iPhone Photography Awards 2013

Here are the winners of the 7th edition of the  iPhone Photography Awards:

First place: Holly Wesley, Argyll, Scotland Second place: Brolin Roney, Indian Holi (celebration of colors) festival at the Spanish Fork in Utah

Third place: Bob Weil, Newport Beach, California, “The Girl in the Snowstorm” taken in St Petersburg, Russia First place, Animals: Jon Resnik, Brooklyn, New York First place, Still Life: Daniel Felipe Fonseca, Porto Salvo, Portugal First place, Flowers: Britta Hershman, Virginia Beach, VirginiaFirst place, Seasons: David Rondeau, Stoneham, Massachusetts First place, Travel: Jenny Friedman, New York City, “The Sweeper” taken in MoroccoFirst place, People: Kim Hanskamp, Barcelona, Spain First place, Architecture: José Luis Barcia Fernandez, Madrid, Spain First place, Landscape: Maegan Moore, Charlottesville, VirginiaFirst place, Lifestyle: Luyu Hung, Berkeley, California, photo of a woman on a surfboard in the canals of Venice Beach, California First place, Food: Massimo Calogero, Brescia First place, Trees: Mark Simone of Vancouver, CanadaFirst place, News/Events: Mohammed Radhi, Tubli, Bahrain First place, Children: Yvonne Naughton, La Conner, Washington First place, Nature: Tomas Stankiewicz Baldassarri, Margine Coperta, Tuscany, Italy First place, Sunset: Angel Jiminez, New YorkFirst place, Others: Lisa Jay, Sydney, Australia

“Notes for Walking” post-impressions

As I was saying yesterday, or the other day, or any day since I’ve done it, “Notes for Walking (the space in between time)” totally rocks.

It’s an amazing multimedia installation (text, photo, video, audio) that you can both watch at the Mosman Art Gallery and experience later on your smartphone/iPad while walking around at Middle Head Reserve near Mosman (you can skip the first part, but the second one it’s a ‘don’t miss’ for anyone with good mobility!)

Ultimately, “Notes for Walking” is an artistic and introspective journey in which you’ll be led by a smarthphone app (preferably download it before you get there – 60MB; I’ve did it at the Gallery – they are kindly offering great free wifi and took me only 2 mins).

The tour takes you in the heart of the Middle Head National Park – Corner Old Fort Road and Govenors Road – to explore several parts of the site: the Gate, the Outer Fort, the Inner Fort and the Cabin. Old naval fortitifications with mysterious tunnels and cannels and mazes, they are all architectural and historical jewels waiting to be admired. Positioned on harbourside cliffs, they offer breathtaking views of the Sydney Harbour, too.

At any time, you can check your app for the artist’s notes. Megan Heyward, ’cause she’s the creator of ‘the magic’, prepared various sets of images, texts, video and audio fragments to be watched on each of these spots. It’s an amazing experience interacting with her pieces of art at the sites they’ve inspired them.

Likewise, the quietude of the space, the height, the beauty of the landscape is an invitation to meditation by itself for all the visitors, turning their introspections in parts of the artistic journey.

Don’t miss this chance to get inspired! Take some photos and write your own messages while explore the Middle Head.

SydneyFieldTripper shares her impression here.

I’ve already posted my Instagram-inspired (to keep the digital media mood) photo essay here. The poem accompanying it just wrote itself in my heart while looking to the world from the Middle Head fort.

My “Notes for Walking”

Early in the morning I found the telegramme

Whither your words took me, I could find no one.

I was still calling you God when I got lost following the right sign.

This poem, this poem wa­sn’t of mine.

I saw your cell, your stone, your bed,

your pain, your blood,

your hopes and dreams

dried in a hook.

I wasn’t calling you God yet when I choose following the left sign,

the stillness, the wave, the sky, the water, the flower,

and the thought

I bought once for a penny

that

Every hour, every minute, every heartbeat, we are dying a little and living a bit.

2012 in Phonetography

Anton Kawasaki writes a very comprehensive piece on the significance of 2012 in phonetography for Digital Photography Review Connect, “2012: The Year in Mobile Photography”, recapping the year’s milestones:

• mobile photography connected with the mainstream media;
• it penetrated the art world;
• phonetography communities and creative projects developed;
• Instagram exploded;
• mobile photography was monetized;
• mobile phone cameras got high tech;
• Hipstamatic went big;
• Hurricane Sandy smart phone photo of Ben Lowy made it to TIME Magazine cover.

Here is one of my favourite phone shoot of the past year:

“Untitled” by Richard “Koci” Hernandez

Urban Dictionary on Phonetography & Phonetographers

Phonetography:

Photos taken on a cameraphone. Often of lary nights out in kebab stores, of people committing lewd acts, or hot women in the street.

“Ahhh see… Right see the thing that’s got it all f*cked up now is camera-phones.
How the hell am I supposed to be able to do a line in front of complete strangers, when I know they’ve
all got cameras?”

Last nights’ phonetography highlighted the fact that the “hottie” mike was with was actually a mingrat.

Phonetographer:

One who is always taking photos with the camera in their phone. Most often artsy photos that end up posted on social network sites like Facebook.

Guy: Hey, Jackie is such a phonetographer!
Girl: I know! Did you see the ones she took last night? I think I want her to phonetograph my wedding!

Apple iPad Course for Photographers

Remember mentioning how cool is Robin Nichols? The Centre for Continuing Education at Sydney Uni  offers a new course taught by him – this time a ‘live’ one. The course is 7 hours long, it focuses on iPad photography and it lasts for only one day – 25 January. If you are interested, you should hurry up! (The cost is of $225)

However, the course is pretty basics (it teaches you how the Apple iPad and the iOS5 platform work, how to transfer pictures and videos into, how to use the iPad’s internal camera settings, and how to buy, add and use some apps). It looks to me like nothing you haven’t already learnt since the day you bought your tablet.

But it would be a good opportunity to meet Robin, have a good chat, find out some insights on phonetography or general tips on shooting.

However, I’d like to seize the chance to underline that not only the smartphones won terribile grounds in photography, but also the tablets. Although I grant them the beautiful, big screens with displays of superior quality (just think about the iPad with a retina display! using big screens or wall projections to check out the quality of some photos doesn’t make a lot of sense now), I find them difficult to handle (yeah, it’s the big screen again!)

Phonetography Art Calendar

Whether or not you have already purchased your calendar for the new year, I suggest to check out Dianne Poinski’s 2013 Calendar.

Each month features a new image of a beauty and brittleness that would make you think it was captured on traditional photographic film, but they were all taken with… an iPhone!

Sydney Fireworks Photography 2013

Happy New Year 2013!

Sydney New Year Eve spectacular fireworks weighted 7 tonnes, costed $6.6 million AUD and had an audience of 1.6 million people live around the Sydney Harbour, 2.3 million across the country and more than a billion around the globe. Pop princess Kylie Minogue helped choosing the theme of the fireworks – Embrace – the colour scheme and soundtrack. She was also the one who pushed the button!

But who captured the most spectacular photo of the Sydney New Year Eve Fireworks 2013?

Media

Most popular photos (like it or not, by now they are everywhere – the only reason for which you might not have seen it is that you don’t have a Facebook account):

 Image Courtesy of City of Sydney

A great ‘kiss’ version offers us David Gray, from Reuters:

                                                                        or Damian Shaw, from AAP:

but I highly admired the shoots of Cameron Spencer, Getty Images, as well:

Tom Gray, Reuters, chooses also a city perspective:

A unique display was captured by Tim Wimborne, from Reuters:

My breath was taken away by the less comercial image featured above from City of Sydney:

(I’m quite curious by now who are the City of Sydney‘ photographers -credits should be in order!)

Attila Szilvasi’s composition is also impressive:

One of the few vantage point photos belongs to Edwina Pickles, from Sydney Morning Herald:

while the shoot of Rohan Kelly, from Sunday Telegraph, brings in a little bit of a vanishing point perspective :

Greg Wood, AFP, takes over the early fireworks:

Sydney Photographers

Sydney-based photographer Vincent Lai teaches an amazing lesson when obtaining some wonderful images with a tiny point and shoot camera, and hand holding it:

Also, Rachel Greig‘s Instagram-inspired capture of the 9 pm family-oriented fireworks is just lovely: