3 cool Hipstamatic combinations

3 cool Hipstamatic combinations

I have a hard time picking Hipstamatic combos.  There are a ton that are not too good.  But there are a few that I think are incredible.  I am not listing flashes because I don't use them enough to have an opinion on them.

Here is the photo taken with the regular iPhone 5 camera for reference.

And here are my favorites today:

Loftus Lens and BlackKeys B+W Film

I turn off all most of the lens and films in the shake to randomize feature, and the first ones I turn off are the black and white ones.  Maybe it's just me, but I feel like the black and white ones come up too much, more than the color films.  Annnnnnnd, I would rather take color and make it black and white later if I feel like it so I have the choice.  Buuuuuuuuut, when ever I do want to use a B and W film this is the combo I have in my favorites.  It really isn't black and white, just pretty desaturated.  I don't care for the month and year it adds to the bottom of the border, but that is easy enough to remove if I feel like it is taking away from the pic too much.  I also like the Loftus blur.  Some really sharp parts and some really soft parts.  I like this combination.

Watts Lens and Ina's 1982

This feels like the opposite of the combo above.  The images are real saturated and contrasty, sometimes too much and some detail is lost.  Sometimes though it looks really good and bright.  I use this if I want some colors to stand out.  The Lens does all the work, as it seems to me that the 82 film is the most basic film.

Jane Lens and Dixie Film

For regular pics.  The film has a little something going on around the edges to make it interesting, but this makes a pic that doesn't have too much weirdness going on.

I know I said 3, but Salvador 84 Lens and DreamCanvas Film

 

Don't use this for anything important.  It only makes 1 cool pic for every 30 you take, but when it does it is really cool.  I like this when I just want to keep playing and trying until something awesome happens.

I am going to go take some more pics now.  Get Hipstamatic if you think it sounds cool and haven't picked it up yet.

And if you don't want to pay for it, try freemyapps and build up some point and get it for free.

App Review - Decim8

This is not a good photo app.  This is a really fun app though.  It ruins your photos.  Sometimes making something pretty interesting, sometimes making something really dumb.  I like to use it to make a interesting random background, or make some twisted versions of an image and then layer them over the original whole or in parts.  You can make some really cool images this way.  There is also that 1 in 50 or so chance that you hit random and it comes back with something completely awesome.  This is a fun app if you have some time and feel like messing around, or if you want something that is way different that a lot of the average filter apps.

 The original image on the left.  A pretty cool version of the original after being run through Decim8.

Below are a bunch of screenshots of the image with random decim8ing done.

As you can see some look cool, some not so much.  Some let the original image show through more than others.  If you find an effect you like you can go into the recipes and keep using it, or just tweak it a little from there.  I usually just hit the dice and let the app randomize the effects.

If you want to mess up some photos, and do it with something other than the grunge or filter apps, give Decim8 a try.

App Review - Percolator

Percolator is a really cool app that does a handful of similar effects.  It mostly makes a photo into a bunch of circles.  The settings change the look, size and color of the circles.  It is the kind of effect that looks awesome but once you see it you instantly recognize all the pictures made with it as pics done with Percolator.

This is the original image I am woking with today.  It's my girlfriend!

Here are a few examples of what Percolator can do with a photo:

Sometimes the photo just doesn't fit the effect.  I don't care for these two.

Sometimes it works out.  I think the left is pretty cool, the right even cooler.  Now I probably wouldn't make a print of this by itself, but layered over the original with some blending and this could make an incredible photo.  In fact, I think that what I am going to go do now.  

If you think the above pics look interesting, give Percolator a try.

App I wish existed - A good podcast app

Even a decent podcast app.
It would be cool if they would automatically check and update new episodes whenever I am connected to WiFi.  I am going to have to try out Apples podcast app again.  I don't use it because it was a little buggy early on.  Maybe its time to give it another chance.
Anyone have another solution they use?

The Five Best Photo Apps...

in my opinion, right now.

I use my iPhone as a camera at least as much as I use it as a phone.  There are some photography apps that I consider a necessity, that if I restore the phone, they immediately go back on.  This list is the first five of those.

1.  This might not count because it comes with the phone, but I have to mention the stock Photo app.  It is fast and simple and takes most of my pictures.  I have tried a number of camera replacement apps, and they all seemed like good ideas, but I always end up using this more.

2. Hipstamatic.  See my other posts about this app.  It is fun and does exactly what you want, if you want to use it that way.  If you don't you can use the random feature and let it surprise you.  I wouldn't use it for taking my most important pics because it doesn't save an original, unfiltered version.  For fun random shots though, it can't be beat.

3. Camera+ This could make the list just for the Clarity filter.  It looks bad on some photos here and there, but is works on most.  The ones it works on, it drastically improves the photo.  Not in a spent a bunch of time in Photoshop way, but the best one button improvement I know of.  I also use this app for my cropping and the occasional border.

4. Camera TimerDC.  Not so much because I need a timer for 1 photo very often, but because I can set it to take a photo every 1 second for 100 photos.  You can change that to less photos or to more time if need be.  I use this a lot with a little pocket tripod when I am doing something like skateboarding with my girlfriend and want us both in the picture.  Or when some friends and I are watching the sunset and I want us all in the photos instead of someone being excluded.  The 100 shots means the photos aren't so posed and hit or miss.  The app shoots a bunch of us having fun and later I pick out the best couple.

5. Instagram.  I debated putting this in and in the end I had to.  It is just too good at what it does.  I don't ever use the filters, but to share photos and see photos it is perfect.  I probably spend too much time on Instagram, but it is just a really cool platform.

That is five.  I use them constantly.  There are plenty of other photo apps on my phone of course, some of them that do really cool things.  In a later post maybe I will highlight some of the apps that I don't want to use too often, but still don't want to be without.

The Funniest App I Have Review - Stachetastic Ultimate

I get amused by this app off and on.  Lately it is amusing me again.  I don't know why, I feel like it hasn't had any new content in 1000 years.  Its still pretty funny though.  You have a bunch of categories, in them are mustaches and beards and a bunch of other things to add to photos to make the people in them look silly.
The bad news.  This app saves in very low resolution.  So only spend some time with it if you are making these purely to laugh at and don't care if it is low resolution.
Anyway,

How about a few of Princess Sparkle...

The original, how adorable

and the new versions

Stachetastic Ultimate is a good app to play with with your friends and make everyone laugh.  Tons of accessories to add to the photos.  The pluses outweigh the poor resolution of the saved images.  Check it out if you have someone in your life that needs to have a funny hat put on them.

My favorite app right now... Hipstamatic

My favorite app sometimes is...

Hipstamatic.

I have been using it for quite a while and have all the lenses and films and keep buying them as soon as they come out.  It is just fun to try different lens and film combinations.  Most of the time, when I want good photos I just use a few combos that I know work.  Once in a while though I experiment and something really cool happens.
I feel like the app has a couple more features to explore like the multiple exposure and flashes.  I haven't really played with them much, but if I ever get bored with all the lenses and films it's like a couple more layers to try out.

Choose Film...

Choose Lens...

 

Take Pic...

The only 2 complaints I have about the app is there is no option to use the front camera.  That would be nice.  Also it would be great if it saved an un-effected shot at well as the Hipstamatic shot.
The only real complaint other people seem to have is you can't put the effects on photos in your library or camera roll.  That doesn't really bother me.  I like the app just fine as a weird camera, not a post processing app.  There are enough apps that do that.

Some Hipstamatic shots so you get an idea of what it does.
Here is an image taken with the standard camera app:

Here are similar shots taken with various lens and film combos in Hipstamatic:

As you can see it adds some cool filters and borders.