conkers and dappled shade

Sometimes you don't need a filter, just some dappled shade

Here's how I took this iPhone photograph

Obviously, I held the conker about 5 inches from the iPhone, about as close it can focus without a special macro lens. 

Cunningly, I placed my hand in a natural spot of light coming through the horse-chestnut canopy, so that the hand and conker looked spotlit against the darker background. I was careful to get some light visible through the spikes to make them extra spiky. I also waited so my daughter was in the right place in the background, collecting more conkers for a bit of story telling.

I tapped the phone screen on the image of the conker (not easy as you're holding and tapping with one hand) This told the iphone where to focus and what light to expose for (I think this is only possible with later iPhones, sorry!)

Snap. No filters. No Apps. 

Two new photographs posted each week

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grab a seat

My Sepia Victorian Park Bench - shot on iPhone 3GS

The original shot

Here's how I edited this iPhone photograph

Dynamic Light

I applied both the Orton and the Overcooked HDR filter to the image so see which I liked best. I preferred the Orton effect of soft focus light over the HDR, with all its hard detail. 

Noir

Set to Sepia, I placed a pool of light beneath the bench to lead the eye into the picture, then set all the dials to 100% so the image was incredibly bright. Gradually, I dropped the dials down to reveal just enough detail in the shot whilst keeping brightness very much the overall theme.

Two new photographs posted each week

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barn owl meets iphone

Barn Owl 'Willow' photographed at a falconry display

Original image

Here's how I edited this iPhone photograph

Camera +

Get rid of those bloody tourists with a close, square crop to just the owl and the tree

Add Scenes > Auto to lighten it just a little

Use FX Effects > Vibrant to make the red berries stand out in the tree

Use Borders > Simple >Vignette to make the tree more of a circle pattern behind the owl, a little evocative of the moon, this bird's usual companion.

Instagram

Tilf Shift (circle) round the owl so it really stands out from the background

Two new photographs posted each week

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