Wetlands are protected in Michigan, and there's a small area with cattails in one of the common areas in the subdivision where I live. The set of shots that make up this image were taken there looking pretty much into the sun about 45 minutes before sunset late last April.
iPhone 5s, ISO 200, no auxiliary lens, three exposure HDR at 2 EV intervals, PureShot camera app
processing highlights
There was maybe half this much sky behind the marshy area. Much of the background was houses, trees of various sizes, and lawns. The best approach to getting rid of all that seemed to be a mask based on Select>Color Range targeted on one of the yellows in the vegetation.
Because the mask got rid of some of the foreground and midground, too, a layer of brown (which also makes up the border) and a Flypaper yellow/orange/brown texture were used behind the masked layer. The starting point for the sky was also a Flypaper texture.
Topaz Simplify, Alien Skin Snap Art, and Fractalius were applied during processing in addition to a number of adjustment layers.
The color in the lower part of the sky is from an orange Photo Filter adjustment layer with a gradient mask.
In response to an earlier comment by Diane, I ran a comparison of the default iPhone camera app and a couple of other camera apps. (I didn't include two long-exposure apps on my phone -- something which I need to do for myself someday.) The two apps were PureShot and Pro HDR X. If you don't want to read any further, here's the executive summary. PureShot was easily the best of the three. No contest.
resolution -- All three gave photos with the same pixel dimensions. The resolution was 300 ppi for PureShot and 72 for the other two. I choose to use PureShot at the highest quality of the three choices available (2 jpgs and a tiff). As far as I know, there are no resolution options for the other two apps.
noise -- The PureShot photos had much less noise than the other two. Pro HDR X brackets HDR exposures by changing the ISO, so it varies from low to high. The ISO can be set manually in PureShot. I used 200 for my comparison, but it can be set as low as 32. The PureShot HDR brackets are made by changing shutter speeds. I have no idea what the default app does with HDRs because it only saves the middle one (and that only if the option is chosen in the iPhone Settings menu). The ISO on the middle exposure was 640.
HDRs -- Only Pro HDR X permits a manual setting of the three bracket locations on the image. It can also do an automatic HDR, which is the only option on the other two. Both the default app and Pro HDR X save an HDR image. Pro HDR X and PureShot save all three bracketed exposures. The default app HDR was acceptable, but I considered the Pro HDR X one too saturated.
PureShot has three shooting modes: single shot, three bracketed shots, and a three-shot burst. Exposure compensation can be set using stops (as opposed to the slider in the default iPhone app). It shows the remaining battery charge, so there's no need to go to the home screen of the phone to check it. It has a number of histogram display choices. There's a choice of setting exposure by a spot or overall reading. There are white balance options. There is a choice of level indicator settings. The only downside for me is the manual, which is difficult to understand. However, the developer of the app responds very quickly to questions. I had difficulty consistently getting good focus but figured that out with his help.
If anyone has any questions related to this, just ask, and I'll try to help.
10-27-2015, 11:14 PM
Kerry Perkins
Really cool image Dennis and a technical marvel as always. I like the "web" effect in the stalks of the cattails and the sky is super. The scene reminds me of an illustration to an antique book.
10-28-2015, 12:32 PM
Diane Miller
Amazing and beautiful -- and great use of masking!! I never even heard of Pure Shot or Pro HDR X -- will check them out -- thanks!
There is a huge gotcha in the camera apps I have where there are image quality settings -- not in the app (where you might actually chance to find them) but way down in the Settings menu of the iPhone, and many have a low quality as the default! I assume the ones without a choice default to the best quality the sensor can do. I hope...
Resolution (at least in the real world) is only a scaling factor for how many inches on a side the image will be. One of the harder ideas to wrap one's head around is that pixels in an image don't have dimensions. So resolution doesn't affect quality unless you resample.
BTW, my phone seems to have a life of its own, too. After repeatedly answering NO! to the latest iOS update, it gave up on me and finally went ahead and did it anyway!!! The last time I did one there were all sorts of frustrating GUI changes and still haven't figured out the changes to the calendar, which I used to rely on a lot. Sigh.... It was so simple and straightforward before. Must have been driving the marketing people nuts.
10-28-2015, 03:02 PM
Jackie Schuknecht
Love the subdued palette Dennis, and the composition. Lovely work.
10-28-2015, 07:13 PM
Wendy Kates
I love the browns and blue-greens, Dennis...and the textures in the sky are super. Excellent processing!
I should start exploring whether there are similar apps for Androids.
10-29-2015, 10:43 AM
Nancy Bell
Great low point of view looking up at the cattails. And as always, your processing is fantastic! Love the colors and the lines added by fractalius and the selected bits that glow.
Wendy, let us know if you find anything for us Android users.
10-29-2015, 07:56 PM
Michael Gerald-Yamasaki
Dennis,
Greetings. I like that you are posting iPhone images. It gives me some ideas with what I might be able to do with what's in my pocket. I've kicked myself for not just taking out my iPhone and snapping the shot that presents itself when I'm out and about without my "real" camera. (So like really, why didn't I take photos (and video) of the humpback whale that was breaching about 100 feet offshore where I was sitting. I enjoyed watching the show but I could have had photos.). Nice to know there are apps, too. Thanks for the review.
Diane, But how would you know that there was an upgrade if they didn't hide the cheese. ;-)
