National Police Memorial ~ App Stacking: Snow Daze ~ Stackables

Seems fitting since it is snowing that I make this post on Snow Daze by JixiPix and Stackables by Samer Azzam, for processing a couple images I made in Washington, DC at the National Police Memorial. The image above was captured using BracketMode by CogiTap Software, delivering two exposures to the camera roll, one light for the dark areas in the scene and one dark for the bright areas in the scene.

Bracket Mode capture image for bright sky

Bracket Mode capture for dark shadows

The two images captured by Bracket Mode were blended in Pro HDR by eyeApps LLC selecting the Actions: HDR from Library menu option, to achieve one exposure, then adjusted for tone and color and saved to camera roll.

Combined Bracket Mode exposures in Pro Hdr

Then I imported the blended image into the app Stackables and applied one layer of adjustment called Bleached in Blend mode "Color" which rendered the image into a monochrome file. I saved that image to the camera roll.

 Then I opened that image in Snow Daze by JixiPix and applied both a cloud filter and a snow filter, making adjustments to each until I achieved my desired look.

Cloud strength adjustment menu choice

Snow adjusted image menu choice

Once I had the look I wanted in Snow Daze I saved that image and then imported that image into Stackables to finish it off.

First layer in Stackables: Filter Cotton Clouds:  Blend Mode: Overlay Opacity: about 50% Then hit the + icon to add another layer

Second layer in Stackables: Filter Memoir (in app purchase) Blend Mode: Hard Light Opacity: about 55% then I added one more layer by hitting the + icon.

Third layer in Stackables: Filter Winter Frost: Blend Mode: Color Opacity: about 30%

 Thats it...here is one more image I made in a similar process and added a frame effect in PhotoToaster. If you like working with apps on your iPhone, I would love to see you in one of my iPhone workshops sponsored by Capital Photography Center.
Here is a link to my iPhone workshops sponsored by Capital Photograph Center. iPhone workshops Click here.
You can also catch me at The Horizon Photography Summit for a one hour intro to iPhone imagery. Click here.
Or Join me for a six week session in iPhone photography at Johns Hopkins Homewood Campus. For Johns Hopkins info Click here.

My Ten Favorite iPhone Photo Apps

Right out of Hipstamatic and moving down the road of iPhone Photography.

Sorry, that it has been a while since I made an iPhone Blog post. Yes, I am still using my iPhone for photography but just have been too busy to make posts..hopefully I will have more time this year.

As the year 2015 rolled over I realized it has been four years since I bought my first iPhone and started "apping up" images...and what fun it has been!

Over those years there have been some Apps that have developed into my favorite, quality apps, that are consistently updating for shooting and processing....(there are more but I wanted to keep it to ten!)

Here is my list at this time: 

(I would love to know what apps would make your Top Ten. Feel free to comment.)

For image capture I enjoy: 

1. Camera+ by tap tap tap: Camera+ continues to be my go to native camera replacement app. 

I love the quality of image it delivers and the file size is still full resolution. Also the developers continue to make improvements with easy exposure, and focus adjustments with the ability to lock focus and exposure if desired. It also has built in a pretty cool processing engine with the ability to add many layers of adjustments while adjusting the intensity of the effect.

2. Hipstamatic by Hipstamatic LLC: I still love this app for its analog look, large file size and amazing combos of different effects...and the developer continues to make updates as iOs systems update.

3. Average Camera Pro by Dominik Seibold: This app was developed to get the most out of low light shooting, but I love it to make multiple exposure effects and over time the developer has continued to update as iOs systems update.

4. Slow Shutter Cam by Cogitap Software: Yep, its my slow shutter camera app for long exposure, pans and swipes with lots of options, such as Motion Blur, Light Trail, Low Light and now Time Lapse with intervalometer. The developer continues to make enhancements and updates as iOs systems update.

For image processing I enjoy:

5. Snapseed by Google, Inc.: This app is my go to for  initial "basic" processing of my iPhone images.

6. Stackables by Samer Azzam: I love this app which launched in 2014 and has had several enhancements and improvements since its launch. It has beautiful textures and effects with the ability to use them in layers, choose blend modes, adjust opacity and save favorites as presets.

7. Glaze  by Gilles Dezeustre: If you know me, you know I LOVE this app! Its my painting app! With so many options for custom images and effects along with masking....

8. ImageBlender by Johan Andersson: This is my image blending app of choice for its easy to use interface, ability to, blend, mask, switch, and arrange multiple images together.

9. Decim8 by Kris Collins: This is my app to make abstracts...it "fractures or destructs" your images into amazing patterns and abstractions. There are many selections for destruction all providing amazing and sometime crazy "fractures". Often I will make several images and save them only to blend them back with Image Blender, then paint them with Glaze.

10. FrontView by Mediachance: This is a perspective and aspect ratio adjusting app I use for architecture straightening. It saves at full resolution and has an easy to use interface.

 I hope to be sharing more images and processing with you in 2015. 

You can find my iPhone workshops on the Capital Photography Site. Please click here for more information on my workshops.

I will also be teaching a six week night course in Johns Hopkins Odyssey program from February 23-March 23 on the Homewood campus in Baltimore. If you are interested here is a link for more information.