Photography

Your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad is great for photography since it’s the device you always have with you.

Photography / Reviews
QuikCam

QuikCam is Faster!

If only I had a nickel for every camera App I've downloaded and installed on my iPhone. You might ask "why do you need a 3rd party camera App on the iPhone if there is one built-in?" Well technically you don't unless of course you want more features. The built-in iPhone 4 camera app lets you take still pictures and video. It can zoom, use the flash/video light and even do a little HDR. After you take the shot you can tap to review it. That's about it. You don't really get much control over anything else and while the above bult-in features are probably enough for the average user, I tend to want more. Therefore I have lots of camera Apps that are great (yes I know Camera+ is awesome as well as (insert your cool favorite camera app choice here) ____________. The one thing that led me to check out QuikCam was a simple feature. SPEED! The native camera App seems to take more than a few seconds to launch and open the view finder before it can capture a shot. Sometimes I've missed shots in the time it has taken the native Camera app to open and get ready to shoot. Therefore I moved the Camera app off my first homescreen page and put QuikCam in its place. Not only does QuikCam launch faster, but it offers a few more features for taking better pictures. If you've followed my blog posts in the past you know that I've complained about the iPhone 4's white balance being way to yellow! While I did finally get a working replacement iPhone 4 that was night and day better than my 1st two, I do notice sometimes that depends on where I aim the camera indoors it will still lean towards the yellow side. Simply changing my angle sometimes will cause it to lock on to proper white balance. QuikCam has a setting that you can not only Tap to Focus, but you can also Tap to LOCK in White Balance. This means I can get great white balance, tap to lock it in and then recompose the shot. That's worth the price of admission to me alone. You can also set tap to lock in Exposure. 

Rule of 3rds and more

The latest version has a rule of 3rds display up on screen to help you better compose your shot. You can also now review your pictures after you take them right in the app. Another cool feature is Shooting Speed! Not only does the App launch faster, but it has a rapid fire feature that allows you to take shots about as quickly as you can tap the onscreen button. You can even take still pics while shooting video. If you really want to shoot from the hip there is even a QuickPic mode that will Auto shoot when you launch the app. This way you can take a picture as fast as possible. 

 

The Bottom Line

While there are many great Camera Apps on the App Store, QuikCam has found it's niche in allowing you to simply capture the moment before it slips away. The only thing that I find lacking from it over the native App is the HDR feature and that may be something that Apple doesn't allow 3rd Parties to include in their Apps. Otherwise, QuikCam is my default camera app for those times when I just want to take a picture!

You can get QuikCam for $0.99 here from the iTunes

Photography / Reviews
PhotoSync

Wirelessly Send Photos Between Devices with PhotoSync

I think we can all agree that any time you can transfer information quickly, easily and wirelessly between devices beats having to plug in a cable and do it via iTunes any day. My interest in PhotoSync arose when I saw it as an easy and fast way of getting a shot taken with my DSLR that was on my computer in Lightroom over to my iPad to use in a model release App. While there are other iOS Apps that allow you to wirelessly (Bump) images between devices, I like Photosync because it adds the ability to do it not only between iOS devices but also your computer too. You can install PhotoSync on each of your iOS devices. You can also download install the FREE PhotoSync companion app for your Mac or Windows PC. Transfers between Mac/PC and your iOS device happen via WiFi. Transfers between your iOS devices themselves can happen via WiFi or Bluetooth. PhotoSync allows you to send images or videos.

 

It works very well

This was one of the easiest Apps to setup that I've ever tried. The beauty is that there is no account to setup. The devices see each other automatically by just launching the app on each device. Select the images/video in your camera roll or albums and tap the Sync button. You will then see a list of available devices (running the app) on your network to send to. Tap the iOS device or computer that you want to send to and off they go. From your computer you can go the other way and this is what I wanted to setup. I even setup a Lightroom Export Preset to export my RAW images to JPG, put them in a folder and then fire up the PhotoSync app on my Mac automatically to start the transfer. The images show up in my iPad's camera roll and of course from there they are accessible to all my Apps that use photos. While the iPad 2 does have a camera and this lessons my need for this workflow, the camera on the iPad 2 is, let's just say not the best for taking quality pics. Your iPhone's camera is WAY BETTER and your digital point and shoot or DSLR is even better yet. 

 

Send to the Cloud too

The latest version of PhotoSync added the ability to send images/video directly to your Dropbox and Flickr accounts as well as an FTP server of your choosing. This leads me to my only feature request. The App works beautifully but there is one thing I want and that is Bluetooth support for Computer to iOS device transfers. I can imagine being out in the field with a iPhone or iPad 3G and wirelessly syncing shots taken with my DSLR from my computer over to either of those 3G enable iOS devices for instant sharing/uploading. If Bluetooth support were there on the companion App for Mac/PC then you wouldn't need a WiFi hotspot to make those transfers. Also if there was a WiFi hotspot available then you could just upload from your computer anyway. Otherwise, I find PhotoSync to be VERY USEFUL!

You can get PhotoSync for your iOS devices for $1.99 here from the iTunes

Photography / Reviews
Hipstamatic

Hypstimatic Adds Toy Camera to iPhone

Hipstamatic

I love the look and feel of analog “plastic” cameras. The unpredictability and quirkiness have always drawn me in and allowed for really fun photographs. When I saw the Hipstamatic App for the iPhone/iPod Touch I was really intrigued. With “swappable” lenses, film, and flashes I can have that fun plastic camera, analog feel that I always loved, on my iPhone.
 

That analog feel

Analog is what this App is all about. Back when I started in photography I would use plastic cameras that would leak light, had unpredictable exposures, and generally surprised you every time you developed a roll of film. Now with Hipstamatic I can have that same unpredictability, and fun with my iPhone.

Hipstamatic comes preloaded with multiple lens, film, and flash combinations, and offers many more of each via in App purchases. I have bought extra lenses, as well as the BlacKeys B+W film to try out. I really enjoy the monotone grainy feel of this film and recommend it to anyone. If you’re looking for a really cool color film, I prefer the Kodot ZGrizzled. It makes some really funky colors along with a really cool torn looking border.
 

Settings

There really aren’t a whole lot of settings to adjust inside of the App. You can change your lenses, your flash type, and film type like previously noted. You can also choose the image quality from standard, medium, and fine. Beyond that, there isn’t much else to change. The object of this App is fun. You never know exactly what you’re going to get out of it, and that’s why I love it so much.
 

Flash

From what I’ve found, this App works best without flash. It seems like any time I use the flash (no matter which virtual flash I have chosen) the center of the image becomes washed out and has a weird flare. This effect may work great for you, but personally I prefer the natural light look best.

Conclusion

This is an App for anyone that loves the analog look. With the multiple choices of lenses, film, and flashes the image combinations are seemingly endless. Even if you don’t have a specific love with analog, this App is just fun to use.

You can get Hipstamatic for $1.99 here from the  iTunes

Photography / Reviews
shuttersnitch

Shoot Wirelessly to Your iPad/iPhone with Shuttersnitch

All my iPad toting photographer buddies have been looking for a solution to allow them to shoot wirelessly from their camera/DSLR to their iPads. The obvious benefit is seeing your photography instantly on the nice large iPad display. Also with the iPad you have several image editing apps to choose from as well as image sharing options. Yep, the iPad is great tool for photographers, but it's not a great camera. If you already have a great camera, this App let's you tie them together!

 

Wirelessly transmit images to your iOS Device

Shuttersnitch is not really tied to any one solution or camera manufacturer. It has built-in support for FTP (which many of the wireless solutions use). It also has built-in support for Eye-Fi WiFi SD memory cards. In order for this solution to work your iPad has to be on a WiFi network. Typically you would want your wireless transmitting device to be on the same network. The iPad doesn't have the ability to create an AdHoc network, so that means that you either have to have access to a WiFi hotspot or your transmitting device has to be able to create an Adhoc network. Currently Eye-Fi cards don't do that yet. You could probably use your iPhone's (or other phone's) mobile hotspot feature too!

 

Working with an EyeFi Card

I did a review of this solution today. Check it out here for all the details.

Here's a video on it working in real-time:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3mLDoKcnNQ

You can get an Eye-Fi Pro X2 8GB card here on sale.

 

What can you do once you get the images into the App

The App is nicely done allowing you to create collections to organze your images in either before or after you shoot. You can import RAW files too (provided they have a compatible JPG preview). Once you have images in the App you can then zoom/pan them as well as email them out directly from the App. You can also save them to the camera roll for later downloading and access by all your other Apps. The App displays important EXIF info like ISO, shutter speed, aperture and camera file name. You can Crop as well as tag images with Star ratings (great for client review while you're shooting).  There are other nice touches like the ability to change the thumbnail size and to run a slideshow. Clearly this App was designed with photographers in mind. 

 

What's wrong with it?

Actually nothing is wrong. The App works as advertised. The only problem I had was finding clear instructions on how to setup my Eye-Fi card to work with it. While the App displays an info box telling one thing to turn off in the Eye-Fi setup, it doesn't provide you with the steps you need to actually setup the card. After some digging on the forums of the developer site I found an FAQ walkthrough that answered my questions. The developer needs to take a few minutes and turn that FAQ into a real set of instructions with screen shots of what to set and how in the Eye-Fi control panel. Lastly, Wi-Fi is GREAT! However, I wondering if there would be a use for bluetooth transfers. The problem would likely be on the end of the device transmitting the images, but it would be nice to see something more direct as opposed to having to use a mobile hotspot or WiFi network. Not a ding of the App, just more wishful thinking. 

The App is not cheap, but if you need to do this then it's a bargain!

You can get Shuttersnitch for $15.99 here from the iTunes

Photography / Reviews
Pocket_Light_Meter

Pocket Light Meter

One of my Twitter followers asked me had I tried this App? While my first thought was "this thing will never be accurate enough", I decided to give it a shot in a real world scenario. Last week I had the pleasure of teaching a lighting class down in Texas. The lighting I was using in my class was the NEW Westcott Spiderlite TD6's. Since Spiderlites are a continuous light source it was the perfect opportunity to try out this App. Before I even remembered that I had the App on my iPhone someone in my class asked me if I ever used a light meter? Of course the answer was yes. I have a very nice Sekonic light meter, but I rarely use it in my studio. One reason is that I shoot tethered and I can see where to make adjustments after the first shot. Secondly I usually know where to start with my settings in my own environment. However, this time I was in a new setting. I had already taken some shots and got the results I wanted, but I decided to fire up the Pocket Light Meter app and see if it woud give me the same readings/settings.

It was really close

The shot above taken before metering was at 1/80, f/5, ISO 400. Had I not locked in the shutter speed in the App it would have been right on the money.

I was impressed with how well this worked. It was more accurate than I thought it would be. It takes a few moments for it to lock in, but in a pinch it should get you in the ballpark. If the App is consistently off in your environment there is an exposure compensation slider that lets you better calibrate the App for your setting. Just tap the i to ge to the controls.

 

The Bottom Line

This App doesn't replace a dedicated light meter! What it does do is give me a light meter that I will always have with me since I always have my iPhone with me. It has no way of working with or triggering a flash. If you're doing flash photography this won't be of much help. For the price (Free with Ads), you have no reason not to try it. I wish it would lock on a little faster, but part of that is limited by the camera on the device as well. While there is a Hold button on screen so that you can raise your device up to grab the reading and then hold it so that you can lock it in and see it as you bring your hand back down I'd like to see that button be larger or better let it be the whole screen. In other words hold down anywhere on the screen to capture the reading. I'd also like to hear a beep once the reading has been captured so that I know I can bring my hand down. 

You can get a larger display and remove the ads with a $0.99 In App Purchase.

You can get Pocket Light Meter for Free here from the iTunes

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