A Favourite Hipstamatic Combination: Loftus and Sugar
iPhone photo. Hipstamatic app with Loftus lens and Sugar film
I've been addicted to Hipstamatic ever since I discovered it. The unique camera app that emulates analog photography by letting you swap your lens, flash, and film to create artistic photos.
An Analog Experience in the Digital Age
Unlike the many apps that let you apply an effect after you shoot the photo, Hipstamatic filters and effects are chosen before the image is captured, and just as with analog photography, the results remain a secret until the photo is 'developed'. You pick a camera first, rather than choosing a camera effect afterwards. This is how Hipstamatic brings the analog photography experience into the digital age.
Choices, Choices
By using different combinations of films, lenses, and flashes, you can create an almost infinite number of different shooting combinations all resulting in unique and truly personal styles of creative expression. This is amazing, but it can also get overwhelming
When Less is More
Endless choice is the biggest challenge with digital art and photography. The paradox of choice when we find ourselves paralyzed by all of our choices. Which one is the best version? This one? That one? Which effect shall I use? Which app? It can both be freeing and draining. In the worst case scenario you end up doing nothing, because you can't decide which app to use, which effect... Having too many choices may actually prevent us from making a choice.
A Minimalist Approach to iPhoneography
My solution to the paradox of choice, is to limit my choices. I've been weeding out my iPhone photography apps, keeping only my favourites. I'm in a phase when I post-process very little and Hipstamatic has become my go-to app for shooting photos. I use a favourite Hipstamatic combination that I can stick with for creativity on-the-go, saving the experiments for days when I've got more time and I'm in the mood to fiddle around and try new things.
A Favourite Hipstamatic Combination
One of my favourite Hipstamatic combinations: the Loftus lens, which creates wonderful vibrant images with a soft focus around the edges (or a mild tilt-shift effect) combined with the Sugar film that adds a simple, thin, soft focus black edge to the image.