PMK's Cellular Images

August 28th, 2010

2010-08-28T07:44:00.000-07:00

This is where the camera phone lags when compared to even the simplest point and shoot. It's just not a fast camera. This turkey vulture landed on my back deck and had it's wings spread nice and wide . . . a very majestic shot for such an ugly bird - but I missed the shot, cause the focus lock on the camera phone took too long to find the subject . . . still, managed to snag a nice shot . . .

August 22nd, 2010

2010-08-22T17:01:00.000-07:00

Intense model shoot today . . . didn't feel right pulling out the camera phone to take a snapshot, so I did the next best thing - snagged a shot of the back of my camera with the fantastic Lydia - one of 7 models I shot today!! Over 900 images to catalog and process . . . going to be a long, but very fun time working on the images!

August 21st, 2010

2010-08-21T11:54:00.000-07:00

So I am currently relocating my office/studio and I am amazed at how many cables, chargers and other assorted wire-type things I've accumulated over the almost 6 years in my current location. So glad I've made the jump to wireless, but now the task is finding somewhere to recycle all this stuff! Captured with Camera 360's tilt shift feature and converted into Black and White using Adobe's Mobile Photoshop App.

August 19th, 2010

2010-08-19T09:30:00.001-07:00

Today's Cellular Image comes from bath time with Peyton. Baths are a highlight of the day for Peyton . . . I swear, she's part fish. Never wants to come out . . . so I though I'd capture that smile when she's getting all squeaky clean . . . =] . . . Captured with the FX Camera app to set to limited color.

August 18th, 2010

2010-08-18T05:55:00.000-07:00

Nothing like a beautiful foggy morning to get the creative juices flowing . . . shot this right off the back deck this morning. Noticeably cooler today . . . perfect day for a morning walk! captured with the FX Camera App with some minor adjustments using Adobe's Mobile Photoshop App.

August 16th, 2010

2010-08-16T05:55:00.000-07:00

The carousel at Lake Quassapaug, Connecticut . . . Couldn't resist shooting this while on the ride at the amusement park. Carousels have always been magical structures and this one was no different. Captured with the Camera 360 app with a "dark" frame setting to give it a more nostalgic feel.

August 13th, 2010

2010-08-13T09:40:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday the 13th! Wanted to very grungy with this shot . . . the subject - a soaring bird against a wonderful sky is pretty and all, but the bird is another one of those turkey vultures and I thought it being Friday the 13th and all, I'd go all grungy with this. Show with the Camera 360 Grunge setting and then saturated a bit with Adobe's Mobile Photoshop App.

August 12th, 2010

2010-08-12T07:18:00.000-07:00

I have been horrible about updating the blog this month . . . Summer closing and school approaching is my only excuse! So I've managed a shot with my Vintage App of my acrostic bass. Love the gritty feel of this shot. The contrasting lines of the bass strings and the window blinds. The best part of shooting with a camera phone is the hard to reach angles you can get with them!

August 9th, 2010

2010-08-09T13:36:00.000-07:00

Was at a wedding this weekend and couldn't resist shooting a bit with my camera phone . . . this was the bridal bouquet. Shot with the Vintage Camera's "Grunge" setting. Very happy with the warm colors this one has . . . sunlight makes all the difference!

July 29th, 2010

2010-07-29T13:17:00.000-07:00

So we're packing up for a day trip out to Atlanta. Lots of stuff planned, including the zoo, the aquarium and the World of Coke! Gearing up always has me in a frazzle and I almost forgot to shoot something for today. So in my bid for a little extra energy, I grabbed some M&Ms . . . and thought I'd also shoot them for today's image! During the next four days, I'll be posting images remotely via Facebook for my Droid Eris. But once I get back, I'll fill in the blanks and have a whole gallery of stuff to show off!

July 28th, 2010

2010-07-28T10:56:00.000-07:00

I used this technique while shooting for the Konxari Cards; my wedding ring cast a heart shaped shadow for the "Love" card. I thought trying it with my camera phone would be interesting. The written word has always been a passion of mine and I figured I'd try the technique with a pair of reading glasses. With no flash available, I held the book up to the kitchen light until I could get a cast shadow. Then it was a simple matter of taking a few shots at the right angle and picking the gem of the bunch.

July 27th, 2010

2010-07-27T07:09:00.000-07:00

So I am walking around this morning, trying to come up with an image for today, and I look up . . . shoot some clouds and come up with an idea! I was thinking for my Spring Folio - A book on Clouds . . . might be a nice idea. Maybe call it Atmosphere? And that got me thinking about my camera phone. Artists walk around with sketchbooks and scribble ideas down all the time . . . so as a photographer, my camera phone is sort of like that sketchbook . . . visually recording ideas that I can extrapolate on . . . very deep thinking, this morning . . . =]

July 26th, 2010

2010-07-26T08:48:00.000-07:00

Masks are always fun to shoot . . . our host for yesterday's camera club picnic had a wonderful assortment of masks hanging on a wall. This one in particular caught my eye. Marvelous subject!

July 25th, 2010

2010-07-25T14:09:00.000-07:00

Spent the day at a Camera Club picnic - most of the time, indoors as it was a torrential downpour most of the afternoon! But the hosts of the event had a wonderful home with tons of plants and I thought they'd make a great subject for today's Cellular Image. Shot with the Vignette App.

July 24th, 2010

2010-07-24T10:12:00.000-07:00

Managed to capture this Praying Mantis hanging out outside my home this afternoon . . . I love photographing these guys in the Fall when they are nice and big. This is actually the first one I've captured so early in the season. This one was very young and nice, bright green, which is how it caught my eye. Now as the camera only as digital zoom - which is mediocre at best - I had to get right up on this little fellow - like an inch away! Took a lot of patience to get him, but photography is sometimes about waiting to get the shot . . . very happy with this!

July 23rd, 2010

2010-07-23T07:02:00.000-07:00

Antiques are some of my favorite things to shoot . . . this is an old Bingo game carousel. I love the rich tones of the wooden balls and the texture of the grain. Shot with the Camera 360 app's Tilt Shift feature to selectively blur out portions of the image. Added a 'grunge' overlay to give the image some texture.

July 22nd, 2010

2010-07-22T10:43:00.000-07:00

I got this sculpture for my wife as a gift, celebrating our first wedding anniversary after Peyton was born. I saw it and it totally reminded me of us . . . even the chrome dome on the male figure. Was perfect and makes me remember the magical moments we enjoyed we Peyton as a baby. Each and every year the magic continues to grow as we watch her turn into a little girl and eventually, a young woman.

July 21st, 2010

2010-07-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

So here's a shot of my work horse, my D2x . . . I thought it'd be neat to try a nice dramatic product shot with the Droid Eris camera phone and the Vignette camera app. I like the cool colors this setting gives off.

July 20th, 2010

2010-07-20T05:47:00.000-07:00

Did a bunch of shooting yesterday at a sunflower patch last night . . . thought I'd try the Vignette App's Pano function . . . turned out rather well, I think.

July 19th, 2010

2010-07-19T05:51:00.000-07:00

These are some Halloween decorations that the local craft store had on clearance . . . thought they'd make a great subject for the Retro Camera's "Sketch" function. Not too many choices when converting the image over to a sketch, but the result in this instance worked out very well.

July 18th, 2010

2010-07-18T07:51:00.000-07:00

I have always had a fascination with artists and the tools of their trade. So while at a craft store, i couldn't pass up a entire aisle made up entirely of artist brushes. Shot this with the new Vignette app for my Droid Eris. The more I shoot with my camera phone, the more fun I find that I am having . . .

July 17th, 2010

2010-07-17T16:23:00.000-07:00

Shot this with the new Vignette App . . . set the camera to the 35mm full bleed frame and sepia output . . . that's it and nothing else. Loving this new app . . . the creative possibilities are endless. Spent the day shopping in and around Rockaway and took dozens of pics with the new app . . . a great way to pass the time while shopping!

July 16th, 2010

2010-07-16T06:22:00.000-07:00

Got a brand new camera App simply called Vignette . . . and I am enjoying the heck out of it. There's a whole bunch of features I have yet to play with as I just got it this morning, but this one features light leaks like the classic Holga cameras . . . love that look of a washed out, poorly exposed image . . . very nostalgic . . .

July 15th, 2010

2010-07-15T08:16:00.000-07:00

This bridge crosses over the pond in Franklin, New Jersey. Shot with the Retro Camera set to Black and White. The trick to shots like this is to put your camera as low as possible. The normal view would be far above the rails, but to give the shot something interesting, I knelt down and show a few inches off the deck.

July 14th, 2010

2010-07-14T06:04:00.000-07:00

Landscape photography with a camera phone . . . still gotta abide by the rules. Something in the foreground to anchor the image and no horizon directly in the middle. This was captured early this morning at Franklin Pond with the phone's default camera. White balance was set to daylight - still amazes me that my little camera phone has a white balance setting! Cropped in Adobe's Mobile Photoshop App and softened just a touch.

July 13th, 2010

2010-07-13T05:41:00.000-07:00

I love simple . . . I had to sew a button on one of Peyton's dolls last night - a ladybug, to be precise. As I got the sewing kit out, all the various button we had fell out onto the kitchen table and I knew I had my shot. Taken with Retro Camera's Toy Camera setting . . . lit from above with the kitchen light . . . lovin' it!

July 12th, 2010

2010-07-12T10:47:00.000-07:00

Doors, windows and locks have always been a favorite subject of mine . . . Here I've used the Camera 360's grunge effect to add some texture to the shot and utilized Adobe's Mobile Photoshop App to convert the image from color to black and white . . . .

July 11th, 2010

2010-07-11T11:26:00.000-07:00

I'd never recommend shooting an entire wedding with a camera phone, but I was dying to see what I could do with it . . . here we have the bride and groom's first dance – and I have to say, it's far from perfect, but a great shot from a camera phone. This was shot with the Camera 360 App's tilt shift feature, which blurs out everything but where you've indicated on the camera screen. Then I brought the image into Adobe's Mobile Photoshop App to saturate it a bit more and I gotta say I am more than thrilled with this image!

July 10th, 2010

2010-07-10T07:42:00.001-07:00

Woke up in a very musical mood this morning . . . with the patter of rain on the room and the bass of thunder in the distance . . . so my piano was a no brainer for my subject today. Used camera 360's Black and White feature for this shot . . . then increased the contrast using Adobe's Mobile Photoshop App. Off to a wedding this afternoon . . . can't wait to see what I can shoot there!

July 9th, 2010

2010-07-09T05:49:00.000-07:00

My first attempt at a still life with a camera phone . . . having a blast with this. Image was captured with the default camera on the Droid Eris, then brought into the Mobile Photoshop App to drop out the color and add in the sepia tones. Tomorrow, we're heading to a family wedding . . . how about that?! Wedding photography with a camera phone! See the results on Sunday!

July 8th, 2010

2010-07-08T06:19:00.000-07:00

Sunsets are some of my favorite things to shoot . . . and where we're located, I am fortunate enough to have a stunning view of them each and every night. Thought I'd try the Retro Camera's Little Orange Box feature. This old Soviet style toy camera had a plastic lens that was prone to scratches and the camera body leaked light from all points. A very nice vintage feel to the image.

July 7th, 2010

2010-07-07T05:42:00.000-07:00

It seems the topic of every conversation/local news story of late, so I thought I'd pitch in . . . it's Hot!! How hot? 113 degrees at 6:30 last night! Wild. The insides of the car felt like an oven, but I braved the heat and near 3rd degree burns from my black leather seats to get this shot. This was captured with the Eris's default camera with only a little sharpening done in the Mobile Photoshop App.

July 6th, 2010

2010-07-06T05:45:00.000-07:00

Today, I chose to shoot with the black and white setting on the Camera 360 App . . . I went in nice and close to the flowers to give me a very narrow depth of field. Thankfully, there was no breeze to make them sway and I managed a pretty sharp shot. I pulled the image into the Mobile Photoshop App to adjust the contrast a bit and finished . . .

July 5th, 2010

2010-07-05T09:33:00.000-07:00

Took a nice walk this morning with Peyton . . . up above us, in the hills, are train tracks and I knew they'd make a great subject for today's image. This was shot with the default Droid Eris camera and processed in Photoshop's Mobile App. I softened the image a bit and bumped up the saturation a touch.

July 4th, 2010

2010-07-04T07:47:00.000-07:00

This is the first shot with my camera phone that I actually practiced a bit before I could do it. Fireworks are a bit tricky with a camera phone as you really have no control over shutter speed with the default camera. With Camera 360 App, I was able to use the "night shot" feature to slow my shutter speed way down. I steadied the camera and used the self timer to take the shot - it was all about luck and timing by this point. I took about 10 shots to get it just right . . . then processed in the Mobile Photoshop App to soften the noise up a bit . . . not bad at all, I think! The rest of my gallery (shot with my D2x) is forthcoming!

July 3rd, 2010

2010-07-03T06:34:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest things about having kids is that you get to eat all the cereal you did when you were a kid - and can't feel guilty about it! Here are some Cookie Crisps from this morning's bowl. I still am amazed at how close I can get the camera phone in to the subject. I knew this would be a bit longer of an exposure than I could hand hold, so I steadied the camera on the side of the bowl and held it as still as possible - I can't wait to try shooting some fireworks with it tonight!

July 2nd, 2010

2010-07-02T05:56:00.000-07:00

Shot this on the way back home this morning . . . perfect blue skies. I am completely blown away at the camera phone's ability to capture any detail in the shadow areas after shooting right into the sun. I even managed to capture a little sun flare in the shot! Really digging how creative I can get with this little camera phone! Shot with the default camera and processed using Adobe's Mobile Photoshop App.

July 1st, 2010

2010-07-01T05:58:00.000-07:00

Doing a lot of shooting for this Fall's folio edition entitled Final Destinations . . . so while I was in a local cemetery, I thought I'd photograph one of the monuments with my Retro Camera App. The sun was directly behind me, accounting for the washed out foreground, but I think it adds a very ethereal look to the image.

June 30th, 2010

2010-06-30T05:55:00.000-07:00

Remember the old Polaroid cameras . . . the ones that spit pictures out the front and took a minute or two to process? I loved those cameras for the immediate gratification they gave the shooter. This shot comes from the Retro Camera Apps version of the Polaroid camera. Unlike a real Polaroid print, this one will never fade!

June 29th, 2010

2010-06-29T05:37:00.000-07:00

Another image shot with the Retro Camera App . . . this time, I used the "Pin Hole" camera setting. I remember building my first pin hole camera in Mr. Horsefield's 9th grade science class. I was thrilled to see a high-tech App emulate the look of the old pin-hole results - so much so that I am currently building a pin hole camera with my daughter - who still doesn't get the whole concept of actually waiting for film to get developed. Should be fun!

June 28th, 2010

2010-06-28T05:45:00.000-07:00

I captured this image using one of my favorite camera phone apps, Retro Camera. There are four settings for this app, Barbl, Little Orange Box, xolaroid 2000 and Pinhole Camera. I'll be using this camera all week to showcase some of the neat features. Each image from this app comes with it's own frame - all done in camera. I shot was this image with the Barbl camera setting while sitting in traffic this morning. Thought the effect was perfect for a shot like this. Can't wait to show off more of the features!

June 27th, 2010

2010-06-27T06:18:00.000-07:00

This was captured with the Droid Eris's default camera and then edited with Adobe's Mobile Photoshop App. I bumped up the contrast on the image and then utilized the soft focus effect to soften up the edges a bit. You can find out more about the Photoshop App right here! While the video focuses on the iPhone as a platform for the App, it is available on more than the Apple product and the features are identical.

June 26th, 2010

2010-06-26T06:42:00.000-07:00

One of the things I concentrate on shooting with my big camera are architectural and/or design details. Love them - the little nuances that make a structure unique. This weaving is on a book shelf in our house. I used the tilt/shift function of the Camera 360 App to focus in on a few of the weaves, while keeping the foreground and background softly out of focus. Still amazes me that there are apps that hearken back to the old days of shooting. Love it!

June 25th, 2010

2010-06-25T04:39:00.000-07:00

This shot was taken with the FX Camera App . . . with this app, you're given the choice between several different types of cameras, including the one below, called Toy Camera. The subject is but one of the many antique typewriters I collect. The ability to drop the camera phone in nice and tight adds to my ability to acquire angles I'd find rather tough with my big, bulky DSLR . . . Very happy with this shot!

June 24th, 2010

2010-06-24T05:35:00.000-07:00

This image was captured near one of those old barns you see alongside the road . . . the wood was aged to this wonderful, weathered texture, grey and cracked along the grain. There was a solitary pop of color and I worked my camera phone in nice and close. I used the Photoshop Mobile app to soften the edges of the image, using the blur vignette tool, and boosted the contrast a bit to further pop the color. I am thrilled with this shot . . . hopefully it's inspiring others to rethink that little camera in your pocket!

June 23rd, 2010

2010-06-23T05:51:00.000-07:00

This first image was captured using the Camera 360 app from mAPPn, Inc. This is one of the stronger camera phone apps available for the HTC Droid Eris as it offers everything from a Black and White conversion to fun things, like a Tilt/Shift feature, which I can't wait to experiment with! Another surprising feature of the camera phone is the ability to shoot macro, without a macro setting. These rain drops are on the windshield of my car and my phone is about half an inch away from the first on you see in frame. Nice and sharp and full of contrast. Wonderful little shot from a camera phone!

June 22nd, 2010

2010-06-22T10:48:00.001-07:00

With this new blog, I hope to push the expectations on how people regard the little cameras contained in their cell phones. Much like Chase Jarvis, author of The Best Camera, I believe that the very best camera is the one you have with you. And using the mantra of another photographer I follow, David duChemin, "gear is good, vision is better" I hope to inspire you to take another look at how you can utilize your camera phone to take great pictures. Using only various camera apps available for my HTC Droid Eris, including Photoshop Mobile and Camera 360, I'll be posting images on a daily basis for your enjoyment . . . can't wait to hear what you think!