Cowbird

My first story “Yesterday’s Memories” on Cowbird was included on in a featured collection “Found Photographs” on the front page of Cowbird.com today. This poem, photo and story was also published here at Notion Tree.

For those unfamiliar with Cowbird.com, it is an interesting and different concept of collecting and curating meaningful content. I find it refreshing because it is different than the fast paced momentary gratification that is Twitter, Facebook, etc. Not that there is anything wrong with that, just that there are ways to use the resources of the internet for more permanent curating of creative content. Our books, magazines and letters of the modern tech age. In a way, the internet is still in it’s infancy with a lot of room for growth and direction. Blogs, photo and music sites as well as other avenues of communications are opening up and are encouraging a new age of writers and creative people by providing a platform in the clouds of opportunity.

Not that this so new, but there are ideas and concepts, like Cowbird, yet to be built and explored. Tech startups are growing like weeds. This is a time of opportunity. Some of the weeds will fall by the wayside. Some will become flourishing and thriving growth for our future.

Just some rambling thoughts for the day…

Chris Nielsen – Notion Tree

iPhoneography

iPhoneography, what is it? Simply put, it is photography made using an iPhone. Specifically iPhoneography is making, editing and creating images all on your iPhone. There are hundreds, make that thousands, of photo editing apps for iPhone. There are apps for taking photos, editing photos, creating and recreating images in a multitude of artistic ways. It is thoroughly amazing the images that can be created using a handheld device. We are limited only by our own imagination.

There are numerous websites dedicated to iPhoneography. These sites have news, tips, app reviews, and more.

Here are a few of the top sites:

http://www.iphoneography.com/

http://lifeinlofi.com/

http://eyephoneography.com/

http://www.iphoneart.com/

There are are many other sites and would really like to hear about more of them if anyone has recommendations.

One of my favorite sites is the previously mentioned http://www.iphoneart.com/ . IPA is much more than a typical iPhoneography website. It is a community of talented artists creating and displaying high quality iPhoneography photos and artwork. This community also provides user forums for tips, reviews, critiques, and so much more. This is the go to place for hands on help from friendly, helpful, experienced and knowledgeable people of all skill levels. IPA will be covered here in a post of its own in the future.

Of course, Instagram is a huge community of iPhoneographers with so many images posted daily it would be humanly impossible to see them all. Soon the Instagram app will come to Android phone users as well. Wonder what they will call their form of photography. Androidography? We shall see. There are also Flickr groups and other iPhoneography related groups and communities around the net.

iPhoneography is a phenomenon that is here to stay. It is my current primary form of photography. My iPhone camera is the one that is always with me!

Post Note: Photos included are examples of my iPhoneography. They can be viewed with further details and apps used here: http://www.iphoneart.com/Light_Imagery

Chris Nielsen – Notion Tree

iPhone Foto Art

Still having fun with my new to me iPhone 3GS and as a photographer the handy always with me iPhone camera is getting a lot of use. The aspect of having a camera that fits in my pocket with onboard photo editing apps and connectivity is thrilling. Shoot, edit and upload from anywhere. That is why the iPhone camera is my camera of choice right now.
 
 
 
 
Check out my iPhone Foto Art gallery on Google+/Picasa. All photos were made with the iPhone 3GS. All but the first few were edited on the iPhone. My iPhone has about ten photo editing apps onboard. Snapseed and PhotoForge2 with PopCam are the two I use the most. Between the two, they have many if not most of the features photographers are accustomed to using with Photoshop or other high power/high$ photo editing apps on their laptop or desktop. For about $10, the cost of my two main apps, the level of control and capability is amazing.

The usual photo editing controls and adjustments are available with some variations between the two apps. Then there are many filters to give your photos a special look, feeling and pizzazz. Some of these filters would cost many extra dollars as add on plugins and filters for Photoshop on your full size computer.

There are so many photo apps out there with many different filters and features available. One of the most comprehensive and helpful guides on this subject is How Did I Do That? - Free Step by Step Instructions for Creative iPhone Photography. Much appreciation and my hat is off to the author Cynthia Louden for this thoughtful, creative and did I mention comprehensive tutorial.
 
 
 
Keep in mind when viewing my iPhone photos that my camera is only the 3GS. The iPhone 4 and 4S cameras have even more megapixels and features. Also, most of my current iPhone photos are in square format for posting to Instagram where you can find me @chris_nielsen .

It has been said that the best camera is the one you have with you. Take advantage of the camera you always have with you and have fun too. I would love to see your iPhone photos, so send us a link.