Spare Moments 1 - Lunchtime with Lomora

Spare Moments is an ongoing series dedicated to fellow photographers who share the heart ache of limited time and opportunity to do what they love best.

NOTE - be sure to add #sparemoments to your tags in Instagram.

The South and West winds joyn'd, and, as they blew,
Waves like a rolling trench before them threw.
Sooner than you read this line, did the gale,
Like shot, not fear'd, till felt, our sails assaile;
Excerpt from ‘The Storm’ by John Donne

Ok so its not quite so dramatic as that but the city looks like a Cure song today. Low hanging clouds mask the tops of buildings and Gothics wander the streets with smiles on their faces. You would think that this means a break from an iPhoneography jaunt around the city but you would be wrong. This is Lomora weather. In particular, black and white Lomora weather.

When you have less than an hour to take your shots its best to have a loose plan of attack. When walking out the office/home consider which direction will provide you the best possible opportunities. For me its a short stroll to the Yarra River where water and city meet. I open up Lomora, select either Blackbird or B/W filter and make a small sacrifice to Ozzy Osbourne by biting the head off a jelly baby. From this moment on I will stick to this app and these filters. This not only ensures you concentrate on finding your shots but it also gives your brain an accelerated education on what the app can do. Flit around with a bunch of apps and you never get to know any of them well.

It was because of the time I allowed getting to know Lomora that led me to discover one of its lovely quirks. Try passing your hand in front of your camera, allow it to focus then move it away and quickly take a shot before it has time to adjust. The result can (intermittently) provide some eerily blurred images akin to the excellent work of Alex Howitt.

When doing City photography don't forget to look up, otherwise you miss 80% of your subject matter. Where would we be without the seagull. Texas I imagine. Lomora black and white filters provide an almost Gotham City feel. And these filters seem to work best on these miserable days. So during this lunchtime session I walked alongside the river and looked for good contrasts and strong shapes pushing through the mist. Its not a sin to take multiple shots of the same subject matter. Even moving slightly before taking another shot can reward you with something different.

Its also nice to put together a series of something should you ever wish to display your work or create an online series on Tumblr etc. Also when displaying and selling your work framed you may want to limit the prints, however should they sell you will be rewarded with more similar shots to print out and frame, and people do love to buy framed pics with a theme, so consider displaying similar shots next to each other. A subtle hint to get them thinking about how good all three would look on their wall!

Lomora in my experience is a monogamist app. I have rarely had success processing these shots in other apps, paint apps being the one exception. Its worth considering this and getting your lighting right first time. There is a double exposure option in the setting however I am yet to experiment with it.

I return to the Batcave to review my shots. I tend not to delete anything unless its obviously no good. Consider that those blurred or shaky shots may make for nice base layers for later processing. This series is one I am particularly fond of and its why I go back to Lomora so often not only for my b&w shots but also for the Redscale. They recently tried to change the filters and oh the vitriol, the outrage. They complied and undid the damage thankfully. Cheers to them.

My #sparemoments challenge to the lovely reader who made it down this far. Take some B&W shots using Lomora (or another app if you don't have it) and try to achieve the same blurred effects I used above.

See you on the streets.

To see the full shoot visit https://www.flickr.com/photos/thedaddiaries/sets/72157644263878944/

Click Here for More Information