Author: Rachel

Favorite Photo Apps

 

Several months ago I caved in and bought a real, live iPhone. I had never even had an iPod, (apparently) deciding that iTunes was evil. I had a Rio Diamond mp3 player (Anyone remember that? It  held a half hour of music, woo!) and then nothing, and then resisted the urge to buy an iPod, and eventually had a couple of Zens (which were very nice, and I still use my Zen XFI sometimes). But… this iPhone is amazing.

The iPhone is basically a sonic screwdriver. It does everything.

It has been a very fun experience, full of games as good or better than my Nintendo DS (or actual ports!), art apps that are as fun in their own way as my Bamboo tablet, and a GPS with Geocaching apps that is better than the GPS I used to have. Not to mention a compass, a flashlight, and an app that lets me find my parked car! (Note: Many people have told me that they want an iPhone just for this app!)

People can, in fact, take serious photos with an iPhone. I just listened to This Week in Photo and heard them interview Jack Hollingsworth who said that he could easily see people taking wedding photos with an iPhone – especially since most photos these days only need to be “screen quality”. But he also pointed out that he could make a nice 16×20 print out of an iPhone photo. Amazing.

The one drawback is that no one takes you seriously as a photographer when all you are holding is a camera phone. [Future Update Note, in 2015 this is changing. – RR]

I will only point out a couple of apps that I enjoy here:

  •  Instagram:  This is free. It was practically the first app I installed. and it just a fun “Twitter, but made up of photos” app. Very fun! And sends the photos to Twitter, too.
  •  Camera+: I resisted buying this for awhile. Why do I need a camera replacement app? I thought. But it’s a very solid app, with many features. Still figuring this one out, since I actually bought it today. Additionally, here is some interesting info about the woman behind this app.
  •  Photoforge2: Another app that allows me to manipulate photos in a pseudo-photoshop way. Lots of filters and lenses, textures, colors, borders, grunge. This has a great function for sending images “to the cloud” as well – not just Twitter, but also Tumblr, Dropbox, e-mail… many options. And if you pay extra you can access many more features.

    • [2015 Update: This app is apparently gone.]

  • I also enjoy Silent Film Director, for converting your film into an “old-timey” black and white style, complete with title cards and soundtrack/clackety movie reel sound effect. But I just don’t take as many films as I take photos.
  • Lasty I will add SketchBook Mobile – a fantastic drawing app, that also allows you to import a photo and draw on top of it! This one was worth buying a Stylus for.

Anyway, feel free to suggest other Apps in the comments!

Finally Spring

It’s starting to look like ( a very wet ) Spring! We have had at least seven more inches of rain than is the norm for Ohio.

This magnolia is outside the office.

Speaking of magnolias, I tried to go to Secrest Arboretum last week, which usually has some amazing magnolias and azaleas. And there I discovered that it had been destroyed, last September, by a tornado. It was strange to discover everything gone, bulldozed, in preparation for new plantings.

But things are on the way to being restored. I wonder what it will look like in another decade, when things are re-established?
I both miss it, and look forward to the future.

And that is Spring.

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The Mechanist’s Friend

He was old, and tired, and ready to quit.
It had been a long life, and a good one – why, at the high point of his career, he had created automata for Kings! And, at the low point, for demons.

But it had been a long life, and no one was interested in little automata now. They had all moved on, found new trivial things to tickle their fancies.

And so he tinkered at his workbench, for lack of anything else to do. And before he knew it, his hands found those tools again. The metal fell into place again, and a tiny creature sprang to life.

He chuckled, as he always did. Tiny newborn thing of gears and wires. Ah, but they always had such searching eyes. Looking for knowledge. Looking to please their masters.

It turned sparkling teal eyes upon him, obediently waiting his command.

Well, he thought, it would be cruel to shuffle off when this little one needs a master…

And so he began again to father another little life.