Hipstamatic Oggl ~ TinType ~ Alt Photo

App: TinType by Hipstamatic LLC

Hipstamatic Classic has long been one of my favorite shooting apps and one I teach in my intro to iPhone Photography workshops. Lately I have been revisiting two other App products by Hipstamatic LLC, TinType and Oggl. TinType launched in the fall of 2014 and Oggl launched in May 2013. TinType is a full resolution, one trick, pony, producing effects reminiscent of daguerreotypes, tintypes, with a few processing choices, such as blur, grain and frame,  but for .99 in the App store it is worth giving it a try if you are running iOs8 or later and like those looks. It has potential but does not have the variety of looks as in the App Alt Photo by Alien Skin Software. (Even tho Alt Photo has not had an update since Dec 2012 it still functions on iOs 8 using the iP6 producing a full resolution file.)

Oggl on the other hand is an immensely deep App that requires a subscription either $3.99 for three months or $9.99 for a year. Oggl will allow you to import images from your camera roll then allow you to apply any Hipstamatic combo of Film and Lens that you have purchased using the Classic Hipstamatic App.
You can also shoot with Oggl making exposure choices by moving the on screen reticle around the scene while composing your image. The one thing you can't do using Oggl is shoot with Oggl and have a 'standard' unfiltered image file delivered to your camera roll. For those that like to shoot Oggl with their iPhone and process on the iPad this poses a problem...because each file shot with Oggl will have the recent combo applied while saving. I sent a note to the developer requesting the possibility an update that would make saving an unfiltered image file to your camera roll that was shot with Oggl. If that happened you could then shoot with Oggl and process the image on your iPad with Oggl options. 

The one thing you can do in Oggl by choosing exposure is create two images with different dynamic light range. In the hotel cafe I visited this past week, I saw a scene I liked and wanted to use Oggl to test capture two different exposures to then further blend in Pro HDR.

Image 1. Oggl single shot exposed for the bright outside light

I liked the window light with blinds so I captured  Image 1 for the  blinds and while holding my iPhone in the same spot and as still as I could, quickly moved the exposure reticle to create a second exposure for the light on the sofa in Image 2.

Image 2. Oggl shot exposed for the dark interior light.
(outside light blows out and detail is lost in the blinds)

In this shot now you can see the interesting light falling on the sofa but the blinds are beginning to lose interesting detail.

In this the combined processed image below, using Pro HDR you can see both detail in the window blinds and the interesting light falling on the sofa.

Image 3. Combined processed images in Pro HDR allows both the inside light on the sofa and the bright outside light to have detail as well as the light on the window blinds.

My next day long iPhone photography class is April 12 in Washington DC...if you might be interested in attending CLICK HERE for more information and registration.