The theme for the last Mobiography smartphone photo challenge was one of my favourite compositional techniques, ‘Negative Space’. For this challenge the Mobiography community were asked to share their best photos that used negative space and simple, uncluttered compositions. Here is a small selection of photos that were tagged for this challenge.
Featured photographers this week include: @chasread, @pennijam, @alice1280, @sunflowerof21, @jessica_fiore_photographie, @jawdoc2, @itisi_siru, @kristinspinder, @allophile_, @detailsofberlin, and @plantmyheart_
Take part in the next Mobiography photo challenge
The theme of this week’s photo challenge is ‘People Portraits’. For this challenge think about sharing your best mobile photos of people portraits. Think posed portraits, candid street portraits, or people just going about their day or doing strange things.
To enter the challenge simply start sharing your best images on the theme of ‘People Portraits’ that were taken and edited with a smartphone by using the hashtag #mobiography_challenge_132 on Instagram.
The best ones will be featured in the next photo challenge showcase, so get sharing now.
Join The Mobiography Facebook GroupDeep conic
‘Deep conic’ by @chasread – “Usually, in this space (Fulton Center, NYC), photographers orient themselves up towards a stunning, prismatic skylight. And typically, commuters and pedestrians fill the surfaces of these concourses – so it was good fortune to find an almost-empty scene to shoot here one Sunday morning, with gorgeous light and soft shadows illuminating the space.
Shot with iPhone 6s and edited in Snapseed, including use of ‘Crop’, ‘Hide’, ‘Extend’ and ‘Vignette’ tools to focus the light a bit and extend the image at the top of the frame to a full 5:4 aspect ratio for posting on Instagram and to add to – and highlight – the geometry and the emptiness. ”
Misty morning beach joggers
‘Misty morning beach joggers‘ by @pennijam – “This photo was taken at dawn on a misty day at Sunshine Beach in Queensland, Australia. Despite the gloomy weather many people were exercising on the beach. Just after I took this photo I got drenched! The photo was taken on an iPhone 11 Pro Max with a filter applied in the ColorStory app.”
Sunrise
‘Sunrise‘ by @alice1280 – “In winter the sun moves to rise at the end of the beach. I have been going into the dunes to look for shapes and shadows. On this morning there were no clouds. It is worth getting there in time for sunrise. The light is gentler. I edited the picture in Snapseed and aimed to eliminate all but the shapes, shadows and patterns. Converting to black and white helped to achieve that. No clouds made it easy to white out the sky.”
Stephen
‘Stephen‘ by @sunflowerof21 – “This #shotoniphone photo is of my husband diving into a swimming pool in Rhodes, Greece. The scene within the frame was quite minimalist originally, but I wanted to isolate my husband and the tree. So to create more effective negative space around them, I used Union App to replace the background. I then took the image into TouchRetouch to remove the small reflections in the water of those elements which were no longer left the image. Then I applied the ‘Dreamy’ film in Hipstamatic.”
Untitled
‘Untitled‘ by @jessica_fiore_photographie – “This picture was taken with an iPhone 8 Plus. I was walking in my neighborhood, always looking for minimalistic shots. I also like black and white photography a lot. So, when I saw a white wall and two lonely flowers standing in front of it, the set up was perfect! I took the shot and then I edited it with Snapseed. Since the composition and the colors where already good, the result was outstanding!”
Captured
‘Captured‘ by @jawdoc2 – “I was ambling across this overhead pedestrian walkway in Vancouver. Looking down from above, I noticed this perfectly framed space. There were people milling around, and then one stopped in the middle to create a perfect shadow. I also liked his red shirt that popped against the surrounding muted colours. All the negative space framed the figure perfectly.”
Untitled
‘Untitled‘ by @itisi_siru – “This photo was inspired by my interest in Japanese art and architecture. The metal ‘gateway’ jutting through the lake ice reminded me of a Shinto torii marking the transition from the mundane to the sacred. I used Photoshop Express on my iPhone to process the image being sure to keep the saturation and contrast on the low side to enhance the minimalist style of the photo.”
Untitled
‘Untitled‘ by @kristinspinder – “It had just rained, and I enjoy catching photos of little raindrops clinging to plants, so I eagerly went outside to enjoy my favorite pastime. I found these fantastic moments in water droplets on blades of grass as they clung for dear life to the sides, edges, and ends. I found this little drop balancing precariously on the very tip of a blade of grass. The challenge was holding the phone steady and getting close enough, but yet not bumping the grass and ruining the shot. I used the fabulous Moment x10 macro lens, and it requires that you get within an inch of your subject. Luckily, in the grass, I could rest my elbows on the ground. After minimal edits to the exposure in the native camera app, I was pleased with my shot.”
Even the desert oasis wildflowers seem to echo what’s on our minds
‘Even the desert oasis wildflowers seem to echo what’s on our minds‘ by @allophile_ – “This is the bloom of a ‘button bush,’— aptly named, but with the events of 2020. I can’t help but see the resemblance between this flower and the ever-present images of the virus that causes covid-19. It grows down by the creek in a nearby canyon—truly an oasis in the southern Arizona desert. I was on a morning run back in the spring when I stopped to take a few photos of this particular bush. Sometimes, in nature, instead of clearing one’s mind, you can’t help but be reminded of everything else going on.
I took this with my iPhone X. I converted it to black and white with snapseed, which I also used to progressively darken the background, (which was already in deep shade), ending up with what looks more like studio lighting.”
Untitled
‘Untitled‘ by @detailsofberlin – “This lookup is a very famous one in Berlin, Germany. I finally visited it with an Instawalk, back then when we could still do it way before we even knew COVID-19 existed. I was shot on my iPhone X and edited with Enlight and VSCO.”
Resilience
‘Resilience‘ by @plantmyheart_ – “At first, it was the bold, blue wall that caught my attention, but what interested me, and kept my attention, was the tension in the cousins’ arms and the ambiguity of their grip. Were they being pulled apart, but hanging on to each other? Or was one running away from the other, who was holding on even more tightly? There is more ambivalence there than just two girls holding hands.
I haven’t seen my sister in months, and this forced separation due to COVID-19 has added another layer of poignancy to this family photograph for me.
The photo taken on my Samsung 10e mobile phone, and cropped and edited using the Instagram editing tools. Minimal edits, mostly just deepening the blue and adding a faint vignette to draw more attention to the girl’s connected hands.”
Don’t forget…
The theme of this week’s photo challenge is ‘People Portraits’. For this challenge think about sharing your best mobile photos of people portraits. Think posed portraits, candid street portraits, or people just going about their day or doing strange things.
To enter the challenge simply start sharing your best images on the theme of ‘People Portraits’ that were taken and edited with a smartphone by using the hashtag #mobiography_challenge_132 on Instagram.
The best ones will be featured in the next photo challenge showcase, so get sharing now.
Join the Mobiography Facebook Group
If you haven’t already done so, follow Mobiography on Instagram and hashtag your photos with #mobiography. Don’t forget to sign up to the Mobiography email list to get the latest news and updates direct to your inbox.
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