Flash Exposure Compensation for Smart Phones

Hi Folks:

NB: There are a lot of different smart phones/ tablets on the market and a lot of different apps, and so depending on your hardware and software, this may or may not work for you.

When I was a boy we didn’t have radio signals for remote flash units and we didn’t have TTL (through the lens) automatic flash exposure compensation… we had manual flash, guide numbers and a lot of educated guessing. It seems to me it snowed a lot too, even in summer. Okay, never mind that. I do remember flash bulbs, flash strips for Polaroids and pocket cameras and flash cubes for Kodak X-15 cameras, but those days are pretty much behind us now. There’s no question that modern DSLRs and accessories can do amazing things in terms of lighting, but more and more people are using their cell phones to make pictures and more and more of those phones have a built-in flash unit. Continue Reading →

Photography Apps for Android

Hi Folks:

There are probably enough apps in the world today that if one were to compile a list it would rival the average encyclopaedia for size.  You do remember what an encyclopaedia looks like, don’t you?

I honestly have no idea how many Android apps are available for photographers, and I admit to using only a few of them myself, but I thought I’d start with a couple of suggestions and those who are interested can add their own recommendations in the comments.  I  prefer my digital images ‘uncooked’ so to speak so that I can use the processing power of my computer to tweak them rather than the processing power of my camera (or phone).  Even .jpg images can be processed better in Lightroom, so I tend to start with as few processing options in the camera as possible.  Making images with a cell phone camera poses its own challenges, in part because the files tend to be small, flat and low resolution.  Still, it’s the one ‘camera’ I have with me almost all the time, even when my camera is at home.  So, here are a few of the apps I appreciate (all available from the Google Play Store).  Some are free, and some are a few dollars.  Some offer both versions (with and without advertising). Continue Reading →