[tweetmeme]The best camera is the one you have on you when you need it the most.

There have been many moments in the past when I’ve wished I had my camera on me to capture an amazing moment such as a cloud pattern I noticed when I suddenly looked up,  the way light reflected of a window pane,  the shadows cast by a street lamp. I have always  wanted to constantly capture those simple fleeting moments which make my life come alive.

I have fulfilled this craving by becoming an “Iphonographer” (a term loosely used to describe someone who uses an iPhone as a camera). My camera is my phone, and my dark room, the plethora of apps I use to process my photos on the go.

It’s not just me, thousands of others are taking to using their mobile phones as their primary camera. This is supported by the fact that  the most popular camera on Flicker the leading photo sharing site is the iPhone 4.

Here are some helpful hints to get you started in the world of mobile phone photography. Although these are more iPhone centric, you can easily adapt them to any phone with a good camera and an app platform.

1. It’s all about timing

You definitely can’t carry your DSLR every time you go to work or for an evening stroll but it’s easy enough to slip your phone into your purse or pocket and keep it handy. The moments you see an interesting subject just reach for it and start clicking without wasting a breath.

I captured this amazing photo of lightning striking between New York City on one of my evening runs across the Hudson waterfront.

2. Notice the small wonders

Instead of just walking with a purpose to go from point A to point B, enjoy the journey. Start noticing the small things of wonder:  leaf lying on the boardwalk, the bird on the tree, the flowers swaying in the wind, the smiling people, and the plastic bag stuck in the tree. There are numerous possibilities just waiting to be discovered and captured.

Simplicity in chance arrangement, a leaf on the boardwalk, shot while I was walking to work.

3. No one is bothered by a guy wearing headphones staring at his phone

People get conscious and at times offended if you walk around with a huge DSLR or even a point and shoot, but no one cares about someone with his ears stuffed with headphones who is  innocently starring in to his phone. Take advantage to get candid shots of people and events in their truest sense (but respect privacy and don’t offend anyone please)

4. Composition makes up for the quality

Photos captured using an iPhone don’t in any sense match the quality of photos from a DSLR, but you can make up for the quality by composing your shots very well. The fact that the phone is on you when you need one, is power enough to use it as a tool to capture the raw, emotional, unquantifiable elements in the moment.

5. It’s all about instant gratification

Good things are for sharing, and a camera phone makes it infinitely easy to shoot and share a lovely moment while you are on the go. Nowadays most of the phones and apps have apps which allow you to post pictures on your social networks, for your friends and family to see and enjoy . Isn’t it a nice feeling to see “likes” or comments on your photo before you even go home?

6. Use Apps to your advantage

It’s a great idea to retouch or process your photos before you share them or store them for you own viewing pleasure. Apps allow you to correct some abnormalities, play with the color, contrast, or brightness and almost everything else you dream of, such as the ability to cross process and add numerous filters.  The possibilities to be creative are just unlimited. Most of the Apps are free though some of the good ones come at a small price, usually below $ 5.

Here are my top 5 favorites for starters:

• Camera+: Amazing app for cleaning up photos using filters, adding amazing effects and borders . Worth every cent spent.
• Instagram : A great community, fun filters to put on your photos and lots of inspiring images to look at. Look me up, I’m “gr8buddy” in Instagram.
• Adobe PhotoShop Express with noise reduction filter: This is a great app, especially with the noise reduction filter, which does wonders on any picture shot in low light or that has come out a little grainy.
• Hipstamatic : Digital photography never looked so analog. The Hipstamatic brings back the look, feel, unpredictable beauty, and fun of plastic toy cameras of the past!
• ColorSplash : This iPhone app will convert any photo to black and white even while allowing you to keep specifically chosen details in colour.

7. Let the whole world “say AW!” At your creativity

Don’t limit your photo sharing to your social circle, go beyond, start a photo blog. It’s easy:  you can take a picture, process it using your favorite apps and blog it all from the comfort of your phone while you take that  bus ride to work or wait  at the Laundromat. Most of these blogs automatically post your content to all your social networks and have rich communities which will both inspire you and get inspired by you.  Two of the platforms I personally use are Posterious and Tumblr as they have great apps

8. Enjoy the moments

At the end of the day it is not just about what others think or how many times your photo gets “liked” or retweeted, but about the smile it will bring to your face, and the joy of capturing a fleeting moment which you would have missed if not for your handy phone camera. Enjoy the journey.

Share your own iPhonography on the PhotoGuides Forums!

To see more of my work visit www.shotwithmyphone.com

Follow me on twitter @gr8buddy

Know more about.me

Road to No Regret by Philippe Sainte-Laudy

Rebekka Guðleifsdóttir

Chambored Dream by Philippe Sainte-Laudy

Reflections by camil tulcan

The World Unseen by My Reality

Flower and Drop by 5348 Franco

Praha Reflection by O-Renzo

Reflection by awwXsugar

Eiffel Puddle Reflection by tyt2000

A Reflection of a Reflection by raun

Reflection by MichelRajkovic

Reflection by ilva-R

Buttermere Reflection by scotto

Reflection of my Soul by 3DD13M14M1

Reflection Subjection by kelc

Reflections of You and Me by tynaS

Reflection by Citrusfrukt

Loving in Reflection by rave250

Reflections for the Day by Dene’ (Seattle) Miles

Reflections by jeremi12

Reflection by iQayed

Reflection Kiss by Firenzesca

Beaches Winter Sidewalk Reflection

Ice Lakes Basin Reflection by Jack Brauer

[tweetmeme]Firstly, thank you everyone for the amazing entries. I really have been blown away by the quality of some photographs as well as the stories behind them. There can only be one winner though, and I think one particular photograph is very deserving of the Photography theme from The Theme Foundry.

Congratulations to Dirk Schlottmann for his photo ‘Living on an Island’. This photo, which is shown above, really has an inspiring, inquisitive story behind it, which is why feel it’s worthy of the prize. Here’s what Dirk wrote about his photograph:

This is one of my favorite shots, because I had the impression, that the man in the wheelchair was really thinking about “life” when he was looking at this little island.
The picture was taken in Southkorea (at the eastcoast)

Dirk, I’ll be in contact with you shortly to send you your theme.

Thank you to everyone who submitted their favourite photographs. I had a lot of fun going through them and seeing all the smiles, the moments and the astounding scenes. Also, a big thanks goes out to Drew Strojny from The Theme Foundry for offering his stunning Photography theme.

So Dirk, I hope you enjoy the theme. And for everyone else, thanks for your entries and keep an eye out for the next PhotoGuides competition.

[tweetmeme]Tilt Shift is an incredible lens effect that transforms normal scenes into tiny toy worlds. It’s a topic that’s already been shown extensively here on PhotoGuides with tilt shift collections and photoshop tutorials, but these new examples take on a new level of amazingness.

ArtCyclopedia has created an astonishing range of Tilt Shift photographs which apply the effect to some of Van Gogh’s famous paintings. The results really are stunning. Check them out.

[tweetmeme]It amazes me how much abstract architecture there is in a train station. In this collection I’ve put together 16 of the most inspiring train station photos from the web. The next time you’re waiting for a train, pull out your camera and go for a walk. Hopefully this collection will give you a few ideas.

Quick Tips for Train Station Photography:

Symmetry: Almost all of these photos bare a symmetry, and this produces a truly stunning effect when you’re dealing with architecture.

Colours: The majority of these photos are in black and white, or are heavily desaturated with an accentuated blue element to them. This combination appears to be very effective, and adds a cool, crisp feel to the photos.

Abstraction: Look at how the photograph moves. The way the photographers have captured some of the abstract lines in these photos is astounding.

Movement: A train station is a lively place. Try to capture this in your photo

Into the Light by Philipp Klinger

Is Time Linear by Philipp Klinger

Old New York Subway Car by Tara Holland

Diffuse Station by hopefoote

Liège Guillemins by rpbdesigner

Inside the Space Station by yushimoto_02

Grand Central Station by Digital Agent

Liege Railway Station by cedsarlette

Station Story by liquidkid1

Escalator by mickeyxmouse

Symmetry by genr

Subway IV by Dr007

Subway by KYAV

Abandoned Subway by BalchPhoto

Subway song by DinnerSpoiler

The Butterfly Subway by Demyan

[tweetmeme]The Human Eye has always been a fairly incredible thing, but when viewed up close with the detail of Macro and HDR photography, it bares completely new dimensions. The colours and patterns are just mesmerising. Photos like this aren’t that difficult to achieve either. All you need is a Macro lens, Photomatix or another HDR program, and a person who’s willing to let you shove a camera right in their face.

[tweetmeme]‘Tilt Shift School’ is a short film I put together for my media class at school. It’s based in the Year 12 common room, and it basically just shows everyone chatting, laughing and playing around in front of the camera. It’s a fun little film.

Don’t forget there’s an awesome tutorial for tilt shift on PhotoGuides.

You may have noticed that I’ve written Technical Exercise in the opening credits. A technical exercise is a short film we had to produce which focuses on two of the technical properties of film production. I chose editing and music in this one so that I could play around with the tilt shift effect. This was then submitted along with a writeup detailing how these two properties effect a film. My fingers are crossed for a good mark.

I do wish I’d made it longer. Even when I watch it, I find it ends disappointingly early. I plan on making a few more throughout the year though, so think of this one as Episode 1 of the ‘Tilt Shift School’ series. The next few will be a lot longer as well, because they won’t be restricted by the Tech Exes time limits.

Anyway, I hope you like it. And if you do like it, feel free to share it, tweet it, comment on it, blog it or anything else that’ll let more people know about it. As always, tips and criticisms are welcome below.

Film Camera by theREALantimaster

[tweetmeme]A traditional time lapse involves a stationary camera snapping away at some moving objects. It can look cool, but it’s a bit lifeless. A while ago I had an idea for a time lapse of photos that travelled the world. No photo was planned and the camera was never in the same place twice. What it tells though is an incredible story. It’s the perfect depiction of a snippet of my life, and in this guide I hope to inspire you to create your own, as well as show you how to create it. The best thing is, you’ve probably already got every photo you need to do it.

Here’s some Inspiration

About a year ago while I was flicking through some of my photos I had a realisation. We may take thousands of photos on a holiday or journey, yet we leave it up to a select few to tell the story. We sort through them and pick the prime of the bunch to tweak and share. Probably 95% of the photos we take go to waste and this is a real shame. After all, if the moment is interesting enough to photograph, it should be interesting enough to share.

I realised this during my trip to South Africa on The Simunye Project while I was scrolling through photos on my camera. I hold so many memories from that experience – memories of the children, the people, the animals, the country and memories with my friends – and each memory was coming back as I flicked through my photos. For some reason though I was mentally filtering through all 4000 of them and picking the best based on their artistic qualities. These select photos may have told a story, but it was almost impossible to share the whole experience through a select bunch. A picture may say 1000 words, but in some cases, that’s really not enough.

And then I had this idea.

Why not share all of them? The only real way to understand the experience is to see each and every kodak moment together, because every photo from the start to the finish tells the whole story. So, after finding even more inspiration in a song, I put together this time lapse. If you’re a PhotoGuides regular or if you’ve delved deep into the archives, some of you may have seen this before. It’s called Simunye 3096 (that being the number of photos in it) and I’ve found it to be one of the only ways to tell the whole Simunye story.

It’s one of the few films I never get tired of watching, partly because it’s sentimental, but also because every time you watch it you’ll spot something new.

As I later found out, I’m not the only one who’s played with this concept. One particular film that stands out is ’30 days’ by Michael Mistretta. He bought a Nikon D90 and took over 2,700 photos in the first 30 days with the camera. This film is an incredible display of what he did over those 30 days, as well as of the people in his life. The majority of the photos are of the people around him, and even though you have no idea who anyone is, you sort of get to learn about Michael.

Hopefully you now see the story telling capabilities of Time Lapse photography. Michael probably didn’t even plan to create this. I assume he had a similar epiphany to me when he realised that those 2,777 photos held the story of his 30 days.

Here are some Tips

Photograph Everything and Keep Everything.
If you’re taking a photo of a person and it turns out blury or poorly exposed, keep it because it’s these photos that add to the character of the film. The same applies with photos where you have about 10 of the same thing.

In the edit, Duplicate Photos you want to Emphasise.
In my Simunye 3096 film I doubled up my favourite photos or photos of a significant event. They then stay on the screen for just a split second longer, and this means they’ll always be noticed.

Pick a Good Song.
The song tells half of the story, both through its words and through its rhythm. Michael Mistretta’s film speaks of memories, and the fast piano acts as a conductor for the photos. It’s the same for my Simunye film. The song ‘Any Other World’ by Mika is so relevant to the nature of South Africa, and its piano beat is perfect for the film. Pick your song wisely because it’s probably the most important part of the film.

8-12 Frames per Second
It may be a personal choice, but I’ve found this to be the optimal range of speed. It’s quick enough so that the viewer doesn’t focus on individual photos, but it’s also slow enough for them to recognise just what’s going on.

And Here’s how to Make your Time Lapse.

FrameByFrame (Mac): This is a cool piece of free software that lets you compile all your photos into a video and set the frame rate. Just drag in your photos into the editing window, slide the frame rate to between 8-12 and click play.

Final Cut: If you’ve got Final Cut Pro or Express then I highly recommend you use it. The best way to create your time lapse is to open up a new project, go into the ‘User Preferences’ menu (press option+Q), select editing and then change the default still/freeze frame duration to 00:02 or 00:03. This means that your photo will be displayed for either 2 or 3 frames out of 25 or 30 (PAL or NTSC dependent). Once you’ve done this, simply drag in your photos and they’ll automatically be set to 2 or 3 fps.

QuickTime Pro: If you’ve got QuickTime then you’re in luck, because it’s got an excellent feature for creating Time Lapse films. You’ll first need to put all your photos into a single folder containing nothing else. Then you can open up QuickTime and click file, ‘Open Image Sequence’ and select the first image in that folder. It should then ask you the frame rate (choose around 10fps), click ok and then it should create your time lapse for you.

VirtualDub (PC): As a Mac user I’ve not been able to try this program out, so I can’t offer any tips on how to use it. It’s been recommended to me by others, so I presume that means it works.

Windows Movie Maker: As much as I hate to admit it, Windows Movie Maker can make a fairly good time lapse. You can drag in all of your photos and then set a duration for each image. There’s a pretty good tutorial for it over here.

Finally, Share your Time Lapse Story.

If you’ve created a time lapse, then I’d love to see it, so if you’ve uploaded it to youtube or vimeo then feel free to share the link. If I like it, I might even pop it up here for everyone else to see.

Time Lapse photography of this nature is very simple. It involves no planning and can only take a few minutes to put together. The story telling capabilities though are astounding, and this form of time lapse can revive memories and tell stories you may otherwise have forgotten.

Good Luck!

[tweetmeme]Here are some of the smoke photographs from my portfolio. Smoke photographs always fascinate me. A sense of anonymity on the type and shape of smoke makes it so unpredictable and poses a challenge, and at the same time increases our creativity to come up with things that match the shape.
To completely understand the process involved in taking a good smoke photograph read my Quick Recipe for Smoke Photography. Otherwise, enjoy 17 of my best smoke photographs.

My kind of torch !

Giraffe on Dope

Buzzz

Array of Colours

Curtain

Red Hot Tea Pot

Rooster House on Fire

Tri Colour

Don’t come next to me

Dream

Lady Lying In Her Arms

Serene

Bat on Flight

Wave

Angel

Eaten

Threesome

All the pictures in this post are copywrighted to AnRb photography and any use of this work in hard or soft copy or transfer must be done with the expressed consent of Amar Ramesh, the author, in written.

[tweetmeme]No matter how many times I see them, Tiny Planets still astound me. Here I’ve compiled 27 of the coolest Tiny Planets from the web. I’ve only chosen the best of the best. Each one made me go wow, and hopefully they’ll do the same to you.

You can also make your own Tiny Planets using this tutorial here. They’re actually really easy to make!

Autumn Planet by LunaNegra

Snowy night Tiny Planet v1 by vxside

Tiny Planet 1 II by Sloves

Octopussy Planet by HamburgerJung

Manhattan Skyline polar Panorama 2 by Athalfred

Planet Treehouse by VMOS

Parking Planet by Zuiun

Balonismo “weeplanet” by Mário Moreno

Abandoned Farm Planet by FallStand

Antena by Jamescrowle

Planet Brooklyn :: Grand Army Plaza by Sam Rohn

Planet New York :: Unisphere by Sam Rohn

Planet Chicago :: Millenium Park – Gehry by Sam Rohn

Planet New York :: Hayden Planetarum by Sam Rohn

Small Planet #2 by bass_nroll

Eglise Notre-Dame by Jeromebg

14 Juillet by Jeromebg

Spider by Goodolger

Butterfly by Goodolger

Space Shuttle Launch by Goodolger

La Géode by Gadl

Casa del Balboa Planet by Candace Van Assche

Saguaro Planet by theellsworth

Rode Garden by bkueppers

Planet Toronto at Night by scienceduck

Rue du vieil Angers [ Angers's old street ] by Jeromebg

Botanical Garden (Stereographic) by Martin Heigan

[tweetmeme]Aurora Borealis, also known as Northern Lights, are incredible natural light displays seen in the sky. They’re caused by the collision of Solar Wind particles which are accelerated along the earth’s magnetic field. Green displays are caused by oxygen particles, and blue and red displays are a result of nitrogen.
But complicated cause aside, Aurora Borealis is simply beautiful. Here I’ve compiled 33 of the best photographs of these breathtaking events. It really is clear to see why they’ve been nicknamed “The Dance of the Spirits”.

Sweep Over Mt. Esja by Orvaratli

Vífilfell Erupting by Orvatatli

Moonshimmering waterfall and Aurora Borealis by Arnar Valdimarsson

Aurora Borealis by Bia Nicastro

Northern Light on Iceland by Hörður B. Karlsson

Northern Lights Easter 2006 by Artic Pj

Northern Lights by LaStef

Straumer Revisited by Orvaratli

Needles in the Sky by MichelangOle

Northern Lights 37 by Kerstin Langenberger

Northern Lights 02 by G1G0

Northern Lights and Horses by Discover the World

Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) by Cosmic Kid99

Northern lights by LiluSkitten

The Northern Lights by Shadow Wolf200

Northern Lights by GingerSpice019

Northern Mania by esreverdaer

Auroral Reflections by tfavretto

Northern Lights by eliteracer

Aurora in the Sierras by revolution man

Aurora Borealis by keenonphotography

Dancing in the dark by uberfischer

Evening Light by uberfischer

Bursting Aurora by Orvaratli

Aurora Reflected by Orvaratli

Straumur Aurora by Orvaratli

Aurora by unneva

Aurora Borealis by Jan Hugo Andersen

Aurora at Thingvellir by hauxon

Skywatching Pinetrees by Orvaratli

Magnetic Storm by Orvaratli

Magnetic Fields by Orvaratli

[tweetmeme]Tilt Shift photography is becoming a bit of a trend lately, with a great deal of photographers using the technique to transform normal scenes into a tiny toy world.
Here I’ve compiled the best Tilt Shift photographs on the web. I’ve searched for different, unique photos which use the technique in a way that just makes you go ‘wow’. Hopefully they can act as inspiration for your own tilt shift photography.

Be sure to check out the PhotoGuides tutorial for photoshopping tilt shift. It’s really very easy and the results are stunning.
Enjoy!

Old Gaffers Festival by alastair_mitchell

minigolden by californiabirdie

Kleiner Harz von oben by JoHa-.-

Tilt Shift City by AshDav

Tilt Shift Town by AshDav

Tilt-Shift by WatchinDworldGoBy

Mini Multnomah Falls by pforbinesque

The Pitch by californiabirdie

Faux Tilt Shift 1 by pathandpixel

Tilt Shift by wakeboy

You Can Tell by B Tal

Tilt Shift Fairgrounds by yarnzombie

My Miniature City of Sydney by :chris:

Tilt-shift Madrid Masters by envisionpublicidad

Cleveland Clinic Miniature by House Photography

Fake Miniature – Roller Derby 2 by baldheretic

Little Game by pattagon

Eiffel Tilt-Shift II by ArnarBi

Mini Airlift by dutchb0y

Gold Dust Saloon by wmandra

Miniature Tate Modern by jeangenie

Tilt-Shift Serpentine by Harald_Kirr

Miniature Airport by C.S. 2.0

Fake Miniature Astronaut by Grimmwire

Little Boats by Tom Crease

Flower Maze Resize Tiltshift by gordon67

Tilt Shift Grid by mre1965

AdVantage…Stop n Go by pic fix

Tilt Shift Fun by DanielloPL

Tilt Shift Football by fadeddays

[tweetmeme]Bokeh is one of the most beautiful implementations of aperture and depth of field. By using a very wide aperture, photographers are apple to create an incredibly shallow depth of field causing lights and objects in the background to appear like a blurred floating orb.
Here I’ve compiled the best 24 Bokeh photographs on the internet to act as inspiration for your own bokeh photography.

Fallen Cup by Krawat93

Bokeh After Rain by AgniMax

Little Fireflies by prismes

Red One by ~ shannkat ~

Web Bokeh by Inertia09

Garden Fireworks by Mark-F

Bokeh Drop by *Corrie*

Liquid Gold by Sandy515

Let’s Watch Together by and[w]

Shallow Depth of Field by Casper in Lefkas

A Summer Dream? by honeycorn

Leaves Bokeh by all17

Velvet Bokeh by Savatey

LED Lights and Bokeh by rogvon

All Those Bokeh I by Savetey

.Luminous by fragilesimplicity

Blue Hour by Will Montague

Bokeh by 1maliniak1

Bubble Bokeh by purplerainstaken

Liquid Bokeh by simoendli

Blue Bokeh by Jenni77

Starry Night by impressionenmeer

Water Bokeh by RaisedOnViolence

Meeting by simoendli