[Batch 10 : 31 October - 20 November] Notice the interval between the dates these photos were taken, and what date it is now that I'm posting it? Sorry. But do you also notice the new look of my website? Apology accepted? =)

These are my first shots with the iPhone 5. (Want one more something new? Look at the header photo, hey, it's white! Got tired of black phones.) I admit, I loved the panorama feature so much that it was difficult not to use it often. Self-control was necessary. Anyway, this batch is more about getting acquainted with the 5 and also updating all the apps. The 5's camera is a lot better than the 4, but that doesn't mean it has reached high-fidelity proportions. Not yet, but getting closer.

Click thumbnails for full view. Blurry thumbnails are panos.

Recommended App : Lumie (click on thumbnail for my comments about the app)

Watch out for the next series, I'd like to think the 5 redeems itself with it.

[Batch 9 : 9 - 30 October] Well, after more than a month's hiatus, 365 in Lo-Fi is back. What happened? iPhone 5 happened. I got to source a "5" from the US toward the end of October, and since using it, I have forgotten about my iPhone 4. I kept it but no longer use it (as of now, but I plan to keep it for photo-taking and iPod purposes). Now that it's resurrected, I've retrieved the last batch of Lo-Fi photos that I shot with the 4.

Retrieving the photos is the easy part (I've processed all but two for this batch before the iPhone 4's hibernation). Remembering the details (date, place, story, apps used in processing) is the hard one. My apologies, no details for this batch. I promise, I tried remembering, but the more I do it, the more that posting this will get delayed. So just to get this going again, only titles and description for the photo captions.

But hey, it's good to have this project back on track. Click on the thumbnails for full view and details.

I skipped the 4S. I'm glad I did.

The 5 doesn't revolutionize the smartphone landscape quite like the 4 did, but overall it's a damn better phone than its numerical predecessor. I'll throw away the technical stuff in this review and just point out the features that matter to me most : the iPhone 5 is thinner, a bit longer due to a bigger screen (but still lighter), has a faster processor, a better camera (clearer and with better dynamic range) with built-in panorama mode, longer battery life, and bundled with what they say is the most advanced phone OS ever : the iOS6. I like all the those features except the last one, as I find iOS6 still buggy and has made some apps sluggish. And let's not get started about Maps. Apart from that, the 5 is a better experience.

I don't find anything groundbreaking except the panorama mode in taking photos. I love it. It's very easy to use and it gets the job done, a stark contrast to apps that also offer panoramic-shooting but don't produce seamless panos. With the 5, all you have to do is pan from left to right, follow the horizontal middle line, and the phone will do the rest. Don't abuse this feature though, as lazy shooting and composition won't get you good-looking panos. (Anyway, you'll see panos on my next post, as this batch of photos were still taken by the 4. Next time, the 5 will make its shining, shimmering debut.)

The iPhone 5 looks better, sure. It has better features than the 4 and 4S, sure. But it doesn't separate itself from the pack of smartphone contenders. To be honest, it didn't wow me that much (the 4 did). I liked the new design, but there was nothing else I raved about. But I'll say this : now that I've used the 5 for two months and I got to hold the 4 again, I suddenly appreciated how faster and how lighter the 5 is. All of a sudden the 4 felt bulky, and launching and switching apps seem to take forever. The 5 is a marked improvement for the iPhone series. Definitely.

Now if only iOS6 doesn't suck so much.



Photos captured with the iPhone 5 on the next post. =)

[Batch 8 : 18 September - 8 October] Sorry folks. Got real busy with family matters, all those travel and not being home and stuff. Didn't have time to post in time, so to make amends, this set is good for three weeks of daily iPhone shots (instead of the usual two).

It was back to random. No themes for this one. Just shoot whatever pleased the lo-fi eye.

Click thumbnails for full view.

Recommended App : Vintique (click app icon for my comments)

Will be back to the two-week regulars on the next post. Promise. =)
(And oh, I've upgraded to iOS6. I find some apps sluggish, even Snapseed's Vintage filter had a pixelation problem and they've yet to offer an update. Sheesh.)

[Batch 7 : 4-17 September] Forgive me. I couldn't think of a better title for this post. What I really wanted to say was this set is about striking colors that caught my attention during Days 85 to 98 of my 365 in Lo-Fi project. I wanted the title to be catchy, I hope I didn't mess up too bad.

Anyway, I've said my piece and what's this about. Batch 7 is all about colors.

Click the thumbnails for the full view and captions.

Recommended App : ProHDR (click on the thumbnail for my comments)

Thank you for the view. Till the next post. =)
(P.S. About to upgrade to iOS6. I hope I don't lose my photo apps.)

[Batch 6 : 21 August - 3 September] When I started 365 in Lo-Fi, I kinda knew what I was getting into : everyday photography with the iPhone, and the iPhone alone. It doesn't come with the flexibility that shooting with the DSLR system has with its lenses and accessories. And I do love lenses, matter of fact. I took the lack of options as a challenge : shoot with what the iPhone has to offer, which pretty much is decent image quality in ample ambient light and a lot of grain in low-light. The zoom? A non-factor, since I'm not a fan of digital zooms. The iPhone's flash? Nevermind. Still, it was "game on, challenge accepted."

What the iPhone lacks in optics interchangeability, it makes up for (as we all know by now) with its tons of apps to tweak your photos. And thru that means I regularly check AppStore for the latest apps that I may find useful. Some apps are neat and cool, some are just trash. And some of the trash are the fisheye apps, those which promise to make your photos distorted like they've been taken with a fisheye lens. I AM TELLING YOU NOW, SO YOU DON'T GET DUPED LIKE ME, ALL FISHEYE APPS IN THE APPSTORE ARE GARBAGE. Don't buy them. You can try the free ones, but you'll be wasting your time. I've been there, I've done that. I've read user feedbacks that caution against the bogus fisheye apps, only to push my luck and fall flat on my face. So let me repeat, DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME ON FISHEYE APPS. THEY. DON'T. WORK.

It's because of that frustration that I googled if there was a fisheye app that could be a hidden gem, an app that hasn't been hyped but really gets that fisheye distortion that I love (I've been shooting with a fisheye lens on my DSLR since last year). Maybe that app is out there, somewhere, and somehow I've missed it on the AppStore.

The google results then brought me to something better. Definitely better. Apparently, there is an iPhone accessory that lets you shoot fisheye. A clip-on lens converter, not an app, that makes fisheye distortion a reality. The olloclip 3-in-1 lens. I immediately ordered one and had it delivered in 3 days.

Let me share the olloclip experience.

And because I'm so happy with the olloclip, I decided to make the sixth batch of 365 in Lo-Fi an olloclip edition. All photos shot using the olloclip, with 7 macros, 5 fisheyes, and 2 wides. Click on the thumbnails for the full view and captions.

Overall, I strongly recommend the olloclip 3-in-1 lens converter, especially for iPhone photographers. Bang for the buck, flush for the fun. Check out www.olloclip.com for more info. It retails for $70 in the US, if you can source it there, the cheaper. There's a Philippine olloclip seller but she's selling it for Php 4,000 (about $95) : niftysnaps.com. Or you could try looking on sulit.com.ph and get lucky, as I did when I found a brandnew olloclip being sold for just Php 2,500 ($60).

Thanks for dropping by. Happy shooting! On to the next batch. =)

[Batch 5 : 7 - 20 August] In my previous post (Batch 4), I did mention to watch out for the next one. This is it. A special set with a "words and lyrics" theme. I had a couple of live concerts to watch on the first days of this set's duration, so I thought maybe I'd do a lyrics-inspired iPhone photo series.

I'm a music lover and an avid concert-goer. Coldplay, Pete Yorn, Norah Jones, Switchfoot, America, Don Henley (of The Eagles), David Gates (of Bread), The Cascades, Survivor, Fra Lippo Lippi, Don McLean, The Corrs, Ford & Coley, Toto, The Cranberries, Ed Kowalczyk (of LIVE), Vertical Horizon, are some of the international artists I've seen perform live (that I can remember). And a slew of local artists too. I was so amped for August as the Smashing Pumpkins and Snow Patrol came to Manila to headline their own shows. Big-name SP bands to add to my list. Things looked bleak at first because of the terrible monsoon rains that flooded Metro Manila. The Pumpkins' August 7 concert (the first day of this set), was moved back a day, thankfully (I thought it was going to get cancelled altogether). Thus it became back-to-back with Snow Patrol (August 9). So yeah, calamity turned to musical awesomeness in a span of 3 days. What a week. And what a start to this set. I'm glad I was able to carry on and finish the theme until the end. Well, it wasn't everyday that a song idea popped into my head, so on some days mere words were enough. (Excuses, I know.)

Click on the thumbnails to view the photos in full and see the captions. =)

It's time for a break from the daily lo-fi photos. This set is exclusively from a photowalk last Saturday with Bulacan Letratista friends. We ventured into Binondo armed only with our phone cameras - while doing a little food trip along the way. It was fun, it was hot, it was delicious, it was convenient. Hahaha, I was too happy not to carry the weight of my DSLR and just snapping leisurely. Binondo folks were also friendlier because they thought I was taking photos just for the heck of it. Look like a tourist, they'll treat you like a tourist. =)

I sneaked in some captures of Plaza Miranda and Quiapo Church, then proceeded to Chinatown proper where we did our foodtrip. I had with me a new iPhone accessory which I was all too happy to test : the Olloclip fisheye lens. Such a joy to use. (I'll make a review next time.)

As the case in all of my posts here in 365 in Lo-Fi, all of these photos were taken and post-processed with the iPhone. For this set, however, I only used the Snapseed app for post-processing. Maybe a case of laziness or probably due to time constraint (my next "365" post is due soon, I have to give these posts some time in between).

So yup, no effects and filters were applied to these photos. Processing was limited to cropping, adjustments (ambience/contrast/selective-saturation), increase of details, and black-and-white conversion. I did use the Diptic app for the last four photos, but that's it.

Click on the thumbnails for the full view and captions...

Make sure you read the captions on the food shots. The info might come in handy on your own Binondo foodtrip.

I sure hope I get to do this type of photowalk more often. It's a whole lot of effortless fun. Try it! Or maybe next time you should join.

Till the next post! =)

[Batch 4 : 24 July - 6 August] Faster, Higher, Stronger! That's the Olympic motto and has nothing to do with this post. Haha. I just wanted to open with a bang. Well since we're at it, this batch of photos' motto is a lot simpler : Just A Bit Better. But Better. (Alright, I admit I got the idea from Philips' advertisements.) Post # 4 is still eclectic, but I like this collection better than the first ones, if only for the ease of photo ideas that came.

(Click on thumbnails for full view and caption)

[Batch 3 : 10-23 July] I'm still here! I'm still shooting! This project has become easier now as I've already identified my bread-and-butter apps. The difficult part remains organizing the photos and finding them one by one in the iPhone folder for transferring to the desktop computer (I can't upload the photos like this straight from my iPhone). Trying new apps keeps the experience fresh, but there is something I really want to do while doing 365 in Lo-Fi : going to the streets. Right now my lifestyle just won't allow that, and I am stuck capturing scenes or objects of my daily routine. What I'd love to do is a photowalk with the iPhone for some street/people photography. Not now yet, maybe soon.

For the meantime here's Batch 3 of 365 in Lo-Fi (click thumbnails for bigger view and caption):

Recommended App : Picfx (click on the app thumbnail to view my comments)

Three batches done, around twenty-three more to go. Thanks for looking. =)

[Batch 2 : 26 Jun - 9 July] Second post of my 365 in Lo-Fi project. This started off not quite well, as I was stuck home with an illness the first two days. By the time I got back to going out, the weather acted up. I made do with shooting objects that seemed quite interesting, at least for me. Haha. I've developed a routine with this project : just shoot and shoot and amass photos in my iPhone's camera roll, then choose among the photos and post-process at a later date. It saves me time and effort. The key is to shoot everyday. If I could shoot 5 different subjects each day, then I'll be fine with a 20 percent keeper rate. =p

(Click on thumbnails to view each photo in full, together with the caption about the apps I used)