A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

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Clicking away more than ever

I realize this is a bit of cheesy post as it doesn’t invoke deep thinking or anything, but I must gush a little more over having a phone that can double as a solid camera.

See, when out and about — whether playing disc golf, geocaching or hanging with friends, this thing can really do a lot. It takes quality photos and the apps to improve the photos are that much better.

So what I want to do here is share five of my favorite photos with this phone and explain how I got the look that they have. All have, at some point, been run through Instagram, which is one of my favorite apps. These photos are in no particular order.

1. Bike wreck

Ouch!

First, when looking at this photo, understand that nobody was hurt in the creation of this photo. While out on a geocaching adventure with a family called Irish Tala, one of the Tala pups came across a bike discarded along the way. It’s not shocking, actually, as these trails are heavily used for mountain biking. This bike was trashed though. I would have hated to have gotten into this wreck.

But, we did try and re-create it. Tavis put the bike in the tree and we did the best we could to make it look authentic (though a messed up helmet would have put this over the top!). When done, I pushed it through Instagram and used the Lomo-Fi filter, which I think really brought things out well.

2. Darren hot dogging it.

Hot dogs, fries and disc golf, please!

This is out front of Mike’s Hot Dogs in Schenectady. Good food and it’s pretty cheap. After eating, we came out to take advantage of these cool props. And, of course, hold a few discs. Darren, of course, got chatty with the hot dog. Fitting!

This ran through two apps — snapseed to play around with the look of it before using the Nashville filter on Instagram.

3. Wine aficionado

A great year, indeed!

Who doesn’ t get a small, personal-sized bottle of wine at a diner at midnight during a caching event?

Oh wait…

Anyway, loved this one. Funny situations all around. Allen was making sure it was a good year, of course! Ran it through Instagram with the filter Toaster.

4. A beautiful fall day

A great day!

This was a geocaching day we planned out. The sky was wonderful.

This blue was pretty accurate. And the best part was I didn’t have to process it much. I’m pretty sure I did a quick something to it on Camera + before bringing it into Instagram and running the Lomo-Fi filter.

5. Ace Race

Ace Race disc.

I took this during the ace race tournament. I had my main camera, but the phone really is nice when doing stuff like this, so you don’t always have to take the big camera out.

This was on Instagram via the Lomo-Fi filter, which, for the record, is my favorite filter!

The camera has gotten me into taking more photos. It will never, EVER replace my DSLR. But it’s a nice alternative when you just don’t feel like lugging all the other equipment around!

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!

Notes from my Noodle: Nov. 2 edition

The iPhone has inspired me, for now, to see if I can do a 365 with just the phone camera.

For those who remember, I did the 365 project in 2010. The idea of this project is to take a photo each day to document a year in your life. I really enjoyed it, but at times it was quite tough.

I had planned to do one again in 2010 because it’s a Leap Year and I thought doing a 366 would be cool — and different. And with having things such as the iPhone 4s now, it makes taking photos easier.

So I got a jump start.

I’ve taken a photo each day since I got the iPhone. It’s a 365 of sorts, but I don’t know if I’ll do a full year with it. I might stop in January when I start the real 365. I might continue both to see if I can challenge myself. I might stop this one and start the 366. I’m not sure.

I didn’t set any real goals with this one, outside of just taking photos with it.

***

Speaking of the iPhone camera, it’s really solid. I’ve loved some of the apps for photography on it, especially Instagram. I know many traditional photographers don’t seem too interested in this app as they see it as something to take away from photography.

I see it different. I see it as a good thing. It’s something that gives people the chance to make some good-looking photos.

The kicker is all the filters Instagram gives you. I also used Camera+, an app you can do some processing with. It’s really nice, especially on the fly.

Take a peek at these two photos of the courthouse square in Delhi. The first is just with Instagram. The second is with some work on Camera+ first, then run through Instagram.

I used the tilt lens option in Instagram, and then one of the filters.

Camera+, then Instagram.

As you can see, the opportunity to do a lot of things with this camera phone is incredible. It’s a lot of fun to test the filters. I have a couple of other apps I’ll be playing with and testing soon with the camera and I look forward to it.

If you would like to keep a peek on this iPhone 365 — and other photos I take with my iPhone, I’ve decided to turn my Tumblr account into that. Check them out!

***

The other thing about the iPhone is the video — it’s not bad!

I’ve only tried it a couple of times, but I’ll post one here so you can see it. I took this while playing a round of disc golf with Justin a week or so back.

***

A few weeks ago, I had an in-person interview.

I was really excited about this one, too. A friend on my softball team gave me the head’s up about the job and I applied for it soon after. After that, I got a call for an interview. It had to be re-scheduled once because one of the people interviewing was on vacation.

That gave me some time to try on my dress clothes. Things were OK, but the jacket didn’t fit. I figured it was a good time to invest in a good suit. I went to Men’s Wearhouse, got a really good sales guy and soon had a suit. I never think dress clothes look good on me as I don’t like the way things fit. But I really liked this suit, especially with the shirt and tie picked out.

So, I got it.

First, I was a little overdressed for the interview — which isn’t a bad thing. I hope it didn’t hurt me, anyway!

The interview itself went really well, I thought. It was conversational, we went over some good things and I felt my answers showcased why I would be a good fit. I think I did a pretty decent job at selling myself. This one went a lot better than the phone interview I had a month or two back, that’s for sure. I walked out confident and excited — and hopeful.

Alas, about a week later, I got word that I wasn’t the one selected. I was bummed, for sure. Disappointed more than I had been in a while. But, I have to look at positives.

  • I had an interview
  • I thought it went well
  • Chances seem to be coming along

This job hunt is hard, and I know it. It’s frustrating at times and annoying in others. You get in funks and have to dig yourself out.

Hopefully this is a good sign to come. Plus, I now have a sweet suit for future interviews!

***

Just a note that I have some upcoming things I’m working on for the blog, including some in-depth looks at some iPhone/smartphone apps and some other Geocaching-type games. I have the month of November planning out (I am participating in National Blog Posting Month, so I want to make sure I have things planned for every day of the month!), so hopefully there will be some good things coming!

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!

… and I’ve jumped to the iPhone

What a sweet screen this is. Very nice!

I had an upgrade available with Verizon.

So, a discount on a new phone. And with this new iPhone 4s out, I was curious. I read things. I solicitied opinions. Was it worth tossing my Motorola Droid X aside and go with the iPhone.

Yep.

What a world of difference!

I’ve had the phone since Sunday. I think I got a bit lucky, actually. I called a Verizon person I knew, who unfortunately wasn’t working at his place (which was in Binghamton, where I needed to go to pick up a suit… ya know, for the job search, interviews etc.) Alas, it didn’t matter because he knew his store didn’t have any left.

Shocker!

He did note that I should call the Oneonta (which is much closer to me) store to see. I did that. But apparently the person I talked to wasn’t supposed to tell me whether they had any in stock or not. I guess it makes sense. After all, if he tells someone they have the iPhone in the store, then that person comes in and the phones are gone… well, ya know.

So I said to the guy, “Look, if I come in and you are out, that’s my fault. But I want to know I have a fighting chance if I come over.”

He whispers that they have a few.

The new iPhone's box (created with Instagram)

Now I had to make the choice. Go with the iPhone or stick with the Droid and wait for something else down the line. Ahhh, what the heck.

Shower up, get dressed and head over. I find the guy I had talked to on the phone, he asked what I wanted (16gig, black phone) and he went to the back and came out with one.

The last one.

Sweet!

Forty-five minutes later, I was walking out with an iPhone 4s in hand — starting my journey into the world of the iPhone.

Boy was it different.

I didn’t get the chance to mess with it too much as I had to bolt to Binghamton to grab my suit. But I messed around with it that night. I looked at apps. I downloaded a few. I played with a few others and saw how the phone worked.

My first impression?

Awesome. Better operating system. Sharper image. The camera? Oh my. This camera is absolutely amazing. As someone who is a photographer, I wanted a phone camera where the images were sharp and came out nice. When I am going to do serious shooting, nothing will beat my Canon 7D. But when I am with friends or just tooling around, the iPhone will be a very nice piece of equipment to have.

Photo shot straight out of the camera.

In fact, I started a slight 365 project on my Tumblr account the day I got the iPhone — My first 365 days with the iPhone! I don’t know if I’ll complete it and if I don’t, no biggie. But I will be putting my images from the iPhone on my Tumblr account as it’s quick to upload there. Most of the images will be done with Instagram.

I still have thoughts of doing a true Project 365 (well, it will be 366 because 2012 is a Leap Year) starting Jan. 1, so who knows if this project will fully go on as I don’t know if I’ll be working on two of these projects at one time.

If you are on Tumblr, feel free to follow me to check out the photos I’ll be posting.

Here’s one thing I’ve really found out about the iPhone — it’s so much better than my Droid X was for doing social networking things and games.

I’m hoping I can connect with a few people through this post and, in some cases, learn some things.

Instagram's app page

Take, for example, Instagram.

I’m really loving this app. It’s almost worth switching to the iPhone to have this. The ability to mess around with photos taken on the iPhone and post some really cool stuff is wild.

But it’s hard to connect with people, it seems.

It will search your Twitter and Facebook accounts and your contacts list. That’s good. But it apparently doesn’t tell you that you are being followed or if you follow someone etc. I’ve talked to a few people who I followed who hadn’t even realized it. One who I needed to request to follow!

That doesn’t take away from the app. I love it. But there could be some cool things to have to make it a little more user friendly. Possibly a search for topic, too. It doesn’t appear you can search for direct subjects, rather just people.

The same leaf photo from above, fixed up via Instagram.

If you are on Instagram (name: hoohaa29), feel free to follow me. I check my followers and will follow back as well. I like finding new people and see how they use the program. It’s really wild.

I’m really starting to dig some of the other programs, too. Some of the other camera apps are really nice. They give you the chance to do some cool things with processing on the phone.

There are some cool foodie apps, too, such as Foodspotting and Epicurious. There’s apps such as Untappd, which help you rank and talk about beers.

Way too cool.

Though some of these apps are available on my former smartphone, the Motorola Droid X. I did love that phone. It was great for me for nearly two years.

There were things about it that really bothered me. Like, for example, it shut off at odd times all on its own. In the middle of phone calls even. I’d hate to be on an important call and have it turn off. Then it took a long time to start back up. The browser was decent but choppy. And many times the apps and such would go all haywire and require them to be forced closed. The thing that turned me though is that there’s no real checks and balances with their apps. I’ve read a bunch about the Droid’s marketplace having some bad stuff. And that’s not just the Droid X — that could happen to any phone operating the Droid system. So, it was time.

But this iPhone. Amazing.

The screen is crisp. The camera is awesome. The internet moves quick. It’s everything I read about it.

It’s funny because a Twitter friend noted that I needed to get it. And, if I didn’t like it, she’d buy it off me.

She doesn’t need to worry about that.

I’m keeping it.

***

Reminder! Contest going on! I am holding a contest this week for an autographed copy of Bill Walker’s book “Close Encounters on the Appalachian Trail”. It runs from October16- to 12:01 a.m. Oct. 28. You can see all the details on the contest page. Enter for your chance to win!

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!