My Garden - HIPSTERFIED

[apple_pathways]

There's a bandwagon? Well, I must jump on it!

A couple weeks ago, my friend convinced me to purchase this app called "hipstamatic" for my iPhone. It takes various cool/hip lens/film/photo effects and applies them to your digital photos. I downloaded it, but then never really sat around and played with it/figured it out. Well, now all the ladies at pulped_fictions have the app and are making lovely picspams with it, SO NOW I MUST, TOO!

I'm still figuring it out, figuring out what lenses produce which effects, what film effects are my favorite, and how to produce different borders, etc. But I have discovered that if I shake my phone, the app gives me a random combination of settings, which is very fun for trying things out. So, behind the cut find a MASSIVE picspam of images from my backyard garden and my veggie plot. Also a couple random images of me, and my cat, whose permanent "cannot be bothered to deal with you" expression fits just perfectly with the hipster effect of the retro lenses!



(Click any photo to view a larger version.)

rantypants addendum: I know Flickr is supposed to be some poncey, artsy photo-sharing experience whatever, but it's still a damn photo hosting site, and I don't know why it's necessary for them to make it so damn difficult for me to find the direct URLs to my own damn photos and then demand I include a link to their website if I should ever decide to post my own damn photos elsewhere.

In conclusion: my own damn photos. :P

Comments

[sabriel75.livejournal.com]

OMG! These are AWESOME!

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

Thank you, baby! Also: thank you for my kiss! I don't know why I was never notified that you'd sent it, but thank you babes. :D

[ladylovelace.livejournal.com]

Re Flickr: right click + copy URL from the 'all sizes' view. They were too stupid to disable it :) (You've probably figured this out, of course, but just in case).

You know, I'm not sure if these photos were as artsy when you took them, because I'm not great at mentally removing filters, but I don't care: they look awesome. I especially like, for reasons I am unsure of, the fourth from the left in the top row.

And the lonely Noir!Kitty :D

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've worked out how to get the direct URLs to my photos: I'm just annoyed at how much clicking I have to do to get to them! It gets to be a bit of a drag on posts like this, where I have to go through the process 64 times.

I realize that Flickr is not set up as an image-hosting site, which is why I rarely use it as such. But this time, I figured I already had the photos up on Flickr anyway, and didn't want to go through the bother of uploading them to a different site entirely.

It also annoys me that, when looking for an easier way to find the URLs of my photos, I came across their insistence that according to their TOS, I must include a link back to Flickr when posting my photos housed on their site elsewhere. I mean: who do they think they are? I could understand free sites doing that because they're providing me with a service I'm not paying for and the least I could do is send traffic their way. But I have a "Pro" account at Flickr, and am therefore paying them for the privelege of them allowing me to post my own photos wherever I want. That should be enough. (No, in the end it's Not a Big Deal: it isn't difficult for me to include a link to Flickr, and I doubt they'd come after me if I didn't, anyway. As with most things I get all het up over, it's The Principle Of The Thing! :P)

That app definitely artsified my photos! It's pretty nifty how cool all your photos look just by de-focusing the lens and over-exposing the film. ;)

I especially like, for reasons I am unsure of, the fourth from the left in the top row.

Thank you! I'm trying to work on my "still life" photos. I'm generally fine at taking the pictures, but I can never arrange a pile of objects in a way that looks both natural and artistic. It shouldn't be so hard, but DAMMIT, it is! I definitely like that one you pointed out, but I think my favorite is the second to last one in the top row.

And my kitty is constantly living in her own personal noir film!

[ladylovelace.livejournal.com]

I agree that it's annoying, and I recall a time when Flickr did actually have sharing tools, and it does suck that they removed them. Especially as you are already more than paying for all the bandwidth you could possibly use. I agree, it sucks, and the TOS of a lot of web 2.0 companies is ridiculous but also completely unenforceable. Which is why I do not believe in paid services at all, TBH. The overarching capitalism of the Internet will prevail and create something better and free, eventually (Picasa comes instantly to mind).

It is amazing. I was deeply disappointed to learn that there is no android version of this program, but I did come across one that has some nifty retro camera effects that I rather like. ANYWAY, point is, yeah: artistic photography is accomplished largely by taking technically awful photos. They still look pretty.

Still life composition is hard. It is my great weakness when it comes to photography. Frame a scene? Sure! Figure out how to arrange a necklace you're trying to flog on ebay? No.

I like the second-to-last top row one as well. Looks like it should be advertising Ye Olde Farmer's Market. And now that I'm looking at them again, the birdhouse is standing out to me as well. Maybe I just like the torn edges?

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

I recall a time when Flickr did actually have sharing tools

Really? Man, that would have been cool! I am now most definitely regretting my decision to buy a Pro account in a fit of "I iz a photographer now!" delusional giddiness. Ah well--I think I just need to do some more complaining, is all: really get my money worth. ;)

I have a Picasa account, but it's just not as active or prestigious as Flickr. Also, I like Flickr's tools for working with photos en masse (tagging, adding to sets, changing licensing, etc) and I like their advanced search function. I like being able to search for images that have been license through Creative Commons. (I license all of my photos that way, and wish more people would do so! I honestly can't understand why they don't. Unless you're a Big Deal professional photographer, when are you ever going to profit from owning the copyright to your photos?)

Still life composition is hard.

Yes! Guh, I'm glad other people have issues with this as well! It's funny you should mention jewelry, as I tried to take some "artsy" photos of my jewelry collection, and I just could not find a way to arrange everything that didn't either look like a heap of junk or a carefully staged garage sale display.

I love those bird houses! I just wish the guy wires for the power lines weren't there. :P

[ladylovelace.livejournal.com]

It used to be set up just like photobucket - they were removed for exactly the reason you touch on: licensing concerns. And I am a big fan of Creative Commons licensing, myself - but because I know how important it is to have your name passed around. (There are some issues with it, like the problem of needing a model release for a true creative commons license and the fact that most amateur photography just does not involve them, but on the whole, CC = good and I do think it's a bit weird to cling to the copyright of photos that aren't exclusive and you're never going to try to sell, [and I think if you post pictures on the web that you don't want all over the place, you're delusional and have misunderstood the basic nature of the Internet]).

But then what do I know, I barely use these things. (Which I intend to change now that I have a phone that takes pictures and has an Internet connection, which is thoroughly exciting).

Trying to photograph jewellery is the least fun thing ever :/ - especially as it's often a really awkward shape lying flat and really is designed to hang on something.

[ladybracknell.livejournal.com]

Yay, piccies! You look awesome :D

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

Why thank you! I'm glad you like my intensely cool bandana look I wear out to the garden. :P

[zolac-no-miko.livejournal.com]

Haha wow, yeah, those are pretty damn hipster! XD Now you need to stick some captions on them.

They look fantastic, actually. All, like, artsy and shit.