Author Archive
Green Screen-Like Effects with VFX Studio IOS App
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What do you do while you have a long wait in the airport? Angry Birds? Maybe. But what if you want to be a little more creative? Well, quickly download VFX Studio and have some fun. That’s what I did recently while waiting at Dallas Love Field for my flight back home.
The app is very easy to use. You simply select a photo from your camera roll or take a photo within the app. Once you do so, you simply select the “Tools” menu from the left side of the screen. From there you may select “Add Fx” to select the item you would like to add to your photo. Current selections include animals, blood, bones, bullet impacts, cracks, fire, light flare, lasers, lightning, makeup, scars, smoke, shadows, weather and weapons. Once you add the effect, you may place, size, rotate, or flip the effect. When you finish, you can flatten to merge the layers and save to your camera roll.
The app costs 99 cents and is worth it for lots of fun. But there is a serious use for it as well. While waiting in the airport I used the app to mark a location on a photo using the shadow tool. This is a fun app with some serious applications as well.
This is one you might want to check out. Because you never know when you might want to add a dinosaur to your Caribbean island theme. And I’ve found that it is much easier to use this app than it is to shoot a dinosaur in front of a green screen. Seriously. Have you ever tried it? Read More→
Get Your Next Photo Assignment with Rawporter IOS App
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The news media has indeed changed over the past several years. While newspapers have had stringers for many years, the advent of quality cameras in our phones has made capturing newsworthy photos or videos easier than ever. And with Rawporter, you have an outlet to sell your work.
Here is how it works. Download the app and set 
up an account. Once you do so, you are part of the Rawporter team. You can participate in two ways. First, you may upload photos and videos that you have already taken and make them available for use by Rawporter users. Second, you may respond to assignments that are sent out by news outlets and others.
So what is Rawporter all about? According to their website, “Rawporter connects media outlets large and small with everyday people who are willing to capture video and photos for them. Our simple App makes it easy for you to earn a little extra cash for being in the right place at the right time. Plus it protects your rights, ensuring you get the recognition you deserve.” Payments are made to the photographer by Paypal.
You can take videos and photos within the app, but you may also upload photos and videos taken with other devices. While the concept is a good one, I found that the website is much easier to navigate than the app. The app is handy for uploading videos taken with your iPhone or checking for assignments, but can be quite cumbersome when trying to perform other tasks. This entire service is still in the beta version, so I expect that improvements will be forthcoming.
Create HDR-like Effects with HDR FX for iPhone and iPad
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HDR FX is a really cool iPhone and iPad app
that lets you create some very attractive HDR-like effects. For those of you who are not photography enthusiasts, high dynamic range (HDR) photography involves taking multiple exposures of the same scene using different shutter speeds. If done properly, combining these multiple exposures will result in optimum exposure across the entire photo. This photography process has become so popular that the native iPhone camera now comes with an HDR option.
But HDR FX takes it to another level. While it is not actual HDR, this app does a nice job simulating HDR with filters.
The app is easy to use. The main screen contains only three options: camera, camera roll, and information. The camera option simply opens the existing iPhone camera, and imports the photo you take into the app for processing. If you select the camera roll you have an option to load from the camera roll or from Facebook. Once you select a photo you may use the crop tool in the center and click the check mark to select. From here you are taken into the HDR Lab, which includes 42 options divided into three categories: Scenery, Sky, and Ground. Once you select one, you may make adjustments, including manual adjustments, save to the camera roll, or send the image to other applications. Read More→
Make and Save Lighting Diagrams with Sylights IOS app
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Do you ever make lighting diagrams? Perhaps you are thinking about how the light will look in the studio, or maybe you want to be able to save a lighting setup that you liked. Regardless the reason for using it, Sylights iPhone and iPad app makes it easy to design lighting diagrams.
Simply click on the + symbol to add a new lighting diagram. At this point you will see a grid in the background, a menu bar at the bottom with options for “properties”, “discard” and “save”. At the top of the screen is where the magic happens. Simply click on the icon at the top of the page to see a wheel of options revealed. Here, you may select from backdrops, umbrellas, cameras, subjects, beauty dishes, reflectors, strobes, gels, softboxes, hair lights, gobos and other light sources. To select any of these simply tap on the item you want. From there, you may select the particular items you need.
Dragging items onto the screen is very easy to do. You may adjust the location and rotation of the components. From there you are ready to create. Read More→
Full Featured Photo Editing with PhotoToaster IOS App
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As you know, there are tons of apps out there that make your photos look cool. But some apps make your photos look cooler than others. PhotoToaster is one such app. I really like the way that you have access to all the main menu items from one spot. Menu items include “Recent”, “Photo Library”, “Camera”, “Clipboard”, “Tutorial”, “Email Support”, “Tips”, “Products” and “Follow ECP” on Twitter.
Once you take or select your photo, you have a lot of options for “toasting” your photo. When you select the tools menu from the top of the app, you may crop, rotate, straighten, or reduce noise. Cropping for apps like Instagram is easy, since there is a square option. But the magic really happens on the menu at the bottom of the app.
The menus at the bottom of the app allows you to add borders, texture, vignette, effects, and adjust exposure, temperature, contrast, and much more. The world icon on the bottom left provides global presets that let you quickly select multiple adjustments with one touch. There are lots of great selections under the headings “Basic”, “Deluxe”, and “Supreme”. You can also add your own presets or utilize your recent presets. Read More→
Catch That Elusive Image with Fast Camera for iPhone IOS
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Have you ever tried to photograph a lightning storm 
with your iPhone? Or how about that perfect shot of your puppy running toward you? Or that elusive cat that rules your house? Not easy, huh? My guess is that you would have to take lots of bad images to get that shot you are looking for. But what if you had an application that would let you capture lots of images within the application and save only those that you wish to save? That application is called Fast Camera, and it’s available to you in the App Store for only 99 cents.
It’s very easy to use. When you open the app it starts taking photos immediately. Ten, twenty, thirty…the app takes up to 800 pictures a minute. Eight hundred! Once you have taken the number of pics you want, just press stop. You may then click Review to see thumbnails of your photos. You can then preview photos, save the ones you want to the camera roll, and delete the rest. Before the most recent update, there was a problem with the app sometimes deleting your photos when you close the app. However, the latest update documentation states that this issue has been solved.
The latest update also allows you to purchase an update (for 99 cents) that allows you to export your photo stream as a video.
This is a great app that I highly recommend. I have found a number of opportunities to use it, as you can see from the gallery, it is lots of fun and allowed me to get some shots that I never would have been able to get otherwise.
So check it out!
All the best…Mike
Create Cartoon-Like Effects with Halftone for iPhone and iPad
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There are lots of photo effects apps out there, but very few that are really different and unique. Halftone is one such app that lets you create cartoon-like effects from your photos. When you first open the app it displays clear instructions. There are two menu items at the top of the page. The Settings icon in the upper left corner allows you to select dot size, dot strength, dot gain and many other settings. At the bottom of the screen you may view more information about the app and watch a video about the app. At the upper right hand corner is the export button.
Now for the fun part! Just start at the bottom left corner and click the camera icon. Now you may take a photo or choose one from your camera roll. At this point the photo comes up with the most recent settings. Click the paper icon to choose your background paper from 27 choices. Click the next icon to select your layout from the 9 available. Click on the text boxes to change your text. Click on the text balloon icon to bring in a new text balloon, select a style, and type in your text. The rubber stamp tool lets you add graphics. Just click on the tool and a graphic will appear. Click on that graphic and it will allow you to select from 28 graphics. You may also select the color on some of them. Finally, the text icon allows you to change font size and style. Read More→
Photoforce App for iPhone and iPad Allows You to View Your Facebook Photo Stream
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Okay, so I don’t use Facebook. Yes, your great grandmother and I are the two who are not on Facebook…But I know that lots of you are on Facebook. So when I saw Photoforce, I knew I needed to review it.
No app could be simpler. Once you download and sign in on Photoforce using your Facebook account, you are able to view the photos that your friends post on Facebook. That’s all. So if you want to see your friends’ photos in an attractive filmstrip format, check this one out. It’s free and easy to use.
So let’s cover how it works again. Download. Sign in. Enjoy.
Go forth and do likewise.
All the best…Mike
Viddy: It’s Like Instagram for Video
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I am not much of a video guy. So when I first saw the app I downloaded it and never used it until someone else told me about it. I first heard someone talk about Viddy on Episode 41 of The Digital Photography Cafe. A couple of days later my youngest son, Lane, asked if I had Viddy on my phone. So I dug around and found it and decided to check it out.
Viddy has been described as an app with the potential to be the Instagram of video, and has received a good deal of attention from the company’s ability to raise capital and to partner with various celebrities including Snoop Dog and T-Pain.
So how does it work? If you have used Instagram, the interface for Viddy will seem quite familiar to you. Like Instagram, the menu items at the bottom are the key to moving around. Start with the film icon on the bottom left. Clicking this will bring up the Viddy stream for those you follow. You may also select, at the top of the page, to view the featured videos, and those that you have liked. The next icon on the bottom is the fire icon, which shows you “What’s Hot”. Here you will find popular, trending and newest videos. We will skip the middle icon, the camera, for now. The next menu item is Activity, which shows you the activities of your friends. The final icon shows your data, including your videos and the number of people you follow and how many follow you. Read More→
To Do List on Steroids: Priority Matrix for iPhone, iPad and Mac
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Are you an organizer? Do you use To Do lists to assure that you get everything done? Are you unfulfilled by your current To Do list? Do you long for something more…
Okay, that’s a bit much. But I do like To Do lists, and I like my To Do list to be more than just a list. So you can imagine my giddyness when I discovered Priority Matrix for iPhone and iPad.
More than just a To Do list, Priority Matrix by Appfluence is a full-featured planning tool that I have found to be very useful. Rather than focusing solely on what you need to do, Priority Matrix lets you prioritize that which is most important. I really like the graphical format that lets you see your list all on one screen. To take a closer look at any of the four quadrants, you simply move the arrow icon with your thumb. You may also reorder items manually, alphabetical, by level of completion, and by date due. It is easy to view the items that are complete or are not complete. Alternately, you can view all items and with one button delete all completed items.
Adding an item is easy. You simply press the + button on the menu bar. Enter your title, the percentage of completion (which you may update at any time), select the quadrant, set the date due, and enter any notes.
Now a word about the quadrants, which include:
- Critical and Immediate – This should be your priority.
- Critical but Not Immediate – This is something for which you should plan.
- Not Critical but Immediate – Do you really need to do this one? Can this be delegated or deferred?
- Not Critical and Not Immediate – Why bother?
One feature of Priority Matrix is that you may post your list on the cloud at no cost, with automatic synchronization to your iPhone, iPad, and/or Mac. You do have to purchase the apps separately for each device, which is a bit of a pain, but understandable since each is a bit different and the synch to the cloud is free. The iPhone version (which is what I use) is $1.99; the iPad version is $3.99; and the Mac version is $19.99. Read More→
