Life with iPhone- Photography and Apps

We live in an age where technology and paradigms are rapidly changing. Cryptocurrency has taken the world by storm. Every person savvies or not want to make a quick buck out of this. But with anything, it’s all about your personal gut and your stomach to handle the risks. Anyhow at the end of the day, we all want to do well and make some money.

I have always asked myself this, what would I do if I made enough to the point where I don’t have to think twice before I spend on something. More than anything I would like to use that money to travel the world. I would trade all that money for some good old fashioned world experiences. Most importantly would like to capture those experiences in awesomely small but big technology like iPhones and Go Pros. One might argue, why not use that money to buy top of the line DSLR. Technology has become so amazing that we can capture amazing images in our phones which literally are extensions of our daily lives. I have always been fascinated by photography. It's amazing how one can capture something so simple and give it a story of its own. There was a time when "point and shoot" camera was accessible to everyone. SLR camera was for the professionals. Then DSLR came and it was accessible to everyone, professional or not. As much fun it is to take pics with a DSLR, they are not always the most convenient to carry it along until you are paid to do so. Weight and bulkiness of DSLRs and their lenses can be sometimes very discouraging when planning a vacation.

Having used DSLR for a while I wasn’t really a fan of using mobile phones in the beginning for documenting and capturing my travels. I wasn’t truly convinced that they could capture the depth and beauty in the way a DSLR could. But it is always a matter of time before any stubborn notion can change. In today’s digital age photography is just not about taking a picture, post-processing has become a norm and is almost a part of the final picture we share with others. As mentioned earlier, TIME and new discoveries helped me shift my paradigm. With time I discovered some great photo apps and accessories to take good shots. The final pictures were quite satisfying and the best part was, I didn’t have to worry about additional weight….Here are couple of shots of the Toronto city taken with my iPhone and enanced through some post-processing:

App/s used: Snapseed

I remember taking them with iPhone 5s. Sometimes you don't need the best equipment, best camera or phone to take the best picture. Sometimes, it's about understanding the BEST, a camera or a phone in your hand can do. Understanding the limitations of an equipment in our hands can sometimes be advantageous. There will always be another person standing next to you with a better or more expensive camera or phone. But you will get only one chance to relish and capture the beauty, nature, scenery or whatever amazing you come across in your travels across the world. Thus, I don't strive to have the best camera or phone but strive to take the best picture with whatever I own then, or make a picture into a best one with iPhone apps I own. Here is me trying my best to make the Roman Colosseum look at its best with my iPhone 5 and the apps:

App/s used: Snapseed

This was the time when I was behind on technology among my friends. I was still carrying iPhone 5s when most of the friends were already on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus. But, I realized that my pictures were still better than most with little tips and tricks. Not only did I learn to enhance the existing pictures I started making it artier. Like removing most of the colors in the picture except for one or two like an accent. Again this was made easy and available with Phone apps. Effects like these used to take a good amount of time in Photoshop. But iPhone apps make it easy.

App/s used: Instaflash/Color Manager

I am sure most of you have seen pictures of waterfalls or fountains where the water looks blurry and simply mesmerizing. You would need a good bit of equipment with a DSLR to take such astonishing pics. Fortunately, iPhone apps like Slow Shutter can take similar pics with the lesser effort. It is amazing to see how the phone apps have made tasks like these simple.

App/s used: Slow Shutter/Snapseed

I would like to end my journey of my conversion from a DSLR to iPhone with a Close encounter of nature kind. Yes by this time I am a believer. We can get stunning pictures with iPhone and little help with its amazing apps. What more could you do? The one thing missing was the close-up photography of the beautiful world around us. Macro photography is fun but you need special lenses for DSLR cameras which can cost a fortune. Luckily we have some cheap clip-on lenses that can be fixed in front of the phone camera lens to get a similar effect. The only challenge was being a centimeter away from your subject. It's fine when you are taking pics of inanimate objects but gets really tricky when you trying to capture a bee, insect etc. I guess you just have to be lucky. Here are some of my lucky shots:

App/s used: Instaflash/Sanpseed

Technology will always been changing with time. But understanding the technology, I mean truly understanding it, is always more beneficial to us than using it, just because the populous is doing it. For me, the journey from a DSLR to iPhone was more like going backward. But once I found the tips and tricks to enhance the pictures, it was easy for me to make the transition. Look at the advantages though, no more extra weight.. phew. Today I own iPhone 7 plus (still behind) but am able to take better pics than iPhone 5s. But still making better pics than my friends..lol.

I look forward to the great upward trend of CryptoCurrency so that I can get my iPhone X or the next best camera phone and become a world-class traveler....lol

iPhone Apps to Consider: