Notes from the Underground

Last night I posted on facebook and tweeted (follow me @cameragirlk on twitter) a photo of my ride home. As a typical new yorker, I spend about 1/24th of my day underground, riding the subway. Most of the time I'm reading a book or listening to music, but lately I've been taking some photos. Just with my iphone, secretively.

I've never thought the subway could be so beautiful.

 

(nyc subway, photographed April 2011)

Snapshots of New York

I confess that, except for my brief photo field trip in d.c., I haven't been using my camera.  As I mentioned before, it's just too cold and bleak to want to be out there snapping away.  Spring is *finally* around the corner, but not quite.  As soon as the weather turns nice, I have a photo date with Katy of Sugarlaws.  I also have a photo field trip planned with my friend Laura to wander around and take photos of whatever we stumble upon.  But until then, I've been staying creative with my iphone, surreptitiously taking photos on the subway and on the streets.  

But I'm constantly amazed at the great shots I can capture with my little iphone camera, like these.

(New York City, photographed Winter 2011)

Rolling with It

As some of you may know, I'm in a bowling league (Yes, I really am from Wisconsin).  My team, the Jackie Treehorn Allstars, named in honor of the Big Lebowski, of course, went undefeated in regular play last season.  Yeah, we're good like that.  

I took the opportunity during the last two games of the season to whip out my iPhone with the vintage and hipstamatic photo apps to take some photographs.  My team loves my blog (hi guys!) and I thought I would give them a big shout out.  But don't worry, I won't post any of the videos I took.  I promise that those are private.  And if I go over a little bit with the posting of photos this week, you'll have to excuse it.  It's our bye-week for bowling, and I'm going through a little withdrawal.  Just give me a ten pound ball and ten pins, please.

As I mentioned a couple of times on this blog, I really am impressed with how much fun the iPhone and it's creative camera apps can be - especially in social situations when I want to take some photos but don't want to drag out my big SLR camera.

(NYC bowling, photographed October 2010)

A Day at the Beach (B&W)

This Labor Day weekend was exactly what I needed.  Time out of the city with my friend Susie.  We went to Cape May, New Jersey, and had a perfectly splendid mini-vacation: scrabble, bike rides, brunch, good wine and dinner and, of course, the beach.

Oh, the beach.  How I love thee.

Hurricane Earl had threatened to ruin the weekend, but he proved no match for the Jersey Shore (must be all that fist-pumping that scared him away).  And I could tell you how beautiful the weekend was, but it's much easier to just show you.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words, after all.  And these pictures should amply explain why I came back from the shore with renewed spirit.

Earlier I mentioned that I am in love with my new iPhone.  And my day at the beach underscored that love.  All of these photos were taken with it (vintage b&w free app and the hipstamatic camera app).  I love how it allows me to take some pretty amazing photos without risking getting sand all over my nice canon camera baby.  It also helps me take my photos of strangers on the sly.  My friend Susie didn't even know I was snapping away, even though I was sitting a mere foot away from her.

Because it's Wednesday, I posted my black and white photographs (but trust me, the sky was a beautiful shade of blue).  I love how black&white Wednesdays, hosted by The Long Road to China, keeps me exploring the art of the black and white photograph (if even just on the iPhone).  Go check it out!

 (Cape May, New Jersey, photographed September 2010)

iPhotography

I have a new toy.  

I finally took the plunge and traded in my very, very old flip phone and bought an iPhone4.  And I am obsessed, beyond obsessed, with it.  I thought I had some good reasons for holding off on this upgrade.  My primary reason was that I have a blackberry through work, which - although it is a very, very old model - handled my on-the-go internet needs.  I figured it was silly to spend the money on another smart phone and on a big data plan and all the other costs that would go along with it.  Why bother?    

Now I can't believe I waited so long to get one.  

What finally got me to give in was that my sister (who lives on the far other side of the country from me) got an iPhone4.  I'm a sucker for the Apple and iPhone commercials, especially the "face time" video chatting they show as possible with the iPhone4, and I wanted my sister and I to have our own special moments via this iPhone video chat. 

That, and I've been admiring photos taken with the hipstamatic camera app.  Some friends had previously posted these really cool looking, vintage-feeling shots on facebook, and with some digging, I learned they were taken with hipstamatic.  I knew I had to have it.

And so I quickly went out to the store, upgraded, and it's now been about a week and half with my new toy.  Not only did I get the hipstamatic camera app, I got several other photography apps, like vintage shift, vintage green and vintage red.  I plan on acquiring more, too.  My phone has suddenly become the most convenient but fabulously creative camera in my bag.  

And, in case you are wondering, I still haven't video chatted with my sister, as she's now in Japan on vacation.  But with all the other things my iPhone does, I really haven't minded much.  

(nyc, photographed August 2010)