There are no bad pictures; that’s just how your face looks sometimes. -Abraham Lincoln

Have you ever gone down a rabbit hole when you were online?  You know…you click on something that leads to something else and then something else and before you know it, you’ve lost an hour or six.  This happened to me while looking at some suggested apps for taking photographs with iOS devices: iPhone and iPad primarily.

First, let me assert that I am not a photographer.  I have a basic digital camera and iPhone 5.  I haven’t tried being “artsy” with my photographs.  I basically just point, shoot, done.  I know nothing about F-stops, apertures, lenses and the like.  However, through my rabbit-hole experience, I have found a few basic tools that have given me a new-found interest in the artistic side of photography.

First, I read a great article on taking HDR (High Dynamic Range) photos with iPhone.  I hadn’t heard of HDR before, but this article is very easy to follow and has good info.  Keep in mind, that iPads also can be used for photographs.  I downloaded HDR Pro FX app, Moku HD and also Hipstamatic App on my iPhone and iPad. Here are a few before and after shots taken with my iPhone 5 and enhanced with HDR Pro:

Before HDR Pro

After

Before

After

Before

after with Moku app

So, you can see you don’t have to have any talent to create some beautiful shots. I encourage you to play around with your iOS device camera and see what fun things you can do with them.  One more fun fact I discovered:  the volume button on your iOS earbuds serves as the shutter button for the camera.  When the camera is open, if  the earbuds are plugged in, you simply push the volume button on the cord and you can take a photo.  This is great particularly if you don’t want to be seen taking a photograph (People of Walmart upload maybe??)  I digress…

There is an online community I have recently joined for mobile photography.  MobiTog is the iPhoneography Community for iPhoneographers around the world to share their images and join a global community.  You can check it out here. It’s a great place to get tips, ideas and feedback on your photographs.

So, I hope you will try out some of these ideas, go down your own rabbit hole and have some fun!

Today we will do exciting new things.  Let’s get to it!