20 Sydney photos with Polarize iPhone camera app

by Mark Pollard on February 2, 2010 · View Comments

in Life

Luna Park - Polarize iPhone camera app

I’ve been playing with the Polarize camera app on my iPhone over summer and have been having a lot of fun with it. It’s a free camera app and does one thing really well: it gives photos that soft, saturated look from days past. You can apply the effect to photos you’ve already taken or you can take the photo directly via the app. You can also ‘tag’ the photo (ie put a caption on it in texta). Check out the Flickr group for examples. One thing to note is that while the photos look good Polarize really drops the image resolution so you may not be able to print them big.

Photography is something I’d love to be good at but I know I don’t have the time or inclination right now to commit to another hobby. What I’m enjoying about the iPhone, however, is that it makes taking photos so easy. What’s more, the quality is pretty good and some of the apps coming out with different effects, burst shooting and timers are great. I’ll post examples from other apps in months to come.

I’m playing around with a few basic framing techniques – angled but unimportant foregrounds, making big objects seem small with tall sky (this really suits the Polarize app as it makes dark blues even more beautiful), and I love trying to get candid, ultra-close-up shots of people. I don’t know what I’m doing but it’s fun working it out.

Enjoy the photos below – there are both Sydney and people shots. If you’re digging a different camera app, I’d love to know which one.

Sydney summer with the iPhone Polarize camera app

1. Australia Day fireworks from Darling Harbour, 2010

Australia Day 2010 fireworks - shot using the Polarize iPhone camera app

2. Luna Park

Luna Park face, Sydney - shot using the iPhone Polarize camera app

3. Pre-Australia Day rooftop BBQ at McCann

Pre-Australia Day McCann BBQ - shot using the Polarize iPhone camera app

4. Sun piercing clouds – from The Domain

Sun piercing cloudy CBD - shot using the iPhone Polarize camera app

5. Illuminated metal – Sydney Harbour Bridge

Cloudy Sydney Harbour Bridge from Ferry - shot using the iPhone Polarize camera app

6. Superman

Sky - shot using the iPhone Polarize camera app

7. Sydney Harbour Bridge

Wideshot: Sydney Harbour Bridge, clouds - shot using the iPhone Polarize camera app

8. The markets at The Entertainment Quarter

The Markets at the Entertainment Quarter - shot using the iPhone Polarize camera app

9. Furniture that glows at The Powerhouse Museum

Glowing furniture from The Powerhouse Museum - shot using the iPhone Polarize camera app

10. Sydney Harbour Bridge from Mort Bay Park, Balmain

Sydney Harbour Bridge from Mort Bay Park, Balmain - shot using the iPhone Polarize camera app

11. Sydney Opera House

Sydney Opera House from the Botanic Gardens - shot using the iPhone Polarize camera app

12. Sydney CBD skyline

Sydney CBD skyline - from Lady Macquarie's Chair - shot using the iPhone Polarize camera app

13. Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge

Sydney Opera House - from Lady Macquarie's Chair - shot using the iPhone Polarize camera app

14. Bats above The Domain

Bats in The Domain - shot using the iPhone Polarize camera app

15. Glebe Island Bridge from Glebe Point

Glebe Island Bridge - shot from Glebe Point using the Polarize iPhone camera app

People photos with the iPhone Polarize camera app

16. My daughter

My daughter - shot using the iPhone Polarize camera app

17. En route to Darling Harbour

Walking to Darling Harbour - shot using the iPhone Polarize camera app

18. My boy

My boy - shot using the iPhone Polarize camera app

19. Summer days in Ultimo

Me and my daughter - shot using the iPhone Polarize camera app

20. Tim Burrowes from Mumbrella at the Intel Geek Party

Tim Burrowes - Mumbrella - Intel launch - shot using the iPhone Polarize camera app

If you enjoyed the read, please leave a comment. Feel free to follow me on Twitter

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Tagged as: Australia Day, Darling Harbour, Glebe Island Bridge, Intel, Intel Geek Party, iPhone, iphone apps, Luna Park, metal, photos, Sydney, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney Opera House, The Powerhouse Museum, Tim Burrowes

  • Hi Mark
    great photos - and App. I haven't used that but do use Hipstamatic on the iphone.
    Have you tried that out?
  • Thanks, Mark. Yes, I have Hipstamatic. Good fun. The most frustrating thing about it though is that you need to be a good distance away from what you're photographing.
  • Laurence
    Hi Mark,
    I love your pictures! Gives this nostalgic Polaroid touch + they remind me of the great trip I took to Australia for Christmas (was my first time there and I REALLY love it). I was recently impressed by another iPhone photo app developped by a company called Imsense (http://www.imsense.com/product/iphone/). It enhances dramatically the pictures of average quality you take with an iPhone (re-balancing light, saturation, etc.). You should check it out!
  • Thanks Laurence. Will check out the app. I do love that nostalgic touch as well.
  • hugh_lucero
    Good stuff - the blue of the sky and the green of grass etc really suit being 'punched up' by a polariser. Back in the the SLR days (which could possibly be reinitiated DSLR-related) polariser's were simply an additional screw on filter for the lens that and you could turn to increase/decrease the effect as you like.
  • adamgollam
    With the technology developing so fast, we will soon have a DSLR that can also edit photos in real time. It ain't that hard. If phones can take professional photos, well, professional cameras will probably have a built-in softwarer soon.
    _________________________________________
    Hong Kong Hotels
  • Hey Hugh! From a real photographer :) Are you still taking many photos?
  • Hey Mark, interesting you should write about the camera and video capabilities of the iphone. I just spent 6 weeks in Vietnam. I took my digital camera and iphone with me, the camera to take pictures and the iphone to make access wifi and keep in touch with home. In the end I used my digital camera twice and took over 120 videos and 528 photos using my iphone. Once uploaded to facebook using iLoader you would be forgiven for thinking they were taken with a $1500.00 camera, as the resolution and clarity of both image and video footage is crystal clear. Who needs a digital camera when you've got your iphone nowadays :D

    Favourite iphone app is Pano, it helps you take 12 pictures of a landscape then uses an algorithm to tie them all together to give you a full panoramic picture. Very cool.
  • I can completely relate to what you're saying. We bought a video camera before our first child was born but it's such a pain to use - it's small but a hassle to carry around, batteries, tapes, and the wires! Loving the iPhone.

    Will check out Pano. Sounds good.
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