Comparing ‘Clarity’ in Camera+ with the new ‘Lux’ feature of Instagram.
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Lux
Clarity
Lux
Clarity
Lux
Clarity
Lux
Clarity
Lux
Comparing Clarity and Lux
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Category Archives: Blog
Simulating The Hipstamatic Look Using PictureShow
For a while now I’ve been searching for an app which could simulate the superb filters found in Hipstamatic by Synthetic.
I really like the quality of the Hipstamatic filters but I never use the app. I much prefer to shoot using Camera+ and add the filter afterwards. Camera+ allows you to have much better control over your photos using independent exposure and focus points.
‘Mr Tmney’ over on the iPhoneography blog suggested I try PictureShow by Bitween.
I first started by trying to simulate the Ina’s 1969 / John S combination. After a quick test this was my result.
Hipstamatic's Ina's 1969 / John S
An attempt at reproducing Ina's 1969 & John S using PictureShow
I used the preset ‘GreenCross’ in PictureShow using the ‘OldMat’ frame and a +0.3 vignette.
I then tried to reproduce Hipstamatic’s BlacKeys Supergrain filter.
Hipstamatic's BlacKeys SuperGrain + John S
PictureShow BlacKeys SuperGrain
For this shot I used PictureShow’s ‘Noir’ preset with the ‘Zoom’ noise and a +1.0 vignette.
I still prefer the results from Hipstamatic, it could be that I haven’t played around with the settings enough in PictureShow. I’ll keep trying, I’d really appreciate any other suggestions you may have in the comments below.
Dave
Two Lesser-known features of iOS 5
Shortcuts
One feature that I’m using a fair bit in iOS 5 is Shortcuts. ‘Shortcuts’ are pre-defined text snippets that work throughout the system. Think of Shortcuts as a simplified TextExpander on your iOS device. This video by ios5today shows how the Shortcuts feature works.
Speak Selection
Another useful, but rather limited feature is ‘Speak Selection’. Now you can select text from anywhere within iOS 5 and choose ‘Speak’ from the pop-up overlay.
First you need to turn on the feature. Go into Settings -> General -> Accessibility and turn on ‘Speak Selection’. Watch it in action here.
Why Cover Flow is Broken
Cover Flow enables you to flick through your music by album artwork. It’s a great little feature but it’s broken and alway has been.
Cover Flow works as you would expect when at a root level i.e on the Artists or Albums tab but not when browsing inside a playlist.
Try it yourself. When you’re browsing inside a playlist turn the iPod landscape to enter Cover Flow mode. Now you would expect to see just the artwork for just the albums inside that playlist right? Wrong, Cover Flow has one view, your entire music collection only.
Perhaps I’m doing something wrong here? Your comments are welcome.
Gays Furious As Apple Pulls Christian “Gay Cure” App
Gays around the world are furious with Apple as the one app that would have saved them from eternal damnation gets pulled.
OS X Lion’s smaller titlebar
OS X Lion has smaller titlebar controls throughout. The top titlebar is Lion, the other is Snow Leopard.
Apple Magic Mouse & The Google Maps Zoom Issue
Using the Apple Magic Mouse with Google Maps & iPhoto maps is a nightmare!
The tiniest finger movement will cause the map to zoom in & out like crazy.
This issue has been around since the launch of the Magic Mouse in Oct 2009. It must drive the guys at Apple/Google nuts too so why has there been no fix?
iTunes Bug – The information on this page is outdated.
Everytime I click ‘update all’ on the app updates page of iTunes I see this bug.
The bug has been around since early July 2010, that’s eight months and there’s still no fix from Apple.
It seems I’m not the only one suffering with this. There’s over 40 replies to my initial post on the Apple Discussion Forum
Come on Apple pull your finger out and let’s see if we can get this fixed sometime this year.
Cost of Petrol In The UK, a Breakdown
The cost of petrol in the UK is becoming a joke, a pretty shit one at that! I’ve just paid 127.9p per litre at my local supermarket, here’s how the cost breaks down.
Daring Fireball: Cold Water on the iPad 2 Retina Display Hype
I believe the iPad 2’s display will remain at 1024 × 768.
I do hope @gruber is wrong on this one. Text seems blocky on the iPad after getting used to the Retina Display of the iPhone 4.
