These are a few photos from a photowalk I took. Seems like Liketu limits me to ten photos and doesn't let me organize them nor place them within the text I write, so this is all random. Fun!
These shots are all from around the train station. A few from inside a train.
HipstaWeeks
These are from a series I call "HipstaWeeks". That probably needs some kind of explanation. There is a very popular app on iPhone called Hipstamatic. It's been around since the very beginning of the iPhone, so it's at least a decade old. It is an analog photo app. In it we are given the option to combine two filters, a "film" and a "lens" to achieve interesting effects. You can optionally add in a "flash" to increase the effect. I generally like the effects Hipstamatic gives which remind me a lot of some of the old film cameras I used to use.
One interesting feature of Hipstamatic is the "shake to random" function. When you shake your phone it picks a random "film" and "lens" but doesn't show you what they are, so it's not only random but also a surprise. That element of surprise reminds me a lot of my old film cameras and it is an effect I really like (and miss). I do entire photowalks where I make myself shake my phone for a random combination for every shot.
For my "HipstaWeeks" project, I take combinations that I enjoyed during one of the random photowalks and I then commit to using that combination for an entire week of photowalks. If you happen to have Hipstamatic, the combination for these photos is: Watts Lens, DC Film, RedEye Gel Flash.
The Power of Limits
I've written many times about the power of photowalks. Photography is as much a skill of composition and tool mastery as it is one of creativity. And creativity is often hard to come by. Photowalks help with that. One way to provoke creativity is to constantly be not only taking photos, but experimenting with photos, looking for fresh things, trying to see in fresh ways. And that is where limits come into play.
I have a buddy in Tokyo who always assigns unique projects when he takes students on photowalks. One project might be "Only photo green things". Another might read, "Only photo torii gates". They aren't just things to shoot, but techniques. For example, "Only take photos while squatting", or "only photo with a 90mm lens". I have always loved placing limits on myself as a method of encouraging creativity and so I have always done similar things myself. And one of those is using a smartphone only, which leads us right back to Hipstamatic.
If any of you enjoy photography, I'd recommend doing frequent photowalks and also placing a limit on yourself for each one. You may be surprised at the result.