I took a test on Cass’ lovely desk (I’m in Brussels!) and really like the result.
The first image is the hipstamatic, the second using camera+ and processed in photoshop, the third using camera+, cropping and processing in Instagram using Valencia. I think Hipstamatic is the winner with its soft warm tones and wide angle.

I really wish apple give let app developers access to exposure controls though. I’d love to be able to set the exposure manually and avoid horribly slow shutter speeds (blurry kids).

These two are taken with camera+ and processed in Instagram.

If you don’t have an iphone nor photoshop, billiant breaking news just in (thanks David!). PicMonkey is the perfect tool for those who want to process their images but do not want to invest time and money in photoshop. I am SO impressed. It has a ton of functionality presented in such a simple way. I was not impressed until I discovered you can “fade” effects just like we do with layers in photoshop. Give it a go!

Here is a before/after (poloroid frame on the after).

I love how records of daily life are so easy to capture.

Iphone photography has taken off due to the fab quality and fab apps so I’ll be trying to learn as much as I can and will share when I can. Check out this site for app sales and reviews. http://www.iphoneography.com/

There are a few camera apps around, camera+, pro camera and best camera are also supposed to be good. I’m using camera+. The red square is your focus point which you can drag anywhere in the screen. If the area you would like to focus on is different to that which you would like to expose for, click the red cross on the corner of the square and a circle will appear. Drag this circle to where you would like to expose. For instance, if you subject is looking too dark, drag the exposure point to a darker area and the camera will expose for that point making the entire image lighter. It also has a stabiliser in case of low light shooting, a timer in case you would like to jump into the photo and burst mode so you don’t miss the action shots.

Apart from playing with my new toy, we’ve been camping. No phone, no electricity, no fridges, no showers…. just a few smelly long drops. Sooo much fun, adorable gangs of kids going from tent to tent, everyday a long day at the beach bar one, crayfish and scallops were shared, cooked marshmallows a regular treat, sparklers a huge treat, pipis for a fun breakfast, star gazing (caught the end of a shooting star), being told to get out of the water as there was a shark (very) near by, returning home along the stunning coastal coromandel town route.

If that is your idea of a holiday in hell, perhaps you’d be better suited to glamping? I spent the day with the fantastic Good Magazine team out at Bethel’s Beach (Wainamu Luxury Tents) for their glamping feature. Incredibly beautiful canvas tent, wooden floor, wooden double bed, outdoor hot bath and shower, on the back of Bethel’s beach. The mag is packed with lovely pics of the day including my first cover, squeal

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I wish you all had (or have for those ongoing on the other side of the world) the most fabulous loving wonderful Christmas day.

xoxo

What I have experienced and seen more and more recently is that external hard drives break easily, they need to be treated like eggs. And if they don’t break, they can be stolen along with the your computer as friends sadly have recently experienced.

Workout your backup procedure now. It is devastating to lose photos of your family, holidays, treasured memories.
Here is mine, please feel free to share what works for you on my facebook discussion page.

a) backup on two external hard drives
b) upload chosen and processed jpgs to zenfolio (an annual fee, if you do sign up, use code K72-GND-SNR to get 10% off)
c) copy jpgs from zenfolio to smugmug(also an annual fee, use code Emo0efDu4p702 to get US$5 off)
d) documents, recent pictures, videos, music etc are all located in my dropbox (up to 2gb is free). Anything and everything (except my huge image collection) is located there.
e) Timemachine (macs) so if my computer dies or is stolen, can start her up the way she was.

Whew. I think I’m now covered

Dropbox, smugmug, zenfolio, all these online sites also allow you to share pics, videos etc with friends and family. Zenfolio also allows you to print your images directly using the consumer lab photobox (not sure on the quality, will test and let you know).

An incredible experience just photographing the event. Teams of four walk 100km(!) through a very long day and what must have been an incredibly long night. We were all fortunate to have glorious weather – two beautiful sunrises (one not so sunny bit it was close to the finish line!) and one stunning sunset. The teams were fabulous, showing amazing willpower, stamina and bonding, all in incredibly good spirits. My feet were sore (bad footwear choice), my shooting finger ached (professional cameras are so heavy), my voice raw from cheering them on (maybe not raw but there was a lot of cheering), yet it was of course nothing compared to what the teams were experiening. The most amazing moments were at and near the finish lines. I had constant goosebumps as the teams came in, capturing their joy and sense of incredible achievement as they finally crossed the line. Tears threatened to roll numerous times while witnessing the emotion of the finishing teams and their support crew.

Amazing.

Had another great day photographing the Oxfam Water Challenge 2011 in Devonport last weekend. A ton of fun but I need to remember to practise my sprinting for next year to get to the finish line before winning team. They were FAST.

Next weekend off to Taupo to photograph Oxfam 100km trailwalker. “The most life-changing, foot-slogging, friendship forming, group hugging greatest team experience. Ever. Four people, one goal, 100 kilometres, 36 hours. Your time starts now. “. See you there!!

We were reminded what it was all about at prizegiving. One billion people in our world live without safe drinking water. Water is key to health and quality of life. Such an important fundraiser. I was also presented with my own little prize Very proud.

Stephanie and I were work friends 20 years ago and haven’t seen each other since. So can’t wait to see her again and meet her gorgeous girls.

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It feels good to know we are helping in some way. Honestly, I have been so heartened so see the number of auctions on trademe that donated 100% of their proceeds to Christchurch. Almost every shop we went into had someway of accepting a donation. Everyone wanted to help. We want Christchurch to know we are there to support them.

Now we are watching a mind numbing tragedy unfold in Japan. One tragedy after another, each seemingly worse than the last. The tsunami that wiped out towns. Wiped out evacuation centers where thousands ran to to escape the wave but are now all unaccounted for. 10,000 missing from one town alone. Radiation levels are rising. I hope their spirits can be strengthened by support around the world.

Red Cross fund for Japan.