iPhoneography – Page 4 – melinda anderson photography

Snow Drops

We had an unexpected snowstorm yesterday morning! We woke up to snow falling and snow on the ground. It continued to snow until 9:00 or so, while we were at my husband’s eye appointment, but by the time we got home the sun was out and the melt had begun. I raced outside with my Lensbaby Edge 80 with macro converters and managed to capture sunshine on the melting snow on trees and plants before it was all gone.

I’m also posting another snow shot from a week or so ago, before the New Year’s snow melted away. This is one of our more quaint downtown establishments- I’ve never been inside, but it looks cute. It was shot with my iPhone and edited with Snapseed (an HDR treatment) and Mextures.

Linking up with Barb’s app-happy Wednesday at Keeping With the Times.

January 14, 2015January 13, 2015

Melinda10 Comments

Merry Christmas!

December 25, 2014December 23, 2014

Melinda1 Comment

Heartland

As we drove west across Kansas, heading to Colorado after visiting my husband’s father, I found myself entranced by the minimalism of the flat horizon, unbroken except for occasional barn or silo. I think I could spend days exploring that landscape. All the photos were taken with my iPhone and edited in Snapseed. The last image was taken using the Slow Shutter app.

October 26, 2014October 26, 2014

Melinda1 Comment

Road Trippin’

Texas scenes shot from the car window with my iPhone.

Edited in the phone with the Snapseed app and textured with Kim Klassen’s kk_chill for Texture Tuesday. Snapseed’s HDR filter was used on the truck photo.

October 14, 2014October 12, 2014

Melinda12 Comments

From My Phone

We’re at Yellowstone taking care of the grandboys, who have grown SO much since we saw them in May (photos to be posted soon)!

I’m sharing a few iPhone photos from our travels. All were edited with Snapseed, and some of the plane photos also have a gradient added to the sky in Lightroom.

We flew over the Grand Canyon!

And here is somewhere in Utah :

On the drive from Montana to Yellowstone, we stopped in Livingston for dinner. It’s an old town with great old buildings; someday I want to explore it with my camera. The sky was dark, and the light was golden, and as we walked into the Mexican restaurant, we spotted a rainbow.

Connecting today with Barb’s App-Happy Wednesday.

October 2, 2014October 1, 2014

Melinda6 Comments

An apple, a sunflower, a cup- and more!

I finally got back to some still life last week, inspired by my new mug that I picked up at the grocery store.

A week or so ago, I entered 6 photos in the county fair. I haven’t done anything like this since high school, when I entered my crocheting. And the big news is that I earned 4 first place ribbons and one second place! Here is one of the winners, Sunflower Mystery (you might recognize it):

The other 3 first place winners were Feathered Gold (the owl feather), Point Arena Lighthouse (from a couple years ago), and Rodeo Dreams (a photo of Henry standing on the fence watching a rodeo). Dusty Jeans got a second place. A photo I took of prairie sunflowers did not place. And. . . I came home with 14 bucks for my efforts! We won’t mention that the printing and matting cost more than that. But I will re-use the mats.

It was raining cats and dogs- and, evidently, hawks while we were out at the fair on Saturday. We drove back through flooded streets while thunder crashed around us- and found this guy in the backyard.

I took this shot through the sliding glass door (which was covered with raindrops)- when I opened the door, he flew up the hill and disappeared.

September 29, 2014September 28, 2014

Melinda1 Comment

Playing with my phone

I’ve learned two important lessons about photography in the last four years (and I’m not talking f-stops here. . .):

1. Light is everything.

2. Beauty is everywhere.

I know I used to know about the second one when I was a child; I’m sure all children do. I noticed everything and took note. Then I grew up and got busy. Now that I am retired I notice again. And take note. And appreciate!

The other day I was walking through my bedroom and noticed the vertical blinds-probably the least appreciated item in our home. I don’t like vertical blinds and plan to replace them someday. But that day, I noticed. And took note. And appreciated.

I love the play of light and shadow. Yes, there is beauty everywhere!

I then played with some of the images. I started by making a collage of two of them in Pic Stitch.Then I brought the collage into Pixlr Express and had fun adding effects with the Effects panel.

Great fun!

The next day was the day of the beginning of the Mother of all Monsoons- torrential rains and flooding fed by Hurricane Norbert pushing inland. I stayed inside (when I wasn’t running outside to make sure the hill wasn’t sliding away. . .) and set up a still life for Be Still 52 (the one I posted yesterday). I was proud of myself for remembering to take some iPhone shots as I was getting things ready. This one had a basic edit in Snapseed, with some adjustments in tone. Then I added a texture in Mextures.

I couldn’t resist taking a photo with my Lensbaby Mobile. Edited in Snapseed. Love that blur!

Linking up with App- Happy Wednesday today!

September 10, 2014September 8, 2014

Melinda8 Comments

Still Life in the Morning

The other morning, I was reading the paper and drinking coffee, when I noticed that the coffee cup and newspaper made a pleasing composition. I started to pick up my iPhone, but then thought- Hmmm, if I pull the plant over a bit and get some strawberries it will look even better. I quickly made an arrangement, snapped ONE photo, edited it in Snapseed, uploaded it to instagram, and then continued to drink my coffee and read the newspaper (and ate the strawberries . . .). If only I could have still life composition ideas come to me that easily all the time!

I was about halfway through my coffee, when I thought of getting out my Nikon and taking the photo again. After all, one of the BeStill 52 prompts was cuppa. I got out more strawberries and tried to duplicate my iPhone photo- trickier than it sounds, considering focal length, depth of field etc.

So here are some Sunday morning stills, quickly taken. All have two layers of Kim’s grunge texture added.

And here is the original iPhone photo.

Linking up today with Texture Tuesday.

September 2, 2014September 1, 2014

Melinda7 Comments

Ready or not . . .

My friend, Joan, is staying with us, and we are having so much fun introducing her to Arizona. Saturday was spent touring Prescott- and shopping- and Sunday was the anticipated trip to Sedona and Jerome. I packed my camera bag with three lenses and an extra battery and planned to try some detail shots of the area, as I had photographed the places we were visiting several times. I had picked up a free Sedona guide at the airport, so was planning to bring that as well as the Arizona Highways photography guide I had recently purchased. I was READY!

As we drove into Sedona, I looked down at my feet and saw that yes indeed I had brought the guidebooks- but where was my camera? The answer became clear that I had left my camera bag on the kitchen counter. Oh. My. God.

So it became obvious that any pictures I might take would have to be shot with my iPhone. I relaxed, because I already have photos of Sedona. But when we pulled into our first stop, the Chapel of the Holy Cross, I noticed something that had been missing on our previous trips to Sedona- CLOUDS! Big billowy CLOUDS! And there was a moon- kind of taunting me up there. Darn.

So today’s post is all iPhone photos- including some Lensbaby shots, because at least I had that in my purse.

Here’s the view of Cathedral Rock from outside the chapel (notice the clouds. . .).

The chapel is awe-inspiring. After sitting quietly for awhile, I put the Lensbaby on the iPhone and tried some creative photography inside.

Afterward, I snapped another view of Cathedral Rock, before we went into town for lunch and some shopping.

Despite the camera fiasco, we had a wonderful time!

August 18, 2014August 17, 2014

Melinda4 Comments

I Heart Lensbaby

My iPhone Lensbaby came at last! I participated in the Kickstarter program and was able to get it before it goes on the market (and at a reduced price).

I absolutely love it! My iPhone is fun again- thanks to this tiny little lens. This is the first and only lens I’ve had for my phone, and it has taken some time for me to get used to it. Although I loved it from the start, focusing it has been a challenge for me. The first step in using this little guy is to attach it to the magnet ring (supplied) on the phone (with the Lensbaby app open )- then adjust the position of the lens to get the best focus with a centered “sweet spot.” Since I almost always prefer an off-center area of focus, I then switch to the “movable sweet spot” mode and compose my picture. I’m not sure why focusing was so difficult for me, but since I’ve relaxed about it a bit, I’ve been happier with my results.

Here are some of my favorite shots.

The soft blur created by the lensbaby just seems to go with flowers!

Since this is app-happy Wednesday, I will mention the apps I used to edit these images. I generally open in Snapseed first to crop and make any exposure adjustments. I often go into Pixlr Express afterward if I want to make an adjustment to just one area of the image. I used to do this in Snapseed, but I find the history brush in Pixlr Express easier to use. To do this, I make the adjustment I want to the ENTIRE image, and then use the history brush to erase it from the areas where I don’t want that particular adjustment. It’s kind of counterintuitive, but I’m getting used to it.

Now I NEED to get a Lensbaby for my Nikon- I could start with a Composer Pro with a double glass optic. Are you reading this, Santa???

August 13, 2014August 12, 2014

Melinda7 Comments

Wednesday iPhone

I’m linking up with App Happy Wednesday today with a couple iPhone photos, both edited in Snapseed. I didn’t do much to the first one, but the second one has the tilt shift filter applied to give it a bit of a lensbaby look. My actual iPhone lensbaby should be arriving this week- I’m excited!

Photo Jul 17- 9 48 25 AM

August 6, 2014August 6, 2014

Melinda1 Comment

A Challenge Completed

I somewhat impulsively joined the 21 Day Juice Challenge on instagram a few weeks ago. It was a good idea for me, because I was getting bored with my phone photos and needed a reason to practice. I drink smoothies several times a week normally- how hard would it be to do it every day and take a photo?

Well, I actually enjoyed the project and was inspired to try new combinations of ingredients so that my photos wouldn’t all be the same. I also tried to use different apps and styles most days- although at the end I was pretty dry creatively. There was only one day where I didn’t like the smoothie I made- Day 15- but at least I got a good photo!

I wish I could say that I created the layout on my phone, but I didn’t- I used Lightroom. The two apps that I used the most were Snapseed for a basic edit- and Pixlr Express. I also used Mextures, PicStitch, and Rhonna.

And here is a bonus shot I took at our Courthouse Square over the weekend.

I used Snapseed (basic edit), Mextures, and Pixlr Express for this shot of these wonderful musicians. I used one of the stylize filters in Pixlr Express to create a painted effect- I think I did it twice- and then blurred the whole image, brushing it off the main subjects. I finished it off with a texture from Mextures- and then back into PixlrExpress for the frame. All completed while binge-watching Damages (with Glenn Close) on Netflix!

Linking up with App-Happy Wednesday today!

July 9, 2014July 9, 2014

Melinda5 Comments

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Fourth of July, everyone!

I have quite a few flag photos I’ve taken this week, but I think my favorite is this one I snapped with my phone last night as we drove home from the store just before sunset. Storm clouds were building, and I loved the flag set against the gray clouds. I added a texture with the Mextures app in my phone.

Here’s one from last month’s rodeo in Montana. The young boy on the horse raced around and around the ring while the national anthem played and everyone stood at attention- hats off. A beautiful sight!

After we got home from the store last night, we sat on the porch as the sky darkened, the wind picked up, thunder crashed in the distance, and the sky lit up with a a lightning display that went on for hours. At first I tried to take photos, but it was so windy that it was impossible to keep the camera still- so I sat down and just enjoyed the show. If we had any rain it came during the night and wasn’t enough to make puddles. It’s dry out there now. But the monsoon season has begun- bring on the rain!

July 4, 2014

Melinda3 Comments

Seeing Stars

My husband and I took a walk at Willow Lake yesterday and discovered that our favorite trail was now surrounded by beautiful golden weeds, waving and billowing in the breeze. I took a couple iPhone shots and brought home a handful to photograph with my macro lens. One of my current Flickr challenges is STARS, which I’m seeing everywhere in nature this week. The iPhone photo below was edited in Snapseed and PixlrExpress.

This might be my favorite star photo of the day, edited in Snapseed only.

At home, I noticed stars within stars within stars in this flower (Queen Anne’s lace?) that I’ve been using in still life compositions (you’ll see them later this week). I took the photos below with my macro lens on my Nikon.

Linking up with App Happy Wednesday!

June 25, 2014June 24, 2014

Melinda7 Comments

App Happy Again

I was starting to get a bit bored with my iPhone camera. I usually forget to pull it out for a quick shot when I’m using my DSLR- it seems silly. Because I’m not posting any DSLR photos to instagram- just iPhone photos- I often have nothing to upload. Two things have changed in the last couple days- one is participating in the 21 day juice challenge on instagram (#21dayjuicechallenge) and the other is a brand new app. No I’m not on a juice fast; I don’t even drink juice, because of the sugar. I make smoothies, and taking a photo of one every day with my iPhone camera is much less stressful than coming up with something creative! The other change came from reading a fantastic tutorial (featuring the work of an amazing photo artist, Cindy Patrick) on the Pixlr blog that I was alerted to by Terri Porter on instagram- #terriporter (her beach photo using the app is fantastic!). I downloaded the Pixlr Express app- free, as are most of my apps- and am loving the things I can do with it!

I cropped and did a few minor adjustments in Snapseed, then opened it in PixlrExpress. I used the dapple effect to give it a painted look. I then added blur, masking it off the bottle with the history brush. A frame completed the photo. All of these steps were part of the tutorial, which included much more than I did to this image. Check it out- you will be inspired!

June 18, 2014

Melinda6 Comments