Category Archives: Camera Phone

Front running marathoners

I have been reprocessing some older multiple exposure montages using new techniques.

This is one was shot in October 2019 during the Toronto Waterfront Marathon using my iPhone’s burst mode and can be found on Rarible as an NFT.

a multiple exposure of marathon runners
Front Running Marathoners – a multiple exposure montage

The technique is pretty simple:

  • Shoot trying to visualize your point of interest with enough room for cropping.
  • Load into Photoshop as layers. I use Lightroom for this;
  • To create the multiple exposure effect you have to change the opacity. Start with the base layer at 100% and ever layer after that reduced by about 50% until you get to around 5%. Once you have a sense of the resulting image play with the opacity until you are happy with the resulting impressionistic image.
  • Colour correct. I think setting your black point and white point is most important as there are colour shifts. I also use NIK’s tools.

Here is a short video to give you an idea of that I do. Feel free to reach out on instagram/sjdagostino_photoimpressionism

Dawn – An ICM | Rarible

Created my first NFT today.

An IPhone ICM with post production in Photoshop. And …. as a bonus I am sharing a screenshot of my photoshop layers.

The process was difficult because Canadian banks make it hard to buy or sell Etherium but I finally found a way.

Take a look and let me know what you think.
— Read on rarible.com/token/0xB66a603f4cFe17e3D27B87a8BfCaD319856518B8:565851471587104857772750278700503105299961749994893342633797907827321208833

Iphone to Lightroom

It isn’t often that you read a blog post that changes your approach to things that matter.  Adam Portilla’s post describing how to auto import your iPhone photostream into Lightroom is one of those exceptions. Its easy to follow and it works for me.

Check out his technique on  Google+. It has made a big difference to my approach to photo impressionism on the iphone because my images can be archived my way.

Technology Leads Art: Smartphones and the Rise of Photo Impressionism

red rocket
Red Rocket – a long exposure photo impressionistic iphone image by stephen d’agostino

Or “What’s in my camera bag phone”

I have been thinking about technology and how it shapes art since writing  about an exhibition of early photographs and impressionist paintings at the University of Michigan’s Museum of Art. The exhibition argues that some impressionist painters were influenced by photography. The influence of technology on photography is not a new idea. “What’s in my camera bag” is a staple subject for photographers. But it is more relevant in the age of iphoneography and the rise of impressionistic photographs.

Look up.
Look up – a photo impressionistic iphone image by stephen d’agostino

A Brief Chronology:

1860-1900 – Start with the impressionist painters . While they may have been influenced by contemporary photography, the more important factor was the invention of the paint tube. Before the paint tube painters were essentially studio bound. Painting en plein air required tremendous effort and significant resources. Of course it could be done. But the effort stifled experimentation and creativity.

Tube paint  gave painters the technical ability to paint when and where the  moment moved them and more importantly the ability to experiment with little risk. The resulting genre produced images that were immediate, fresh and impressionistic.

1885-1915 – Move to photography at about the same time. In its infancy photography also required a huge effort to be portable. Yes it could be done. Glass plates and chemistry could be carted to an appropriate vista. But the rise of the first photo impressionists, the Pictorialists, coincided with the arrival of practical gelatin process films and the introduction of the first Kodak in 1889. Portability allowed for experimentation without a huge investment but the final print often relied on darkroom manipulation and skill.

Rain
Rain – a slow exposure photo impressionistic iphone image by stephen d’agostino

2001 – Then we have the  modern photo impressionists such as Freeman Patterson. His book Photo Impressionism And the Subjective Image, published in  2001 inspired a generation of film shooters to experiment with the genre. But in 2001 experimentation was handicapped by the delay inherent in film. Images had to be processed meaning that the artist couldn’t know whether they had captured their vision for hours or days. The final image required printing.

There was also a fair amount of technique involved. Multiple exposures required a mathematical calculation to predetermine exposure. Long shutter photography relied on filters to neutralize colour shift. Darkroom wizardry was often used but wasn’t required. As a result, a successful image relied more on planning than spontaneity or just a lucky break.

2002 – While the first consumer digital SLR camera came to market before the publication of Photo Impressionism And the Subjective Image, they were not widely available  until  a few years after that. Digital capture  was to photo impressionism what tube paint was to the impressionists.

Digital photography meant immediate artistic gratification at no cost per image thereby facilitating endless experimentation and immediate feedback. Printing could be bypassed altogether. Looking back we see a rebirth of photo impressionism in the second half of the last decade.

The advance in digital camera features often meant techniques like  in camera multiple exposures could be achieved without any skill  (just compose and click) further enabling the genre. But still photo impressionism was not fully democratized until the iPhone’s first release in 2007.

slow
Slow – a long exposure photo impressionistic iphone image by stephen d’agostino

2007 – The cameraphone/smartphone is the swiss army knife of digital devices and in many ways perfect for impressionistic photography. They are widely available and often affordable to own. They are exceptionally portable and as a result are always with you. Smartphones often have built in filters and features to assist in taking photo impressionistic images. The technology assumes that images will not be printed making sharing easier on a variety of platforms. Inexpensive apps are available to further the creative process. It is noteworthy that recently Apple and others have focussed on the camera as an important part of the smartphone mix. 

Smartphone photography has taken off; the iphone is now the most popular camera on Flickr. Not surprisingly the mix of widespread accessibility, the availability of creative apps and  immediate artistic gratification at no cost per image has allowed more photographers and now non-photographers to push the bounds of creativity on their phones.

The popularity of photo impressionism has followed the iPhone’s success. Consider the tiny collective as an example; a site dedicated to smart phone photography. By my count 20% of the images posted are wonderful examples of photo impressionism.

tools I use for photo impressionism projects on my iphone.
tools I use for photo impressionism projects on my iphone.

 What’s In My Smartphone:

I was a late convert to iphoneography. For me the camera on my phone was a note taking device; really not worthy of consideration as an artistic tool. It wasn’t until I started to play with apps such as  Slow Shutter Cam and Snapseed that I started to understand the creative potential of smartphones. All the image in this post were taken with an iPhone 4s.

Here is my app list (the digital equivalent of a camera bag):

  • Slow Shutter Cam – this is the app that started it for me. The app has a good suite of features including the ability to control shutter speeds from 0.5 to 15 seconds with automatic exposure control. The app would benefit from grid lines to help with composition.
  • InstaBlend – think of layer blending in Photoshop, a technique I rely on for my “in the round” images. The interface is a bit clunky but it gets the job done. I am experimenting with “in the round” using this app and will post my results shortly.
  • Marksta – I get that the www is the wild west of rights management but if you are proud of an image you should show you own it. This is a great and easy to use copyright watermarking tool.
  • Snapseed – originally a NIK Software picture editing tool. Google now owns it and is embracing it in the mobile market. It is intuitive to use and feature rich. I prefer Photoshop Express but I can’t articulate why.
  • Photoshop Express – An Adobe picture editing tool. It is intuitive to use and feature rich.  This is my go to app for on phone editing.
  • Flickr – I use Flickr as my test bed for new projects. The Flickr community is fully engaged in photo impressionistic endeavours. I prefer the mobile site to the app.
  • Instagram – Another great test bed for my projects. The app is the entry point if you want to use the service. The app has some tools but they are pretty basic.
  • PortfolioToGo – the app is no longer available for download but I still use to show my portfolio on my phone.

Final Impressions:

Iphoneography is a natural tool for photo impressionistic  expression. Portable with a rich set of features and instant feedback it expands not only the photographer’s possibilities, but also increase the pool of potential photographers entering the genre.

I think of my iPhone as a sketch pad. From my perspective it excels at images that are immediate, fresh and impressionistic. My phone is not going to replace my cameras for major projects. Photoshop Express and Snapseed are not going to displace my use of Photoshop. However like tube paint for the impressionist painters iphoneography makes it all the easier for me to explore my vision when and where I want. And that is a big step in the right direction.

Instagram


 

Just Outside The Met – New York

New York is a magical place for photographers. For me it’s the energy of the place; the people; the mix of architecture.

We were walking south on 5th Avenue. A bright morning. The crowds pulling towards the Met and I wanted to capture that feeling. The image above is my second shot. A three second motion blur taken while walking. I guess you might call it a forward pan.

The back story is this. I usually shoot with a Nikon D4. It’s a great camera and my favourite for photo impressionistic experiments. But add a couple of lenses to your bag and after a while the weight is oppressive. A recent back injury forced me to consider other options so I thought I would try a compact system and bought a Nikon N1 J2. In picking the J2 price was a big factor. Nikon’s release of the updated J3 means there are plenty of deals on new cameras.

I was surprised at the image quality of the N1 J2. Even more surprising was the system’s versatility. It shoots Raw (NEF format) which can be a life saver. While it won’t shoot in camera multiple exposures; the shutter releases quickly allowing me to reproduce the effect in Photoshop. The camera gives you shutter and aperture control meaning long exposures are a possibility. Match the lens with a Cameron Fader ND filter using a step up adapter and you have some great creative choices. In my view this is a great alternative for my photo impressionism projects. My only complaint is the LCD can be a pain to use on a bright day. I like using a viewfinder.

For my taste, long exposures and in camera multiple multiple exposures are too soft and washed out. As a result I colour correct and add structure to my photo impressionistic images in Photoshop. In this case I have used NIK’s tonal contrast filter and the mid-tone conturing action from Vincent Versace.