Camera: iPhone 4

I’m currently in Hoi An, Vietnam and have been in Vietnam for one week. So far I’ve traveled to Ho Chi Minh City, the Mekong Delta, Nha Trang and I have a few days left in Hoi An before heading up North. I still have about two weeks left, and so far I’ve gotten some great photos and had many unforgettable experiences.

When I told many of my photographer friends I was headed here, they all told me they were jealous … and now I know why. This place is a photographer’s paradise. So much activity, the people are gorgeous and friendly, and the scenery is amazing. I’ve actually been enjoying the “mostly cloudy” weather, with a bit of rain, and a few days of sunshine … my skin doesn’t like the bright sunlight, and it allows me to photograph in the middle of the day in areas that would normally be reserved for the softer morning or evening light.

I photographed the above scene off a street in Hoi An (this shot was with my iPhone). I got up very early, about 5:00 am, to walk down and see the hustle and bustle of the fish market. The nice thing about this time of day is that it wasn’t crowded with tourists (I only saw a few other “westerners”, and they both had cameras like me) and the streets away from the market were fairly empty and free of people in general. I doubt that this scene would have looked the same if I had waited a few hours to head out with my camera.

To follow more of my travels in Vietnam, take a look at my Google+ page. I’ve been updating it daily with the places I’ve traveled to and some of my fun experiences.

We all know that it’s not the camera that makes a great photo, it’s the photographer. But for some reason I’m always amazed when I get something I consider to be a “keeper” when using my iPhone. The image above is one of those images … I like this one so much I’ll be printing and hanging this on my wall. :)

I used my iPhone 4 to capture this image and edited it using the Camera+ app (my fave iPhone app). It’s a shot looking straight up at a dome covering the shopping area along the walkway towards Universal Studios, Hollywood (before you go through the gates).

Last week I went on a “vacation” to California with my friend Dave. We went to Disneyland (which I will never, ever visit again) and Universal Studios. It was fun … if being around thousands of people all day outdoors in too much sun getting nauseous on theme-park rides is your idea of fun. ;) Yeah, okay, so I was happy to come home to my quiet condo and sit in silence all by my lonesome. Thankfully Dave enjoyed himself much more than I did! :)

The cool thing about the trip was that I didn’t bring a camera with me. All of the photos I took were with my iPhone 4 … I was trying to “escape” from work and not make it about photography. It was fun to just use my iPhone for a change and not feel any pressure to get any spectacular photos. Heck, it was just a theme park so the photos would just be shared with friends anyways. Hopefully my next vacation will be someplace beautiful … and relaxing … that I’ll want to bring my camera to (crossing fingers). :)

Camera: iPhone 4, Editing App: Camera+ (Cross process effect)
(Click image for full-res)

Today I upgraded my iPhone 3G to the iPhone 4. I’d been on the fence about upgrading since I now have an iPad and I use it for all of my apps, web browsing, emailing and game-playing and my iPhone was only being used as a phone, to text/Twitter and to take photos with. Since I’m a photographer I was feeling the urge to get the improved camera (plus it’s nice to have video as well) and thought it was worth the $200 price-tag.

Also, just for the record, I wasn’t having any issues with iOS 4 and my iPhone 3G, and the new iPhone’s “antennae problems” probably won’t even affect me (I’m a right-handed phone talker and don’t “death grip” it, lol). I bought this phone purely as a camera upgrade, believe it or not. :)

The phone is, overall, much snappier, the screen is great and the camera’s image quality is amazing. So, it’s pretty much what I expected. :) I just love the fact that I can choose focus & exposure point, and also that I can get in much closer to my subject.

The image in this post was shot with the iPhone 4 and I used the Camera+ app to do the editing (just added a quick cross-process effect). If you’d like to take a closer look at the image then click here or on the image above to see the full-res version.

I photographed this yesterday morning with my iPhone. It’s a good reminder of the beautiful view I have from my balcony and that one of these days I should set up my 7D and maybe even do some timelapse of the view. :)

Camera – iPhone 3G
Photographed on June 20, 2009

I take so many photos with my iPhone that it seemed appropriate to have an iPhone category. I picked this photo because I was so amazed at the detail the little camera picked up, since it’s usually a gamble as to what your exposure will be when you point it at something really bright, like the sun. My favorite part of this image is the little “silver lining” in the clouds that are covering up the sun, and also the beam of light off to the left.

View more of Nicole’s “Photos of the Year”:

- Photo of the Year (overall)
- Photoshop Category
- Point & Shoot Category
- Portrait Category
- Action Category
- Stock Category
- Lensbaby Category

This weekend I’m in Irving, Texas to photograph a friend’s wedding with my friend Rich Legg. I was having some iPhone camera fun during the plane ride, while Rich was taking a lot of photos with his G11 (mostly self-portraits, lol!).

It’s been a really long time since I’ve photographed a wedding (I did a few when I was in high-school, way before digital was mainstream). Now I mostly shoot stock/portrait type work, but I’m confident that I’ll get some good stuff. Rich has a lot of experience shooting weddings so he’s in charge of the “traditional” images, while I get to run around with a couple of cameras (one with my Lensbaby firmly attached) and get the “creative/behind-the-scenes” shots. Should be fun!