Taking Personal, "Walkabout" Photos for a Change!
Well, today in Weymouth is seeing what I would describe as perfect weather. Chilly but no wind, sunny with clear blue skies and the fact that everywhere seems deserted is a bonus! I went out for one of my usual bike rides but this time I wanted to test the Pano App I recently downloaded. Time for some general photography fun with no agenda.
Weymouth has one of the best biking, walking and running infrastructures in the South. Much of which has recently been extended and re-surfaced...nice one Weymouth Council (for a change).
Today's 14 mile route takes me through/past/around:
Beautiful, who could ask for more. Maybe it was just because of the lovely weather today, but so many people nodded or said a cheery "Hello" or "Good Morning". Strangely enough, the one person I didn't acknowledge (I had headphones on whilst taking a pano image) muttered something like "Oh, it must be just me then.
When she approached me, she said that she was dismayed that I hadn’t said hello back.
After she realised why, she said she was doing a survey today about how people in Weymouth react when a friendly stranger says hello. Fair enough, I should have said "Que?" in my best Spanish accent...
Some general photography images
Another app I was trying was the Snapseed app. I had this already but after seeing it again on the Gadget Show, I decided to have a play with that too. Both apps are very cool...here is a shot from the Snapseed app. I like the drama and grunge filters but there are many more as well as endless tweaks and features.
One of the effects is tilt-shift which works really well but for best results, you need to be elevated from the subject somewhat and the objects need to have some separation:
Panorama photography
The pano app allows you to shoot in either portrait or landscape mode depending on the scene and does a very good job:
Now I remember when to make panoramas, you had to set up your DSLR on a tripod. Think carefully about each shot and then load all images into specialist software to get some decent results.
Each of these shots took less than 5 minutes each with the app doing everything "in camera". The originals of these images are approximately 5300 x 1500 pixels so easily enough to blow up to a fairly decent print.
In my opinion, anything like this that takes the headache out of stitching images the old-fashioned way is a plus. I hope they continue to improve and include these features in the next generation of DSLR's.
Links to the Apps:
Pano App (Since using this, I have read that the FREE app "Photosynth" does a better job. Just downloaded so will be playing with that tomorrow)!
Scratch that...just been using it and Photosynth is pretty cool...what fun, and FREE! Snapseed App
If you really want to step it up a notch…how about videoing your world in pano-style? Check this out:
We are so lucky to have all this software and all these Smartphone apps available to us. The cost and hassle of producing highly creative work has become so much easier and accessible to everyone. Does this mean that creative, general photography is now mainstream for the masses and not so creative anymore?
I think, and I said this back in 2007, things will eventually turn back. The best images will be the ones that took dedication, guts and patience to take:
It's all good either way! The End.