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Photo trips with the iPhone 4S and iOS photo apps; past and present
It was about 14 months ago that I took a jaunt to Northern Arizona for a landscape photography trip. I hit Canyon de Chelly, a dramatic area of seldom visited beauty, and the iconic Monument Valley that straddles the Utah and Arizona borders. On that trip I had my trusty DSLR, a Canon 5D, and for fun I took some shots with the iPhone 4. I've repeated the trip, only this time with my iPhone 4S. What a difference a year makes! I still did the majority of my shooting with my Canon, but for a quick grab and a share with friends and family you can't beat the iPhone 4S photo system. In general, I still use Pro HDR. It supports the full resolution of the iPhone, is faster at rendering than previous versions, and still delivers an excellent image under high contrast situations. We now also have iPhoto for iOS, which I found invaluable for editing, but also for creating journals (iCloud users only) of photos that can be shared directly from the iPhone. We also have Snapseed from NIK software, that gives you a measure of control when editing on the iPhone that is both simple and powerful. I also used a free app called Magic Hour to predict the best lighting for photography. The only challenge is connectivity. I didn't see any wireless access in and around Monument Valley. There might be W-iFi in the hotel rooms there, but I didn't see any wireless networks come up. Even phone reception was spotty, and sometimes I saw the AT&T EDGE Network and sometimes not. At Canyon de Chelly near Chinle, Arizona things are a bit better. The town has cell service, and generally I could get on the EDGE network, although uploading photos is slow. The two major hotels in Chinle -- a Best Western and a Holiday Inn -- both have free wireless, so I was able to get some images out. The only downside of the visit was that I just missed Johnny Depp who was there filming the new Lone Ranger movie. I was also testing Place Tagger, an app that puts GPS data on your DSLR images by syncing your location to photos taken at the same time. Of course the iPhone automatically embeds that info when you are using the iPhone camera. I'll have a complete review of Place Tagger soon. I was also surprised at the number of iPhones being used by tourists. I don't really consider the iPhone 4S camera my primary photo gear, but for lots of people it is. I saw far more iPhones taking snaps than I saw Android devices or other cameras or camera phones. And like me, people were sending those images back via the web, or using Photo Stream to have them when they get home. Perhaps the biggest surprise was that the iPhone seemed to outnumber point-and-shoot cameras, at least in the places I was taking pictures. I have to say I'm impressed with how much heavy photographic lifting the iPhone 4S can do for photographers. It's becoming more and more mainstream, and with supporting editing apps, services like the iPhoto Journal feature, and of course with maps and specific travel guides, the iPhone is a one-device solution for a lot of casual photographers. Check the gallery for some iPhone 4S photos, and feel free to share any similar experiences you've had in the comments. Note that the images have been reduced in size and resolution for our publishing system. %Gallery-156386%
Best iPhone Photos: Monument Valley with Pro HDR
It's a landscape burned into the American historical consciousness. Utah's surreal and beautiful Monument Valley has served as a backdrop for countless Hollywood westerns. Now, our roving reporter and avid photographer Mel Martin has captured the vista right before sunset using his iPhone 4 and the Pro HDR application from EyeApps. Click the image for the full-res version. This is a perfect example of the great work iPhone photographers are doing in the field, and it certainly passes the jawdrop test: anyone seeing it is likely to exclaim, "Wait, you took that picture with a cell phone?" (By the way, Mel notes that this particular shot was taken without a tripod.) Read on for another image of "The Mittens," iconic stone features of the desert, and a dawn landscape.
Pro HDR adds geotagging
I've liked Pro HDR since it was first released. The HDR technique blends two or more exposures to capture better dynamic range in difficult lighting conditions. Apple provided some competition by building in HDR with the release of the iPhone 4 and iOS 4.1, but I still like the control that Pro HDR gives me both before and after the pictures are taken. One of the big drawbacks to Pro HDR is that the location metadata and other picture information was not saved in the combined image, so location and other EXIF data was not available. That meant the 'Places' feature from Apple wouldn't work. Now that's fixed. It was the biggest single complaint that users of the app had. Another advantage to PRO HDR is that it works on the iPhone 3GS and the 4th generation iPod touch, as well as the iPhone 4. It means owners of the 3GS haven't been orphaned when it comes to shooting great HDR pictures. HDR works best for stationary objects like landscapes or posed photos. If there is movement in the frame between the two images, the process will fail. HDR isn't for everyone, or for every situation, but used wisely, it can create dynamic photos that would be difficult to get without some help from the HDR process.
Pro HDR gets an update for iPhone and leaps ahead of the pack
It must be the week for HDR app updates. Yesterday we reviewed a solid update of TrueHDR, and now we have another terrific update from Pro HDR. Even if you're not into HDR photography, this is one to check out. High Dynamic Range photography creates an image from multiple exposures that are combined to overcome the limitations of automatic exposure control in cameras. The technique can recover details that would be lost in shadows, and keep bright areas, like the sky from blowing out. The update to Pro HDR, which has just been released, has a new fully automatic mode. Instead of taking two pictures with your iPhone, and manually pointing to the brightest and darkest areas, this new option analyzes the scene, sets the exposure accordingly, and then takes the two images without any user intervention. You can also use the manual mode if you prefer. The app also claims faster image capture and better alignment. %Gallery-99917%
