Over the course of my photographic journey to date I have believed a there must be a solution allowing me to carry my latest images with me digitally. Also to have notes, checklists etc available to me digitally for reference in the field. More than once I thought the solution had been found only to realise the piece of equipment wasn’t up to the job for one reason or another.
Over the past three months I have wrestled with whether to buy a tablet. This process of deliberation reach a high on seeing my daughter’s new I Pad 2, especially watching my two year old grand daughter playing with a kids book app on it. This was the moment the seduction of me by Apple began to take hold.
A wander round the Apple store in Reading whilst Patricia shopped for yet more clothes in Next resulted in a conversation with a member of the in store team. This chat started to dispel some of the inhibiting myths that had previously made me not consider the I Pad. The biggest one was the assumption I needed a Mac desk top to sync it.
Two more weeks slipped by and I found myself in Southampton – Patricia needed an Ikea fix. This time I headed to the Apple store with a purpose. It was decision time, a case of put up or shut up and move on.
First and foremost the quality of customer service in an Apple store is outstanding. My question were answered efficiently and without sales pressure. My naivety around the subject of tablets was dealt with in an easy manner. My doubts and fears were assuaged and within the hour I left the store the proud owner of an I Pad 2.
That was four weeks ago and my love for the I Pad continues to grow. With in a few days I had come across two articles by pro photographers about using the I Phone Hispstamatic app to make quality images. An exploration of the app store enabled me to purchase this one for the I Pad 2. In a sentence you have a selection of lens and films to use each providing a nostalgic finish to for each image you make.
I have users a number of times now and below are two images made a couple of days ago.
The results really please me and I look forward to making more images in the future. It provides another dimension to my creativity.
There are three print quality options you can shoot at. In a couple of days the first prints of my Hipstamatic images will be in my hands.
There is a camera within the I Pad 2. As with the Hipstamatic app once you get used to holding the I Pad to shoot your image it gives me two additional camera options within the bag. The two images below were made using the camera and have had no post processing. Again the prints will be with me in a couple of days.
I have acquired a number of other photography apps. The Photographers Ephemeris, Depth of Field Calculator,ND Calculator, Lens.Lab ( which shows you in graphics you depth of field according to lens,sensor size, aperture, distance). These will become majors tools for me in the future.
Over the past few months I have become fascinated by the effect of a tilt and shift lens. The cost of the lens makes owning one a pipe dream. Then trawling through the photography category in the App store I came across the Tilt and Shift Generator. On the left is the before image and on the right is post using this App.
An Apple store is due to open in my home town enabling me to readily attend the workshops offered to maximise your I Pad. This piece of technology has has made a huge impression on me. The quality is so high and I have only just dipped my toe in water. Yesterday I found myself back in Southampton and had time to visit the Apple store. During a conversation with one of their consultants I was made aware of another photo processing app called Instagram. This is a free download and enables you to add a selection of filters to your image and share them across the world. Once I have had a play with it and write another blog post on my progress with my I Pad.
The early days of my photographic journey the overwhelming sense was a need to get to grips with depth and breadth of editing software. Today my approach is to try to get my image made in the camera. I no longer feel inadequate because my ability to cut and move or remove elements with the image created in camera may not be good enough. The apps discovered for the I Pad to date will enable some creative editing to be done simply on it. There is the growing sense of this acquisition being a major step forward on my journey.
Photograhic Journey 