I recently started another blog dedicated to photos taken with my new iPhone. If you’re into camera phone images taken with toy apps from your phone, I’ll have lots of info on how to get the most out of the process. Come on by Hipstarama.com!

John

What’s great about travel is that we see all sorts of new things. These new things catch our attention and motivate us to pick up the camera. The challenge for most photographers is not what to do when everything is new, but what to do when everything is tedious and mundane.

Few things are more tedious than air travel. However, as I sat in the airport today, I decided to give myself a little assignment to find and capture interesting moments and scenes in the terminal. I ended up doing a little street style photography where I shot people in the hopes of not being noticed. It made the hour plus long wait to board actually fun.

Once we got into the air, I pointed the camera to the outside. The clouds that made for a rainy, drab day on the ground became a perfect carpet of white fluff balls.

Then the ground began to emerge allowing more texture and contrast to appear.

When the view outside became monotonous, I switched my attention to my confined little space on board the Southwest Airlines 737 in cramped class.

My large neighbor neighbor in the middle seat. He occupied the airspace of four of me.

Nearly three hours after takeoff we prepared to land in Austin.

Even though the flight attendants informed us to put away our electronic devices, I couldn’t resist a few last shots. A minute later, we were on the ground.

Finally, I made it to my home away from home for the next few days. It’s a house on Lake Austin about ten miles outside of town. I’ll post photos of my lake view later. In the meantime, here’s an agave in the backyard.

I’m shooting an assignment here in Austin. Unfortunately, I can’t post any shots from it. It’s gonna be a fun shoot - though a lot of work too. Austin is a great town and there’s a big music festival here so hopefully I’ll have more fun stuff to share.

John

In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve really taken to my little iPhone camera. I’m using the Hipstamatic App which is modeled after toy film cameras such as the Holga and Diana. All of the treatment is done in-camera.

I love it because all I have to do is shoot. The process involves little post-production and the camera is so simple and, ironically for the technological wonder that is the iPhone, crude. Crude in the sense that there are no manual controls whatsoever while the viewfinder is small and imprecise.

In a way it almost doesn’t feel like photography because it’s so simple. On the other hand, if feels like the most pure form of photography that I can do. The process is so carefree in a way that I almost feel guilty.

This latest round of shots was taken in my neighborhood and in a nearby urban section of town.

Self-portrait

A Stephen Shore inspired photo.

John