Maximizing Potential

One thing with using a small camera on a Android phone, and a short focal length of around 2mm or 4mm, you end up with a massive depth of field that you can't really do much with.  If you could adjust the aperture wider than ƒ/2.7 at least you'd be able to work with more.. But of course, that's it.. max and minimum aperture for the camera is ƒ/2.7 so you don't have much to work with.
But at least you have a little bit of exposure control, such as the metering, through SPOT, or Matrixing, or even center-weighted averaging.  Can go +2 or -2 for exposure, and even change the ISO settings from 100 through to 800ASA.  Personally, I wouldn't dare shoot at anything beyond 200 on this phone.  Noise factory city beyond 200!  I mean, the sensor is the size of a 110 perforation!

So you have some work cut out for yourself in post.  That's not exactly a bad thing, if you don't mind trying different things.

One thing that I find essential is more contrast in B&W images, as the tonal ranges suck.  At least if captured solely in B&W on the camera.  It is terribly flat!
Nice and sharp, absolutely, but a complete lack of tonal range, which is unfortunately.  Everything is a light gray colour.  Terribly flat image, but it's easy to add contrast than to take it away.  Plus there really isn't much in the way of a dynamic range on such a small digital sensor.

Nonetheless I persevere and use the camera whenever I can.  Something to help soothe the beast, after all.

So without further adieu, here are some images with a little bit of processing to increase the effect and punch of a Camera Phone.

Petzval Effect

Spot Focus Rails

Perspective

Shifted

So a bit of post-work and a few images taken on a camera phone can look like something taken with a much higher end camera.

My favorite that I have taken with this camera so far is the Petzval Bridge.
Added a change in the focus, plus some Radial Blur in CS6, and you get a Petzval effect with strong swirling.

Until next time, keep those shutters firing!

Android Portraits

I seem to keep blogging about this little Android phone of mine.  Sure, maybe it's a little "Hipster" but I am really taking a liking to trying this silly camera for various different styles of photos.  From portraits, to landscapes, to still life...  It's just a fun camera to use.

Sure, it's not film, and I find myself adding film effects in post anyway, but when the only camera I have available to me is a camera on my phone, I need to feed the beast somehow..

This time around, using a borrowed reflector (gold side up) I had my wife find a pose, such as this one, and took a photo.  Slightly enhancing it a little in Adobe Photoshop using Niks ColorEFEX Pro.

I really think I should try out a Portrait session with this little phone.  It might be a fair bit of fun!

Under The Bridge

I must have driven passed this bridge trestle a dozen or more times.  And almost every time I drive by it, I can see myself wanting a photo or two of it.  No matter how many times I have driven by, I have said to myself.. I should get a photo of these Trestles..

Well I finally did it.  I was driving under, and got stopped at the Lights (Red) and had a pickup in front which set me at the perfect spot beside the Trestle to get a shot I want...

Taking out my trusty Android Powered Smartphone, coupled with a 8MP camera (I don't believe in Megapixels anyway) and took this image.
Now, it was very flat, poor tonal ranges, and a almost complete lack of contrast...  So I copied the image to my desktop, loaded it up in Photoshop and started to make some modifications..
Adding some heavy vignette and upping the contrast, deepening the shadows and adding a "PUSH" to the image..  I have achieved an almost "pinhole" type look to it.

As a fellow film photographer on Flickr said;

"Cecilia Temperli 

(11 hours ago | reply | delete)

I think this is from an era gone by! :-) The more rivets, the better! Looks like a sieve holding rusting steel girders together. Great shot!"

Yup.. I couldn't have said it better!

Until next time, keep those shutters firing!

Making Due..

Recently my Changing bag ripped, and became no longer light tight.  I have since ordered a new one, which is much bigger.  But until it arrives, I have had to make due with what I have..
My film queue is getting larger, and larger.. (literally) and I'm getting a rather large developing backlog.

Thankfully I have my little Android Smartphone.  It's helped satisfy a hunger in me to get some more photos out there.

I am interested in trying it for a photoshoot to see how I can use a simple digital camera with a teeny tiny sensor, about the size of a 35mm Perforation hole, to take some higher end photos.  Now I know what you are saying.. "With a sensor that size, and such a short focal length, how are you going to get any kind of B/G separation?"
That is a valid question and an astute observation.  In fact, I'm curious of that myself, as it isn't easy for me to adjust the focus or the aperture to be able to do something like that.  It's a single aperture and the focal length is the focal length, BUT there is hope.
I have recently become aware of different focal length multipliers for the phone.  From a 2x to a whopping 12x zoom lens that attaches to the camera!  It even has a little tripod mount for the lens!  How funny is that?

That said, of course, I haven't let the lack of a long focal length bother me, as I have been using it for my everyday walkabout camera...

So at least enjoy some of my work using a simple and yet elegant Camera on my phone..

Picket Fence

St. Clair Streetcar

Shadowy Entrance

Dandelion Sunset

So until next time, keep those shutters firing!