Wednesday
Oct202010
my camera phone and iPad
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 11:29 AM
This will come as a shock to anyone under 25 but here goes: I just got my first cellphone. No kidding. And I'm not the last holdout - I have a friend who tours the planet constantly and refuses to get one (although that's probably about to change as well). I know it's a bit of an oddity for a gadget geek but… I just don't like cellphones.
I'm not going to bore you with the details of the experience; suffice it to say I have a new Blackberry Pearl 9100 which is just as crappy as I thought it would be (more even) and if Apple ever makes an iPhone that's compatible with my provider I'll be switching in a heartbeat. That Steve Jobs rant everyone's talking about? well, he's right. I can't believe how clueless RIM designers and engineers are.
But the one thing I'm happy about is that I can now hit the camera phone photography playground. There's something about using a limited piece of gear that forces a different part of your brain to get in on the action, something I often do by forcing myself to use one specific prime lens for instance. The added bonus with a phone is it's inherent defects. And using those defects is what makes the experience interesting.
To emphasize the limitations, I've decided to go completely lo-fi: I send the pictures to my iPad and use CameraBag to edit them. This app allows you to apply a - very - limited set of filters and crops/borders that emulate various film looks (without the grain though). I've settled on the old-style instant film layout - kinda fits the genre to my eye. if I had an iPhone I'd be all over Hipstamatic… sigh. I might give Swankolab a try once they get an iPad version out the door.
I must admit, this has my creative juices flowing.
Still hate the phone though.
I'm not going to bore you with the details of the experience; suffice it to say I have a new Blackberry Pearl 9100 which is just as crappy as I thought it would be (more even) and if Apple ever makes an iPhone that's compatible with my provider I'll be switching in a heartbeat. That Steve Jobs rant everyone's talking about? well, he's right. I can't believe how clueless RIM designers and engineers are.
But the one thing I'm happy about is that I can now hit the camera phone photography playground. There's something about using a limited piece of gear that forces a different part of your brain to get in on the action, something I often do by forcing myself to use one specific prime lens for instance. The added bonus with a phone is it's inherent defects. And using those defects is what makes the experience interesting.
To emphasize the limitations, I've decided to go completely lo-fi: I send the pictures to my iPad and use CameraBag to edit them. This app allows you to apply a - very - limited set of filters and crops/borders that emulate various film looks (without the grain though). I've settled on the old-style instant film layout - kinda fits the genre to my eye. if I had an iPhone I'd be all over Hipstamatic… sigh. I might give Swankolab a try once they get an iPad version out the door.
I must admit, this has my creative juices flowing.
Still hate the phone though.
tagged Blackberry Pearl 9100, app, camera, camera bag, camera phone, cellphone, iPad, pictures in Shoots, photography | Tweet
Blackberry Pearl 9100, app, camera, camera bag, camera phone, cellphone, iPad, pictures in Shoots, photography | Tweet
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Reader Comments (1)
You jumped ahead of me, sort of. About a month ago I damaged my second smartphone. Somehow I can't keep a phone alive for much longer than a year. So I reverted to a cheap and basic phone, one that says it is a bit shock-, water- and dustresistant. My data subscription is gone too and as soon as my subscription ends I'm going to lower my minutes, I'm not using that much.
Strange as it might seem for an IT guy 9and tech lover in general), I found a smartphone doesn't add anything for me. I use it for internet but I'm always around internet access unless going to and from work (not a big problem as surfing and driving don't mix very well).
I really like the top-right photo because it is the style I like.