So I added more light.
Camera: iPhone 12 Pro Max
Where: Cabbott Cove Cottages in Kennebunkport, Maine
How: Handheld
Post: Cropped and slight adjustments to color with iPhone editor.
Added additional sun flare with Lens Distortions app. đ Get that app.
Have a good week!
I LOVE flowers. All flowers. Even this silk arrangement on my kitchen window ledge. Every day I walk in to make a coffee, there they are looking bright and happyâthey instantly put a smile on my face. In general I like to find little ways to create joy in my life and this is just oneâsurrounding myself with flowers. The light was so beautiful this morning that I had to take a photo and share. I hope youâll have ways to create joy in your life this weekendâmaybe with flowers.
âThe earth laughs in flowers.â
â Ralph Waldo Emerson
With joy,
Kalebra
Steps:
⢠Shot handheld with Portrait mode on iPhone11pro
⢠Warm Vivid filter in iPhone editor
⢠Enhanced rays in LensDistortions app
Start to finish and ready to share?
About a minute and a half. đ
Since youâre forced to slow down anyway, take advantage of it.
Like most smartphone photographers I find myself being the family historianâitâs only fair since we always have our cameras with us. And even though most of us arenât thrilled about having to follow âshelter in placeâ guidelines we can still make the best of it by practicing and getting better at our photography. Weâre most likely spending this time with our family and furry friends so letâs take advantage them! I mean, take advantage of the time.
Children and pets make great subjects while youâre practicing, but donât try to force them to model. As the historian you can get some really genuine moments if youâre patient, and if your children and pets are like mine they wonât model anyway. Remember youâve got time to just sit back and observeâphotograph them when the moment is right.
If youâre indoors look for light (the softness of window light is the best). If youâre outdoors look for light (best times are morning and evening walks) think sunrise and sunset but because you have a smartphone you can prolong the sunset hours and look for nice shade if itâs too late after sunrise in the morning. And if youâre shooting in the middle of the day (not recommended but still can be done) I put myself and my camera in the shadeâeven if what Iâm shooting is in direct sunlight. Also, foggy misty mornings or just after it rains are great times to run out and get some landscape shots.
Or try some flowers in your garden. Youâre practicingâyou can shoot whatever you want as much as you want. I would recommend not shooting the same subject exactly the same way over and over. If you feel you need more than one shot of something, change your angle and perspective. Youâll be glad you did when you go back to edit. Also, try some apps to add back what the camera didnât capture. I absolutely love Lens Distortions. Itâs perfect for enhancing the rain, mist and lens flares you capture. And I would recommend only enhancing at first, save putting in something that wasnât there for laterâmuch later.
Iâll talk more about apps in another post but for now I hope this is helpful.
Have a great weekend everyone!
With joy,
Kalebra
I started out as a traditional artist, and I mean from the time I had my first vivid artistic memory. My father was drawing a pencil sketch on an entire wall of our home, and I remember watching him (while he whistled) and feeling at peace and thinking how beautiful the drawing was â I felt joy. It wasn’t until I was in my 30’s, and questioning my mother about the drawing that I was told, âYou can’t remember that you were only six months old!â Hahaha! I was always drawing, painting, singing, feeling and looking for wonder. It’s in my blood. My great-grandmother was among some of the first women to attend the Art Institute of Chicago. It was while she was there, that she met my great-grandfather, who had been invited to this country to perform violin with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. (He had been brought up in the King’s Court in Austria where he achieved Concertmaster). There are ballerinas, painters, singers, writers, storytellers, and musicians on both sides of my family, so I don’t think I could have outrun art, even if I’d wanted to. I was lucky enough to know, and be influenced by many of them. However, I never met my great-grandparents â but I feel them all the time.
I told you all of that to tell you this…
I believe that seeing is so much more than seeing. Seeing is also feeling, and making a mental note about how you feel. Take this seagull photo I recently captured in Norway. I was standing hillside and looking onto this beautiful scene when all of a sudden this seagull showed up and flew right next to me, in front of me and soared high above me. I felt joy! As soon as I recognized my joy I went for my camera because I knew that something magical could happen (and so did that seagull). Sure enough, with a little patience, things lined up. Haven’t you ever been driving somewhere and looked out your window and saw a beautiful sky or shoreline, or tree, or haven’t you been present and heard a child giggling and felt joy? Or peace? Or wonder? Whatever the feeling was, you felt something, right? Oh man, when you do, when you feel that something, make sure you stop or go back or do whatever you have to do to see, see what you felt. Once you feel it, you can see it, and once you see it you can capture it.
I wish you joy, peace, wonder, feeling and seeing.
Kalebra
My husband and I recently returned from a glorious trip to Norway. It is now one of my most favorite destinations, and if you were considering it, I highly recommend that you go. One of the things I wound up, most unexpectedly, falling in love with were the seagulls. They are very different from their thinner, fry chasing, cousins here in Florida in that they are bigâvery bigâvery healthy looking birds. They are also plentiful and seem to love being around people (very close) but not uncomfortably close. Hard to explain but they soar above and around a person with a subtle confidence that makes you feel at ease. I loved them! The photo above is of seagulls that followed our boat out to one of the Fjords. It was exciting because there were so many birds, flying so many patterns, and with so many amazing backdrops, and I knew, if I were patient, paid attention, and fired off enough shots that I would get something I liked. This photo above definitely qualifies as one of my favorites as these precocious birds wound up perfectly framing the landscape. I was lucky enough to get several well-timed images, and I credit them to waiting or actually, how I wait.
Waiting for things to line up the way I want used to be difficult for me until I discovered a secret. One day while I was waiting, I could feel my heart rate increasing as I felt myself getting anxiousâand then it hit me…
I realized that, ultimately, what I wanted was to have the imageâto have the bird, animal, subject or moment, captured. What I was most fearful about was not getting the image at all. I knew if I didn’t get it at the exact right momentâI might have waited too long and it (or the moment) would be gone. Aha! Figuring that out was key. So, what I’ve started to do is take a few (or more) shots before that all too critical moment so that I know I have it. I have something; even if it’s not perfect, I have it. Once I’ve taken a photo or two, the pressure is off, and I can relax and wait.
When using the iPhone (and it’s time to get a shot like this), it’s probably best to let the camera autofocus (you’ll know if that’s the case because you’ve already taken a few shots, remember?) Also, you’d better be taking advantage of Burst ModeâI use it all the time. Any iPhone above the 5 will take ten shots per second and will continue to fire as long as you press (and hold) the shutter button. Then, all you have to do is go through the images and pick your favorite.
I hope this makes your waiting a little easier and if you use the burst mode, you won’t miss a thing.
Have fun!
Kalebra
Here are some simple steps to take to shoot the Eclipse with your iPhone. First, to protect your eyes, please wear some approved eclipse glasses before looking at the Eclipse and the sun. Now onto the tips! đ
Put your finger right on top of it and move it down a hair to knock down some of the intensity of the light. It will help to keep it from blowing out your photo. And, if you accidentally move your AE/AF because the icon is way too small (I hope they make that bigger in an update), don’t panic, just hold it down in the brightest spot again to refocus â it just takes a second.I hope these tips help and even if you don’t get one shot of the Eclipse I hope you watch it and I hope you enjoy it. If you miss your shot I hope you laugh about it and get a shot of that and then get some photos of the people around you â celebrate being there â I like that about you. đ
Happy Eclipse Day everyone!
Above photo updated July 4, 2017
Hey, guys, if, like me, you’re taking your iPhone with you to the fireworks this 4th of July, I thought I’d share how I shot and processed these last year and will be again this year. We’re already traveling light so, until we get to the editing (which will take me 30 seconds in Adobe’s Aviary app) all we need to keep in mind is:
1. Get as close as we can. You’ll probably be trying to do this anyway but the closer you are the more light from the fireworks you’ll have which makes shooting at night with your iPhone even better. Regular Photo Mode is usually best for shooting at night and don’t forget to turn your camera vertical for some of those stratosphere reaching fireworks so that you can get it all in.
2. Use Burst Mode (which is holding the shutter button down so that it will fire 10 images per second.) Fireworks are perfect for this feature on your phone and will allow you to choose a perfectly timed photo for editing later.
3. Because fireworks are all over the place, letting the phone autofocus is probably your best bet, however,  if you don’t think it’s focusing where you want then click and hold until you get the yellow blinking box (which will lock your focus where you want). Keep in mind though, that where ever you see that box, that is where the camera is focused (on all your future photos) until you click off of it.
4. You always want to keep your camera steady when shooting but in low light situations, or at night, it’s even more important, so if you can rest your elbows on someone’s shoulders, or lean on something, or even take an iPhone tripod it can be really helpful. I take a few practice shots in the beginning but tend to wait until the finale for most of my shots. That way I get to enjoy the fireworks, and also it’s when there is the most/best light for my camera. Win, win!
Also, if you use Lightroom Mobile, you can set its built-in camera to Pro Mode and set your shutter speed to 1/4 seconds to capture those long fireworks trails (like you would with a DSLR).
P.S. You’ll be tempted to pinch zoom to get in closer â Ack! Don’t do it. Waving giant, grainy, falling apart, flag here. Hahaha! Just crop it in later â you’ll be glad you did.
Have a safe and fun 4th of July everyone, and I’ll see you back here next week! đ
How I processed these shots in Aviary.
Today I’m sharing the announcement of my very first Kelbyone.com class on iPhone photography. Had to step out of my comfort zone to do it but I’m glad I did and (now that it’s over and I can breathe again) I’m excited! Hahaha! I owe a huge thank you to Larry Becker for all of his help on set and for making it fun in the process. To our producer Jen Coffin for sitting with me (just a few times) over the outline and for not tearing her phone out of the wall over having to reschedule this thing. đ  To Meredith Duffin for her patient direction, editing, control room genius, hand holding and encouragement (her smile is a comfort). To Juan Alfonso and Leighton Silvestro for their awesome camera work.  To Steve Nicolai for his subtle but just right and thoughtful input that made the whole thing that much better. And last, but certainly not least, to Scott Kelby, for your encouragement, and for your help â thank goodness you’ve done this before! Hahahaha! đ
And for all those in the building that encouraged me with a comment or a question like Sally, Dianne and Margie…thank you. I heard you, I felt you, and you all helped me get this done. đ
Have a great week everybody!
I had an inspiring (and motivating) conversation about this blog last Thursday, with Margie Rosenstein, one of our amazing graphic designers at the office. She told me that she had encouraged her daughter to come to my blog to find ways (and confidence) to shoot some examples of her work for a client. Wow, I felt so honored and then immediately I felt a little pang in my stomach because I realized that there just isn’t much here to help someone struggling or needing tips or guidance. My heart sank a little. Then on that Friday, Dianne Brisson, our rockin’ member services manager thanked me for sharing âthe video tipâ (how to shoot still images in video mode) with her because she had gone up in a hot air balloon and loved the results she had gotten with her iPhone. (By the way, her pics were awesome!) Well, the universe doesn’t have to hit me over the head (three times). Hahaha! So, I’ve decided to start posting some tips or background info every so often to be helpful. I’ll put them under a âTipsâ category (as soon as I remember how to make a category in WordPress again). Lol! And, really, why not? I’m already going to be diving into the pool by recording a KelbyOne class at the end of this month. What?! Hahaha!
For now, here’s the tip! Well, two tips. Maybe three. Possibly four.
How to shoot with your iPhone, so you get a full screen, wider, with a little zoom shot. Don’t worry; it’s super easy. đ
Above: When you take a regular photo using your iPhone camera app, the image doesnât fill the width of the screen. It only takes up about 75% of the screen leaving black bars on either side.
Above: When you want a shot that fills the full screen where the image goes all the way to the edge (leaving no black bars), switch to video mode. When the video is engaged (turned on), a white button will appear right below the red record button, and thatâs what youâll use for taking stills. Because the still image is taken in video mode, the shot zooms to fill the screen and eliminates any bars.
Above: Now you’re shooting at the full width of the screen, but it’s a little zoomed in. If you want the photo to look like it originally did (or wider), you’ll need to step back a few (or more) feet to achieve the best of both worlds â a wider angle shot that also fills the screen, (like you see here). Compare that with the first shot, where the tips of Maggie’s front paws were cut off (that doesn’t sound right), the patterned throw pillow on the left was missing completely, and the red one on the right was mostly cut off.
One last thing, make sure you have your video recording set at the best quality possible. In the iPhone7plus (what I’m currently using) that would be at 4k recording. You choose that by going into your Settings, under Photos & Camera, under Record Video. *(Android note: I understand this technique works with Galaxy phones as well, so give it a try, and please let me know if that’s an accurate statement â it would be great if true). Shooting in video mode is particularly useful for landscapes like this sunset (pictured below), but btw, I shoot 90% of the time in video mode â landscapes or otherwise.
Ninja tip! Don’t forget to delete the space hogging videos you’ll create getting these stills. Ack! Anyway, I hope these types of posts will be helpful.
Have a great week everybody! đ
In the Summer of 2014 my husband and I went on an amazing trip that included Prague and Budapest. My parents went as well and my dad (a man with a great eye and who loves to take photographs) forgot his ârealâ camera at home, so he says to meâŚ
âWell, you use your iPhone and I love your pictures! Iâll just use your motherâs phone on the trip. Better than nothing right?â (Wink)
Right.
Fast forward to the two of us standing at the front of this beautiful church in Budapest.
Dad: (Whispers) âOkay, I just stood next to you and took the same shot but it doesnât look like yours. Why?â
Me: (Whispers back) You didnât take the same shot. You took (a) shot. One that I knew (the second you picked up the camera)Â wasnât going to be what you wanted.
Dad: (Not whispering as much and sounding a tad offended says)Â âWhat?! How could you know that?!â
Me: (Suppressing a giggle)Â Because you were missing two things: intention and a tip.
Dad: (Actually, not whispering at all now, says)Â âI definitely intended to take a good picture! Now, whatâs the tip?!â
Me: (Poking the bear)Â I know you wanted a good picture Dad but did you believe you could get it with that phone?
Dad: (Now squinting) âLittle girl.â
Me: (Uh oh!) Okay, okay! All Iâm saying isâŚI can always tell what kind of a shot someone is about to get with their phone by the way they pick it up.
My dadâs trouble started when he said, âBetter than nothing right?â
Why intention matters?
Iâve never watched a single photographer that picked up their camera to take a shot (they really, really, wanted) that didnât pick it up with a swagger of confidence that their toolâŚruled!
Wait. What?! Hahaha! (Moving right along).
So Dad, if youâre going to use your phone to take photographsâown it! Once you intend to take a photo with it, itâs no longer your phone, itâs a camera and, by the way, the absolute best camera you have at your disposal so treat it that way.Â
Friends have heard me say that itâs important to examine your heart (always) because the spark of your true intentions will still be burning in the flames of your results. Turns out itâs true for taking photographs as well. đ
And the tip?Â
Some people donât realize that when you take a regular photo with your iPhone the image doesnât fill the width of the screen. It only fills about 70% of the screen. So when I want a shot thatâs wider (where the image goes all the way to the edge of the screen) I first turn on video, focus on the area I want and then take the photo (when video is engaged, a white button will appear below the record button and thatâs what youâll use for taking stills). Because itâs taken in video mode the shot is wider. This is also a good trick for when you want something closer (without having to use the zoomâplease, please, donât ever use the zoom on an iPhone.) LOL!
Dad: (Smiling, whispers) âNow, was that so hard?â
Hahahaha!! Nope. đ
Matthias Church, Budapest and  Shot with my trusty iPhone.