iphone photography

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: