Boardwalk

Lovely old weathered planks often make for interesting photographs. These ones lead up to jetty beside a river and had one or two early autumn leaves scattered on them.
Enhanced a little with Camera+.

Summer flutter

I sometimes think that I should join the Instagrammers of the world and keep using the app for everything that I shoot... but then I think 'no, I like the variety of apps available' - so I just use it now and then.

Above and Below

I didn't need to use a fancy underwater rig to shoot this - it was a viewing window at a trout hatchery.
I processed the shot with an app called HDR FX Pro to help balance the exposure of plants and water.

From above

This could be an aerial shot of earth or an ultra close-up of something organic... but it's an image of a geothermal pool with various types of algae, taken from about 2 metres.
The original was a little flat looking, but once I applied the clarity filter from Camera+ it came alive with more saturation and contrast.

Skyfall (the time lapse)

First rule of shooting a long time lapse sequence: make sure you have enough space on the memory card... Second rule: have plenty of battery power.
While shooting a time lapse of this sunset I ran out of space on the memory card and the battery in the camera was just about flat.
Yeah, I should have just used the iPhone...

Like a duck to...?

This was quite a pretty image without any editing, but after running it through Camera Awesome it looks old-school and a bit mysterious.
I used the preset called 'More Wang' plus a border filter.

Cruise Season

Cruise ships have been coming and going in Wellington harbour for quite a few weeks now, generally for only a night or two.
This ship was leaving on a beautiful evening and gave a long blast on the fog horn just after the shot was taken.
I edited this in the native photo app - cropped and auto-enhanced.

Honey on Ice

The instructions from our generous friends were to put this bottle on ice. The bourbon- based liqueur got thick and syrupy but didn't freeze.... very smooth...
Once again I used the Camera+ app to add a bit of drama to the shot.

Before & After

Once again the power of the iPhone to make a quick and effective edit to an image impresses me.
This shot in difficult lighting was imported into Camera+ and treated with the Clarity and Sunkissed filters.

Morning Light

Early morning is generally a great time to shoot photos as the contrast level is usually not too high. The flaring in a shot like tends to add to the mood of the image. No editing.

Yellow Terror

Vespa = wasp. Some very nice detailing on this 300cc GTS Supersport.
I imported this shot into an app called TtV PS.

Ariba!

Snacking at the local Mexican restaurant it was a good time to compare the camera in the iPhone 5 with a friend's iPhone 4. This sort of situation suited the new phone's ability to shoot at ISO 3200.... no contest.
Processed in the Best Camera app.

Morning Walk

A glorious morning in Wellington and all along the waterfront people walking, running, cycling or scooting... I feel a bit of an outsider to all this feverish activity.
No editing on this shot.

Curious...?

The doberman pinscher at the end of the driveway was looking like he was prepared to follow through with the promise of helping out anyone who was wanting to find out the answer to this.
The image was converted to black and white in Camera Awesome.

Comfy Spot

A great place to relax with a beverage - the Grand Lobby at The Roxy Cinema.
This shot was edited slightly in Camera+.

Good Day on the Bay

Oriental Bay is always a great place to hang out over summer... young or old, there's always something to do there.
These 3 shots were combined with the Mixel app.

Part Deux

Another image from yesterday (Valentines Day) - the barista mentioned that he'd only just learned to pour a good 'heart' into the crema.
Edited with Instagram.

Personal message

A timely (and uniquely spelt) message left for Brit in Mt Cook today.
I used the good old Best Camera app to alter the image slightly.

Harbour Skies

Another twilight view over Wellington harbour from Seatoun Heights... or Upper Miramar... depending on which real estate agent you listen to.
Cropped with the Apple native photos app.

Yes, we have some

Down at the local markets again.
This shot was cropped & enhanced with an app called qbro.

Who are you calling a geek?

I suppose it's better than being called a nerd...?!
Camera + app.

Glitch in the system

I was missing a few of the clever system tweaks that I had applied to my earlier iPhones after Jailbreaking them, so when the recent Evasi0n software became available I decided to try it.
Things have been running very well generally - the 5 hasn't become sluggish or glitchy... until today I had this odd keyboard anomaly (oh, and the stock weather app keeps crashing... not a biggy).
I think this 'blackout' was due to a hack I'd installed that altered the keyboard to display lower- case letters when appropriate (not a standard feature). After a restart everything seems fine now.

Looking South

Another lovely evening in the Capital and a good time to go for a walk with the iPhone.
No editing at all on this 'magic hour' shot.

Hello Handsome

This guy (or gal) was under some timber I was moving and in danger of being squashed so I moved it to some foliage. Of course I grabbed the iPhone for a few photos before it walked off.
This shot was imported into Camera+ and cropped, clarified and given the 'depth of field' look.

All sauce & no chips..

I wasn't quick enough to grab a shot while there were still hot chips in the bowl!

Given the 'lo-fi' filter treatment with Instagram.

Greek Isles

OK, no, not really. This is Wellington's Worser Bay and it only kind-of reminded me of Greece once I put a 'warming up' filter on the photo with the app Camera Awesome.

Maybe that old jetty structure could be part of Atlantis, maybe...?

This Way

Yep, the bus does go around a corner there...
After trying a few of the filters in the Camerabag app I decided on a basic black & white treatment.

Cuba View

I seem to have ended up in one of my favourite cafe's again - El Matador on Cuba St. Last time I was here I sat outside and took a shot of the red couches they had in their outdoor searing area, this time the front window gave amusing views of Sevens rugby fans in their costumes.
The photo was given a selective focus effect with the app Tilt Shift.

To Market

Newtown Market on a Saturday morning is always a busy place, but mostly in the fruit & vege section. This area off to one side was a little quieter.
Snapseed was used to edit this photo - I cropped it and altered the saturation.

Twilight Invasion

Another late evening shot, this time of the signage outside The Weta Cave. A movie buff destination in the heart of Peter Jackson's film empire.
Although it didn't really alter much to the image, I did make a couple of adjustments in Camera+... just to help contrast and saturation.

Newtown Splendour

This old shop/house at the South end of Newtown has probably been home to many people and many businesses over the years.

The photo was cropped and given a 'viewfinder' border with the app Camera Awesome.

Fig Tree

Late twilight can be lovely lighting for most subjects, particularly foliage. This fig tree showed great detail in the leaves which has been enhanced with the clarity setting of Camera+.

Dog Talk

There aren't many places around the city where dogs are encouraged to go walkies, but along the airport end of Lyall Bay Beach is a very popular dog-friendly zone.
This shot is unedited ie. yes, that sky is real - Wellington is in the middle of some classic summer weather (classic for somewhere like Fiji, not Wellington!).

Creature from Below

This discarded cicada shell has been left on an oak tree that often plays host to these creatures. I'm pretty sure that one of my very early blog entries was another shot similar to this, but taken on an iPhone 3G (the first model iPhone to be sold in New Zealand).
Link added - old cicada post

This image hasn't been edited at all but I did use a small magnifying glass held in front of the camera lens to allow it to focus closer than it normally would.

Water Tower

This sculpture is in Petone next to the outlets for a well known and popular aquifer. People come from near and far to fill all sorts of containers with the cool clear water.
I decided to use Camera+ to increase the saturation of this image.

Nasty View

Lying back in a dentist's chair is not often a pleasant place to be. Having someone use power tools on your teeth and charging lots of money for the privilege is a good incentive to look after your teeth!
I've edited this shot with Camera+ but the arms on the ceiling fan have 'bent' due to their movement during the exposure.

Keep Clear

I've been noticing more of these labels on buildings around Wellington. The wording seems strange to me... do they mean that a particular building is more prone to earthquakes than the building next door? I really think that the label should say 'damage prone building' or 'earthquake susceptible building'.

Southern Sunrise

Early morning in Picton with HDR mode on the iPhone camera app. This helps extend the tonal range to give extra detail in the shadow areas as well as the highlights - sometimes it can help an image... sometimes it can give a very odd false look.

Through the round window...

On a crossing of the Cook Strait this shot was taken after entering the Marlborough Sounds through a large 'porthole' window.
Another Instagram image.

Go go gadget

This is our daughter's cool wee gadget bag/purse - sitting on a table at El Matador (the location of yesterday's blog post).
A good subject for the Instagram treatment.

Indoor Outdoor Flow

One of Cuba Street's recent hospitality arrivals has set up this funky outdoor seating area for their customers.
This was shot on a lovely Saturday morning and the image hasn't been retouched.

Shadow Play

Pinot Gris in the sunlight - slightly modified with the Camera+ 'clarity' filter.

Where there's muck there's brass...

A local scrap metal dealer has been collecting junked musical instruments for quite a few years - seemed ripe for some Instagram treatment.

Mexi-combo

Guacamole and a margarita - it doesn't get much more Mexican around here... except maybe when I add a 'More Cowbell' filter to the photo (courtesy of Camera Awesome... and La Boca Loca).

The Bat Scooter

The motorbike parks around town are usually full of all types of scooters - this one has a certain appeal. 

I used one of my favourite filters from Camera+: So Emo.

Homely

This is one of Wellington's older bus stops, and one that's had a bit of media coverage lately. Before Christmas it had a random makeover to give it a few homely touches - there was even a decorated tree set up in December. It seems the bus company is quite happy to leave the furniture and decor touches in place.

The image was shot with the HDR setting on and then given a few adjustments with Snapseed to bring out some detail and knock back some saturation.

Tunnel Vision

Another camera test to see how it performs in difficult lighting situations. This was taken at about 9.00pm, 320 ISO 1/20th sec shutter speed. There are a few apps that dig out the metadata from photos on the iPhone - the screenshot is from app called Lab.

Sign of Summer

Today is certainly not one that could conceivably be considered as a summers day.... but through the magic of scrolling through my camera album... I decided to chose a classic harbour-side summer scene.

Cropped and filtered with one of the earliest popular photo editing apps around - Best Camera (endorsed/promoted by top photographer Chase Jarvis).

From the garden

Scallopini fresh from the garden and ready for a tasty stir-fry.

I used that old iPhone standby, Instagram, to process this shot.