I can’t count the number of times I’ve passed this pink elephant on US-41 just South of Hopkinsville, Ky and thought to myself, I need to stop and get some sort of a picture, but till today, never have. This is actually one of two along this stretch of road, with the other at a convenience store just outside of Guthrie, Ky about 15 miles farther down the road. The latter is a bit older and a little more cluttered than I like so this younger one won out for my interesting iPhone photo of the day for my year-long photo challenge.

Photo was shot with the built-in camera app on my iPhone 4s and post processed first in the Snapseed app to boost the colors and for a square crop and the final effect was applied with the ShakeItPhoto app.

I’ve been retired, more or less, for just about 8-months now and one of the greatest joys I have these days is the ability to photograph the things I want to and not have to worry about adhering to someone else’s desires or needs. Don’t get me wrong, I have always enjoyed my job, but as with most things in life there have been moments I would have rather not been shooting pictures. Talk to my past Editor, Don Perryman, and he’ll be the first to tell you how much I enjoyed shooting basketball mugs!

I do miss the newsroom and the people, just like I missed the Air Force and the people I left behind when I retired. Right now it’s all about catching those fleeting moments of my newest nieces and nephews in the process of growing up. I missed a lot of that with their parents as most of them did so while I was traveling the world shooting pictures. Don’t get me wrong, I loved what I did then and the travel, but now it’s all about the kids, and the things I want to photograph, such as this shot of Damion today at lunch.

Shot with the built-in iPhone 4s camera and post processed in Photoshop CS6.

This old coke sign is on the side of a building in downtown Madisonville, Ky and myself as well as others from our local photography club have all photographed it from time to time. This morning I decided I wanted a photo of something that had shadows and interesting lines and I ended up here and used the corner of the building to actually end up making two photos in one.

Photo was shot and processed using the HDRPro App on the iPhone 4s.

Tonight’s photo is the early morning sun obscured by gathering clouds over a swampy area that I pass through every time I’m headed to or from home. I’d really like to do a bit more shooting here, but there’s no place to stop or really park on either side of the road for quite a distance. I made sure there was nothing coming in either direction before shooting this one as I stopped the car in the road and shot from the window. Don’t normally recommend doing your shooting this way, but I really liked the scene and clouds. I guess I’ll have to park and walk to this spot during the spring.

Photo was shot with the built-in iPhone and processed with Snapseed.

After doing some grocery shopping at Ft. Campbell, Ky I stopped by the Aircraft Displays behind the commissary and caught this shot of a helicopter gunship on display there. I really like the way the Hipstamatic Tintype Film and Lens combo helped to make the photo look “Metal” which I thought worked out really well with the subject matter of the picture.

I did do some post processing in Photoshop CS6 with the Topaz Adjust filter which helped to bring out the metal look in the photo.

As I was setting today at lunch with members of the local photography club I spotted this scene right across from our table and knew I had my picture for the day. I love the graphic design and reflections on the shade of the lamp from other light sources in the restaurant. It only took about 4 exposures before I had the picture I wanted. You should always keep your eyes open for the pictures that are right in front of you as you never know when they’ll pop out at you. It also pays to always have a camera of some sort with you!

Shot with the HDRPro App on the iPhone 4S with some slight post processing in Photoshop CS6.

I love old things, buildings, machines or what ever and this place in Manitou, Ky caught my eye today. I love the contradiction on the sign of the old store, that’s been closed for sometime. I’m not sure there is such a thing as a New Antique, but what ever works. I also think American Pickers would enjoy a stop here as well.

Shot with the iPhone 4S with the built-in camera and processed using the Snapseed App.

When photographing small children it makes for a better picture if you get down on their level, as I did with my great-niece Stephanie and great-great niece Elaina today at church. Elaina is in the process of cutting a few new teeth and was restless so Stephanie brought her out to the lobby for awhile during the sermon, where I was. They sat there quietly for awhile as I watched and shot a few pictures from my seat till I decided I needed to move in closer and get down to their level. This was the first photo of three exposures I got off before she got distracted. With small children you really need to be quick and have a lot of patience to get good pictures.

Shot with the built-in iPhone Camera and post processed with the Snapseed App.

I love it when I find something to photograph that just seems to be out of place in the general order of things and this lifeguard stand was one of those times. I went to Pennyrile State Resort Park to shoot a small waterfall and the ice and also found this lifeguard stand still sitting at the beach with all the snow and ice surrounding it and that along with the shadow from the sun just made it too nice a graphic to pass up.

Shot with the iPhone 4S using the Hipstamatic App. Some post processing was done in Photoshop CS6 and with the Topaz Filter set.

A different perspective sometimes is staring you right in the face! I’ve photographed my niece Elaina many times before as she played in her seat with all the toys surrounding her, but until today I never even thought about shooting through the swinging toys as she played with them till today. When I got down low I could see her face between the toys as she played with them and I knew that the slow shutter speed of the iPhone indoors would cause a lot of blurring. I shot a lot of pictures to get a few where the placement of the toys and her face visible and fairly sharp, but it was worth it.

Photo was shot with the built-in camera on the iPhone with post processing done in Photoshop CS6 using Topaz Adjust.

Photo tip: Did you know that on most camera apps on the iPhone that if you hold down the shutter button the camera will keep shooting pictures till you let go? A motor drive on the iPhone!

I was working on photographing these mailboxes at our local mall here in Madisonville, Ky and captured this shot of my brother, Dannye Pearson, on his daily exercise there. I had liked the design of the mailboxes against the wall with the solid stripes along the bottom of the photo, but I felt it was a bit static for my liking when out of the blue my brother walks by! The iPhone used just a slow enough shutter speed to where I got a slight blur and I had the picture.

When you find a scene you like and it’s not quite what you want because the conditions aren’t right or there’s something missing, be patient and wait, or visit at a different time, because sometimes that’s what you have to do to get the shot.

Photo was shot with the iPhone’s standard camera and post processed in Photoshop using the Topaz Adjust filters.

I’ve been working on a ongoing series of photographs that I’ve labeled “Machines” that I find in my many travels around the country so anytime I come across one that is interesting to me I capture it.

This is an old Maintenance of Way vehicle for the CSX railroad that was sitting in a siding in Hanson, Ky today and I liked the rustic look of it. I find it very rewarding to work on a personal photography series. Is there something that you’re passionate about in your life that you can photograph no matter where you are that you could work into a series? Go for it!

Photo was shot with my iPhone using the Hipstamatic with the Tintype Film Pak.

Not sure just why this photo appeals to me, but It’s my favorite of the day! I was leaving a local restaurant after myself and several members of the local photography club had met for lunch, when I spotted these two portable vendor food wagons sitting out in a snowy lot, waiting for summer. The one on the right sells snow cones and while you may not be able to tell that from this vantage point, most locals will recognize it. I guess the green hut with a snow cone on it in the middle of the snowy field is what drew me to the picture. I love the dreamy look and roughness of the photo.

Photo was shot with the Hipstamatic camera using the Tintype color film and lens combo. Post processing was done in Photoshop.

Today I drove over 500 miles to take pictures of my newest great-great niece, Journey and her mom Tracy. The miles and hours were long, but the pictures I got on the day of her birth made it all worthwhile! This shot of Journey being held by her mom Tracy is my one of my favorite iPhone shots I did on the visit to celebrate her birth. I shot many others of course with my D800, but this one and several others done with the iPhone I really like!

For the family members that are wondering, I’ve  edited the pictures down to 79 and will finish editing tomorrow and post them to my Facebook Photography Page.

Photo shot with the standard iPhone App and processed through Snapseed.

At a year and a half my nephew Damion is becoming more articulate and one of his favorite responses these past few days is no, no, no! It cracks me up and I have been trying to capture some sort of photo that I think illustrates him saying the phrase. Today’s picture pretty much sums it up I think! We were at a local restaurant after church and he was enjoying his favorites, grilled cheese and fries, when I asked him something while I was taking pictures of him with my phone, he answered with the no, no, no phrase and was swaying back and forth as he said it. I don’t even remember what I asked him, but for me this shot of him half hidden behind his sippy cup and his ears covered along with his expression, just makes me smile!

Photo was shot with my iPhone 4S with the standard camera in the square format. Post processing was done in Photoshop.

I may have found one of my new favorite film and lens combination for the Hipstamatic App. This is a shot of one of my favorite trees at the Madisonville City Park from this morning. I went there with the hopes that we’d have another beautiful sunny day, but the snow had other plans. I wanted this tree with the early morning orange sun reflecting on the ice that covered it’s branches. However, things don’t always go as planned and I’m very pleased with this picture, even if it isn’t what I had planned.

As I was waiting to see if I was going to get any type of a glow from the sunrise I was looking through the Hipstamatic Store and saw that they have came out with a film and lens combination called the Tintype SnapPak and I’ve always been fond of tintypes so I decided to give it a try. The combination simulates the old process from the early days of photography and I love the look it created with this photo. Nothing extra was done to the photo after it was taken and processed in Hipstamatic.

Shot with the Hipstamatic App with the Tinto 1884 Lens and the D-Type Plate Film.

I loved the look of Damion’s snowman that we built earlier in the week in the front yard. The shadows really help to add depth to the photo and the simplicity of the scene just drew me to it.

Many times you can strengthen your pictures just by keeping the scene simple. When shooting your pictures, if something doesn’t contribute to what you want your picture to say, then remove it by changing your angle or viewpoint. It’s much easier to do it when your shooting your picture than afterwards in Photoshop.

Photo was shot using the ShakeItPhoto App on the iPhone 4S.