geek/photographer

There are a lot of great camera and photo apps out there for the iPhone. As a guy that shot film for many years before the digital revolution, I like that filmy look. There are lots of apps that can achieve that, but my favorite (even with it’s faults) is Hipstamatic ($1.99 from the Apps store).

The Hipstamatic was a plastic camera in the early 1980’s. According to the Hipstamatic blog (hipstamatic.com), there were only 157 of these little beauties produced. It came in white or black, featured a plastic lens, and used 35mm film.

Two Wisconsin brothers, Bruce and Winston Dorbowski, manufactured them from 1982-84.  The pictures that came from the Hips (that’s my nickname for it, mainly because Hipstamatic is a long word to type) were similar to cameras like Holga, Diana, etc.  They have a dreamy, artsy look to them.  That’s the look so many of us love.

Well ,the good news for us is that last year the Hips came to the iPhone in the form of an app.  As you may have read, I recently became an iPhone convert.  The camera on the iPhone 4 is actually a really good one.  That, combined with the looks and effects you can get with the app make it a great combo.

The Good:

The best thing about this app is that it’s not just 1 effect.  There are 3 different variables for each photo that you take.  First, you can select your film.  There are reproductions of several different films, both color and b&w, and they all have their own characteristics.  Second, there are different lenses to choose from.  Not actual lenses, but “virtual” ones.  Just like in real life, your lens choice will make a difference in your photos.  And third, you can choose different “flashes”.  Again, these are not real flashes (although iPhone 4 has a physical flash) but rendered flash effects.  Plus, your 3 choices are recorded for each photo you take, so you won’t forget what you used to take that great photo! The Hipstamatic comes with the John S Lens, the Jimmy Lens, the Kaimal Mark II Lens, the Standard Flash, the Dreampop Flash, Ina’s 1969 Film, and Kodot Verichrome Film.  There is also a random button to mix them all up and see what happens!

My dog Kelso. Hipstamatic info: Lens: John S. Film: Pistil Flash: Off

The Not As Good:

The only problem I have with this app, is that it does tend to crash.  I have read the reviews in the App Store, and it does happen to lots of other people.  I have had to reset my phone a couple of times to get the app to reset so I can take a picture again.  I don’t know if it has to do with iOS4, or what.  I am sure the developers are working on it though, because they have put so much work into this app already.

The Verdict:

Even with the occasional crash, this is my favorite iPhone app.  The photos I get from this thing make the occasional iPhone reboot totally worth it.  I do hope a new update will be released soon to adress the crashing, but Hipstamatic is still an amazing app.

Links:

The Hipstamatic App

The original Hipstamatic Blog

Twitter page for the app

Hipstamatic Flickr Group

After a week and a half on the Apple Store wait list, my shiny new iPhone 4 is finally here. Even though I am a self professed Apple fanboy, this is my first iPhone. It’s syncing with iTunes as I type this.

I am anxious to see if I have any of the so called “Death Grip” problems that have plagued some users. I did get the rubber bumper that surrounds the outer edge of the phone, which is supposed to help that problem. Of course, I hardly ever use my cell phone to actually talk to people. Why talk when you can text?!?

Do you have the iPhone 4? What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments!

This past Christmas, my wife got me a wonderful gift. It is the Blackbird Fly camera. It’s called a toy camera, I guess because it’s made out of plastic. Also, there are no f-stops. You choose cloudy or sunny on the dial located on the plastic lens. It’s a TLR (Twin Lens Reflex) camera that has a viewing lens, and a separate lens to take the picture. There is no viewfinder as such, you simply look down into the camera to focus and compose your shot. This is my third TLR camera, but my first 35 mm TLR. My other two (a 1957 vintage Ricoh Diacord L, and a Russian made plastic Lubitel 166) were both Medium format.

I haven’t taken this camera out on it’s first photo adventure yet, but I am looking forward to some great grainy Lomo-esque images! I love me some film!

It’s been a cold and cloudy week or so around these parts.  But today the sun is shining!  And just in time, too.  I was on the verge of contracting SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder).  I have never had a disorder, and don’t want to start now!  It’s been too cold (or I have been too lazy, draw your own conclusions) to get out and take any pictures lately, so todays shot is from a few years ago.  Makes me colder just looking at it!  Hope it’s warm where you are…

The Lortondale neighborhood pool in Tulsa, OK

Enjoyed eating and cooking some wonderful things over the Holidays. Hope yours were great! Happy New Year!

Phantom sign restored in Sapulpa, OK

I guess the theme of this post is automobiles. Specifically, good old Detroit metal.

1966 Mustang

Taillight of a Ford Ranchero

Front of the Ford Ranchero. This one is taken on film with my old Mamiya 35mm camera.

In an effort to update this blog more regularly, I decided to peruse my hard drives and post some old shots. This is the first of these posts. Hope you enjoy!

Portfolio shot of Robin with a motorcycle.

There are two things I really love.  Movies and photography.  Around the time I got my first camera (see me getting film for said camera here) Francis Ford Coppola was shooting a couple of movies in the Tulsa area, from books by the great S.E. Hinton.  One of those films, Rumble Fish, featured some key scenes shot right in my home town of Sapulpa.  I was 10 years old in the summer of 1982.  My friend’s uncle took us down to Dewey Street in Sapulpa to watch a movie being shot.  That was the beginning of my love for filmmaking, and the spark of my desire to become a filmmaker.  The scene that was being shot that hot summer night involved a conversation on a fire escape between Matt Dillon and Diana Scarwid.  We were so far away that we couldn’t really tell what was going on, but I still have a vivid image of that night in my memory.

As a history buff, I have long been intrigued by “then and now” type photographs.  I set out to take a few “then and now” pictures from the film Rumble Fish, just to see what’s still around, and how it looks 27 years later.  Some of them I tried to match as closely as I could to the film (using screen captures on my Blackberry as a guide). Others I tried from memory.  Below are the results of this experiment.

Benny's Pool Hall in the film.

Main Street Productions, 2009. Not much has changed.

The next one was a bit more difficult to find.  For years I had wanted to find the location of this shot.  It took lots of driving, and looking at satellite images on Google Maps to figure out that this shot was on a stretch of Cincinnati Ave that is no longer a thru street.  It is now a dead end street behind a fertility clinic at 15th and Boston Ave.

Rusty James waiting on his girlfriend. 1982

Stretch of Cincinnatti Ave that is no longer a thru street.

After Rusty James meets Patty as she gets off the bus on Cincinnati Ave, they walk down the street towards 15th. For some unexplainable reason there is blowing black and white smoke in this scene. That has never made much sense to me, but who am I to question the genius that is Francis Ford Coppola? This part of the street is now part of the parking lot of the fertility clinic (formerly Luby’s Cafeteria).

Rusty James trying to make up with Patty. She's having none of it. Who would have guessed this would some day be a Luby's parking lot?

15th Street and S. Cincinnati today. Not a perfect match from the picture above, but the best I could do with the layout of the land in 2009.

The next stop in our tour of Rumble Fish’s Tulsa is Parish of Christ The King Church at 16th and Quincy Ave.  This was Patty’s school in the film.  Matt Dillon, Nicholas Cage (sporting a crazy blow dried pompadour and his natural crooked teeth), and Chris Penn walked right down the middle of 16th St. as school is letting out.

Patty's School.

As seen in 2009. I took this one from memory, so it doesn't line up as well as I would have liked with the original. Almost nothing has changed here in 27 years.

And finally, the scene I saw being filmed that night in Sapulpa.  I took this one a few months ago, so I obviously have completely the wrong angle.  Some day I will try to get the proper shot.  But, since I mentioned this scene, I had to include it.

Rusty James in a discussion with Cassandra

From the other side. The bottom part of the fire escape is now missing. So, unfortunately I couldn't climb up there and do my Matt Dillon impression.

That’s it.  Hope you enjoyed the trip around town courtesy of Francis Ford Coppola and S.E. Hinton.  Feel free to leave a comment!

It’s been a long time since I developed my own Black and White film.  But a couple of months ago I decided to do just that.  I took some expired Ilford Pan F Plus film out and shot it in my Pentax P30T. I spent the afternoon in Downtown Tulsa, and some quality time in the backyard with our faithful dog, Kelso.  Here are a few of my favorite shots from that roll of expired film.

Cornerstone of the Philcade building in Downtown Tulsa. I like it because my name is in it.

Kelso, trying to avoid being photographed for the billionth time.

Traffic Light in Downtown Tulsa.