Hipstamatic – Appotography

Summer, Fall, Winter… And Winter Again

You’ll excuse me for the quote in the title. I once had a friend from South Korea. I met him in Iceland, while he was writing his second travel book. At first he didn’t bother to inform me, but he was a rather successful writer in his home country. In addition to writing, he was a plethora of other things — photographer, drummer, DJ, among the others. Recenty he started painting and managing a cafe in Seoul. I have no idea about what he will do next, but I hope for him he will never feel the urge to settle down and become a respectable grown-up.

Fish in Iceland
It’s hard to keep track of the explosive South Korean culture these days. Like my friend, the South Koreans seem to be everywhere, and they’re doing pretty well in many fields, from technology to fashion, from movies to pop music. Continue reading “Summer, Fall, Winter… And Winter Again”

Hipstamatic Photojournalism SnapPak Out

Hipstamatic released extra gear as a new pack. The Photojournalism SnapPak, inspired by the work of New York based award winning photographer and photojournalist Benjamin Lowy, includes a camera case, a lens and a film. Here is an overview of its contents.

According to Hipstamatic, the Photojournalism SnapPak is designed for documenting moments with precision. Continue reading “Hipstamatic Photojournalism SnapPak Out”

Long Island HipstaPak Out

The first weekend of October brings new goods to Hipstamatic and Oggl users. Perhaps this will look at first like a tricky topic, so let’s start by clearing the possible mix-ups.

Long Island Hipstapak - BlacKeys Extra Fine + Florence
If you went to the Hipstamart to dowload the Long Island HipstaPak and after gazing at its contents you think you are experiencing a déjà-vu, don’t worry: you’re not the only one. Continue reading “Long Island HipstaPak Out”

Getting Ready For Some Kind Of Fall

Hipstamatic sandwiched this year’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere’ between Brazilian and Argentinian impressions, with a brief inexplicable excursion into East Sussex. It will be some time yet before the beneficial effects of a cooler season will make a comeback to these river banks. August was too warm for productivity and physical fitness, and the well-informed promise September will be slightly worse. Mr K—should I rather call him señor, given the occasion?—and I didn’t have much time to go around, snapping pictures or doing wild doggy things. We had time to play ball however, but most of it was performed only after the warmest hours of the day, because earlier His Canineness refused to move. Mr K is still waiting to be summoned by a football national team and be given the chance to show off. Being a dog, of course he doesn’t care much about nationality and as an Icelander with some degree of international experience he doesn’t want to play in a team that seldom gets any excitement. Any national team will do, but Argentina is about as welcome as it can get for stroking his ego.

Hipstamatic Buenos Aires - Diego + Blanko C16
In spite of the heat, we’ve been training very hard, but results are frankly not too encouraging Continue reading “Getting Ready For Some Kind Of Fall”

Hipstamatic Oggl 1.3 Doesn’t Like My Camera Roll

It was past 5 AM here when I saw the notification that there was an update for Hipstamatic Oggl. I was expecting the usual routine “bug fixes, performance improvements, yadda yadda” sort of update. But no, it had to be a major update, importing images from camera roll, no less! I thought I’d give it a try even though I had just returned from the last daily walk with our marketing strategist—I mean, the dog—and my next plan was letting my face be devoured by the pillow.

Oggl 1.3 NOT Importing Photos Continue reading “Hipstamatic Oggl 1.3 Doesn’t Like My Camera Roll”

Of Old-fashioned Brighton Summers & Melted Ice-creams

Once upon a time we used to enjoy our holidays, to paint our lips with melted ice-cream to the despair of our mothers and to warm our tiny tender feet in the frolicsome caress of silky sands. Once upon a time—another time, a proto-time—the notion of holidays belonged only to the elite and made no sense at all for the sweating classes who used to work all year round. “But who cares? That was long time ago!” some will think.

Hipstamatic Brighton Hipstapak
Long time ago indeed, but not too long. The learned men cleverly taught us that time and history—and bad habits with them too—repeat themselves. We shouldn’t use clever theories for our personal purposes, but this is actually a pretty good, even if a bit pretentious, apology for spending the summer in the city with no regrets. Continue reading “Of Old-fashioned Brighton Summers & Melted Ice-creams”

iPhoneography Tricks: Using Hipstamatic Frames with Album Photos

I’ve read many times complaints coming from iPhone users who wished they could disable Hipstamatic frames like they do with a number of other apps. There are also users complaining about the opposite, that is not being able to apply Hipstamatic’s effects to photos from albums and camera roll. Hipstamatic’s purists will argue that the point of the app is to reproduce the practices connected with analog photo taking, so it’s obvious you should accept a certain lack of control on the result as an added extra and use the app to shoot if you want to apply its effects to your photos. In the end, what really matters is your image; if using a certain border brings your photo closer to your way of envisioning it, you can just ignore purisms.

Eventide II — Robusta frame applied to photo taken with Vscocam and processed over with Laminar, Alien Sky, Mextures.

Today I will share a simple trick for using Hipstamatic’s frames outside the app. This is a cheap trick, really. The result relies on layer blending and it just requires five minutes to achieve, plus access to Hipstamatic (duh) and an image editing app such as Photoshop Touch or Laminar. Continue reading

A Quasi-Summer in São Paulo

The weather has been crazy recently and here in Lisbon there were not many occasions to take summery pictures yet. This has nothing to do with the new extra pack released by Hipstamatic, but it has to do with the poor Portuguese who, like many others is Europe, are currently wondering why the weather gods have been so cruel to steal sun and the associated heatwaves they were eagerly expecting from under their noses. The Portuguese, and the Brazilian too, have developed high tolerance to heat; even when they complain about it, you know they are somehow giggling inside.

Hipstamatic São Paulo Hipstapak Continue reading “A Quasi-Summer in São Paulo”

Hipstamatic Retro Weekend Three Now On

Hipstamatic‘s RetroPak Three is now available for downloading in the app’s HipstaMart. As its predecessors, the third RetroPak is being released as a reissue to some of the limited edition packs previously available through Hipstamatic and later withdrawn from the app’s in-app purchases section.

Hipstamatic RetroPak Three
Here are all items included in RetroPak Three: Continue reading “Hipstamatic Retro Weekend Three Now On”

Hipstamatic’s Silver Lake HipstaPak Tried & Tested

Hipstamatic welcomed the bright season and its warmth by releasing today its latest HipstaPak, Silver Lake. The newest pack contains one lens and one film.

Hispamatic Silver Lake - Abbie Lens+Dixie Film

Silver Lake most likely owes its denomination to the well-known Los Angeles neighborhood bearing the same name, an area where hip artists like to hang out. The lens included in the pack, Abbie, is named after actress Abigail Spencer (it’s not the first time Hipstamatic’s developers use Spencer-related references either); Abbie features altered curves to bring out yellows and greens in your shots. The film, Dixie, is noteworthy for its subtle white border and pronounced unpredictable leaks. The new Silver Lake pack will work nicely if you are after a vibrant lo-fi look. Continue reading “Hipstamatic’s Silver Lake HipstaPak Tried & Tested”