - Maine

Sunset - Maine

Photographed on the way to dinner a few months ago near Thomason, Maine.

Image Management:

iPhone4
ProHDR - handheld
Filerstorm
Iris
Perfect Photo
Photostudio

Transfer

Union Station

Stacked Chairs, Union Station

These chairs were stacked outside of Union Station in Washington, DC. Made a fast image on the iPhone as I was running for the train.

Image Management:

iPhone4
Prohdr - hand held
Perfect Photo for sharpening
Toon Paint for blending layer
Photo Studio for another blending layer using pencil paint 2
Iris to blend
Filterstorm for local corrections

Indes Hotel

Indes Hotel, The Hague, Netherlands

I was on my way to the elevator when I spotted this indoor courtyard at the Indes Hotel, The Hague, Netherlands....all the pieces just seemed to line up.......


Image Management:

ProHDR handheld
Photostudio Pencil Paint
perfect photo for sharpening
Filterstorm for blend and local adjustments

Perception

Still Life, Christiania, Copenhagen

There are several ways to take a viewer through an image, be it a high resolution image from a traditional camera or an image made using an alternative camera such as the iPhone. This morning I applied what I call a light-dark technique to the image posted today. I learned this in several workshops taken over the past few years with Dan Burkholder and John Paul Caponigro. Basically it is using light and painting light and dark areas to create a path for the viewer to see the image, and, to highlight what John Paul calls the 'main actor in the play'. There are several other platforms to make this move but for today I concentrated on the light-dark using the application Filterstorm.

One way is to simply adjust the luminance in Filterstorm and 'apply with mask', meaning you paint in the light and dark areas using a brush with varying opacity and size. Another way is to make separate light and dark images to taste and then use the 'add exposure' dialog in Filterstorm to add the images then selectively paint in light or dark to taste using the brushes and opacity dialog. One can also selectively paint in texture using this same technique. And yes, there are other ways to make this move and whatever works for you is the right answer....

Of course this is not for every image but most definitely worth taking some time to explore what is can do for your images.

Image Management:

photo made using ProHDR handheld
photo transfer
Photostudio for texture
Perfect Photo for sharpening
Filterstrom for local adjustments