iPhone Diva Lynette Sheppard’s 10 Must Have Apps

I've been asked by beginning iPhoneographers and professionals alike for a list of my fave apps. The problem, as I always tell them, is that I switch preferences day to day. My favorites are usually the one(s) I've just used. I'm not fickle - I just fall in love with new apps and/or old standbys on a moment to moment basis. However, if you could only have 10 apps (how crazy is that?), these are the ones I think you should start with:

Perfectly Clear        Best 1 stop shop to fix pix, superior noise removal

Snapseed                The baby photoshop - best optimizer by far

FXPhoto Studio        Special FX including frames

Pic Grunger              Vintage and grunge effects

Autostitch                Panoramic - best

Pro HDR                    Can shoot and do HDR or process from library

TouchRetouch           Content aware healing, removal unwanted objects

Simply BW                Absolute best B and W app - like a teeny Ansel Adams living in your phone

Autopainter              Cool painting app

Blender                    Great app for combining images

This will keep a photographer busy for years. And likely whet your app-etite for more.

The photo today showcases ProHDR and TouchRetouch in particular. When I drove past this Moloka`i Hawai`i church with the great Jesus Coming Soon sign, I stopped and took the photo in Pro HDR. This app combines a darker image exposed for the sky with a lighter image that opens up the church.

I then exaggerated the HDR with Simply HDR. (You could do a similar effect in Snapseed, using the Drama filters.)

I love how the image pops now, but those pesky telephone wires were bothering me. I took the image into TouchRetouch and erased them. Often TouchRetouch will easily remove an object or shadow within moments. This was quite a bit trickier, especially on the face of the building and took me a painstaking 20 minutes. But it worked, I'm happy with the final frame. I did all the processing on my phone (my iPad was home.)

FYI, the free version of TouchRetouch has a watermark on each image, so you'll want the one where you have to pay a whopping 99 cents. So so worth it!

Note: if you look closely, you might see the auntie sitting on a bench to the left of the church.

Grand iPhone Photo Art in the Grand Canyon

Beautiful Saddle Canyon has some of the most sublime reflections in the Grand Canyon. Pro HDR, Snapseed. That's all folks.

The iPhone does a great job of focusing close-up. This sacred datura blossom fills the frame in the foreground leaving the background of the river and canyon to go soft.
Pro HDR, Snapseed. I also did a version without the bug, using Touch Retouch.

OK, enough of the straight shots of beauty. Here is a "painting" of a wooden dory, the glorious and elegant craft we travel down the Colorado. Effect was created by using Slow Shutter Cam.

And now for the labor intensive art. Did a watercolor painting (as in did all the brush strokes with my finger on the iPad) with PhotoViva app. I prefer doing the strokes myself when I can, rather than letting Painteresque or Autopainter do it all. Did a color sketch with Snap and Sketch app and combined the two in IRIS app. Finally, added a little extra texture in IRIS. Took about 45 minutes. I love the process as much as the final frame.

Red Jalopies iPhone Style

In Bridgeport, California, Dewitt and I were treated to 100 year old automobiles crowding into town for an annual gathering. Followed them all over town with our iPhones at the ready. As my iPhoneography pals say, "If it's red, shoot it."

I used Hipstamatic: Dreamcanvas and Tejas to capture some of the details of the story. BTW, Hipstamatch is a must have app if you want to have an idea which of your kabillions of lens/film combinations will give you the desired result.

 To illustrate this collision of worlds, I used Painteresque and then blended the result back with the original in IRIS. Retouch removed a distracting chimney spout. I think they were buying oil, all these jalopies are in beautifully restored condition and they all leak oil. The owners carry big pieces of cardboard to put under them when they are parked.

 Autopainter app, IRIS to combine, Snapseed app. The town looks as vintage as the cars.

Smoosh: New Fab Painting App from Pixel Blend Creator

Pixel Blend, a painting app that simulates the process of Time Zero Polaroid SX70 emulsion "painting" is one of my favorite apps. Now, Michael Valdez has come out with its easier to use cousin: Smoosh. (Smooshing is what we SX70 enthusiasts used to say we were doing when we moved the emulsion on the Polaroid prints.) I tried it and I love it! It's intuitive and user-friendly - even if you've never heard of SX70 or Time Zero or heaven forbid, Polaroid.

To test it out, I pulled up a "nothing" shot of a rose that I took intending to paint it one day.

I painted (smooshed) it. Even took out the bug on one petal just by smooshing. Cool. It's still just an ok shot, but the paint strokes are wonderful.

 I finished it off with cropping and adding a couple of textures.

 My good friend and photographer Theresa Souers challenged me to "paint" one of her photos so she could watch the process. (Seriously a bit like watching paint dry - not a spectator sport, but we had wine so it went okay.)

 She had this lovely shot of a beached red canoe, mountains in the background, nature all around. After warming and toning with Tiffen PhotoFX app, I set about painting with Smoosh. I liked it a lot, but decided it needed something (always). So I took it into Painteresque app, which is way too much, but combined both images in IRIS app and voila. We both liked it. Collaborative art, once again.

iPhoneography Collaboration In Lake Tahoe

Photography can often be a solitary pursuit. Yet the creative vehicle can get a kickstart from just hanging out with other photographers. A few weeks ago, John Derby, iphoneographer and contributor to this blog, visited me in Lake Tahoe. We thought it would be fun to share a couple shots from each of us and a collaboration photo from both of us.

We each shot modes of transportation.

John's "Pink Chevy"
Location: Lake Tahoe, California, USA Equipment: iPhone 4s, iPad 2 Apps Used: Snapseed, Pro 645, Photoforge 2, Big Lens, Moku HD

Lynette shot this classic wooden boat at the Tahoe Keys marina.
Apps: Pro HDR, Camera+, Romantic HD

Of course, the landscape caught our eyes - as always.
Lake Tahoe Sunset shot by Lynette, walking home from dinner at Zephyr Cove Lodge.
apps: Pro HDR, Pixlromatic.

John went all Ansel on me when he shot this black and white stunner.
Title: Emerald Bay
Location: Lake Tahoe, California, USA
Equipment: iPhone 4s, iPad 2
Apps Used: Snapseed, Pro 645

Finally, John shot this old car and challenged me to app it.

Which turned out to be way too much fun. I used Big Lens to blur the background, Retouch to remove a couple annoying distractions, Simply HDR to pop the car and add a vintage look to the scene. Finally, texture and framing in Camera Awesome (by SmugMug).

A Glissando of Gondolas

If a group of larks is called an exultation, what do you call a bunch of gondolas? A glory of gondolas? A glide? A glissando? OK, maybe I'm going overboard but it is hard not to wax poetic about these slender craft in Venice. I took way too many iPhone shots of them and love them all. I used Slow Shutter Cam to actually paint these moored craft in the dawn light on the Riva degli Schiavoni. I used to think that the light in Titian's paintings was enhanced by a significant amount of imagination but now I see he was just painting what was right in front of him.

I moved the camera during 16 exposures with Average Cam Pro app to create this etched drawing effect.

Simply HDR app help pop this shot of a gondola whispering down the canal.

Creative Photography and iPhoneography Workshop

 Sunset in Kapuaiwa Palm Grove, Moloka`i Hawai`i    © lynette sheppard  iPhone photo

Jack Davis, Photoshop guru, creative animal, and iPhoneography maniac is once again teaching in beautiful Moloka`i, Hawai`i this fall. But this workshop will be a little different. Sure, Jack will explain his down and dirty, way cool optimizing in Lightroom and Photoshop 6. However a major focus will be creative iPhone photography. Woo hoo. The workshop will take place from Nov. 3 - 10 at the beautiful (and photogenic) Hui Hoolana retreat center. Jack will be joined by former National Geo photographers Dewitt Jones (aka handsome hubby) and Rikki Cooke, as well as yours truly. It promises to be a creative blowout. Click here to download the brochure and information about registration. And just to whet your appetite, here are a few of my iPhone images from last year's workshop.

 Looking back at the Palm Grove after walking out in the calf deep ocean.

 Colorful Moloka`i Church

 Ruins of Church at Halawa, East End Moloka`i

 HIbiscus and Bee - Kalani's Flower Farm   East End Moloka`i  © lynette sheppard

 Plumeria Blossom on Leaf - steps from Hui Hoolana.