How to Put the Internet to Work for You with IFTTT

What is IFTTT?  It's a service that allows you to create connections using the statement: IF This Then That, where THIS is the trigger and THAT is the action. It's made my life just a bit easier. I'm not the only one who likes it. Here's What PC Mag had to say about it:

"If this, then that'—shorten that little tag line to ifttt, and you've got one of the best apps on the market. This amazingly simple yet powerful iPhone app can automate just about anything you'd want to do in your digital life, from backing up photos on Facebook to sending you text message reminders of upcoming appointments."

You can create your own recipes or choose from the thousands already created by users at IFTTT.com. There's also an IFTTT app. Here are just a few ideas showing some of the recipes you can use with IFTTT.

Some of the recipes I use include:

IF I post a photo to Instagram, Then post that same photo to my Flickr account.
IF I publish a new blog post, Then Tweet it out to my Twitter followers.
IF I post a photo to Instagram, Then upload it to my Dropbox account.

It's that easy with IFTTT.

I would love to hear about your favorite IFTTT recipes in the comments!

New Page Added for Painterly Mobile Art

You can now view the latest entries to our Painterly Mobile Art Flickr Group without ever leaving the Art of Mob site by clicking on the icon just added to the blog sidebar.

It links to the slideshow as shown below. I will still be posting the Painterly Mobile Art Monday features, but if you would like to see what's being added on a daily basis, you'll have access to it whenever you like!

Painterly Mobile Artist - Maarten Oortwijn

Here's another highlight on one of the many talented members of the Painterly Mobile Art Flickr Group.  I love Maarten's style and was eager to find out more about his life and work.

Please visit the group to see more of Maarten's work along with that of all of the artists. If you are a mobile photographer who enjoys editing in a painterly style, we'd love to have you join!

The Artist 

Maarten Oortwijn - I live in Amsterdam, have two daughters and work as a software engineer in the centre of Amsterdam. I'm a music addict, playing guitar (Flamenco, Bossa Nova) and I like to create images. It all started at the age of two, when my parents gave me a Bic pen to draw. Soon I began to draw everything around me (and on everything around me when running out of paper). Gradually, I learned other techniques and used other materials until I was painting big murals at the age of 25. At the moment, I'm into more modest sizes, switching between analogue and digital. The digital part started when I got an iPhone and Hipstamatic. First I was focusing on photography, but gradually started to use other apps for further processing. The next step came with the Paper 53 app. It's a wonderful and simple drawing app, very responsive (most other drawing apps are too slow). My work evolved to a seamless blend of photos and drawing. In the meantime, I'm still shooting straight black and white Hipstamatics and creating analogue paintings from time to time - and sometimes feeling the mural itch.

The Work

© Maarten Oortwijn

Maarten's Commentary

For this image, I started with a background pattern. It was created from a picture of stone ornaments taken in Portugal this summer. I used Diptic, Image Blender, Tangled FX and Painteresque. At the bottom, I added some plants from another picture. Next step were the faces. These came from a drawing I made with Paper53. The spiral structures were made by mixing a drawing and a variation of the background pattern (inverted the colors). After adding the red figures, I felt something was still missing. As a finishing touch, I added the cracks and holes with the Grunge app and some clouds (Paper53). I hardly ever plan a picture, and when starting with a plan, I never stick to it. Images just evolve.


Find Maarten: Flickr / Wijnworks

Links to apps mentioned:

Diptic
Image Blender
Tangled FX
Hipstamatic
Painteresque
Paper53
Modern Grunge

The Art of Collaboration

Unique to the Instagram experience is the ability to connect with other artists and collaborate on a photograph.  It can involve just the photographer and a single editor or any number of photographers and editors to get a unique take on an image.

I have had the honor of getting permission to edit some really wonderful images from some of my favorite photographers.

Here are a few of my favorite collaborations.  The original photographer is credited under each image. Click on the image and you can see more of their photos at Instagram or EyeEm.

The first image below is an original by Richard @thelongsilence. For fans of his work, I have an interview coming up soon, so stay tuned!  The image was just brilliant in its original form, but I decided to add some mist, remove the vegetation, darken the sky and grunge it up!

Original Image by @thelongsilence

One of my newest collaborations was with Dan, @dr_semantic.  For this image I decided to make the guitarist in the mural pop. Dan is the founder of @collabstream on Instagram.

Original Photo by @dr_semantic

Luci stumbled upon this abandoned rusted car on an exploratory trip near her home and I'm so glad she allowed me to edit. I didn't change a lot, just added a bit of grunge and an HDR effect.

Original Photo by @lucizoe

One of my favorite portrait artists is Patrick St. Hilaire (@blacksmithpat on IG). Pat has become a dear friend online and I am captivated over and over by the images he takes of his beautiful family.

Original Photo by @blacksmithpat

Rick is the master of capturing beauty in abandoned placed and he so willingly shares his raw images for me to edit!

Original Photo by @rikkr

I love this photo! It's absolutely wonderful the way it is, but I decided to give it a bit more grunge.

Original Photo by @galvanized07 

Tim captured such a great moment here and I decided to give it a painterly spin.

Original Photo by Timothy Steffes

I did two edits of this image by Patrick St. Hilaire - the first was just a close up edit of his original and the second I did a double exposure using one of my images.

Original Photo by @blacksmithpat

If you're interested in collaborating with another artist, you may be surprised how receptive and willing most are to share their images. Just remember if you do post an edited image be sure to give photo credit to the original photographer.  Have fun!

Christian Mondot - I Just Started to Think in Black and White

As I scroll through my Instagram daily feed, I'm always thrilled to see a new photograph from Christian Mondot. The black and white tones, the composition and the mood of his images are masterfully crafted. I had the chance to interview Christian and was thrilled to learn more about him and his work. 

Geri:  What is your name and where do you live? 

Christian:  My name is Christian Mondot. I live in Toulouse, South West of France. 

Geri:  How did you get started with mobile photography?

Christian:  I first played with mobile photography using my second mobile phone (maybe in 2002), shooting skies around the beautiful house in the hills I was renting at the time. Mobile cameras had very poor definition then but I used to capture such unreal colours that I printed some of those shots for fun. I made my real first steps in 2011, when my son @seeyouinthecrowd on Instagram brought me back to IG after I deleted my first account. (I'm always saying that my son usually has a positive influence on me. This is a genuine example of it.)

Geri:  Do you have a traditional photography or art background?

Christian:  I can't say that I have a traditional background. I discovered photography in my childhood when finding an old 6X6 Lumière and began shooting my toys with it! But maybe since that moment I have sort of "kept an eye", meaning a special way of looking at things around me through the years. 

Actually I'm very interested in contemporary arts, in the way some painters don't show but suggest things. They are my main influence. I often quote Anselm Kiefer's work (a German contemporary artist) as some kind of reference to me. The way he uses and mixes matter, raw material, photography and paint. The way he expresses the memory of time. The way he works with light.

Geri:  Who or what inspires you?

Christian:  The answer is Time. Time as an intimacy. What I can feel about its action when it operates on things. Its effects. And also the way time plays with light and defaces or makes them up. Maybe that's why mobile photography is a way of reaching painting without imitating it. Staring at a person, a place, a scenery or a landscape does not lead me to consider them as they are, but more as I feel they are for a second or two at a very special moment. I mean once I've seized their intimacy, their nature. That's why I also may shoot immediately or as well take several minutes before shooting. So yes, I've been trying to think of photography as a painter does with his work...always searching for something beyond what appears. I would say I'm more sensitive to what doesn't show. What is hidden may sometimes be more important. Silence vs noise ~ Music doesn't exist without silence.

Geri:  You shoot mainly in black and white.  Looking back in your Instagram gallery, I did detect a bit of color.  Was it a conscious decision to exclusively post black and white images?  If so, why?

Christian:  I did color when I started shooting for Instagram. Then, introducing step by step a little black and white, I noticed that I could put more strength around the most ordinary things, playing with contrast.  That's what probably also led me to shoot differently. I just started to "think in black and white", composing with light and shadows, shapes, perspectives, space, movement, blur, etc., just as if I had to consider them again. But I was not that sure of it - I couldn't decide. Yet, my son had the last word...

Geri:  I noticed that you are a member of the Royal Snapping Artists?  Who are they?

Christian:  I'm one of the 12,000 members of this family. Pat (@sound_design on IG), founded the community one year ago because he was fed up to see how IG was going with nudity and all that Facebook stuff. He decided to provide a special place within Instagram to share their uniqueness. To me this sounded so clear and right that when he asked me to join the family, I did with real interest and pleasure.

Geri:  Now to your amazing work!  Do you plan your shoots or are most of your shots spontaneous?

Christian:  I don't plan my shots. Since I was a child, I've been used to looking at everything that surrounded me as if I'd see things for the last time, or just as if they were part of a movie that you couldn't rewind and watch again. From that time, I developed the habit of sitting still, for a few minutes before shooting once for all, instead of taking several shots of the same subject. This gives me a special point of view of things or people, and it is also a way of conditioning the way I shoot them. Nonetheless, I also schedule special outings to a particular place at a special time and organize some family "Instameets" with my son from time to time.

Geri:  Do you have a favorite subject matter that you like to shoot?

Christian:  No, I don't - I often steal what I see when I see it, except when my son and I decide to do some trespassing. I keep the habit of moving for shooting which is why most of my pics are landscapes or seasides. Funny when I think my first photos on IG and Flickr where two or three nudes of women! I deleted them one week after posting them after I read the comments. Anyway, I'm not so comfortable with shooting people. I mean, I do it, but portraits are complicated to me. 

Geri:  Do you use the native camera app to shoot?  If not, which do you prefer? 

Christian:  Most of the time I do use the native cam. I also tried Camera+ a couple of times and I happen to shoot with PureShot when I want some raw format.

Geri:  Your black and white tones are some of the best I've seen.  What apps do you use to process your images? 

Christian: Thank you so much. I usually use Snapseed and Filterstorm to work on my photos, but I always try to figure out before shooting what the light is going to bring me at the moment. Sometimes it seems like a lifetime, but other times I also shoot in such haste that I have to work a lot on the original shot. This was the case with the man on the bicycle, passing my brother's car on the left side. I wasn't so sure of the result.

Geri:  Have you ever exhibited your work?  If not, any plans to do so?

Christian:  I haven't so far. I have received some invitations to do so or to publish, but I still don't feel ready for that. I sometimes think I still have to improve, to give more strength to my shots, see how far I can push the limits of shooting and editing with an iPhone. I still don't want to use a DSLR. It is also very personal - I guess I will exhibit my photos after I meet someone I can share the intimacy of my work with. By the way, I still haven't done any official collaboration work. I have thought about it several times and I certainly will do it too, one of these days. I'm sort of a wild man, you know! 

Geri:  Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Christian:  I want to thank you for this interview that gave me the opportunity to know a little bit more of the real artist you are, Geri. Very proud of your support. And I also want to thank all my talented friends on Instagram, iphoneart, EyeEm and Flickr for their love and support. They constantly bring so much to me. I've been learning so much from each of you guys! 

Find Christian:  Instagram / EyeEm / Flickr / iphoneart

All images in this feature are copyrighted property of Christian Mondot published on Art of Mob with the consent of the artist. 

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The Whole Story - Photo by Peter Bryenton

Timing is everything.  For those of us who love photography, we are familiar with the act of waiting it out to get the perfect shot.  Read The Whole Story to learn more about Peter Bryenton and his dedication to his craft. Befriending Peter through Instagram has really enhanced my life - he is so knowledgeable on so many subjects I find myself googling what he comments about just to learn more!

Interested in submitting a smartphone photo of your own for a chance to be featured? Get more information here. 

The Photograph

The Whole Story by Peter Bryenton

SMART PHONE CAMERA

I practically always carry my smartphone with me, using its camera at any opportunity as a scratchpad or a notebook, trying out ideas, seeing what works and what doesn't. It's a really great way to keep my "eye for a picture" in good health. I compose at the taking stage, a technique endorsed by British master photographer John Blakemore, who once told me in one of his master classes "Use what the camera gives you, Peter". It was excellent advice which broke my almost compulsive approach to over-cropping my prints (which habit had actually been editing out many subtle and worthwhile details). Another influential mentor, British darkroom guru and fine monochrome worker Les MacLean stopped me "taking" photos and started me "making" pictures. There's a world of difference between the two.

THE BOOT

This image was made during  a ten-minute wait while my partner Jane was shopping. I sat on a bench in a busy arcade, observing how the feet of approaching passers-by landed, momentarily stationary on the floor tiles, level with me, before moving past. I thought it would be interesting to see how I could convey an impression this complex motion in a single picture (video wouldn't have done so) by using an app called SlowShutter, which simulates a long exposure time (i.e. a slow shutter speed). I chose settings which suited both the pace of the movement and the low available light levels. I compensated for the time delay (lag) in the iPhone camera's "shutter mechanism" by visually fixing a point just out of frame, chosen so that when a person arrived there, releasing the taking button would eventually capture their foot when it landed where I predicted.

I made several manual exposures, reviewing each one, before luck placed this boot correctly for me. As Minor White once famously said "No matter how slow the film, Spirit always stands still long enough for the photographer it has chosen.” Louis Pasteur said that chance favours the prepared mind. You get the idea: make your own luck.

I edited the final version on my iPad because I prefer its larger screen. I used my go-to picture quality editor (Snapseed) to "pull up" the underexposed and low-contrast camera original. Finally I chose to remove the colour, because I felt that the wide range of random brown hues in the marble flooring was overwhelming the black boot.

The Photographer

Peter Bryenton - I've played with light and lenses ever since I was a small boy. Light and the way it behaves fascinates, surprises and delights me so much that I've chosen to be a photographer for over 50 years.

My life-long passion for photography has earned me professional qualifications. I studied the subject in depth for three years Art College, where I was a technically competent but artistically impoverished student, outshone by some  really talented people. I hadn't then discovered the artist within me. But my love of the medium gained me entry to jobs in print labs, darkrooms and studios. It furthered a completely absorbing career in BBC Television (specialising in lighting). It rewarded me with a gold medal for portraiture from the Photographic Association of Great Britain. It produced a winner in a Kodak Print Salon and, above everything else, photography has always provided me with a reliable focus (literally) for that essential balance in life between work and play. My most rewarding and successful recent photographic challenge has been teaching photography to blind children, but that's another story.

As a boy I used to read classic Science Fiction stories about heroes who used handheld communications devices. Now, that old fiction has become fact, and I think smartphones are unbelievably brilliant picture-making tools. I am in constant awe of the latest technology, where mobile devices and low-cost apps offer photographic artists seemingly endless opportunities to make pictures. I can't wait to see what's next.

Find Peter: Website / Instagram / Flickr

Painterly Mobile Art Monday - No. 13

The work submitted to the Flickr Group Painterly Mobile Art is so diverse and beautiful. A big thank you to each and every member. I wish I could feature all of your images every week. Below are just a few selections. Please visit here to see more beautiful photographic artworks all created with mobile devices!

To view more from the featured artists, click on an image.

Walking in Tallinn Square by Gerry Coe

Untitled by Maarten Oortwijn

sailing on the sea of dreams by Aldo Pacheco

Visiting Hours: Sunday 9a.m. - 5p.m. by Liz Traynor

Queen Anne's Lace by Lanie Heller

Wonder by Geri Centonze

Golden Manhattan by Yannick Brice

Lady of Dreams by Andrea Koerner

Not quite day...Not quite night by Pamela Sweda

Speak No Evil by Brent Mosley

Blind Love by Erika Brothers

Green Tree in the Green by Roland Boesiger

Orange Bouquet in Green Vase by Christianna Pierce

Magenta by Sarah Jarrett

hortus mysteriosus / God made a beatous garden by Wojtek Papaj

Frustrations by Clay

Untitled Streets of Vancouver by Michael Manza

Incombe by Ale Di Gangi

Untitled by xxfromneptune

moving by Cathrine Halsør