Sherwood Thomas

It seems the new smart phones are sold as much as cameras as they are cell phones.  Some of the photos that you can create on a phone these days are amazing and look professional.  Some not so much.  There are a host of apps that help make your photos more interesting.  One such app is Instagram.  To date my favorite iPhone camera app (also available on Android).  Instagram gives you a bunch of photo treatments to give your photos some added interest.  Its surprising how just adding this to a photo can make it look a bit more professional or artistic.  Of course some photos on our phones should just be deleted and not uploaded to Facebook.  For instance; if you can’t recognize anyone in the photo because its too dark or the people are too blurry.  Come on you know you’ve done it.  STOP already.  Ok I’ve done it too.

With instagram you’re sure to add some fun and interest to your photos.  When shooting with my Canon or Nikon I never take a photo and share it straight out of the camera without some kind of edit.  Now the same can be true with my iPhone.  Not all of the treatments suit my taste but, there are some pretty good ones to choose from.

This program can make even mundane items look artistic.  Like a guitar pic or a blank CD.  The analog look really sells it for me.

Each treatment has its own boarder too.  Now I don’t mean to suggest that you take photos of just any ol’ thing laying around your desk like I did when I first started playing with Instagram.  Maybe you take pictures of your dog.  My original model.

Or your hot dog.

Ok so the hot dog isn’t Instagramed.  It just has a bad vignette.  I couldn’t resist.  Dog – Hotdog!  haha.  I’m a foodie at heart and a proud chef of a handful of dishes.  This was my take on a Chicago Style Hotdog.  Yummy.  …Now I’m getting hungry.

The great thing about these cameras phones is it lets us capture some cool shots that we would never have been able to in the past, unless we were to lug our cameras around everywhere we go.  However, our phones are always on us.  We feel “naked” without them according my friend on Facebook today. So its no problem capturing ducks…

… or fire trucks!  The first one is a house fire.  Nobody was injured and the LAFD did their thing.

This one is a car fire. 

When we are out with friends, its always handy to have your camera phone with you.  But, nothing says the photos have to be horrible!  I must admit that bad Facebook pic are my pet peeve.  Again, I’m as guilty as anyone.  Inject a little creativity into your shots and instead of pics they become photographs.

My pal DT

Some times we are indoors and it can be to dark to capture good shots of our pals.  So get artsy-fartsy with the decor.

One of my best days of 2011 was taking in a ball game with my dad at Target field in Twin Cities Minnesota.  With a tilt shift feature you can make big things look like miniatures.

Another highlight was finally making it all the way up Lake Mojave to Hoover Dam.  It was a long trip from Cotton Wood Cove but well worth it.  The black and white doesn’t look half bad.

My favorite things to photograph with my phone or any camera are my boys.

I also hired a new assistant to help run the blog.  I can even take photos of employees with my iPhone and instagram them.

Yep I love Sci-Fi, Toys, and definitely “geek-out.”  Its becoming mainstream and chic to “geek-out.”  Maybe people always have been geeky but, we are more accepting of others and now free to be ourselves.

All the photos above were taken with my iPhone 4.  Instagram is a fun app to add a splash of extra interest to your photos.  If you know other camera apps that are cool let me know in the comments.  I’m always looking for new things to try.

Take Care.