Clouds Rolling in over the Beach

A pleasing beachscape/seascape created by Mother Nature…

…and captured with an iPhone 12. Clouds rolling in over the beach in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina create a soothing beachscape. But this could be a scene at many beaches around the world – all it takes is the right mix of beach, beach grasses, sea and sky. Well, maybe a bit of old fencing to add a bit of character, right?

Clouds Rolling In Over The Ocean
Clouds Rolling In Over The Beach

Of course YOU need to be there with a camera in your hand. Or in the case of iPhone users, in a pocket. It does take more than just having the camera – you also need an eye for pleasing composition. This image has depth, soft colors but, yet, a dramatic sky. There is also an interesting foreground with the seagrass and bushes and that one item of focus the short stretch of fencing. It all comes together in the final result. Don’t you think?

Key Words to use when identifying an image such as this: Cloud, Plant, Sky, beach, ocean, sea, clouds, cloudy sky, myrtle beach, atlantic ocean, south carolina, sc, nature, water, sky, wave, travel, landscape, sun, sand, tropical, beautiful, cloud, blue, coast, beauty, outdoor, vacation, horizon, paradise, tourism, scenic, holiday, resort, surf, seascape, sunlight, relax, natural, relaxation, day, white, sunset, shore, view, sunshine, light, scene, coastline, weather, bill swartwout, uspictures, us pictures

It’s Not the Camera or Lens

It’s understanding the subject, the light and how to capture it…

Just a thought for today – that will gather more substance as it rolls downhill. Just as breakfast provides a nutritional start to one’s day, understanding the fundamentals of photography as an art form is the basis of capturing great images. That knowledge transcends all the fancy equipment money can buy.

My Camera Phone and Me

by contributing Scotland-based artist, Douglas Brown

As an Edinburgh Black Cab driver I travel to and around my beautiful city on a daily basis. I’m always on the look out, very aware of my surroundings, you have to be in my line of work, especially for other road users including cyclists, pot holes and general not-paying-attention-pedestrians. You could say I have an eye for the unexpected.

The joys of my day job though mean my eyes are not only focused on the happenings that could cost me money, but also on what’s happening around me that could earn me some extra money.

Pentland Hills Penicuik Scotland

My main passion out-with the day job is Art, Design and Photography – iPhone photography and digital art to be exact. Guess what, I can do both using my iPhone!

I always upgrade my iPhone, mainly every two years with the exception of my recent upgrade from an 11 Pro Max to the 12 Pro Max. Why? Simple, the iPhone 12 Pro Max offers significant camera improvement and especially the new ProRaw feature which allows me to shoot and create RAW files.

Botanical Scenic View from Madeira

The benefit of shooting in RAW is at least 10 times better than shooting in JPEG (.jpg), especially when editing to not only create great sellable photos, but also to create great sellable digital art. With RAW you can edit, save, edit, save as many times as you wish and your original shot will not lose any of its original resolution.

My Camera iPhone and I have a special relationship that I value. I didn’t buy it for the phone, any cheap cellphone can make a phone call. I buy and upgrade my cellphone to take and create beautiful art, photographs and digital art. Most of the offerings on my website, Two Ice Art & Design (https://twoiceartanddesign.pixels.com) have at some stage passed through the many editing apps that I use to create my offerings. The upload from the latest iPhones to my website is always in 4k, which then delivers to the printers of my products the best and highly acceptable image quality so Fine Art America can deliver those museum quality canvas prints that they promise to you, the buyer.

Link to: Edinburgh and Beyond in Color
Link to: Color & Abstracts

Douglas Brown Scotland-based Artist

Thank you for taking the time to read. Hopefully you will see the value of what you have in your pocket – and when that special moment happens that catches your eye – you will with confidence be able to pull that cellphone out and capture the moment.

Regards,
Douglas Brown
Two Ice Art & Design

Featured Breakfast with Camera at Hand

Berries and Grain bring a healthy start to your day.


Maybe not the breakfast of champions but these blueberries with shredded wheat in milk photograph was actually featured in two theme-specific Art Groups at Fine Art America.
One group featuring my breakfast composition is “Pretty in Pink Blue or Purple.” The other was in a group with a wider focus, called “Images That Excite You.”

“Berries and Grain” photograph captured with an iPhone 12.

Once again, the saying holds true that the “best camera to have is the one you have with you.” The natural, indirect lighting coming in the window to the left brought this simple (still life?) arrangement of fresh blueberries to my attention. The light and composition surely would have changed had I taken time to fetch my “more-pro-style” camera gear, set it up and try to capture this shot. The focus on the large, perfect blueberry and the soft bokeh of the background frosted mini-wheats could not have been rendered any better (even with a few more pixels in the sensor) than with my iPhone 12. The image, even though cropped, will yield a beautiful Kitchen Décor piece up to 24″ x 30″ in size. I also looks interesting (wonderful) as a throw pillow for a kitchen chair or even printed on a coffee mug for that hot cup of breakfast coffee.

Or, just imagine how challenging this image might be on a jigsaw puzzle. That is, if you are a true fan of “different” puzzle photographs.

Link to view all products and/or shop: https://bill.pixels.com/featured/berries-and-grain-bill-swartwout-photography.html

Please feel free to leave a comment below about your experiences with your cell phone camera for creating photographic art.