I met people who restore old tools, old engines and old cars. I took my new 70-200mm lens along with me and shot people at distance. Money well spent. Here's the gallery.

It took 45 minutes to find somewhere to park and then what seemed like another 45 to make my way to Cottesloe beach on Saturday evening. Well worth the effort though. All I need is to feel that some of the images I take look cool to me. And I have about a dozen that do just that, from two visits to the beach exhibition this past week. I will be adding them to the gallery.

I've gone back to one of the first editing workflows that I found I loved. I've used five apps in the edit. This is the final image. I liked the leading lines in it and loved the subject.

Here's my original image, shot surreptitiously, with the Burst Mode app on iPhone 5. I needed to straighten and crop the image and then see where it led me.

There's still a few distracting elements at the side. I did the cropping and straightening with Snapseed.

Still in Snapseed, I've used the selective adjust menu to add an adjustment spot on his face and increase the brightness in that area and on his arms. I've removed the hat and filled in the little bright area on the right of the image, using ReTouch.

Next, an overall brightness increase, with Snapseed.

Next, I ran the previous image through the 'Lithograph' function in Painteresque. Painteresque can be a bit hit or miss, but I liked what it did to this image.

Next, I superimposed the Painteresque version with the Snapseed version, using Superimpose. I've also added a vignette, using Snapseed.

Finally, I imported the image into Oggl. I selected the Ray Mark II lens and Rasputin film.

The past week has been all about Oggl. I resisted getting really involved for ages, chiefly because I couldn't navigate around the app without repeating the same mistakes. I also found the seemingly endless lens and film combinations a bit too random for a brain that needs order. Nevertheless, I applied myself and now have a useful set of favourite combinations. I know my way around and I've been pleased to see that what I post gets looked at.
Some of this week's fun;

This is a DSLR shot processed firstly in Lightroom and then Oggl. Same for the images below.

Last weekend, I tried shooting food. What I ended up with was harsh, unappealing images. Jamie Oliver's photographer I am not. This weekend started with the purchase of a dragonfruit, photos thereof, followed by onions, tomatoes and grapes, which I shot using my iPhocus macro lens. They really weren't too bad.

I was awarded a silver in the "Nature' category for this image. I went back to the original iPhone shot and re-edited it, using Lightroom. I got a compliment on the composition, which is pleasing because I did place the snail very deliberately, using rule of thirds.

I like a challenge and I like photography. Consequently, I totally get into photographic challenges. The ones set for the abstract photographers at my photo club are particularly fun, as they often involve me going places I've never been before, without having to step outside.
"An image in the style of Barnett Newman" was the instruction. I'd never heard of him before, but I know of his work now and I really like it. I haven't achieved an image in his style yet, but I do rather like what I produced here. Both the final colour image ("Zip 1") and the Oggl afterthought image ("Zip 2").

I started with a blank canvas and painted onto it with colours that were reasonably close to what I wanted for the background. I used Photo Viva for this.

Waterlogue is an app I've never used before. I ran the previous image through the "travelogue" preset.

Now, I am messing around with the 'artist' tab in the Brushes section in iColorama. I think I also blurred the image just slightly in BlurFX, as I wanted the iColorama paint "strokes" to be just a little less distinct.

I had taken a number of photos of just about every zip I could find in the house. The plastic ones abounded, but they're no good. Only the metal ones stand out. I used Superimpose to lay one zip onto the previous image. I masked out the material from alongside the zip and also used the blur function to sink the zip into the background. I knew I wanted subsequent zips to stand out progressively more, in order to create an illusion of depth, which is a hallmark of some of Barnett Newman's impressionist paintings. I've also taken it back into iColorama to add some more 'brushwork', to further place the zip into the background.

Now, I've superimposed another zip. Well, actually it's the same zip, turned upside down. I want this zip to look a little closer to the viewer, so there's very little blur added to it. I have added a little more brushwork in iColorama too, as this zip is not going to be in the foreground. Why did I place the zips where I did? They looked better against the blue than against the green.

I have added a splash over the second zip with iColorama, just to keep it in the middle ground; closer than the first zip, but further away than the next one.

Another (different) zip goes in, using Superimpose. I am thinking about balance in the image now, which is why it felt like it had to go where I put it. Now, I'm thinking I need a fourth zip though.

There's no image 8. I just can't count. The last zip is in. I don't think the vertical lines are very well balanced, but I do like the depth that the zips are bringing to the image.

Next, I have very painstakingly masked out the bits inbetween the teeth of the zip, so the background colour can be seen. Definitely worth the effort. I am basically finished with composing the image, now it just needs finishingoff, which I usually do in Snapseed.

But I didn't use Snapseed this time. I played around with Pixlromatic, using one of the colour filters ('Hagrid') and one of the masks ('Above'), which seemed to add some further depth to the image. And that was it. This is "Zips 1".

Something told me to try a square crop, and try it in Oggl. This is that crop, which uses theLowy lens and BlacKeys Supergrain film.

I just can't help myself now. "Wonder what it looks like turned sideways?". Did that in Snapseed and also turned the temperature right up, to get the sepia look. It now looks like some kind of weird desert scene with....er....zips. I think it looks really cool.

Another bedtime with a fried brain, but well worth the two and half hours I spent on this. I have created a further problem. Which one to submit. I thought the colour version was a significant step forward from the first go, but I just couldn't help myself. I put it through Oggl and then Snapseed to arrive at version 2, which I prefer...today.

I awoke at dawn and couldn't get back to sleep. I'd been thinking about a recent Mobitog challenge that I'd read about last week, so I decided to go down to the river, with Hipstamatic. Two or three nice shots. And there may be one or two birdy shots on the 7D, but they can wait.

Can't say I liked the combo I chose. The Yoona lens may be worth another go, but I don't like the texture in the Blanko Squiggle film. The native iPhone shots that were put through Oggl were much more satisfying.

Shane + Toni. Lowy + Rasputin.

Taking it very seriously. Melodie + BlackKeys Supergrain.

The camera club has set its challenge for March. A harder one than February, partly because I'm starting completely from scratch. I shot every zip I could find this afternoon. Finished the first attempt very late in the evening and got myself completely wired in the process. That's addiction.