Roger2011 Loc: Central Illinois

In a few days hickory buds turn into hickory blossoms, which, in a few weeks, turn into the makings of hickory nuts. The images were taken with an iPhone XR and Moment closeup lens. The CameraPixels app was used to focus bracket each subject to obtain about 30-50 images, and Affinity Photo was used to align and stack the images into these final forms.

(Download)


(Download)


(Download)

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Nice set

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

Very well done.

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

Beautiful set, nicely shot

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

Those are great. Very nicely done.

Fstop12 Loc: Kentucky

I really like the textures in these images.

Roger2011 Loc: Central Illinois

Maybe I should show you some images from my first-ever mobile device—Smart Phone, they said—a giant iPhone 6S Plus. So that I wouldn't have to carry my heavy camera, I purchased this smart device a few weeks before going on a Princes Cruise to Alaska with my wife. By the time we boarded the ship I had figured out, with the aid of my reading glasses, how to locate the little camera button at the bottom, and I got a couple thousand "great" photos over the next two weeks. When we returned home and looked at them on my laptop, about 90% had no texture, meaning they were way out of focus or streaky for various reasons. The remaining 10%, mostly outside in sufficient light, were halfway decent, but no award winners. It's a good thing we had purchased a CD with a couple hundred photos on it, or we would have had very little to remember Alaska by.

What I learned most is Smart Phones are a myth, and they're made for smart people who don't need reading glasses to use them. I really thought that my iPhone 6S Plus was smart enough to take great pictures without my reading glasses, and all I had to do was enjoy my vacation and push that little gray camera button. Hence, iPhone Photo Academy.

Black Walnut Flower, Precursor of the Big Black Nuts

(Download)

Fstop12 Loc: Kentucky

Smart Phones are called that because they:

Of course, it allows you to make phone calls.

It supports email and possibility of connection to social networks.

It has GPS.

Allow the installation of third-party programs. ( Camera Apps )

Use any interface for data entry, such as QWERTY keyboard, touch screen.

They allow you to enter the Internet with 4G technology.

Wireless connectivity such as Wi-Fi.

They have a digital agenda, contact management.

Allow to read documents in different formats, including PDFs and Microsoft Office files

They aren't called " Smart Camera's" for a reason. LOL. The phone camera is just like any other camera that you use to take photos. If you don't know how to use it you won't be happy with the results.

jederick Loc: Northern Utah

crafterwantabe Loc: Mn

Very nice!

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

Absolutely correct. The iPhone camera, for example, is a wonderful device, capable of producing very nice images, but you do have to know how to use it. I’ve taken some really good photos with mine as well as some clinkers that got tossed. I do appreciate the various apps you can get to augment your smartphone camera. The iPhone 13 Pro Max has incorporated some features that pretty much render some of my camera apps useless, but I have a couple that allow the camera to do things it can’t do by itself. But the smartphone camera isn’t alone in producing some poor images. I three other “regular” cameras, all of which have turned out some really crummy images. It all goes back to the operator, and that was me.

In 2019 we went on a cruise, and I purchased a Sony RX100VII about 6 weeks before we left for the trip. I spent a lot of time learning the camera, how it worked, what it’s strong points and limitations were, and it paid off. When we did go on our trip, I already was familiar with the camera and how to use it. It paid off. Even as simple as the smartphone cameras are to use, one needs to learn how to use it. These close up photos demonstrate that.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

Roger2011 Loc: Central Illinois

...are a lot smarter than me...I get it. I am communicating right now by the wonders of technology. My laptop is connected through my iPhone Hotspot, which is receiving its Cell-Tower signal from a Wilson Antenna mounted on top of our solar-heated, underground house that would otherwise receive zero bars through the window E-coatings, not to mention that we can see exactly one Cell-Tower, no less than five miles away, which is often so congested that we more often than not get less than 1G speed, even though Verizon has boasted that we are now signed up for the latest 5G technology, for which we are currently paying. What I find most helpful is my iPhone reminding me how much hearing loss I've suffered the past week by playing sound through my earbuds at over 100DB, when I've never had earbuds anywhere near my ears because they keep falling out. Still, the health app is useful when I remember to stuff my iPhone into my pocket before going out to hike the hills behind our house. Then I will know how many floors I've done that day and how lopsided or unsymmetrical my gait has been due to my short right leg and complaining hip.

One thing my iPhone may be really good at, and I'm just setting it up now, is as a light box for viewing and photographing 35mm slides. We have a few thousand color slides and negatives taken decades ago and just sitting around in boxes. I installed the magnificent Screen Light app that will produce virtually any color or color temperature. I have a Canon camera with 1:1 macro lens mounted on a tripod and looking down on a slide or negative being illuminated by my iPhone. This will be a lot faster than a scanner and cheaper than sending them out for copying. Color temperature in the Screen Light app can be adjusted to give the best white balance in the photographed images, and the negative images can be inverted in a number of apps such as Affinity Photo on my laptop.

Oak Tree Flower, Precursor of the Acorn

(Download)

Roger2011 Loc: Central Illinois

I agree 100%, and my goal is to never again produce bad images. I simply cannot wear bifocals, and I need 2X reading glasses to see closeup sharp, which makes it more difficult to get the correct focus. And I will not look over my reading glasses pushed out to the end of my nose as some do. I will look for camera apps that highlight out-of-focus regions so that I don't always have to be grabbing my reading glasses to get into focus.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

Thank goodness there are those who create those apps that allow us to do those things. Remember that old saying, years ago, “There’s an app for that?” How right they were.