30 June 2014
Lens:
I. Using FX Photo Studio and Glaze
1. Waiting for the R Train to Brooklyn, New York City, iPhone 4s; Copyright © 2014 Sally W. Donatello All Rights Reserved/Lens and Pens by Sally
2. Waiting for the R Train to Brooklyn, New York City, iPhone 4s; Copyright © 2014 Sally W. Donatello All Rights Reserved/Lens and Pens by Sally
3. Waiting for the R Train to Brooklyn, New York City, iPhone 4s; Copyright © 2014 Sally W. Donatello All Rights Reserved/Lens and Pens by Sally
4. Waiting for the R Train to Brooklyn, New York; Copyright © 2014 Sally W. Donatello All Rights Reserved/Lens and Pens by Sally
II. Original Image
5. Waiting for the R Train to Brooklyn, New York; Copyright © 2014 Sally W. Donatello All Rights Reserved/Lens and Pens by Sally
Pens:
On Wednesday I took a day trip to the East Coast city that stirs the hearts and spirits of everyone that visits its eclectic and electric streets: New York. Since I grew up in the Middle Atlantic states, Manhattan was an easy jaunt.
I cannot even begin to guess the number of times that I’ve grazed there. This particular trip had a purpose: to walk the Brooklyn Bridge with my eighty-nine-year-old uncle. There will be more next month about that adventure.
Since this week’s challenge involves post-processing using the sundry of apps that are available, I felt compelled to share one image. It seems appropriate for multiple interpretations.
I adore mass transit: it’s efficiency of travel coupled with fewer cars on the road draw me to it. Please read a recent post where I talk more about this affinity. Click here.
In order to reach our destination in Lower Manhattan, we used two modes of public transportation: light rail and subway. Oh, and our feet did lots of work. Once in the city’s Penn Station we searched for the subway that would help us get closer to the bridge’s entrance.
As we stood waiting for the next R train to arrive, I did what comes natural to me: observe and watch. I’ve even discovered ways to be non-intrusive–ways to become part of the ambience and not impinge on someone’s space.
Suddenly a young woman hurriedly crossed in front of me. With a casual flare she leaned against one of the vertical support beams near the track.
As she stared in anticipation of the train’s arrival, my thoughts leaped to the universality of the moment. My iPhone ready (my DSLR on my back), I knew it was time for quick action.
In the Lens section are five images. The first four are renderings using the apps Glaze (#4) and FX Photo Studio (#1-3). The fifth is the original.
When I knew that I wanted to freeze that moment in time, instincts surfaced but so did very specific reasons for the scene’s enticements. Probably the most influential was the simplicity of the scene: the very nature of her physical confidence. She seemed a woman of bold choices. Mostly, it was the pose of the “wait.”
Since I’m always concerned about the privacy of others, the impetus for many photographs is a person’s anonymity. In this case the young woman stood fairly close with her back to me. That made it easy to take the shot.
Other influences that simultaneously compelled me: angles and lines of the track, the yellow warning, interaction of the colors, and the voyeur’s feet on the right. All-in-all the scene’s composition was packed with fascination and mystery.
I could watch passengers arriving and departing all day. It stirs my sense of wonder, imagining their stories: adventurous or mundane, repetitive or varied, stressed or tranquil.
Tip of the Week: During my decades of darkroom development I rarely did substantial editing. While that credo still applies, I do enjoy playing with the digital darkroom and its continuum of photo apps. While I remain true to the original, I am not hog-tied to it. Hence I do find the “play,” which comes with these chemical-free toys, charged with a new kind of visual language. I seem to stick with a few tried-and-true (i.e., FX Photo Studio and Glaze). But there are others sitting in the queue. I get ideas from Flipboard, which is a free “personalized” online magazine, and my nightly read before the lights are quieted. Flipboard displays images in a special iPhoneography section, and I am enticed to view each day’s gallery. Sometimes I’m intrigued to try this or that. Some disappoint, but it may be my cursory effort. I know that they have more to offer. I simply don’t go deep enough into their layers. Also I’ve noticed that many diehard app devotees use more than one photo app per image. I’ve never plunged into multiple usage. Experimentation is on my agenda. I do recommend that you try the two that I used for this post. FX Photo Studio is especially versatile with its various choices of styles. If you have an iPhone, you can get them in the iTunes App Store. Here’s the link for the Photo and Video page. Do not be overwhelmed, it shows you the variety and a long list of choices. If you try the two that I recommended, let me know if you like one more than the other or both.
View others from this week’s challenge:
http://irenewaters19.com/2014/06/30/phoneography-challenge-identical/
http://completelydisappear.wordpress.com/2014/06/30/know-it-all/
http://decocraftsdigicrafts.wordpress.com/2014/06/30/phoneography-challenge-editing-with-apps/
http://nwframeofmind.com/2014/06/30/iphoneography-monday-6-30-14/
http://piecesofstarlight.wordpress.com/2014/06/30/phoneorgaphy-the-challenging-chalk-art-photography/
http://angelinem.wordpress.com/2014/06/30/phoneography-challenge-editing-dragon-fruit/
http://helpalongthepath.com/2014/06/30/bridge-phoneography-and-non-slr-devices-photo-challenge/
http://austindetails.me/2014/06/30/iphoneography-contrast/
http://walktheselftalk.com/2014/07/01/phoneography-and-non-slr-digital-devices/
http://zimmerbitch.wordpress.com/2014/07/02/to-old-to-be-playing-with-my-food-yeah-right/
http://neomanu.wordpress.com/2014/06/29/phoneography-monday-processing/
http://talesfromthebackroad.com/phoneography-photo-challenge/
http://allkindsaeverything.wordpress.com/2014/07/02/phoneography-and-non-slr-challenge-photo-editing/
Note:
If you’d like to join the Photo Challenge, please click here for details. If you have any questions, please contact me. Below is a reminder of the monthly schedule with themes for upcoming Photo Challenges:
1st Monday: Nature.
2nd Monday: Macro.
3rd Monday: Black and White.
4th Monday Challenger’s Choice (Pick One: Abstraction, Animals, Architecture, Food Photography, Night Photography, Objects, Portraiture, Still Life, Street Photography, and Travel).
5th Monday: Editing and Processing with Various Apps Using Themes from the Fourth Week.
Lens and Pens by Sally 
I like all of them
Maria, thank you for your comment and visit.
It’s amazing what photo Apps could do nowadays. One picture can create so many visual adventures!
Yes, indeed. It’s lovely to hear from you. The transition from chemical darkroom to digital darkroom has given new tools for processing, and they are limitless. Thanks so much for your comment and visit.
Just saw these! Can’t decide between the first and the third – both very cool.
Thanks for the comment and your visit.
Wonderful!! #2 is my fave!
That tunnel was the gateway to the marvelous expansive scenery from the edge of the cliff. It was the perfect foil for what was to come. Thanks so much.
What an informative post. NYC subway is a post in itself, you’ve given me an idea there. Downloaded the App after reading this and look forward to experimenting. Thanks!
Susan, have fun. I appreciate the comment and your visit.
Thanks for the app information, Sally. I like seeing different treatments of a single photo and it was good to have the original as comparison.
Lovely to hear from you. Thanks so much.
I like all these process photos. But, I really love the original one, the perspective and angle are so very perfect. Thank you, Sally!
Amy, thanks so much for your comment and visit.
Sally – sorry to be nearly two weeks late to the party… work has been consuming. How rude of it to interfere with my photography and enjoyment of everyone else’s work… 🙂
I really have come to love this bonus fifth week. Perhaps it is the permission I require to play with images I generally leave alone. Number two version is very pleasing to me – there is a calm to it I rarely think of with the subway. The woman was a terrific subject – great body posture. Thanks for hosting – I’ll be back in the game in a few weeks.
See you soon.
I think I am liking variation 2 the best 🙂
Graham, I appreciate your comment and visit.
Great article and images. There’s some really great apps out there and so many different ways of working on images. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for your comment and visit. See you soon.
These versions really captured my imagination. I love seeing what can be done with photography, although I am such a beginner (and likely to remain so) myself!
Luanne, that’s lovely thank you so much.
digify
I’m sorry, but I do not understand your comment.
Love this capture! The simplicity, the bold statement…and I like the first FX treatment, it seems to enhance the simple lines. I’ve just come across this post, it failed to show in my reader! Just off to look at these apps 🙂
I appreciate your comment and visit. See you soon. Thanks so much.
Good story! I like the second one the best. Thank you very much. Mari
Mari, thank you.
I especially like the first picture- very spooky and surreal.
Thanks my dear friend, I appreciate the comment.
Love this pictures in all its guises
Thank you so much.
Been there (many times), done that (many times)! Love the capture and esp like the second treatment. Seems time-worn and universal. Looking forward to the bridge walk post!
Tina, delighted that you’ve had many excursions to this spectacular city. As you know, each visit brings the new to blend with old treasured memories. Thanks.
When I was a young child the New York City subway cost only 10¢, and during the years I commuted to college the cost was still only 15¢. That said, to go a distance of less than a mile or two I’d walk and save the 15¢.
Oh, Steve, that’s a “walk” through the synapses. Delighted that I could perk memories. The R Train swept us through Manhattan, and left us within walking distance of the Brooklyn Bridge. Then we walked and walked. New York is a city to meander and observe. See you soon. Thanks.
Hi Sally; this is probably my favourite challenge – my chance to take an “ordinary” shot and play with it. I really like your interpretations of your shot; probably number three most of all because it has a vibrance and unreality that I associate with New York. Here’s my contribution – much closer to home! http://zimmerbitch.wordpress.com/2014/07/02/to-old-to-be-playing-with-my-food-yeah-right/
I agree. This challenge allows the play in all of us as well as the serious. Thanks so much.
Hi Sally. I really like no. 3, which could be ‘Waiting for the Rainbow train!’ Or `Close Encounters’. I also like the original.
Here’s my contribution:
http://walktheselftalk.com/2014/07/01/phoneography-and-non-slr-digital-devices/
Steve, I appreciate your comment. Thanks.
These are exciting, and I don’t think you are intruding. I sent this to my son who loves to see ALL that technology can do.
Hello, my dear, thanks so much for the comment and the visit.
Great shot in my favorite city! My favorite is the second one as well. Great post.
Patti, lovely to hear from you. New York has such charisma and depth. Every single visit brings joyous memories. Thanks so much.
It is a very striking image and I think my favourite is the original. I am very curious about your bridge adventure!
I’ll fit the walk over the Brooklyn Bridge into this month’s posts. See you soon. Thanks so much.
Great challenge today. I like the second to last photo edit the best…something about the yellow lines and the woman looking almost real. I finally tried Pixlr Express that I hadn’t used very much, and that was a long time ago.
http://angelinem.wordpress.com/2014/06/30/phoneography-challenge-editing-dragon-fruit/
Angeline, there are many apps in the world of phoneography, and I’ve sampled but a few. Thanks so much.
More Apps to play with I’ll never put my phone down, thanks a lot 😉
I do Like the line drawing images 1&4 but that The glazed images 3 takes my breath away.
Happy Monday
Carol, delighted to introduce you to the apps. Thanks so much.
What a fantastic photo, Sally. It’s simple, yet it conveys a lot. I think the first photo is my favorite edited version followed by the colorful third one.
Linda, thanks so much. See you soon.
Wonderful editing Sally, I LOVE the top one! Unfortunately I cant enter this week as I heavily edited my entry already last week. 🙂
Amanda, I appreciate your response to my photograph. Maybe you can take another image and play with it. Some participants often post late in the week.
I love this photo and your editing. 😀
Raewyn, thanks so much.
I’ve been looking forward to this week’s post, Sally and once again you’ve given me new ideas to try. 🙂 I have both FX Photo Studio and Glaze but haven’t spent enough time looking through them to produce a photo I’m happy with. Now I’ll go back for a second try. Your subject here is great and I love how well it adapts to your different editing choices. I think my favorite of the group is #2 but they are all fantastic. My post will be ready this afternoon. 🙂
Lisa, thanks for your thoughtful comment.
Love the different effects. I also enjoy creating different versions of the same image with apps. My favourite is the second image. I love the subtle colours.
Edith, I appreciate your comment. See you soon. Thanks so much.
Hi Sally. This time I liked the original most though second one also attracted me. Editing is great fun sometimes.
Indira, lovely to hear from you. Thanks.
I love your photography and challenges.
That’s lovely. Enjoy your week. See you soon. Thanks.
I am not a huge fan of excessive editing. But in this case I actually prefer no.2 to the original! Perhaps even the vibrant no.3! 😀
Great capture incidentally! Love the subject’s body language.
Madhu, yes, that’s what captured my attention. Thanks.
Madhu, it’s a fascinating phenomenon. As I said in the post, I’ve never ever done a lot of editing. But it’s been enlightening to play with the possibilities. See you soon. Thanks so much.
I love that. Just like you said, the lines and composition are perfect!
Mary, thanks so much.
I absolutely love these photos — the original as well as all of the iterations afterwards. Amazing. The composition of the original became even more special when you described what you were looking for. I’ve learned a lot from you. And thanks, too, for the recommended apps.
Rusha,you’ve brought such sunshine to my early morning. Thanks so much.
The noir look of the first image contrasts nicely with the “volume” of color in the third one. Thanks for walking us through the process from beginning to end.
Allan, lovely to hear from you. Thanks so much.
Drat!! I almost had my entire, long comment done and somehow lost it. I’ll see if I can reconstruct it. As I’ve mentioned before, I came only recently to editing, feeling that the original should stand on its own. While I still feel that’s best, as I’m sure everyone does, judicious enhancement/editing can greatly improve a photo or just be lots of fun.
I take very few people photos. Part of it is that same feeling you have of trying not to be intrusive. Somewhere in the dim recesses of my memory is a comment from a photography class from long ago that you need releases from people in photos if you publish them. Don’t know if that’s a true memory or if things have change now, but those two factors together mean I usually have photos either without people or without identifiable people.
I like #2 and #3 of your photos. I like the “edging” in #2 and the pop of color in #3 is lots of fun. Hope your week is filled with many photos and lots of fun.
janet
Oh, yes, your points (including release form) often come to mind. The feeling of moving into one’s private space keeps me from constantly capturing city streets with full frontal images. It’s certainly a point to discuss. And, yes, release forms still exist. See you soon. Thanks so much.
My understanding is that there’s generally a distinction between commercial use and editorial use, with the former requiring a release and the latter usually not. I believe courts have held that there’s no expectation of privacy on a public street.
I remember that when I got involved in photography decades ago you could buy a mirror device that would attach to the front of a camera lens to make it appear you were aiming in one direction while you were actually aiming at a right angle to the apparent direction. The purpose of the device, of course, was to keep people from becoming aware you were photographing them. It wouldn’t surprise me if such devices are still for sale.
Steve, yes, indeed. I’ve read about photographers who use all sorts of calculated methods to avoid being seen as a voyeur. The mirror concept being one. I’ve used formal release forms. Regardless, I find that I’m uncomfortable moving into a stranger’s space. If I’m at a distance, I’m rarely noticed, especially with people so engaged in their own lives (and cellphones).