My GPS Camera Phone

Here’s another shot of the exclusive beach I own. It sits on my desk in a cigar box, so there’s not a whole lot of room to move around, but it gets me through the winter. The sad thing is that I never got to the beach this summer – and I live in Florida! You can check out a shot of the wormwood in the beach box also taken with the Nokia 5610 I reviewed back in September. It’s the first camera phone I used that actually had macro capabilities, which makes me happy because I like seeing what isn’t normally seen.

The sand in the box comes from St. George Island, where you can find some of the best beaches in Florida. Most of the shells come from there as well, but the sponge comes from the Florida Keys. We visited some friends a few years ago after the hurricanes and picked sponges right off the ground. The storm surge had washed hundreds ashore, leaving them to dry in the hot sun. The box was purchased in an estate store along with about ten other boxes. Put it all together and you’ve got a great memory.

When shooting with a camera phone, you’re limited in what effects you can create. Because of that, you’re forced to either take crappy pictures or make adjustments and come up with something different. That’s what I did with today’s photo.

As I was waiting with my youngest daughter after school, I noticed the interesting patterns that were coming out of the sand and the shadows, so I started shooting. What I quickly realized is that the shadows acted as a natural vignette. To enhance this effect, I turned the brightness way down until the shadows begin to get that underexposed look.

Once in Photoshop, all that needs to be done is some minor color correction, level adjustments and a bit of burning to darken any of the lighter edges. That’s it! Stay tuned for more on brightness adjustment and working with shadows.

Your GPS Camera Phone: guest post by Diane

I went out this afternoon on a very unseasonally beautiful sunny day to one of my favourite beaches in Dorset – Hive Beach at Burton Bradstock. I went out armed with my little Panasonic Lumix pocket camera but I forgot to put the memory card in it before I left home! I used my camera phone and I was surprised at the quality of these images I took with it.

Hive Beach forms part of Chesil Beach which is 18 miles long and in places it is separated from the mainland by a lagoon called the Fleet. The whole of the Dorset coastline has been designated a World Heritage site by UNESCO and is known as the Jurassic Coast. It stretches for 95 miles along Dorset and East Devon and is an area of outstanding natural beauty with amazing rock formations and areas of interest to geologists and fossil collectors alike. Read more at www.jurassiccoast.com.

Camera phone info: Nokia 6280 which has a 2 megapixel camera.
You can visit Diane at www.dianealdred.com.

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