Take Photo: Mobile Photography

Showing posts with label Mobile Photography. Show all posts

Monday, November 30, 2015

Instagram Challenge Showcase - Nature

A few years ago, I began work on a book that was never finished. The working title was "A Garden Path to Wisdom". I wrote the introduction and several chapters but never did complete it. Seeing all of the images submitted to the Nature Challenge this week made me think of that book and I went back and re-read my introduction which I'd like to share with you here.

“Mother Nature” – a name we give to the natural world around us. The dictionary defines mother as, “An origin, source; a woman in a position of responsibility or authority; to give birth to; to care for, nourish and protect.” Is it a coincidence that like a loving mother, our natural surroundings when observed can provide valuable guidance for our own life? Could there be buried beneath the apparent order in our universe divine lessons for living?

I sense a deep connection when I am in nature – a connection with something other than myself and my own thoughts. For a moment, it seems that I touch the eternal and the infinite. In life’s most difficult moments, I have sought refuge outdoors – to ponder a sunset or silently watch the rhythmic pounding of the surf. There is a clarity that comes. Not even asking questions, I receive answers. If these answers have come by chance, what could I discover on purpose? What lessons would I learn if I stopped long enough to listen to the silence and screams of Mother Nature?

In my early life, I would have characterized myself as religious – now I choose to call myself spiritual. I believe in a divine intelligence that has created order in our universe (I call this divine intelligence God). I believe this intelligence is also the origin and essence of love. Using those two tenets as my basic philosophy, I believe that by witnessing our natural surroundings we can learn valuable lessons about life and how it should be lived. Revelation should be apparent to the very simple and unlearned as well as the highly educated and economically advantaged, for this is what a loving and intelligent God would do – make the secret of life accessible to all. We can all walk the “Garden Path to Wisdom” just by taking the time to observe the natural order of things.

Not much has changed over the years, I still find solace in nature. Thanks to everyone who participated. It was hard to select only a sampling of photographs. To view them all, please visit the #aom_nature hashtag on Instagram.

@mariko_klug

@itha_mar

@apped_as

@desian66

@kaprinski

@clearerreflections

@richardcoombs58

@sirpa9

@100deletedpeople

@mariannamax

@patchouli3

@manfrommarzipan

@mous.e_

@contrerasclaudia69

@tootz

@pamelasweda

@theeandrew

@cyner_g

@mdjm_ibiza

@coppercurls55

@nicjusz

@joo_expo

@christicarterphoto

@tricia.dewey

@kritterz

@kawol1

@darom77

@doctorjazz

Stay Tuned! The theme for the next challenge will follow in the next post!

Mobile Digital Art & Creativity Summit - Three Day Event!

Early bird registration is still available for the Annual Mobile Digital Art Exhibition in Palo Alto California. The 3-day weekend will begin with the Grand Opening on Friday, August 7th and continue through the 8th and 9th with workshops and a panel discussion by some of the leading digital artists including Kyle Lambert!

I participated in the competition in both the Digital Painting and Mobile Photography Art categories and was honored to have pieces selected for both.

Speakers for the event include Jeremy Sutton, Susan Murtaugh, Meri Walker, Brian & Kristy Miller, Helene Goldberg, Jon Casey, Dustin Carpenter, Jerry Jobe, Raheem Nelson, Micheline Hess, Sumit Vishwakarma, Caroline Mustard and Susie Stockholm.

You can view the program for the event here. Tickets are still available here.

I will be attending for the first time this year and hope to meet many of you there!

Mob Street Photographer - えんぞう Enzo

Here is the third installment featuring a photographer from the Mob Street Flickr Group. We are already growing and the work is beautiful. I learn from each photo that I view. Today I present a photo from Japan. The world has become so small with the advances in technology. I love that I can see street life in Japan without ever leaving my living room!

“The Pictures are there, and you just take them” – Robert Capa

The Work

The Photographer - えんぞう Enzo

I work in an advertising agency in Tokyo. The appearance of Instagram was an opportunity for me to make Mobile Photography into a hobby. I have served as the representative of Instagrammers Japan (@IGersJP) since 2012. I published the iPhone photography book "Asagaya Residence" in Japan in 2013. I was awarded by Mobile Masters | P R O O F | Contest in 2014.

(Geri's Note: I enlisted the aid of my high school friend and her father to help me translate the original Japanese. I wanted to give Enzo the chance to comment in his native language so he could fully express his ideas on mobile photography.)

Enzo's Commentary

I am working on mobile photography with two major concepts which are photography of ordinary life while the other is more creative photography.

I think that the photos of ordinary life seen is the real meaning of mobile photography. My experience with photography started when Instagram was created. The iPhone 3Gs was the first camera I owned. I was so interested in Instagram that I bought and used many cameras and even took a professional photography course and obtained a certificate. I used an iPhone most of the time, because it fits in my palm.

If I had more leisure time, I would have used professional photography equipment, software and computer for processing and editing photos. Unfortunately, I am not a professional photographer, but an ordinary working person and head of a family. Without mobile photography, I would not be interested in photography. At the same time, my photography is inevitably limited to family photos on my days off. In general, my photos are not so called "cool", consequently my challenge is to take "cool" photos. My pictures are weekend shopping and leisure times seen.

My second concept of mobile photography is kind of "Dadaisme". I am creating photos with people, umbrella, silhouette or reflection in a magnificent scene and photos using the analog filtering technique.

The early devices of iPhoneography were poor quality when used as a camera and required creative techniques for photographing and processing to get good results. Since the creation of Instagram, various techniques have evolved. The word "iphoneographs" has been forgotten, while the quality of the "mobile photograph" has improved significantly. The benefits Instagram has brought are countless.

Instagram, however brought adverse effects with the supremacy being the quantity of social media responses in the form of "likes" and "followers". The photo quality has improved significantly with the remarkable improvement of devices and software (apps). Although we do intuitively judge the individual photos "cool" or "good" it is still important for self-examination and critique of our own work, so as not to be too influenced by likes and followers.

Find Enzo: Website / Instagram / EyeEm / Flickr

Special thanks to my friend Grace and her father for their translation - it gave me so much insight into Enzo's work.

Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Mob Paint Monday No. 38

Somehow I got off schedule and I've missed posting a Mob Paint Monday Showcase. The longer time between showcases made it even more difficult to isolate only a few works to feature here. Please visit the Mob Paint Flickr Group to see all of the wonderful creative pieces this community of artists produces!

Are you a Mob Paint member interested in doing a tutorial for Art of Mob?
Please contact me using the contact form at the top of the blog. I'd love to feature more workflow posts so we can all learn from each other.