iPhone 6 Street Photography - Images, Slo mo and Hyperlaspe

The box, just before I opened it

Unboxing

As I started unboxing my latest and dearest gadget, my heart beats were up and my pulse was racing. Even though mom was apprehensive about excitement, I was as giddy as a young boy who gets an aeroplane that actually flies! After a long break, my wait for finally over and I was back to my original smart phone - an iPhone!

An iPhone is an iPhone and nothing can ever replace one. Period.

I have tried Android as well as Windows phones, and though I enjoyed using them both for different reasons, none of them come even close to the experience of using an iPhone. Androids are extremely customizable and have some great cameras and apps which can do almost everything. Lumia phones running on Windows, on the other hand, are not that great when it comes to apps, but their cameras are perhaps the best in the world. But both of them had some issues as well...no matter what I do I always find Android phones busy and cluttered (is it just me?), and Windows phones have poor apps collection and the cameras are often a little too slow for my kind of photography - candid street photography.

Here is the lovely beauty :)

I can go on and on about how awesome this phone is, but that is highly irreverent to this post. What I do want to talk about is how I intend to use this phone over the coming few months and hopefully years. I will also talk about a few new apps that I have recently installed (related to photography and videography), and a few must-have accessories that can help you some absolutely impossible results with an iPhone 6 :)

iPhone 6 iSight Camera 

However, before I jump into the world of these gorgeous apps, let me quickly talk about the camera in iPhone 6. 

In addition to its large 1.5-micron pixels and ƒ/2.2 aperture, the Apple's iSight camera is now packed with new technologies to help everyone take more great photos.

To make it just as easy to shoot amazing video, we added new features like the option to capture 1080p HD at 60 fps, 240-fps slo-mo and time-lapse video. And you can shoot HD video and then watch the stunning results on the large Retina HD display.

The latest and greatest iSight camera

I have been constantly using the camera over the past few days, and can easily confirm that using the iPhone 6 camera is almost like living a dream. It not only takes unbelievably gorgeous images, it also takes them really really fast. By the time you click an image, the phone is ready to take anther one.

And the enhanced video capabilities with the phones has made me make many many videos after quite a number of years. The phone is 64GB, so I do hope that I can for a long vacation and collect many memories with the camera. I realise only now how much I missed using an iPhone camera over the past one year...

iPhone 6 new must have camera apps

I have already spoken about how much I love Snapseed and VSCOcam, however, the world of apps is an ever evolving one and within months new and fabulous things can replace the giants of past. I do not think my two favorite apps are going anywhere, but I will talk about some new ones which are serious competitiors.

Rookie: Rookie™ is the filter camera photo editor that empowers those who wish to go beyond the basic photo editing. Bringing the look and feel of a professional photographer, Rookie lets you express even the most subtle mood on your photos. On a cautionary note, not everything is free and you can make in-app purchases for more cool stuff. I have bought some stuff, and do not regret at all.

Screenshots Rookie

iMovie: iMovie makes it easy to browse and share the HD video you shoot on your iOS device. Turn your favourite clips into blockbuster films or Hollywood-style trailers. And watch your mini-masterpieces anywhere with iMovie Theater. A few taps, a few swipes, and you’re ready for your big premiere. With the new iPhone 6, it comes pre-installed so its actually free, which is quite a good news for video makers :)

Screenshots iMovie

Hyperlapse: Hyperlapse is an app from Instagram for making time-lapse videos, which are quickly becoming a fad on both Instagram and Facebook. For this reason alone, this is a great app :)

You can create amazing time lapse videos with Hyperlapse. Using Instagram's in-house stabilisation, Hyperlapse shoots polished time lapse videos that were previously impossible without bulky tripods and expensive equipment.

When you shoot a time lapse video with Hyperlapse, your footage will be instantly stabilised to smooth out the bumps from the road and give it a cinematic feeling. Capture an entire sunrise in 10 seconds – even from the back of a moving motorcycle. Walk through the crowds at an all-day music festival, then distil it into a 30-second spot. Capture your bumpy trail run and share your 5k in 5 seconds.

Screenshot Hyperlapse

Apart from these, there are a few more apps that I have installed, though am yet to explore them, so their review will have to wait :)

I will sharing many more images and videos, especially from my upcoming trip outside India. It would be great to hear your feedback about the phone as well as these apps. Do let me know if I am missing on some kickass app and I will promptly try that out (and perhaps even review with due credits to you).

Initial experiments

So as I got my hands on a great and lightening fast mobile camera, I decided to set out into the old part of Pune and explore the life there. Here are a few shots and I would love to hear about your feedback on these.

There was no one  else around, so the bench became my subject!

An old man riding the bike like a dude :)

Inside an old 'wada', very few of these survive now...

A selfie at a barber's shop :)

My New Project

Also, this weekend we were invited by our maid to visit her home for a Diwali after-meet and we happily agreed. While I was walking back to our car after a sumptuous faral meal, a rather cool thought struck me - How about making a series of short videos on Pune (my adopted home) showcasing the beauty and life within the city? I decided to act upon the project right then and there and gave it the name:

Pune | Explorations

The first in the series is from Shivaji Bridge near PMC head office. It was early in the morning, and the light was gorgeous...and the birds just exceptional :)



The second first in the series and its a hyperlapse video from a small slum area in Kothrud. I thought it was a beautiful place, and absolutely enjoyed being there. Let me know what you think :)




The second video below if from Nana Wada in the old city - one of the very few serving old houses in Pune. No one lives here anymore, but its beautifully maintained still..almost like a palace!



This one is a collage of small snippets from different parts of Pune, mainly Mandai and areas around. I had to try hard to convince the guard at Mandai to let me climb up, and the place looks beautiful up there.



And finally a slow mo video, the much touted feature of iPhone 6. This is made in 240 fps. The light was quite low and the results are still not bad. I am impressed and look forward to making them many more of these on my city Pune :)