Michael Andrew Photography http://www.michaelthemaven.com/ Michael Andrew Photography en-us Swing Shots http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=1561&swing-shots http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=1561&swing-shots Sun, 05 Sep 2010 23:30:00 GMT Advanced Photography Techniques DVD, I shoot almost exclusively with Live View these days for portraits...its just so much easier!

Canon 5DII , Canon 50mm 1.2 L 1/320, 1.2-1.4, ISO 100




]]> Percolator http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=1560&percolator http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=1560&percolator Sun, 05 Sep 2010 15:55:00 GMT
There is a really cool little photo-filter App out for the iPhone called "Percolator"- which essentially takes your picture and breaks it down into circles. While it is mostly a one-trick pony, you can tweak the settings by pressing the coffee cup inside the app (I didnt know this at first). I like it because it is very "different". This is a great example of how a company can come up with a successful product simply by diversifying and not copying everyone else. (How many basic filter apps are there out there? This one stands out...for now).

This is the image of my friend's son run through Percolator.


Driving back up to Idaho tonight.


]]> Fun in Provo http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=1559&fun-in-provo http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=1559&fun-in-provo Sun, 05 Sep 2010 01:53:00 GMT
Been taking it easy the last few days (a well needed break) and had a great day today in Provo for the BYU game. It's always kind of a pain to go to any football game with the traffic and what not, but usually worth the effort. My good friend Warren and I have figured out the best route in and out and for the most part we avoid nearly all the traffic. Tried to play "Cash Maven" today twice, at the first location no one showed up and at the second location, I couldnt get the tweet out (it was very difficult to get internet connection from the stadium). Lesson learned, I think Cash Maven is still a fun idea, but probably not really meant to be played in real time at an extremely busy cell network area. In the future I will try to give more warning where I will be and when. I had my questions all written out and everything, fun idea- poorly executed. I am also feeling quite small. :)

In any event, being a former player, Coach Mendenhall has given us some special access before the games and I am allowed on the field, so I brought Warrens son with me- many of you will notice him from some of the training DVDs as the boy jumping on the trampoline. It's so fun to see his excitement about football and life in general. Hanging out with Warren and his kids make me really wish I was married and had kids of my own. Its always good to be with them and relax/do fun things with them.

Heading back up to Idaho tomorrow, then back to Az on Tuesday. I have a few loose ends that still need tying, and then off to Maui sometime next week. Exciting times.

]]> The American http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=1558&the-american http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=1558&the-american Sat, 04 Sep 2010 02:35:00 GMT
This is at most a rental for adults only and not for kids or teenagers, many of you will want to skip it completely as this is more of an "art" type film, not a spy thriller. Clooney typically likes the extreme politically slanted movies and while there were such undertones, it was mostly a character story about a hitman/spy (we never learn what he is exactly) dealing with regret and hoping for a better life, which he hopes to find in a life with a local prostitute. He makes a zillion of spycraft mistakes, and I am not sure if this is intentional (him losing his edge) or bad story telling.

Beautiful cinematography and you can tell the director really poured his heart into it. Still wondering what the message was.

]]> Russia 100 Years Ago - In Color http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=1557&russia-100-years-ago-in-color http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=1557&russia-100-years-ago-in-color Fri, 03 Sep 2010 04:26:00 GMT
On a side note, one little known rule about copyrights, at least in the US, they become "Public Domain" 70 years after the death of the creator. There are some rules on how this works, but for the most part, 70 years is the general rule. (List of Copyright Expirations by Country)



Russia 100 Years Ago - In Color

]]> Michael The Maven Games - Cash Maven http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=1556&michael-the-maven-games-cash-maven http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=1556&michael-the-maven-games-cash-maven Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:43:00 GMT
I made it to Idaho tonight and am ready to announce the first of different little games I have been planning for a later version of "The Maven App" which wont be released until next week. There aren't any "games" per se on there yet, but rest assured, there are going to be some and I would like to do a little test to gauge interest level as to what kinds of games we are going to play. I travel quite often (very good chance I will be coming to your area sooner or later) and I always want to make myself available to make new friends.

This Saturday I will be at Lavell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah 2 hours before kick off (3pm). Once I am on location, I will tweet where I am 3-4 times before kick off so you have a general idea of where to find me, and yes the location will change. If you can find me and you say "I want to play Cash Maven" (Similar to cash cab), you will be eligible to play and I will take the first contestant to find me at each location. (I am planning on doing three of locations minimum).

The categories are:

1. BYU football
2. Anything Photography
3. Anything Michael The Maven, training videos or adventures
4. Complete Random Trivia

Each question is worth $10. If you get an answer right, I will continue to ask questions until you miss 2 of them. At that point you can walk away with what you have, or go for double or nothing on the final question. You can win up to $200, and it is completely free to play. I will also grab an iphone shot with you and put in on the blog, win or lose.

I have just one rule: You have to be someone I have never met before.

There are a number of reasons I have for doing this, one of them to have a chance to meet and talk with new friends who may be a regular blog reader. Its important for me to find a way to meet you personally.

Sound fun?

]]> Why BYU Went Independent - A Former Player's Perspective http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=1555&why-byu-went-independent-a-former-players-perspective http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=1555&why-byu-went-independent-a-former-players-perspective Wed, 01 Sep 2010 02:10:00 GMT
I was a walk-on Fullback for 5 years there (1991,1995-1998) and in terms of who I am today, I give that experience major credit as one of the most fond and treasured of my life, despite the fact that I spent most practices getting beat up. It made me tough, determined and gave me tremendous drive. I am very excited to see this move, even with the risk of catastrophic failure. For my photography friends who are still reading, this is the equivalent of quitting your day job to start a full time photography business without any promise of succes. Scary as h---, and equally as awesome and rewarding, only on a scale thousands of times larger. The stakes are high.

So....why did BYU go Independent?

The short answers:

1. Money
2. Freedom
3. Exposure

Is this so bad? At first glance it sounds greedy, but there are some real reasons why this is a good move. All the haters out there would be thrilled if their teams were in the same situation and did likewise. If this article makes you hate me or BYU more, then please, hate away. You probably work at some 9-5 job and enjoy your employer deciding everything for you, what you do, where you work, how much you make, like to hear about the raise or promotion that will never come, when you can eat lunch or take a potty break. You will never roll the dice like this, so it is hard for you to get how awesome this is and I do not expect you to.

BYU will make 5-6 times what they did before and they control their own destiny, schedule and television rights. Will they play for a BCS championship? Nope. Even with a perfect record? Not anytime soon. The awesome part is…they don't care. You gotta love that attitude.

In 1996, we went 14-1 and ended up playing in a great Cotton Bowl game. It was one of the most cherished memories playing at BYU and I was grateful for the opportunity. But I also distinctly remember sitting down one Sunday afternoon with my roommate, another BYU Running Back, Chris Stevens, as the BCA Alliance (which became the BCS) offered Texas an invitation to the Fiesta Bowl instead of BYU. We had a better record, we were ranked higher, and the guy on the TV said "Texas is a better fit" which to me meant, "This is our party and we invite whom we like". That didn't sit right with me, but we didn't have a choice. Over the years, I have seen this "we don't really have a choice" answer being played over and over and over, from TV rights, to splitting revenue, to whom BYU played, they never had a choice. The MWC never seemed to want to budge or accommodate BYU on some of these issues, despite being one of the better teams in the league. BYU had to ask itself "…what in the heck are we doing here? This isn't going anywhere. Why is this league controlling every aspect of our finances, exposure and growth?" I can only wonder now what the MWC Commissioner is thinking now that all those wins and potential BCS qualification are walking out the door with BYU. Deserves you right, maybe you should have tried to work with them a little.

My guess is BYU got sick of the BS and they are willing to kiss all the promises of a conference championship or national title goodbye for the prospect of freedom.

That's beautiful.

Long Answers:

Why even talk about this? Because whether you love them or hate them, it was down right gutsy. If Utah did the same thing, I would think it would be gutsy too. I'm not a huge fan of Utah to put it mildly.

BYU is interested in taking off the handcuffs. While many will argue this was a bad move. Not so, when it all plays out, I believe this will turn into one of the biggest moves BYU has ever made financially as well as for pure exposure. BYU's Athletic Director Tom Holmoe was one of my coaches at BYU when I was a freshman. I have met up with him a few times over the years. He is a very good and very smart man. The guy knows what he is doing and he doubt he would pull the trigger without having something concrete laid out. Tomorrow's press conference will show this. I also want to say I have no inside information and this is just one former player exercising his 1st Amendment rights.

Short layman's recap on the saga since I posted the original thread a few days ago, in case you missed it:

BYU had plans to go independent (it was quoted as "a done-deal" with non-football sports like basketball and volleyball competing in the WAC. The league BYU currently plays in, the Mountain West, tried to scuttle this by luring 2 WAC schools to the the Mountain West (essentially trying to sabotage the deal so BYU couldn't play there). It almost worked.

To make it even juicier, the WAC had a $5 million dollar penalty agreement in place with all WAC schools before Fresno State and Nevada were bribed into the MWC, which meant Fresno State and Nevada would have to have paid this money for leaving early. One of the schools, I believe Fresno, is now claiming it didn't sign the agreement, and even better, it is only in effect if BYU has an agreement with the WAC. Confused yet?

Today, BYU announces that they are going independent with it's non-football schools competing in the WCC, a division you, I and no one else has really heard of, but it turns out to be a conference of religious schools such as Gonzaga, (which you and I have heard of) and others, and they have some great Men's Basketball Teams.

Something a lot of non-MWC fans do not understand was that the Mountain West had a stranglehold on the Television Rights of Mountain West (and BYU) games. It also meant the television (and bowl game) revenues were being constantly being split among all MWC schools (even the one's with lousy records), AND BYU couldn't even broadcast their own games (even for non-football sports which didn't have anyone else broadcasting them because of this agreement). It also meant half or more of BYU's games couldn't be watched, anywhere. I know on many occasions BYU asked for some recourse on this problem, and the MWC/Cable companies wouldn't budge. Thats just lame.

Something else a lot of non-MWC fans do not understand is that BYU has it's own television company. This isn't a matter of technology or lack of resources, not about being arrogant, being stuck up, or selfish, etc. BYU got tired of being someone else's you know what. If you have ever been employed by a mean boss, you know the feeling. Heck, we all know the feeling. You get sick and tired of busting your butt for a promise that never comes true and you begin to wonder… "Why in the world am I here doing this? How many more lies will I tell myself/listen to before I wake up, get angry and take some chances?"

How much was BYU making on this Mountain West agreement? I believe the number was $2 Million dollars. How much money can BYU make now that it can retain it's own broadcasting rights as well as rumored lucrative a partnership with ESPN for a few games? The estimate is between $10-12 Million. With potential revenues from broadcasting other sports (although it won't be nearly as profitable as football) and bowl games (often worth a few million depending on where they land…..is this something that takes a lot of thinking?

I also doubt this is the end of this. BYU's brazen move will undoubtedly, embolden other schools to do the same. It may not be soon, but mark my words, give it a few years, if BYU pulls this off, a select few, like the Texas', USC's, even Hawaii with it's unique situation will ask "If BYU can do it….why not us?".

If enough schools do this, it is possible that there would be somewhat of an "Independent Alliance" where many of these Indie schools play each other. It opens up some very curious questions:

1. What happens to the BCS if several powerhouse teams also go independent in the next 5-7 years?
2. Why would BYU want to go to a conference such as the Big 12 (or 10 now) unless they could offer more television and bowl money or freedom than they would get as an indie? Im not seeing this.
3. What happens to Fresno State and Nevada if BYU Football and the WAC actually DO have some type of arrangement to play a certain number of games? (We will find this out tomorrow, I am expecting 3-4 WAC opponents on the 2011 schedule).
4. Will BYU partner up to play Notre Dame? What about Army or Navy?

Ill be at LES in Prove, Utah this weekend to watch BYU take on Washington. Should be a great game.

If you made it to the end of this thread…what do you think about BYU football going Independent?

]]> Twitter Crash Course http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=1554&twitter-crash-course http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=1554&twitter-crash-course Mon, 30 Aug 2010 02:12:00 GMT Twitterfor a few months now, and to be honest, I was quite confused about it when I first signed up, am still learning how to use it beneficially and have a lot to learn about Twitter, so if I don't understand something please correct me.

Twitter is essentially a mini-blog entry, much like the status of your Facebook, but it limits the user to 140 characters. I like this because it forces users to get to the point and quickly so. "Following" someone allows you to see their Tweets to the world, and when you have several people involved, its like bunch of mini-conversations going on.

The thing I really like about Twitter is that it is coming from individuals, in real time so it's faster than news. Another thing is that many celebrities have Twitter, so it allows you to get to know them anonymously.

I personally see a need for Twitter because there are rare occasions I cannot connect with the internet to make a blog post (think Haiti) but Twitter would allow me to mini-blog wherever I have an internet connection. It's short, fast and easy to do.

Here are some of the things I have learned:

You can send a Tweet to the world in general by just typing anything you want in there.

The "@" symbol essentially basically means "at" someone. For example, my twitter name is "MichaelTheMaven" and if you wanted to send a tweet specifically in my direction, it would be @MichaelTheMaven. I am able to see all the tweets that come in my direction.

"RT" means - "Repeat Tweet", it also shows up as a little yin/yang symbol. It's a quick way to re-tweet something someone else said and give them credit for it.

The Hash Mark "#" means to put your tweet into the results of anything that comes up in a search for those terms. Say you want anyone interested in photography to see your tweet if they search for that term, you would write "#photography" at the end of your tweet.

Because URL's can be exceptionally long, there are websites like Tiny Url and Bit Url, that will shorten a website address to a few characters and it saves some space. In order to do this for so many links, the URLs have really weird and random combinations of letters. This explains the weird link addresses you see at the end of many tweets.

Lists allow you to organize people you follow into categories and subjects, such as "photography" or "mac stuff"- these are things you decide and arrange. By viewing your custom "lists" it filters out everyone but those people you have added. Great for reading the latest news about a particular subject.

One exciting feature of the new Maven App (coming very soon, it was submitted today) was that everyone who downloads this App will be able to read my Twitter feeds, even if you do not have a Twitter account. If you do have one, it will also allow you to message me directly, (which is more likely to get an answer than a long email) as well as your and my friends. I know this is going to sound weird, but there are quite a few of you out there who have formed some pretty good friendships with other Michael The Mentor forum users or school students. This feature will allow us to all stay connected better.

Here is a screen shot of the Twitter feature on the new Maven App. For now it is pretty simple and straight forward, but we have some new features coming soon:


I originally thought the Icon for "Michael" was a coach with a whistle, turns out it is actually a "rapper". Oh well... :)

Michael The Maven in Twitter

]]> Michael The Maven 2010 Photography Contest http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=1553&slr-and-iphone-photography-contest http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=1553&slr-and-iphone-photography-contest Sun, 29 Aug 2010 23:56:00 GMT

If you guys could help me get the word out on this I would greatly appreciate it! These contests take up a tremendous amount of time and money to put on and I would like to make it a yearly event. We are super lucky to have the following celebrity photographers on board to help with judging and I am extremely grateful to them for offering to help:

- Terry White , Guru Educator/Instructor, App Yoda ... Photoshop Magazine Author - He is the guy you see teaching anything Adobe or Mac related.
- Arden Ward - Wedding Photographer Extraordanaire.
- The Fabulous Michael Norwood Esquire (I think all Mammoth Men rank directly below a Knight…Ill have to check on this).
- The Infamous F Stoppers gang! I wonder what controversy they are stirring up next?
- I am working on adding one more...

Contest Divisions/Categories, Prizes, ... Submission Rules

This post is to announce the official start of the Michael The Maven 2010 Photography Contest. To keep things simple I am going to combine both the Cell Phone contest and the Main Photography contest together, so there are 2 divisions; "iPhone/Cell Phone Division" and the "Main Photography Division".

I also assume this post will grow with details, information, etc, so be sure to link back to it. I will be adding a Contest Banner shortly at the top of the blog. This is a free contest to enter (meaning there are no submission fees, and anyone can enter. (Including last year's winners). You may also enter both divisions, as long as submission rules are followed- I hate to have long posts and rules, but we have to do this to keep some kind of order.

Main Photography (SLR/P...S) Division

-The Grand Prize winner will receive a Brand New Canon 7D with 28-135mm Lens WOW!
- All First Place Winner's will receive a $200 gift coupon to Michael's Photography Store Products (Includes all training DVDs, Actions, Presets, etc) (BTW- There is a new product due in late Sept that most serious photographers will want, can also be applied towards a Maui Workshop, or other mentoring package.)
- All Second Place Winners will receive a $100 coupon to Michael's Photography Store.
- All Third Place Winners will receive a Free 16 x 20 Gallery Wrap from Uprinting.com

(I will add 4th and 5th place winners if we receive over 1000 submissions- last year we had 250 total- Also there are a number of sponsors I am still waiting to hear from, if they come through, we will substitute the gift cards at third place, and/or just add them to 4th and 5th). I also reserve the right to add more prizes depending on the more entries we receive and moving prizes around a bit, but all that will be decided before any finalists are selected. If it gets really big (10,000 participants or more), I will get Canon T2i's for all other 1st place winners- so spread the word! I know that's a lofty goal, but hey, dream big right?

We encourage all entrants of the main contest to mail in your entires on an 8 x 10 or 8 x 12 prints- (small borders are ok) to this address:

Michael The Maven Photography Contest
C/O Rick Jacobi
6040 E Main  #512
Mesa, AZ  85205

(Thank you to Rick for volunteering to help with this!)

The reason we are suggesting you submit by physical print is because it will allow you to check for detail and color before submitting.

We are also accepting digital submissions, just know that if you are a finalist, we will be printing it up on an 8x10 or 8x12 to compare with the other finalists. If you are submitting digitally, please email to: mavencontest@gmail.com with the division and category as the subject. For example, if you are submitting an entry for the Main Contest and it's a portrait, the subject of the email should be: "Main Photo Division - Portrait" This will help us stay organized. We also need at minimum your name, and basic contact information. If you win and we cannot identify or contact you, you will forfeit your prize.

1. All images must be submitted between: August 29th 2010- October 15th, 2010 at 11:59pm
2. Images must be submitted physically or high resolution digital files emailed to: mavencontest@gmail.com - You must have the subject properly titled to be considered.
3. Images must be taken between August 28th 2009 - October 15th, 2010 (within the last year)
4. You may enter up to 1 image in each category. Submitting "extras" will lead to disqualification.
5 The 5 Main Division Categories include:

A. Portraits
B. Landscapes / Nature
C. Macro
D. Sports
E. Abstract / Textures

We must have your submissions no later than Oct 15th, 2010. Remember, if you are in a jam, you can submit digitally up until 11:59pm.
Even if you do not have a printer, we would still recommend ordering your image to be printed from MPix or other print company and have them sent to the contest address. Many contestants did this last year and it worked out great. Be sure to include your division, contact info, etc in the shipping notes.


Categories, Rules, Prizes for the Cell Phone Division include:

The Grand Prize Winner will be: One Brand NEW Canon Rebel T2i With Kit Lens - (or A Gift Card of Equivalent Amount from BHPhoto)
The other 2 - 1st place winners will receive Canon Point and Shoot Digital Cameras (Or Equivalent Gift Cards from BHPhoto)
For the remaining individuals who place (2nd or 3rd place) there will be additional prizes (yet to be determined).

1. All images must be submitted between: August 11th 2010- October 15th, 2010 at 11:59pm
2. Images must be submitted electronically, either by text message or emailed to: mavencontest@gmail.com
3. Images must be taken between August 1st 2010 - October 15th,, 2010
4. You may enter up to 2 images in each category. Submitting "extras" will lead to disqualification.
5. The 3 Cell Phone Categories Are:

A. Portrait
B. Landscape
C. Wildcard (this is everything else that isn't Portrait and Landscape)

6. The Subject of your entry submission must have "Cell Phone Contest" , followed by a category name: "Cell Phone Contest-Protrait" for example.
7. Images may be edited, but must be done on your phone only. Using Apps are allowed as long as you list which Apps were used in your submission.
8. Your name and contact information (name ... email are required) must be submitted with each image. If your image wins, and we are unable to contact you, or you do not respond, your prize will be forfeited.
9. By submitting your images, you give Michael The Maven and its representatives, permission to reproduce ... show on websites, social media or other materials for promotional purposes. We also reserve the right to print your image to inspect image quality if necessary.
10. We reserve the right to expand the number of winners and make adjustments to the rules at our discretion.
11. There will be an initial selection process by Michael, from which a panel of judges (yet to be determined) will vote for 5 Finalists in each category. The remaining images will be voted on by blog readers.

Other Rules and Notices

12. By submitting your images for either division, you give Michael The Maven and its representatives, permission to reproduce ... show on websites, social media or other materials for promotional purposes. We also reserve the right to print your image to inspect image quality if necessary.
13. We reserve the right to expand the number of winners and make adjustments to the rules at our discretion.
14. There will be an initial selection process by Michael, from which a panel of celebrity photography judges, will vote for 3 Finalists in each category. The remaining images will be voted on by blog readers. The Grand Prize Winner of each category will also be voted on for both divisions.

If you have questions, please ask below in the comments box and I will update with answers.

Both divisions of the contest are now open.

Even if you are not interested in entering, please help get the word out and post this link on Facebook, Twitter or anywhere else you may think would help. I would really like to get as many people involved as possible, and by having a "cell phone" part of the contest, it makes it available for everyone!

Need Tips and Suggestions to make your cell phone images great?

Cell Phone Photography Contest Resources:

- Tons of great basic composition lessons at: Michael The Mentor
- Here is a great Video from myself, Terry White and F-Stoppers on using good light sources to improve image quality.

(embeded object)

The iPhone Fashion Shoot - Lee Morris Shoots With The 3GS Fstoppers from FStoppers on Vimeo



Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can I use HDR? - Yes.
2. I dont live in America, can I still enter? - Yes, as long as you follow all the rules, it is open for everyone.
3. Watermarks? - No watermarks on the photo, we do not want know who took it so we may judge without bias.
4. Can I stitch images together for panoramas? Yes
5. Can I stitch many images together, such as compositing? It depends. This is a photography contest, not a photoshop or art contest. If it looks like an natural image, then yes, if it is obvious that several different elements and images were composited, then no.

Any more questions you have will be answered here or in the comments.

Thanks!

]]> iPhone Portrait Crash Course - How to take great iPhone Picturess http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=1552&iphone-portrait-photography-tips-techniques http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=1552&iphone-portrait-photography-tips-techniques Sat, 28 Aug 2010 19:29:00 GMT (embeded object)

Higher Quality Version on Vimeo:

iPhone Portrait Photography Crash Course - How to get great iphone pictures from MichaelTheMaven on Vimeo



I will be adding the images and updating this post over the next few days. Here is some of the basic information:

Here is one of the images at 1MP, straight out of the camera (Notice the Banding) - It is mostly full size, but I had to crop out the bottom otherwise it would be too big to post here: (more coming)


I know there are going to be a lot of questions on this, so this post will probably grow over time. I wanted to make a few notes:

Exposure Control

I found myself using almost dSLR a little more, but Simple Camera is not to be ignored because it's exposure box is smaller. They both also allow you to lock color temperature.

You lock exposure by double tapping on the screen at the place you want to lock exposure.

To brighten your exposure : Tap on a dark area
To darken your exposure : Tap on a bright area

There were times it was very picky and I found myself locking exposure's on darker shadows where ever I could find them. It too about 2 minutes to get the hang of, after that it was second nature.

Did you use the iPhone's Flash?

Not once. I wanted to only use natural light.


App Post Processing Work Flow

After Playing with the Apps for about a week, I found this to be the order of post-processing on the iPhone:

1. Adjust exposure, contrast and saturation sharpness with Photoshop Express (for a free app it did surprisingly well)
2. Add DOF effects with the Tilt Shift Generator
3. Add any final filter effects with Photo Wizard or Photo FX.

In real world Photoshop, typically sharpening is the last thing you do. I tried this, and it just didn't work the same if you are adding DOF adjustments that are hard to see/aim on a small screen. It could just be me.

Other Apps Tested

I tested many, MANY other apps, including:

- Hipstamatic (Better for taking pics, not so much post processing)
- Photostudio (this was actually a pretty good app as well, just didn't use it as much).
- Picture Show (Loved it and the effects- very fun for sending to friends)
- Plastic Bullet (I may not have understood how to work this thing)

That said there are many great processing apps out there. If you know of one let me know and I will definitely check it out.

Resolution, Why 5MP vs 1MP?

The reason I turned down the resolution to 1 MP (in fact, it was actually less: 720 x 1280 = 921,600 pixels) was for a few reasons:

1. To act as a control when comparing with the full resolution of the 5MP images (how much did resolution come into play?)

2. To demonstrate / simulate image quality in lower resolution cameras, as I know not everyone has an iPhone 4, yet most cell phones have at least 1MP cameras.

3. I was curious about the question: What are the very best types of images you can take in the worst conditions, assuming you only had good quality light and a limited knowledge of how to take advantage of it?

Conclusion: I think the 5MP absolutely looked better both out of the camera and after processing, however, I also think that some of the 1MP images were very, very good, and even more so after post processing. The 1MP images seemed to have color balance issues and appeared a little softer. The post processing definitely helped them more than the 5MP images, some of which I think could be printed from the original files. It is my hope that everyone who sees this video will now have some core knowledge about natural light they can use to get better images anywhere, anytime, with any camera.

About the Models

- Neither of the models were full time professionals, and both did their own make-up. The brunette, Terra, is a friend of mine who has only modeled for me in the past for a limited number of projects. Kelly, the blond, works in Real Estate full time but does part time work when available. The important thing here is that yes, beautiful subjects help, just remember most people are beautiful when they smile, or are otherwise happy.

If you are interested in using this information to enter a photography contest, check it out here: Deadline for entires is September 30th 2010!

]]>