Tulips

I used my camera phone with a tilt shift app applied and to subdue the tones, a Lightroom preset from Shirley called Coffee with Cream.

Scenes from the Vermilion River

All three pics were taken with my camera phone (Motorola BackFlip). The first has a Lightroom preset and the following two just minor adjustments for sizing.

Demo

Well, I know that I've said that I like control over my images but this demo of Vignette for Android looks quite interesting. After you take the photo, you can try out different settings before it becomes processed and saved. That makes it a bit more flexible. The demo only saves a very small thumbnail so I put them together. If only it was a US company so I didn't have to pay more for it. *sigh*

Rainy Day

It's been a dark day with rain and sometimes interesting skies. I had the idea to drive to Evanston in hopes of catching some interesting skies over the lake and maybe cooler temps. Neither happened but I did come upon the new sculpture at the Evanston Art Center. The photo was taken with my camera phone and sent straight to flickr without any editing.

It seems everybody wonders how I'll handle life once M goes off to college. It won't really change much except that I will be doing things on my own. The mister drove and it was not a barrel of laughs nor was the time spent at the lighthouse as I looked up at him, arms crossed and ready to go in a very short time. I can only think that those clothes that he wanted to iron must have been more important than spending the money on gas and time with us. I know we won't be doing those things together. He's made it too clear and that's that.

I'm going to try and walk Cassie in a direction away from the homegrown firecrackers all around. They really freak her out and she'll put on the brakes in a hurry. I had visions of carrying her home last night. She weighs in at just over 40lbs. A little jogging helped get her moving forward again. :) Hope y'all have had a great weekend.

Sunset ala Camera Phone

Last week we ran into a coyote on our nightly walk and that put some fear into us. The coyote freaked us seeing it in our neighborhood. I think it was as scared of us as we were him/her. Lots of noise by all and it turned away. So did we, retracing our steps and avoiding the playground/park area. We altered our pattern for a few nights and this was one of our rewards. Tonight, we let time slip away and walked after dark. No coyote, just clouds and lots of fireworks to hurt Cassie's ears.

Camera Phone Dunes

Just thought I'd share the camera phone pick with about 2 minutes of editing using levels and curves. I am pleased with my camera phone as a phone and a camera. The phone, Samsung Sync (SGH-A707).

Today is an important day, it is Flag Day!! And the day my mother did all the work and delivered me into this world. I only manage to survive from one year to the next... and now it has been 43 years and I have no intention of growing up. Soon, I'm going to head out in my Yellow Mini for a large drink from Caribou Coffee (on the house for my birthday) and blast some Jimmy Buffett followed by Toby Keith. :)

Dunes

While I was away, I used both my camera phone and regular camera. With the camera phone, I could upload straight to my Flickr photostream with the only adjustment being one for size (once I learned how to do that). I read a forum post where the people were putting down camera phones as useless and better to not have any photo than that of a camera phone.

Here is a comparison for you to peruse.


Camera Phone. Indiana Dunes State Park.














Canon 10D with wide angle lens, Indiana Dunes State Park.








For me, a camera phone picture will always be better than no picture at all. Not perfect but what really is? Many of the comments reminded me of the early days of digital and film debate. I'm sure many of those same people never thought they would be using digital. A phone is still a phone but why not have more functions built in?

Camera Phones

How many out there have a camera phone? How many out there actually use their camera phone? That's what I thought. There are times I only have my camera phone with me. I have the phone known as the Sync (Samsung). It's a 2mp camera. Remember when 2mp was considered high quality? I found a book that has inspired me to make better use of my camera phone. No longer will it be just a quicky photo with the thought that it's only a camera phone. With a little planning and proper attention, camera phone photos can and do make acceptable prints as well as memory keepers.

The book..... The Camera Phone Book: How to Shoot Like A Pro.... by Aimee Baldridge and Robert Clark. The above photo was taken with my camera phone and a Close-Up Filter (+10).

Birds on a Wire - On the Fly

Taken from a moving car with my camera phone. Bow added to brighten things up as another dreary day is upon us.

The Perfect Pet

Ooooo, how I wanted one of these stuffed toy animals. They are pretty lifelike and even breathe! Called the perfect pet as all they do is sleep. Perfect, so long as you don't mind the snoring sound some of them make. So, in the absence of a real puppy.... hint, hint!!

*Photo Notes: Camera Phone