I decided to take the morning the other day and hit our little downtown area on a mini photo shoot. So, I loaded up my DSLR and my Iphone and headed on my way. Originally, I was going to take the kiddos so that I could get some cool shots of them too, but I am glad that I changed that plan at the last minute. In this heat, it was best that it was just me trekking along the main street instead of my horde of kids with a frustrated Momma and a camera! I think lives were saved this way.
We have what most little Texas towns have. A square with older buildings that have shops and county offices, a courthouse right in the middle, and lots of interesting details that blend both vintage and new. When our town recently rebuilt part of its judicial offices, it kept with the "feel" of downtown and built them to appear "old". To me, they still look rather new and somehow out of place. Kind of like those fake old west towns in amusement parks, minus all the props. If you take the props away, you just have boring buildings. Downtown forgot the props on their new buildings! I miss the crumbling sides that gave it character. Yeah, sure.. its much safer now.. but is it photo worthy? Hmmmm? I just don't know! Maybe if they add the props!
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| New Buildings |
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| old buildings |
So, Here I am walking around Downtown with my DSLR with two lenses and my iPhone. Not surprisingly, I am chosing to shoot more often with my iPhone, trying out a new app I downloaded called ClassicPan that takes Panoramic, along with my absolute fav camera app Hipstamatic. It was interesting to see the looks from people passing by as I was shooting with the iPhone instead of the DSLR hanging around my neck, but other iPhoneographers understand. Some of these apps are awesome! In today's post, I will only be featuring pictures taken from my iPhone. I am still using a 3Gs, and I swear its on its last breath of life. It died three times while out shooting and I had to take it to the car for charging. I am trying to patiently wait for the iPhone 5 to come out, because I don't want to shoot myself in the foot and upgrade to the 4 when the 5 is right around the corner (thats what I did with the 3Gs). So, I baby it and keep it charging and restart it several times a day when it decides to turn itself off for unknown reasons. All because I love the pictures it takes. Pretty much, that is what I use it for.. well that and email, and texting, and calling people. ;) But I swear, there is a tight run for user time between photography and texting. And if I'm around anything interesting, don't text me cause I'm busy taking pictures! Seriously, right now, there are 790 pictures on the phone, all taken by the phone or edited on the phone and I just deleted 400 to make room. I won't even go into how many are on my external hard drive. We will just leave that be. Cause then you'd all know just how extreme my crazy is!
So, on to the pictures! I didn't start out at the new buildings. That was kinda in the middle of the photo shoot. I started out at the back of the buildings where there is parking, and ran into this really cool door. There is just something about doors for me. I like their composition. The first picture is the original, and the second is it blended with with the original after I took it through another app called photo Artista Haiku Watercolor. That app paints a watercolor painting of it, you can tweak it to your liking. I then blend with my original in Iris Suite.
Another cool door I found on the back of another builder, further into downtown.
I've been wanting to do a collage of sorts called "small town, great big life" and I feel like this one photo, for me, summed that up. It just speaks volumes to me, when I see it. I see the small town in the reflection, and the reminder of the world outside.. the war, the government issues, the life.. in the peace painting. What do you see?
In front of one of the shops, they have this really cute bike, and I've always wanted to stop and take a picture of it... just never did. When my walk took me to that bike, I was almost giddy with excitement. I think I have like 10 or more picture at different angles between the iphone and the DSLR! I went a little overboard! But, I'll just share two! The first taken with ClassicPan and the second was blended using Iris Suite and painted with AutoPainter2
We have a train track that runs right smack through down town. It used to be the lively hood of the town, but now the train doesn't stop and speeds through here at 50+. But, we still have remnants of what used to be. The old train station is now a private business. The building is glorious in all its oldness, and I want to photograph it.. but was so dang hot by that time I'll have to go back another day. I did however, get a shot of the train just as it entered town! That was exciting and something I didn't think I would get! My dad is a train buff, and I'm super excited about getting these shots! I've done some really cool blending with these using Photo Artista Haiku and Iris Suite, but won't be posting them today! I'm keeping them under wraps just a little bit longer, as they are going to be a birthday present for my dad.. Don't want him to get a sneak preview! Ok, maybe just one! The Railroad Crossing sign, cause its just too cool!
So, that was some of my pics from my mini photo shoot from Downtown small America Texas. My View, at least. I've got a ton more, but figured this was already photo intensive! So, I will just leave you with one more pretty picture of the Gazebo in front of the court house. Its just a lovely shot, and a nice ending. :)
