A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

hipstamatic

Foto Friday: Baseball Hall ages through Hipstamatic

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown is a storied institution.

The Babe is all over the Hall of Fame. (Film: BlacKeys Supergrain; lens: Helga Viking)

Being local to the Hall — and covering it as part of the baseball beat for several years at the local daily — I’ve been through, in and around the Hall for much of my life. I’ve seen it change through the years, expanding and growing. I’ve watched Induction Ceremonies, saw players visiting and had a chance to get to know many people who help make it run.

I’ve researched in the library, too, which is one of the most wonderful tools available to those who are working on things in regard to baseball history.

And each year, I try to visit the Hall a few times.

Part of that is being a member. Though I haven’t been the past few years, I recently re-upped because they offered me an excellent deal and one I could afford. Being a member gets me admission throughout the year, whenever I feel like going.

That’s pretty sweet.

What that does is makes it possible for me to go check out new exhibits and then leave, if I want. It usually doesn’t turn out that way, though.

A couple of weekends ago, I decided to visit the Hall, with this little idea in mind. I wanted to take many photos throughout the Hall, using Hipstamatic.

For those who don’t know, Hipstamatic is a really cool photo app for the iPhone/iPad/iPod. It gives you the ability to switch films and lenses to get old and crazy film looks. If you use flash, there are many flashes to choose from, too. Basically, it gives you some “old’school” looking images.

I’m a fan, usually, of this app. The last few updates have been frustrating as it seems to crash in odd times, sometimes losing photos (it happened to me while doing the Hall shots). Basically, each shot needs time to “develop” and if something happens in that amount of time, you lose the photos.

Still, the idea was to see the Hall through the eyes of Hipstamatic, using as many films and lenses as I could to get a different look at things. Those of you who follow the blog may remember I did the same thing this past July when I did a post about shooting pro wrestling with Hipstamatic.

Balls from 1863. (Film: DC; lens: James M).

I figured I’d zip through the hall, snapping photos and getting out of there within about an hour.

By now, I should know better.

I spent about two hours and change in the Hall, looking over things I had seen many times before. There weren’t many people there, so I had time to look, snap shots and enjoy the afternoon. I pretty much zapped my iPhone battery with the amount of shots I took. But, it’s all good.

And I got some cool Hipstamatic shots.

I think the one cool thing is being able to check some of those shots and get that old feel — almost like it really captures the history of baseball.

The Hall is a magical place to visit, no matter what you use for a camera. But if you visit, try it through the eyes of Hipstamatic — it really gives awesome results.

More of the images from that day are below.

Old catcher’s equipment. (Film: Ina’s 1969; lens: Lucas AB2)

 

Abner Doubleday. (Film: Alfred Infared; Lens: Roboto Glitter)

 

There’s no crying in baseball! (Film: Sugar; lens: Salvador 84)

The Phytin’ Phils. (Film: W40; lens: Foxy)

Some of the Phillies best. (Film: Pistil; lens: Melodie)

Pete Rose’s hat. (Film: BlacKeys B&W; lens: GSQUAD)

Eddie Gaedel’s uniform. (Film: Alfred Infared; lens: Melodie)

John Fogerty’s guitar for “Centerfield.” (Film: Dylan; lens: Lucas AB2)

The Babe and Teddy Ballgame in the Plaque Gallery. (Film: Alfred Infared; lens: Wonder).

The original class. (Film: BlacKeys Supergrain)

 

Jackie Robinson. (Film: RTV; lens: Tejas)

One of my favorite Hall of Famers. (Film: Sugar; lens: Kaimal Mark II)

Another of my favorite Hall of Famers. (Film: W40; lens: Melodie)

The infamous Barry Bonds ball. (Film: D-Type Plate; lens: Americana)

Hammering Hank. (Film: Cano Cafenol; lens: Buckhorst H1)

The Mick. (Film: D-Type Plate; lens: Watts)

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Foto Friday: Hipstamatic can give wrestling a funky look

Using Hipstamatic at a recent wrestling show gave some really wild images.

A few weeks ago, a couple of us attended a professional wrestling event inBinghamton. The company – Squared Circle Wrestling (2CW) — we went to see is one we’ve seen many times and it’s great action.

This time, however, we decided to get front-row seats for the first time.

With that comes some good things and some bad things.

The good?

The sharpness isn’t always there, but Hipstamatic gives you some cool looks.

You are up close and personal with the action. Several times, wrestlers ended up on the floor near us and some brawling ensued. Brawling at a professional wrestling event – shocking, eh?

The bad?

Sometimes, you are too close. That comes more from the photography type of things for me. I don’t mind sitting back when I am taking photos because I can utilize my zoom lens. When too close, even my “walk-around” lens (a 17-40) is a little too short. But the zoom – a 70-200 is too long.

That makes it frustrating when trying to take photos.

Now, if I had something in between (maybe my 50, but I didn’t bring it with me), it might not be so bad.

I still got a few photos I liked out of that event, but one thing I decided to do was to utilize my iPhone a little. More specifically, I decided I’d see what Hipstamatic could do.

For those who don’t know, Hipstamatic is a really cool photo app. What it does it gives you many different “films” and “lenses” to be able to get different looks and textures. It’s basically the attempt at giving you some cool “old-school” looking images, as if they were taken with film.

I love this app. Especially because you can shake your iPhone and Hipstamatic will give you random pairings of the film and lenses (and, if you are using it, flashes).

Now, I realize that the app wasn’t going to capture action well. It’s not an app for that. But, I thought if the right amount of random combinations occurred, there would be some interesting results.

I wasn’t disappointed.

What is extremely cool about this is the different feel you get with each image. Each lens and film does something different. So, if you have the same film with three different lenses, you’ll get three different images – even if it’s the same exact setp.

The films vary, too. From black and white, to color, to old-school Kodak feel. All the lenses are interesting. They differ from blur to crisp to canvas looking. None are the same, which makes it quite fun.

With Hipstamatic, you get a certain amount of lenses and films free with the initial purchase of the app ($1.99). Then, you have the chance to buy other film/lens combos, usually at a cost of 99 cents each.

This image me think of the old days of wrestling and boxing!

Unfortunately, I don’t have all the combos as I started late with Hipstamatic and some of the ones available for a limited time are no longer able to be purchased. I have 21 films and 23 lenses available to me.

That’s a whole heap of available combinations.

By doing this, it also gave me a different creative outlet. I have done a lot of different things with my photography when it comes to professional wrestling. Yet it will, at times, get old. I find myself looking for the crazy things – chairs, tables, blood etc. I don’t want just the regular old shot.

So, the Hipstamatic feel gave me that chance.

Through this post, there are a few of the shots I took. Below is a handful more of my favorites. I probably took 75 or so shots total, if not a bit more. There were others I liked, but I didn’t just want to have this be a post full of nothing but images.

If you have an iPhone, I would highly encourage you to get this app. Beyond that, there are a bunch of excellent photos apps on the Droid as well. Even if you are as attached to your normal digital camera – as I am – it’s worth a try to put it aside once in a while and see how creative you can get with something else, such as with Hipstamatic.

In the end, you might get some items that make you drop your jaw or smile knowing how cool it worked out.

Here are a bunch more of my favorite shots from that night:

After going through the table!

Using the ref as a shield.

Squaring off

The lighting here makes it kind of cool.

One of my favorite shots from the night.

Arm lock.

Foreshadowing?

Atomic drop!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Foto Friday: Hipstamatic Disposable gives surprises

Hipstamatic Disposable can give you some really wild looks to a photo. (photo by Mike)

Remember those days gone by of disposable cameras?

You got 24 shots on a camera and had no clue what was on there when you finally got around to taking it to get developed? What a fun time it was to see the goofy faces or memories captures on a grainy camera when you got the prints back.

In this age of digital, that feeling, for the most part, is gone. There’s instant satisfaction of being able to see the image you just snapped, whether it be by a high-priced digital SLR, a point-and-shoot or a camera on your phone.

Enter Hipstamatic Disposable.

This app is only on iOS operating systems, so iPhones or iPads or along those lines.

But this app is really cool. I won’t say it’s perfect — I’ve had some issues. But, overall, this has been a fun app to use and is worth taking a peek at.

The premise is simple — you have a disposable camera. And there are many to choose from (all with different feel and results — from a black and white camera to some “older” models that do different things with light etc).

One of the coolest parts of the app is that you don’t get to see any of the shots until the whole roll is completed.

The other cool part?

You can share!

For other users of the app, you can actually share the camera. Therefore, you all have the camera that is being used and are snapping away. When it’s done, you get all the prints. You get to see what your friends take and they see what you took. It’s very cool in that regard.

Let’s take a peek at this app.

***

The screen is easy to navigate and get around.

Main screen

This is the main screen area. You can flip through the cameras you have open by swiping the screen left or right. At the bottom, there are options to see cameras already developed, invitations from others, the cameras you have and can start/use, and the option to buy more cameras.

There are plenty of cameras to use.

This is a free app, mind you. You get some good cameras for free, but others can be purchased. Some have unlimited use, some others you purchase and have a certain amount of cameras etc.

You can also see how many exposures you have remaining on the camera in the lower-left corner of said camera.

Taking a photo

This should be pretty self-explanatory.

The yellow button is what you use to take the photo. The little button (squiggly arrow) to the right is what you hit if you want to use a flash. Snap away. There is the left-to-right bar that is supposed to do different things to the images, but I honestly always forget about it, so I haven’t tried it much and can’t really comment on how well it works.

At the bottom, you have the exposures remaining, how many friends are involved with this camera, and then the button to take you back to the main page.

Checking the camera details.

If you click on the “friends” part, you come to this screen, which tells you the details of the camera and which friends are involved.

***

The app, in the beginning, was annoying as some things didn’t work well. I would finish a camera and half the photos didn’t show up. Further, it took more than a week for their customer service to acknowledge my complaints. Even then, it was just the “the app is new and we are working to fix everything.”

That’s fine, but when people take photos, they want to see the results. I’ve come to the conclusion that these images, despite the app continually being upgraded and becoming better, are ones I’ll never see.

Disposable has a really cool feel to it, with all of its cameras.

And it’s a shame because I really wanted to see them.

That being said, it has become steadily better. The quality seems to be pretty strong, depending on what you want to do with the image.  The size I received when I e-mailed them to myself was 600×600, by far not the dimensions I would probably want if I was looking to print. With regular Hipstamatic, you can order prints. But I don’t see that option here. Still, I guess it seems a little more “realistic” if the quality isn’t perfect being it’s a “disposable camera.” But I would like the option for some higher-quality prints. I am, after all, taking images with a digital medium.

My only other major issue is the sharing situation.

One of the recent updates says it’s easier to invite friends. However, I can only seem to invite people who were in my list already. It used to be I could invite through Facebook, but I don’t see that option now. It would be nice if I could invite people through e-mail or Twitter or something like that. Not everyone with an iPhone has this app and not everyone I know with an iPhone is a friend of mine on Facebook. I don’t want to have to invite more and more people to Facebook just to be able to invite them to share a disposable camera with me.

If I am wrong about this and there has been a fix, I hope someone will point it out to me as I’ve tried to start several cameras to test it out and the options aren’t there.

***

The images are way cool.

Despite the quality issues in regard to printing, to have them for e-mail or texting or something like that is wonderful.

My favorite camera, by far, is the BlackKeys 44, a black-and-white camera.

The courthouse square on a wintry day made for a lovely black and white image.

I really like the feel of these shots. The border around the image is fantastic and makes it feel like an old photo. But the lighting is a key part of these cameras. Take a peek at a few other shots that some people I shared the camera with took and see the lighting and difference of the feel of the shot:

Taken by Darren.

Taken by me.

Taken by Mike.

Taken by Tavis.

It really does amaze me how the lighting really plays a big factor on these shots — and it truly delights me. I think it’s great that the disposable seems to adjust pretty well to things and it makes it look like a really cool image no matter what.

The color cameras are just a interesting.

The shots can give you a feel like they were taken years ago. The faded colors or the light coming into the camera — many things to give you a retro feel.

Such as this:

I love that look and feel. It could have been taken in the 70s or 80s!

Even better?

It gives you that memory feel. If you are regular visitors to my blog, you know each week I go into the vault for an old photo for Snapshot Saturday. This camera can give you that feel of the old “memory” photo.

Such as this one, taken by Mike:

A keeper!

And with the sharing possibilities, others get to share in the memories!

How great is this shot? It’s simple, has a slight blur and is something many parents probably have (something like it, anyway!). It’s a way to capture and keep so many memories and have that retro feel.

Not every image has to be sharp, in focus and in perfect color.

***

Overall, I’m a fan.

I do hope Hipstamatic decides to open some of the sharing ways up so people can connect through things like Twitter and e-mail and not have to be Facebook friends. I’m pretty close with my Facebook stuff and rarely add someone who I don’t know in real life. It’s nothing against the other person, it’s just how I am with Facebook. I’m not in a race to have the most friends, after all.

But it would be so cool to connect photo wise with others from around the world, especially though social networks like Twitter or even Google+.

Until then, I’ll keep learning this app a bit more and using as much as I can. It’s a wonderful tool to be creative.

Have you used Disposable? What are your thoughts? Feel free to leave them in the comments below!

Fundraiser: I am, again, trying to raise money for the Relay For Life. If you donate to me — even a small amount — you will be entered to win a super-sweet quilted scarf. Click here for all the information!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook! 

Foto Friday: Feeling hip with hipstamatic

No, I won't be throwing aside the DSLR. But Hipstamatic makes the "regular" photos real fun again. (Lucifer VI Lens, BlacKeys B+W Film)

I feel like I’m getting hipper by the day.

You see, it’s all about photographs with me. I love having a cell phone that does the things it’s supposed to do — you know, make phone calls or text. But with the iPhone, there are so many other great things. As I’ve posted before, the photographs it can take are really incredible.

(Side note — people with the iTouch or other things that can download Apple apps can use all of this, too).

I recently started looking at Hipstamatic again. I downloaded it shortly after getting the iPhone, but wasn’t too interested. I figured I had wasted the $2 I spend on it and chalked it up to a learning experience.

John S Lens, DC Film

With the recent release of Hiptamatic Disposable (more on that later in the post), my interest raised again.

I’m glad it did.

For those of you who like the old plastic/toy film cameras — or just the look of old images, Hipstamatic is a perfect fit. With the beauty of having some iTunes gift cards still on my account, I splurged and purchased the bulk of the add-on packages for the app. That means, for this wonderful “film” camera, I have 10 lenses, 13 types of “film” and eight different flashes. Now, remember that the app itself comes with a good variety of lenses/film/flashes, so one doesn’t have to purchase the additional items to really enjoy the app. I just so happened to have some iTunes money remaining and was very curious about all the additional things.

It also appears that there are other special packages — lenses, films, cases etc. Maybe these come out for special occasions or were used once and now gone. Hopefully they’ll be back because I’d like to keep building my Hipstamatic collection as I think this will be an app I use quite often in many different situations.

Helga Viking Lens, Float Film

And after doing some research, it looks as though some things — once gone — are gone for good. And it stinks, because two of the most recent ones were Winter 2010 and December 2010. Both look like awesome additions (especially the Winter 2010 one) and I can’t get ’em. Argh!

One of the coolest things with this app is you can shake it when open and it will give you random mixes of film/lenses. So you can have all sorts of wild combinations of everything.

Over the past few days, I have tested things a little. I’ve shaken the camera, used certain combos on purpose and generally just wanted to see what this app could do.

Chunky Lens, Blanko Noir Film

I like it.

I own a Holga, which is a plastic film camera. It does a lot of the stuff that this app does. But the best part about the app is that it’s all digital and I don’t have to pay for expensive processing on 120 film! (Though I do have several rolls of 120 I need to get developed from the Holga). After messing around with this app, I realize now I can get the same setup as with the Holga — and with many more options.

Now I realize many people still love film. They love that feel and everything that goes along with it. I’m fine with that. But I don’t like it anymore. I can’t afford every aspect of it. It adds up. I can snap hundreds of photos now and delete what I don’t need. When I use my DSLR, I still mess with settings as I would on a film SLR. The difference? I’m not wasting film. I can see right away what I need to do to switch things around. I do miss some things about film, specifically black and white in the darkroom. I loved the smell of the chemicals and being able to do different things during the process.

Chunky Lens, Pistil Film

For those who have worked in a dark room, can’t you still somewhat smell the D-76 developer or picture the stop bath stopping the developing? All under that red light?

But, that was then. This is now. And seeing something instantaneously is what I like now.

Anyway, back to what was being discussed.

This app takes away all of that, but at the same time gives you one heck of a film look — in color and black and white. The films are very cool and give you different feels. Same with the lenses. Eventually, I’ll test the flashes out a little bit, too.

The app, much like these old cameras, is a bit quirky. You can line something up and the image will come off as off-centered (note the mailboxes image). There are little things to learn as you go along with the app, which makes it even more fun.

The best, however, is that you can get instant satisfaction, unlike the day of the film. I won’t like — I used to love the rush of picking up a roll of film — but as things are in this day and age, this is just as much fun. And if you really want prints of these images, you can order them through the Hipstamatic website, or find a place where you can take the digital file and have it done somewhere else.

Lucifer VI Lens, BlacKeys B+W Film

Hipstamatic Disposable

As I noted earlier in this post, there’s another Hipstamatic product that I have been really enjoying. In fact, it’s this product that made me get back into Hipstamatic.

The basis behind this app is a disposable camera. But, it gives you an even more realistic feel of a disposable camera — you can’t see the images until you finish the roll (24 exposures). Once you finish the roll, you will see them all.

Incredibly cool.

Molson -- as taken with Hipstamatic Disposable (taken with the D-Fault camera)

What’s even better is that there’s many different types of cameras, too. You get three free when you get the app (which, for the record, is free). There are seven more you can purchase. Of those seven, four give you unlimited use of the camera for $.99. The other three have different price levels — 9 cameras (at 24 exposures each) for $.99, 36 cameras for $1.99 or 99 cameras for $3.99.

Each of the cameras do something different — and give you a different look. I have a few going right now. One of the cameras is a black-and-white camera, which is cool.

The best part of this camera?

You can share. That means you and others can all be using the camera at the same time. Once the camera is finished, you and all the others get access to the camera and get all the images. How cool is that? As of now, however, it’s based on your Facebook profile.

Someone posted to the Hipstamatic Disposable page on Facebook, however, and asked if there would be a time when others can be invited without using Facebook and someone from the company responded that they were working on that. That is excellent news because I keep my Facebook king of low-key and only really add people I know in real life. To know that I might be able to share photos with someone via Twitter or e-mail or something is excellent news. I hope it happens soon as this app is one I’m really liking a lot.

I have a few other cameras going at this time and hope to eventually have it all set up so I can share cameras with people throughout the US and world. I think it would be a lot of fun to see things through the eyes of other people and this app really is giving us a chance. Kudos to Hipstamatic on this app and I hope it continues to grow.

Some external links to check out (added after initial post):

Note: Foto Friday is a new feature I plan to do each week. It’s not going to be just a photo, it’s going to be one or more of my favorite photos of the week, with explanations or stories behind them. The images might come from my DSLR or my iPhone and some other app. With getting back into the 366 project this year, I’ll be taking photos more, so hopefully I’ll have more images to share. Foto Friday also might be something else to do with photography — a guest post, perhaps, or something like this post about a product or something else.

I used “Foto” as a throwback to the old Fotomat drive-thru developing booths. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy this new feature at A ‘lil HooHaa!

—

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!