Season of mist

my collection of pictures is finally uploaded at http://pausedstate.tumblr.com

jeremyedwards:

Since the birth of my FROM THE POCKET project in late 2009, I have received several emails from fellow iphoneographers - many of which want to know the applications I use for processing, capturing techniques, subject choices, and so on. As we all know, iphoneography is a rapidly growing artisitic medium, and with that, comes the introduction of new artists and iphoneographers alike. The art and design world is slow to accept iphoneography as a true expression of art - however, we are seeing that iphoneographers who are true artists beginning to alter this interpretation. Just like any new form of art, iphoneography needs to grow and establish artistic legitimacy. There are those who simply take pictures with their iPhone, and those who employ the iPhone as an artistic tool.

This article is directed at my fellow and aspiring iphoneographers who want to better their iphoneography experience and artfully improve their images. Below, I have listed 7 simple tips to better your iphoneography. This will not be a source of suggesting applications you should be using to process images, or how you should hold the iPhone, or how to make your images look “more analog”. My intentions are to provide artful insight into bettering your iphoneography.

1. Embrace the limitations of the iPhone camera. There’s only so much the iPhone camera can do. Become overly familiar with what it can and cannot do from a photographic perspective. Learn how it treats light, shadows, and movement. Just like film or advanced digital photography, do not force the camera to do something it simply cannot do, and then rely on your post-processing to fix it. This is a poor approach to solid photography. The best photography doesn’t have to be a product of the best cameras.

2. Commit to your subjects. If you are inspired by a photo-op, commit to it, spend a few seconds assuring that what you capture is what inspired you in the first place. Believe it or not, it’s okay to miss opportunities - merely capturing images for the sake of making up for a missed opportunity, does not necessarily equal a beautiful image. Some of my best images came from just standing around and waiting. Find the subjects (i.e. portraits, ordinary, street, landscapes) that inspire you and commit to capturing the perfect moment. Remember, quality is always better than quantity.

3. Fine tune your style of spontaneity. Photographers are infamous for being spontaneous and having “off-the-cuff” personalities. Because the iPhone offers a discrete method of capturing images, it also allows you to be truly spontaneous in ways you’ve never experienced. For me, my creative capacity relies on having absolutely no barriers to what I can shoot. If you are someone who creates best from having predictable subjects, then stay true to that style of spontaneity.

4. Do not “over-app”, or “over-edit” your images. This is probably the most important tip I can offer to any iphoneographer. I could write an entire article on this tip alone. I see hundreds of iphone images a day. Many are wonderfully done, and many are simply junk. Please remember this: just because the iPhone offers you endless applications to edit your images and make them “look better”, does not mean you have to use them all. If you take pictures of everything you see with the mindset that your post-app processing will make the image “better” - you’re on the wrong path. It’s not artful. It’s alteration and superficial. Also, the more you edit, the more likely your image will blur and over-pixelate - which leads to poor images that have little aesthetic beauty.

5. Create projects. Try to organize your iphoneography subjects into mini-projects -just as you would do with a professional photography portfolio. This offers creative structure to what you shoot on a daily basis. It’s very easy to find yourself shooting everything from coffee cups to sunrises to reflective puddles and everything in between. Your viewers should be able to navigate your portfolio and have a sense of anticipation when it comes to your choice of subjects.

6. Explore the available software and find what works best for you. In my iphoneography “camera bag” - on a daily basis, I only use 4 different applications to post-process. I’ve made a rule to not spend any more than 10 minutes editing any image. If you have a basket full of choices, the chances are you will over-app and ruin the roots of the image. Learn your favorite applications well and know their limits. Remind yourself of these three things when processing - why did I take this picture? will this app help it or ruin it? and is it really necessary? Don’t become a filter photographer.

7. Keep it artful. This is the theme and purpose of this article. Because your iPhone has the capabilities of altering an image a thousand different ways, doesn’t mean you forfeit the general rules of artful photography - composition, managing light, focus, and subject choice. What you shoot will always be better than how you shoot it. Your subject should be able to stand on it’s own as a piece of photographic art - it’s up to you to do it beautifully with artistic integrity.

If you feel this article is helpful, please reblog. Because, in the end, better photography is beneficial to all of us. Your comments and suggestions are welcomed via email.

-Jeremy
[FROM THE POCKET]