The concepts of VSCO Cam are very similar to VSCO Film – it replicates the dynamic ranges, color properties, and tone qualities of certain popular film stocks.  While VSCO Film is camera calibration based (the Studio pack offered does provide a “Standard” set of presets as well) – VSCO Cam allows you to apply many of the same effects “straight in camera” – granted your camera being your iPhone. With a large amount of photography being taken, shared, and experienced through mobile platforms, the iPhone especially – it makes sense to streamline this post production process for these types of images.  Formally, if I wanted an effect (or one that was  more subdued) that wasn’t available via an app, I had to import onto my computer, process and post, and then upload or reload onto my phone.  This is much easier, to say the least.

Overall – I found the interface to be a bit challenging at first – having spent a large amount of time with other iPhone photo apps, mostly Hipstamatic and Instagram, the User Interface of VSCO Cam is far more complex. This complexity was a little annoying at first –  but after a bit of time with it, I began to see the possibilities, and strengths over other applications.  VSCO Cam allows more of a gradual building of its effects, as opposed to other apps.  While this philosophically may differ from the “instant” cameras many apps are trying to replicate – I really enjoy the quality control this provides.

I always learn better visually (if thats not glaringly obvious) – so here are some shots of the workflow of VSCO Cam, and some more thoughts:

The camera  options are very simular to the basic camera app in the iPhone.  Options include a grid overlay of the screen for compositional use, use of both front and rear cameras, and importing photos already taken via the camera roll. 

After selecting/taking an image – you are given a set of options. You can download it to you iPhone/iPod camera roll as is, share it with a variety of social media/email options, or continue to edit it with VSCO Cam’s built in filters. Choosing to edit your image (paint brush icon) you are presented with 10 different filters. Each filter (3 B&W & 7 Color) is based on the properties of popular film stocks, many of which are present in VSCO Film.
You can refine your image further by choosing the tools icon underneath the filter buttons. 

After choosing the tools button – you are provided with more options. This is where I got a little frustrated at first – fear not, you quickly become accustomed to the icons and their respective powers.  Each filter provides you with a number of levels of strength. Some filters like the “Fill” filter provide only an increasing amount of levels, while others like “Saturation” provide both increasing and decreasing levels of strength. 

Once finished with an image, its saved inside VSCO Cam – You are given options to save it to your camera roll (with additional sizing options, see photo below) as well as exporting via email, and to social media sites Twitter, Facebook & Instagram

Things I like:

All in all, I really enjoy VSCO Cam. Its simple, the effects are scalable, and its UI becomes easy to understand fairly quickly.  While it does take a little bit to learn all the ins and outs, I attribute this to its customization options, beyond just one click effects.

Things I would love to see in future updates:

Named Filters – While the numbered system keeps the layout clean, I think it would be a benefit to know what films the filters are emulating.  I see similarities between #3 and HP5, but it would be nice to have definitive guide from the developers.

Recipes/Saved Filters – Having the ability to quickly apply a filter & effect strength combination to multiple photos would be a huge benefit. While the multitude of filter & effect combinations are a benefit to VSCO Cam, the process of replicating a desired look can become tedious (not to mention memory taxing).

In-app Cropping - Seriously, how does this app not have the ability to crop images without exporting first? Seems a bit silly.
[EDIT: As of 05/15 VSCO Cam pushed an update Version 1.2.1 that adds a Crop functionality to the edits, as well as addressing some bug issues. I spoke too soon!]

Hope this has been a good overview  of VSCO Cam for anyone interested.

What have your experiences been? Pros? Cons? How’s VSCO Cam been for you? 

JB

Final Image:

VSCO Film is an amazing film emulsion simulator or “Digital Film Emulation” as they call it, for Adobe Camera Raw (ACR 6 & 7), Apple Aperture 3, and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 & 4. I have no doubt that their products will continue to evolve as the digital production tools continue to advance with new technologies.

Digital Film Emulation is simply the process of adjusting the aesthetics of digital images to resemble a more film like product.  I first heard about VSCO from following the amazing Sean Flanigan.  One look, and I was hooked. Now – its obvious (or should be) that Sean is a phenomenal photographer, and the first step to understanding any photographic success is that the post production has very little to do with it.  Its simply the icing on the cake.  Sean’s images (and many others that use VSCO film) are successful, soulful, and aesthetically pleasing, long before the film emulation is added.  These presets will not turn a bad photo into a good one. NO presets or actions will. None.

Creating compelling photographs is the first priority, then post-production magic a distant second.  Thankfully, I do feel that the collective consciousness of the photo community is rapidly speeding away from the “I’ll just fix it in photoshop” mentality.

I have used many (MANY) photoshop and lightroom action sets, presets and all sorts of pre-made hacks.  Much of this was to save time.  I also found that tinkering with the individual steps in photoshop actions by building my own, or hacking apart a purchased set, was a really interesting and hands on way to learn how different tools effected my images and final visual products.

Yes, I was that guy that sat in front of dual monitors in grad school and photoshoped on one, while watching Law & Order reruns on the other.  FOR HOURS. 

Anyway – the big draw for me on VSCO film was the simplicity of everything.  For one, I have always missed shooting film since switching to digital, and the alchemy of the darkroom was always a wonderful place to be.  Secondly, and most importantly in many ways, is the reduction of choice. How on earth is the REDUCTION of choice a good thing, you may ask? While most examples deal with “Analysis Paralysis” and “Paradox of Choice“, it also can be examined in a photographic context.

For one, shooting digitally gives us a mirad of options – different color temperatures, exposures, ISO ranges – not just from “roll” to “roll” but from frame to frame. This can be of a great benefit, but it also tends to throw a wrench (for me at least) into the production of a complete, aesthetically cohesive body of work.

Now, with VSCO Film, I’m familiar with what the tones and colors are going to be, right from the beginning.
(Seriously, though, is there not a better film than Kodak Porta 400?)

Having this aesthetic info already “in the bank” I worry less about post, and concentrate more on the MOST IMPORTANT PART–> Creating compelling images! Sometimes I’ll even set out for a day of shooting (usually of the street genre) and before I even leave the house, I think “All of these images are getting processed as HP5+, just like if I was shooting a single roll of film”. Sure, sometimes an image from that day might be better in color, but the reduction in choice gets me thinking creatively about WHY those images work, and not HOW I can force them to work (through photoshop).  Your milage may vary, of coarse.

So for some examples, and screen shots of the process, check it out:

General Lightroom 4 Layout:

Presets that don’t hinder your own artistic vision. Easy  ability to “tinker”.

Come on. Seriously. The HP5+ is just DREAMY.  One of the reasons is the use of an overal “grain” that was common in all gelatin based films (or all film stock, really) – this allows for a better aesthetic.  Instead of concentrating on the dynamic range (or lack there of) of different digital mediums, is just looks… good.  I used to get so frustrated (even with todays awesome ISO cameras) with the extra noise that would only be present in the shadows with digital images.
Not the case here!

Examples of different film stocks:

The minute I took this shot, I knew exactly what it was going to look like with HP5 as my “film”. I think I actually giggled out loud.  In the street. In public.

The Kodak Porta (400 & 800) are quickly becoming my chosen color “film”. Since Porta 400 was my all time fave when I started with color film (“back in the day”), it’s really not any surprise. Another interesting example – you aren’t necessarily bound by the rules of the “films”.  I really liked what Portra 800 calibration did to the colors of this image, especially in the gloomy atmosphere, but I thought it might be better in B&W. So I converted it, but left the calibration as a color film. As the RGB values of any digital image have an effect on the tones of a black and white version – this image looks unique, even when compared to a more traditional black and white calibration.

I imagine it’s pretty obvious that I’m a big fan.  Not just for the visual consistency it provides me with, but also for the way it helps me focus on creating compelling images that are worthy of its great effects.

What do you think? Anyone else enjoying VSCO Film as much as I am? Let me know in the comments!

JB

[*edit* Many of the images featured here can be seen in bigger, web formated glory HERE , HERE, and HERE] 

Those posts will be coming soon. Stay tuned!

For now, I snagged these two shots with VSCO Cam, and really enjoyed the look I got.

JB

Hands down, one of the best dates we’ve been on, and arguably one of the best places I’ve been to in Toronto.

Period.  

While my blog is primarily a place to share images, talk about photography, and generally document the status of my ever changing journeys, I felt I had to give a large shout out to Moses and everyone involved.
Bartending is an art in itself, along with the culinary disciplines, and the genre can range from slinging beers & shots of Jaeger to college co-eds to mixing homemade bitters and serving martinis to the most particular of clienteles.

Lucid was a dead-on best of both worlds.

Okay, so there were no shots of Jaegermeister. There was, however a good mix of patrons, some more casual (the wife & I) and some more business formal.  So best of both worlds in the sense that the staff and atmosphere were inviting & friendly, and not snooty and condescending.  Seriously, there is nothing I hate more in the service industry than condescension.

Sometimes you want a roasted pineapple mimosa with hints of rosemary (Tina died, and then had another) – and sometimes you just want a classic bourbon cocktail with no pretentiousness and a friendly chat with the person serving it to you (My sazerac was Fantastic, with a capital F)

There has been a recent resurgence of all things victorian (blame the hipsters) and sometimes, especially in the service industry, that hipsterism can quickly get out of hand, just look silly, and frankly get a bit douche-y.  My patience with this attitude is about as long as an eyelash, and I get aggravated very quickly when this happens.

I was extraordinarily happy to see (and experience) that Lucid avoided those pitfalls,
& embraced the classic notion that a great cocktail can exist in a casual atmosphere.

Tina & I will be returning often. You should too!

Of coarse, I had to grab some quick shots with my phone!

Sometime though, I get really lucky and grab a shot like below. Made my day!

]]> http://www.johnbarduhnblog.com/2012/04/taking-flight/feed/ 0 http://www.johnbarduhnblog.com/2012/04/subways-sentances/ http://www.johnbarduhnblog.com/2012/04/subways-sentances/#comments Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:01:51 +0000 JB http://www.johnbarduhnblog.com/?p=1151

]]> http://www.johnbarduhnblog.com/2012/04/out-of-focus/feed/ 2 http://www.johnbarduhnblog.com/2012/04/portrait-experimentations/ http://www.johnbarduhnblog.com/2012/04/portrait-experimentations/#comments Fri, 06 Apr 2012 16:01:28 +0000 JB http://www.johnbarduhnblog.com/?p=1132 I have been playing around with a new portrait technique recently.
It involves shooting the subject at a very open aperture, with a super shallow depth of field.
Then phototographing the surrounding environment, and stitching the images together, much like a panorama.
This is certainly not an original technique, it’s quite popular and is commonly refered to as the
“Brenizer Method” after Ryan Brenizer, a fantastic shooter who conceptualized and popularized the technique.

I thought it was a neat concept (even though I’m pretty late to the party) – so as usual, I stuck my trust model (Capa) in front of the lens, and started experimenting.
It’s trickier than it looks at first, and not all of my images were perfect.  I had to do a bit more manual manipulation in photoshop than I was expecting, based
on my previous experiences with panoramas.  I was not allowed the benefit of a pano head like I have used in the past though.

First, a couple of images I think were a bit unsuccessful:

This was taken with a 105mm lens at f2.8. Unfortunately, the stitched images have such a wide angle of view ( comparable to a 51mm at f1.2 )
just makes it look like it was created with a wide angle lens. The shallow depth of field isn’t evident enough.

This one is better, but just slightly. The shallow depth of field is certainly more evident than the first, but there are some major
stitching issues, including a glaringly obvious one in the fence and driveway. Regardless, some progress.

105mm f2.8 – stitched comparable to angle of view of 51mm @  f1.3

Now, a couple that were a bit more successful!

I like the depth of field here, albeit the background is a bit more mundane.  Stitching was a bit easier, although the parallax error
with the window and railing have me a bit of a headache. This technique defiantly takes time to master.
50mm f1.4- stitched angle of view comparable to 29mm @ f0.8

I used less shots to stitch together on the previous photo, and the following one.  I only used 6-8 shots per portait, while the first two were taken by
compiling 15-21 images.  Until i feel like I can accurately predict the outcome more consistently, I’ll stick to 4-8 frames.

Most successful of this attempt, in my opinion.
For one, I just like her expression better. I think I did a better job of quickly panning, while not having too much parallax error either.

50mm f1.4 – stitched angle of view comparable to 29mm @ f0.8

So you tell me, which one is your favorite??

I’ll be exploring this further in the future. Hopefully with human participants
The wife doesn’t know it, but she’s already signed up to model.

JB