Always with me

It is hard to beat “The best camera is the one with you” by Chase Jarvis, but this is exactly what I want to write about in today’s post. I got my first iPhone, version 3, a bit more then a year ago and taken a lot of images with it, many of which ended up on the blog. Then, I started to submit images for stock, and became a “pixel peeper”, obsessed with how the image looks at 100% and noise and those things. A few weeks ago, I got a new iPhone 4. I am getting myself convinced to shooting with this handy camera I can always find in my bag.
First, for the small blog output, the images, especially shot in good light, are not that bad.

Take a look at those two images, taken within few minutes, with a big Nikon camera and an iPhone. In this order- meaning the Nikon image is the one on left, lightly processed in Lightroom, mainly to match the vivid look of the iPhone output jpg vs RAW image.

Secondly, it can in camera HDR. Well, not real HDR, tone-mapping possibilities and everything, but it can reduce some contrast between highlights and shadow.

Check the example image, and you can see it is not always beneficial. The top image is “HDR”, but the bottom, although it shows more contrast, has more vivid colors and overall, better look.

Next, those macro capabilities. I just love how close you can get to the subject. Just take a look at the flower photos or ladybug.

Last, but not least- there is a huge ampount of apps, many free or for just $0.99, to process your images in any way you need. True, it is hard to find one that does it all, usually you will need one for each task you want to perform, but some are just great fun. Today, for example, I am exploring the Focal Lab, suggested recently by Terry White on his iPhone blog. What it does in turns your iPhone photos into Lenbaby photos- and I love this effect. I took the example image doing shopping last week, and I really liked it and have not though it needed anything more. But the added blur made it even more pleasing and more interesting. Of course, the value of Lensbaby lies in the fact that you see what you get before taking a photo, and that you do not necessarily have to have the main subject in the center. But, for the small camera always in your back pocket, it is still great deal.

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