Showing posts with label ModernGrunge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ModernGrunge. Show all posts

Saturday, August 4, 2012

File SIze ~ App Value ~ Your Call!

Resolution 2592 x 2592 6.7mp
I recommended the new App I like called "Glaze" in one of my e-mail newsletters to my mailing list and received back a comment from one client that they were going to buy the app until they read the online reviews, where someone had left a derogatory comment on the web developers site regarding the resolution. They then said it was too small a resolution to buy and small resolution apps should be banned, therefore they were not buying it. OK well that's fine I don't get any money from recommending an app, but in my workflow I often use an app not for the absolute file that app produces but for the effects it might generate for blending. The largest file size that "Glaze" delivers for a rectangular image was detailed in my original post.
The square file size "Glaze" delivers is 2048 x 2048 or 4.1mp.
The image above began as a 6x6 App shot with a file  size of 1936 x1936, so Glaze actually upsized the original file by choosing the save as menu and "Print" as a size choice. (I still shoot with a iP4 5mp cam, anxiously awaiting the iP5 release)
Here is the orignal file image:
Image 1
Image 2
Here is the version of the "Glaze" rendered file I chose to use as the beginning of my "new" image. 
The next step in the process was a run through Modern Grunge which maintained the 2048 x 2048 resolution.
Image 3
Now that I had this file saved I wanted to go back into Modern Grunge and make further adjustments to the image, which are below, maintaining the 2048 x 2048 file size.
Image 4
The next thing I wanted to do before going any further was to remove the black lower right hand corner, so I used the Touch Retouch lasso tool, to add back color into the corner, again maintaining the current file size of 2048 x 2048.
Image 5
My next idea was to minimize the ripped white edge achieved in Modern Grunge so I opened Juxtaposer and masked out and blended down the file with Image 3, maintaining the 2048 x 2048 resolution. 
Image 6
Then I wanted to run it through Snapseed and recolor the image with the Grunge Filter. The image then developed into the one below maintaining the 2048 x 2048 resolution.
Image 7
 Now I was getting where I wanted with the tones of old Asian Paper or Tapestry, but it needed some Chinese letters. So I opened the App "Custom Kanji Wallpapers" and decided to apply the Chinese letters for "Life" "Love" and "Wisdom". Which the downsized my file to 640 x 960, as this app is truly a "SMALL RES" app. But it has Chinese letters! And I only wanted the letters so I rendered files with the letters on them, knowing I was going to blend them back with another APP of larger file size.
Image 8

So now that I had my Chinese letter files to work with I opened up ImageBlender and used image 7 with a resolution of 2048 x 2048 as my base image ( the left hand image selection ) and image 8 as my top image then masked out the top image except for the Chinese Letters, Voila now I had my 2048 x 2048 image file back with the Chinese letters on it.
Image 9

But I wanted more texture and more interest, so I ran this file through "Glaze" and used the file below for texture.
Image 10
Once again I used ImageBlender to blend and mask image 9 with image 10 selectively.
Image 11
But I wanted more......texture color so I went into Pic Grunger...and added texture Pic Grunger has resolution options up to 8mp or 3264 x 2448. So I saved the file at a largest resolution possible delivering a square image file of 3264 x 3264 or 10.6 mp which would make a nice print sized 10" x 10".
I lost file size again when adding the frame on it in Crop'n'Frame for purposes of displaying on the web, but ended with a file sized 2592 x 2592. So don't throw out an app because it has a small file size unless that's all you want is a straight file delivered from the app in which case I would say 3mp is a pretty small file, but its still bigger than the first iPhone camera which started this whole photography ~ art movement! Can you believe this started with a straight shot of a beautiful lotus? ;-) Sign up for one of my iPhone workshops and gain more insight into the art of iPhoneography! I am very excited to be offering a six week course at Johns Hopkins University in the fall. The app I use to check file size through my workflow is called "Photosize" it makes it easy to keep track of whats happening during the process.
Image 12



 




Monday, July 30, 2012

Ireland, Pottery the iPhone and a new App ~ Glaze

Image 1: Original Image Capture: Camera+
Image 2: Processed in SnapSeed for textures and grunge effect, then Processed in Modern Grunge for the 'ripped" area and more texture.

One of the stops we made on the Peter Cox Photography Tour of  "wild" Ireland, was at the Louis Mulcahy Pottery Craftsman shop. Louis Mulcahy designs and makes his own pottery in this workshop on the R559 road to the west of Ballyferriter. This isolated pottery studio stands between the R559 and a minor road just inside the southern edge of this square.
I had been thinking about making a blog post on a few shots I made there with the iPhone when I became aware, as a result of a post by Donnie Fulks, of a new to me app called "Glaze."  It is not a high res app but can be great for blending back with other files in Image Blender where if you choose the highest res file first for the blend the resulting file will be that size. So essentially the file gets upsized by making the blend in Image Blender. I made a shot of one of the large urns in front of the shop and I thought it would be perfect to work with. The shots below were processed in Glaze from the Image 2 file above, that I had already processed in SnapSeed and Modern Grunge. Glaze can be found in the app store.
Image 3: Filtered with app "Glaze"
Image 4: Filtered with app "Glaze"  
Image 5: Filtered with app "Glaze"
This app has 30 filter presets, which all look very nice, and a randomize feature where you roll the dice and see what happens. Resolution options are Low 382 x 512, Regular 764 x 1024 and Print 1528 x 2048.  The app also has a feature where you can combine filters within the app. This app is quickly becoming one of my favorites for its artistic looks and blend options.
Image 6: Filtered with app "Glaze"
I am also excited to announce my iPhone Photography Course at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore this fall. 
For more information and registration: click here.






Monday, May 7, 2012

Random shots and Apps ~ From My Washington DC Workshop

Captured: Camera+ Processed: Modern Grunge: Snapseed: Percolator: Crop'n'Frame
Saturday was a great day with super creative iPhoneographers, just getting going in the art! I was amazed at the images they were creating! I captured a few shots in between helping the participants utilize the apps they were shooting with. Sometimes I process images from a shoot with similar apps for consistency; but there are so many fun apps and different shots I am all over with my processing in this blog. Our first stop was Starbucks for an hour of App Chat~ getting everyone on board with app resolution, options and features for shooting. Next Stop was the Renwick Gallery. We had fun shooting there on the second floor. There are amazing art pieces in the gallery. Our final stop was the DAR building. It was a great day!
I hope you can join me for my next day long creative processing iPhone workshop in Chesapeake City at Horizon Photography Workshops on June 9.
Two Images Blended in ImageBlender: Capture: One shot Camera+ the other shot of the window and drape BracketMode Processing: ImageBlender: Snapseed: Crop'n'Frame
Capture: Camera+ Processed: Percolator:Snapseed: Crop'n'Frame
Captured: BracketMode Processed: ProHDR: ModernGrunge: Snapseed: Crop'n'Frame
Captured: BracketMode  Processed: ProHDR: TinyPlanets: ModernGrunge: Crop'n'Frame
 
Captured: Camera+ Processed: ModernGrunge: TinyPlanets: LensLight: Snapseed: Crop'n'Frame