Creating a Photo Series on your iPhone ~ Hipstamatic ~ Stackables

It's no secret, I love the beach and I love the app Hipstamatic for shooting in certain situations where you want a very unique look. I went for a walk on the beach late in the afternoon and loved the fading light, tide pools and the sparse amount of people enjoying the beach.
My idea was to use Hipstamatic loaded with the Fashion Pak while adding exposure using the shutter speed dial in Classic Mode, I wanted a bit of an ethereal look in my images.
The latest Hipstamatic update added an in App "Settings" menu under the Photos Icon in the lower left of the Classic screen: Tap the photos icon, then Tap Menu, Then Settings, it is a bit obscure but there.
There are new features for 1. Capture: Raw original unfiltered image in a 2x3 orientation along with the Square Filtered image, adding more complexity to the app and for, 2. Saving: as separate files or versions. You will need to make choices there in the settings based on your preference for Capture and Saving...

Hipstamatic now has a lens preview switch, a small toggle next to the shooting screen, which allows you to see what the image will look like with the selected film and lens combo. It was a big update on September 1: there are lots more updated features. This app, though adding improvements, has gone from a really cool simple to use app, to a somewhat complex to a new user app. I still enjoy shooting in classic mode, as I love the large screen feature of shutter release...though the pro mode shooting side of the app is pretty cool too!
So much for updates, back to creating the images: After I captured the images I wanted, I took the images into the Stackables app applied a texture filter and saved it as a formula in the app so I could apply the same filter with the same opacity to the series I shot.
I then finished the series by adding my name using the app Impression. So give it a try..create a series with intent, a point of view and consistency...
Check out my Getting Started iPhone workshops at Capital Photography Center in Washington, DC

Snapseed new feature " Face" rocks!

Snapseed "Face" adjustments made and monochrome conversion.

Labor Day was a great day in South Bethany, De. Just being at the beach again is enough! But I also enjoyed a super beach picnic dinner with neighbors Don and Elayne and their children Matt and Michele. Don grilled awesome chicken, Elayne cooked corn on the cob and prepared some fabulous pasta shells stuffed with manicotti cheese...and we sat outside on the picnic table.
Now that's an American Labor Day!
After dinner, as the evening was coming on Elayne asked if I would take a family pic as Matt is now living in San Francisco, Snowy their family dog is now 14 years old, and they have their beach house on the market: it may be the last time they are all together at the beach. So I obliged, actually I was honored! I used their iPhone but I also wanted to use mine as no picture is ever done when you take it, it needs processing, even an iPhone pic benefits from some aesthetic tweaks!
So...I was excited to try a new feature in my favorite processing App, Snapseed. Google just added a new feature called "Face" in the artistic filter section of the iPhone app.
I decided to give it a try on the one pic I thought was best of their family. Well I was blown away by its ability to do the work. It has three adjustment features: Face Spotlight: Eye Clarity and Skin Smoothing. I applied differing degrees of each and was pleased with the result.
Below are the before and after images.
I also enjoyed making a Monochrome file and a vintage file of the same image with the "Face" adjustments already applied. I think it works great in the monochrome conversion as well.
Join me on my next iPhone class September 18 in Washington DC. Sponsored by Capital Photography Center!
Or in Baltimore at Johns Hopkins Homewood Campus this fall..one session is full and one has a few spaces so hurry!

After "Face" adjustment in Snapseed. Subtle but different. Zoom in for details.

Before

And then as we sat in the chairs in conversation, watching day fade into night, this happened in the sky!