Black and white iPhone photography using the Hipstamatic app is very fun. Depending on the combination of “lens” and “film” you use, it could give you a very nice result. My favorite for the black and white is John S lens with Blackey Supergrain film.

These few shots were taken with my iPhone 4s few days ago at Whampoa Makan Place, a hawker center at Whampoa / Balestier. Some elderly folks were gathering having their coffees, teas, breakfast and chit chatting with each other. I love the scene there and will plan to go back there for more shots.

My wife and I also found a nice noodle there. I forgot the name now, but I know where to find it next. We will go back for the noodle too. 

I think he was thinking, “should I get those banana fritters to go with my coffee?”.

Two hipstamatic shots using iPhone 4s of passengers on the train taken couple days ago.

Shot with iPhone 4s, can you tell, which parts are the reflection and which parts are not?

Sorry for being quite lately. But changes are coming. I may have more time to update this blog from now onward. Fingers crossed.

pacifier |ˈpasəˌfīər|
noun
a rubber or plastic nipple for a baby to suck on.

But hey, this is 2012. How many times have you seen or experienced yourself, that what it takes to pacify a baby or a little kid is a mobile phone?

By the way, you probably can’t see it clearly, but I like the quote printed on his t-shirt, which is a quote from Charlie Chaplin:

Life can be wonderful if you’re not afraid of it. All it takes is courage, imagination … and a little dough.

So true! 2012 could be THE year! Come back and check what this may mean.

My friends and I took the midnight train from Agra to Lucknow in India when we were there October last year. We started the trip from Agra Cantonment Railway Station, which is the main train station in the city of Agra. We arrived early and I had a couple of hours to walk around the platform and shoot. It was quieter than I expected, but it could be very busy during day time, I believe.

The images were taken with Leica M9 and Voigtlander Color Skopar Classic 35mm f/2.5 unless otherwise stated. The black and white images were shot in color and converted to BW in Adobe Lightroom. The first nine images here were taken at Agraa Cantonment Railway Station.

A little bit chaotic when we were all trying to get in.

And then, inside the train. That’s my cabin. I slept on the upper bed on the left, as I was worried that my friend who was bigger than me would break the bed and fall on me. 

The train conductor was doing his paperwork after finishing his walk to check all the passengers’ train tickets. He was too busy and did not even notice that I was there taking photos. I like my reflection in the image below.

And then everybody was sleeping. The two images below were shot with Olympus E-P3 and 12mm f/2 lens.

Arrived in Lucknow and saying bye bye to our bed before getting off at Lucknow train station.

All images below were taken with Olympus E-P3 and 12mm f/2 lens. We arrived at Lucknow train station at about 6am.

The reflection of me and the Lucknow train station on the car window.

I miss India. Need to plan the next trip.

It’s late, past midnight, but there are still a lot of things running through my mind now. So many things, so little time. How I wish, sometimes, that we don’t have to sleep and have all 24 hours to do whatever we like doing and be happy. Now I am asking too much.

The two images here are Hipstamatic shot using my iPhone 4s. The “film” is BlacKeys SuperGrain and the “lens” is John S. They are images of the apartment building in front of ours. They were shot about 2 hour apart from each other. I wonder if the people in those units with lights on are also having many things running through their mind.

Night Photography using iPhone at Joo Chiat. iPhone can’t beat the DSLR yet in term of quality and control, especially for night photography, but hey, iPhone photography is about having fun taking pictures with all its limitation. So, keep shooting and enjoy the rest of the weekend.

In case you missed it, I shot this building using my DSLR before. See it here.

iPhone Photography is going to change the way a lot of people shoot. Me included. I have a camera with me all the time now. The terminology used should really be mobile photography, I think. Other smart phones, like those on Android, will allow you to do the same. I only have iPhone and I am happy with it. If you have Android phones, use it and have fun with it.

What makes iPhone photography so fun and powerful are the apps and the increasingly good quality camera that comes with the phone. Having some photography knowledge helps. At least for me. But, if you don’t know, don’t let that stop you. Shoot a lot and have fun. This is subjective, I know, but the more you shoot, the more you will know what generally makes good images, and the more you will train your eyes to see the subjects and the moments.

I have some photography apps on my iPhone, and I use almost all of them. I can’t really decide which one is my favorite now, but one day I may have favorite(s) when I have used them enough. For now, “what’s in the bag” of my iPhone are: Camera+, SnapSeed, Filterstorm, Hipstamatic, Instagram, PS Express, PhotoStudio, Spica, SlowShutter and MonoPhix.

The series of images here, “On My Way Home”, were shot using the Hipstamatic app. The “lens” and “film” used were John S and BlacKeys B+W. The original images had slight color tint and I removed it in Adobe Lightroom. I could have removed it using MonoPhix app too, but I was too lazy to go back to my iPhone after downloading the images to my computer. 

On My Way Home, is a series of images of what I saw one morning while on my way home by bus and train. I’ll leave you with the images as it’s time for me to lie down now. I can’t walk and sit for too long yet after the surgery I had on Monday. See you all on my next post.

The woman on the right was getting ready to alight. She fixed her hair while waiting for the bus to reach the bus stop.

She got off the bus and I had these two gentlemen in front of me.

Nobody sitting behind me.

I had more companies in the bus.

I got off the bus and walked to the train station. People were making their way to work.

I was traveling east and the morning sun caught my attention when I looked out through the train’s glass door.

I arrived at my destination and saw the train on the other platform arriving. The arriving train quickly blocked the sunlight and created shadows and highlights. People were getting ready to board the train.

And just one more shot before I went home. The newspaper seller.

My daddy the photographer, drawn by my daughter. I love them.

People of Kishangarh, Rajashtan, photographed with Leica M9 and Voigtlander Color Skopar Classic 35mm f/2.5, except the last one, which was shot using Olympus E-P3  and 12mm f/2 lens.

I stayed one night in Pushkar during my trip to India in October last year. My friend and I went out in the morning to Kishangarh, a nearby town from our hotel. Many locals started their day by having tea on the roadside. It was a nice little town with friendly people. We stopped at the shop in the photo above to have our morning tea. The locals were curious and kept looking at us with their smiles, while we were having our tea.

Enjoy some more images below.

The next two photos below were taken inside a cotton fabric factory in Kishangarh. Those machines were running and it was noisy.

And this is the one taken with the Olympus E-P3 and 12mm f/2 lens.

Hope you like them.