photo-1
When I take a photo on my iphone I invariably process it through the same apps, either hipstamatic as in the picture above, camera+ or dramatic black and white. When I look through the flickr pool or instagram I realise that I really need to get out of my comfort zone and start experimenting but I don’t know about you, it all seems terribly daunting to me and I have no idea how to begin. Since February here on mortal muses is all about collaborations  I thought I would ask three of my favourite and very different iphone photographers to share their processing and they were very happy to oblige.

I started by asking Veronica Mo – her work is truly amazing and she has been included in the new mobile masters ebook on itunes. I asked her about her photograph entitled “the embrace”

The Embrace
Veronica said “This photo was taken with the slow shutter app. The shutter was set at 4 and the sensitivity set at two. This setting I think is a good basic setting to allow definition yet create a mysterious blur. I used blur fx with the motion blur setting set at maximum to smooth out the background. I used blender to add the flower textures. You can purchase stock photos, there are still some free stock photography sites such as Lost and Taken and free stock photography on Deviant Art, I choose mostly to use my own photos for layered textured photos. I used icolorama to add some odd definitions to the dress and background. Icolorama is a great app if you think you might enjoy using brushes and colors. I used lens light to add more glow to the ball, which is actually a round light I own. I love using lens light because the possibilities are endless. The App Whisperer posts weekly apps that are free most everyday and usually will offer insight on the quality of the app.”  More of Veronica’s amazing work can be found on flickrinstagram, or on iphoneart.com 

I am also fascinated by the minimalist approach to iphone photography processing so I then asked the very talented and inspirational Frosso about her shot “morning cup”

morning cup
Frosso said “This one actually has a pretty simple processing because the day it was taken the light was pretty good and it was essentially a minimalistic shot! One of the applications that I often use for processing my iphone shots is VSCO CAM. In this one I have increased the exposure +1 and also the contrast +1 then cropped it and was ready to be posted.” You can find more of Frosso’s fantastic work on flickr or on instagram

My final questions about processing was to another hugely talented iphone photographer Michelle Robinson who shared her actions on this prodigious shot entitled “phase 2: justice of the Peace”

Phase 2: Justice of the Peace

Michelle said “These are the apps I use in this order – procamera on self timer, superimpose: masking and cloning, Photofx Ultra: filters and paint, Flowpaper, Image Blender, 100Camerasin1, Modern Grunge, Pixrl-o-matic. I use Photofx Ultra in between each stage fairly often and I use Image Blender quite a bit after each filter – I don’t tend to stack filtered results per se – I usually blend them in Image Blender. I also use Snapseed to actually look at the final result – and there is always a slight adjustment in “anbience” or “contrast”.” Michelle’s amazing work can be found on flickr, her blog, or on instagram

A huge thank you to these wonderful ladies for sharing their secrets, I now feel inspired to try something new having heard what these brilliant and awesome photographers have to say, how about you? show us your processing and let us know your favourite apps too.

Until next time

Justine