I love using layer masks in Photoshop, it's probably one of the most used features when I'm editing photos. When I started looking at iPad photo editing apps I wanted layer masks to feature.

Here are a few screenshots of the apps I'm now using. The above image is from an iPad app called Fotolr Photo Studio Pro HD (£1.99) - it seems to be mainly for touching up faces, but I found it could be used to add colour masks within the "photo colouring" section.

This image is from FX Photo Studio HD (£1.49) and clearly shows quite a powerful use of masking to allow 'pre-defined' special effects and filters to show through from the layer below. The main limitation here is that you are currently stuck with the filters they provide.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Here are a few screenshots from PhotoForge2 (£1.99) and this is actually the DADDY. It has the ability to add multiple layers and set their opacity as well as add fully paintable custom masks. This is the most powerful of the apps that I have seen so far.

Oh, and not forgetting ... I grabbed a cheap iPad stylus from Amazon which greatly improves accuracy when painting layer masks.

I'll post more when I learn more. 

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Here are a few photo's I took today with my SLR and imported onto the iPad for editing. I mainly used Snapseed and an app called Finishing Touch to remove the number plate.

See the full gallery on Posterous

At the moment I'm not sure if the RAW file was used or the JPEG version. I think I need to find a decent RAW importer for the iPad. I have no idea how this is going to look on a large screen, but it is still the original 3888px in width.

See the full gallery on Posterous

I'll post about the process and apps once I get to grips with it.

Sent from iPad

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Wow, things seem to be moving really fast right now - or am I just getting slow over winter? Here are some of my iPhone shots from November and December 2011. During December I started to move back towards using Instagram and started looking at objects rather than landscapes. It's probably because I'm usually at home or work and not off exploring our beautiful Country.

See the full gallery on Posterous

I still don't think you can beat Instagram for ease of use and speed in getting images onto the web when mobile. During January each Instagram cross post to Facebook started to push the full photo and created it's own Instagram album. It also looks like Foursquare has followed suit, I guess it makes it easier to use the Facebook photo tools this way and keeps everyone inside Facebook rather than linking them away.

See the full gallery on Posterous

I'm trying really hard to get back into my flickr stream but the mobile apps just aren't cutting it for me at the moment. I guess ideally I'd like to keep flickr for quality SLR or Compact camera images but it's working really well as a mobile backup for now and I'm also using the embed function to show the stream over here on the right --->

See the full gallery on Posterous

As I'm writing this, I already have a few developments that I'm going to save for the January entry. The kit has changed slightly and I'm hoping to bring higher quality images to my sharing of photography on the move workflow - stay tuned.

Related posts:

• iPhoneography Septemeber 2001
• iPhoneography August 2011
• iPhoneography July 2011
• iPhoneography June 2011
• iPhoneography April & May 2011
• iPhoneography March 2011
• All posts tagged with iPhoneography

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I figured that blogging with the iPad is going to be much faster than using the iPhone? Right now I'm frantically typing on the iPad keyboard attempting to avoid as many mistakes as possible - is it working? It's surprisingly fast!

I'm typing directly into an app called Blogsy and it's linked to Posterous. There are options to drag and drop pictures from flickr, Picasa or the camera roll (for uploading directly). You can change the formatting of the text and stuff.

This should appear as a quote

You can also edit the HTML directly and add all of your tag shizzle.

Anyway, this may be my future of mobile blogging ... we'll see :)

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Maybe it could be used a bit like Storify?

mmm, can someone buy me this? thanks - 320GB HDD TV Recorder with 3D Blu-ray Player and Twin Freeview HD Tuners amzn.to/tHYQGM

— Richard Mackney (@richardmackney) December 20, 2011

It's interesting that the twitter website is expanding all media, including Amazon product details and reviews! ... click this link to see the twitter version of the above tweet http://bit.ly/vWvxdt

Oh, Happy Christmas!

Related:

• Add Twitter to Posterous using Dropbox
• Add an Instagram RSS feed to Posterous
• Display Google Reader Shared Items in Posterous
• How to publish your RSS feed to twitter
• Custom Posterous Themes
• Why use @Posterous Autoposting
• Customising Posterous
• Things you should setup on Posterous
• Handy widgets and badges for Posterous

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Well I didn't think they could improve on the older (second generation) Three MiFi, but I was wrong!

This Huawei E586 looks like sex on a stick! don't you think? ;)

It now comes with a nice little cradle for docking the MiFi and is much faster as it uses HSPA+

Quoted speeds:

• Maximum Download Speed: Up to 21.6 Mbps
• Maximum Upload Speed: Up to 5.76 Mbps

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• 3 Months with 3GB is £84.99
• 12 months with 12GB is £134.99

I think the 12GB deal is a good option (if you can afford it) as it works much better over the year if you only use a few gig one month and nothing in other months (i.e. holiday periods).

If you need mobile broadband data every month then take a look at the MiFi contract options from Three.

I'm going to replace my slow home broadband for the 15GB per month package at £18.99

See the full gallery on Posterous

• INOV8 12v Battery Charger
• Twin USB and Twin 12v Adapter
• Powermonkey eXtreme - Mobile Power Review
• My Essential Travel Tech
• X-mini II Mini Speaker
• 6.5W Folding Solar charger MMP4
• Three MiFi Mobile WiFi
• Powertraveller Motormonkey
• Kensington battery and charger for iPhone
• HY mini Wind Turbine USB charger
• Energizer Rechargeable Solar Flip

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Related posts:

• iPhoneography October 2011
• iPhoneography Septemeber 2001
• iPhoneography August 2011
• iPhoneography July 2011
• iPhoneography June 2011
• iPhoneography April & May 2011
• iPhoneography March 2011

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My twitter bio doesn't mention my day job, I've always used twitter on a personal level rather than for business. My first twitter account was @mackney in July 2008 which I handed to my Brother 10 months later. My current @richardmackney account reads:

Sharer of thoughts and Photography from an iPhone while touring the UK in a Caravan and drinking Beer. Co-creator of @fishmedia and two small fry

So, I do mention my company Fish Media, but I'm hardly touting for business. By linking to this blog I'm able to host an 'About Me' page which mentions my background and professional history. But really, when you boil it down ...

I Do Web Sites 

And that's pretty much what I'm going to start saying when people ask from now on. Here are a few grabs of some recently designed sites ...

See the full gallery on Posterous

You might even consider asking me to 'Do a web site' for you?

Related:

• Photography for BrawnGP F1 Winners
• An idea for #smcderby
• Social Media Portal
• Avatar icon logo gravatar mii identity wee insignia emblem
• Shared Hosting and SAN Servers
• Web developer wanted in Derby

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I've just noticed this morning that Posterous has added a Zemanta tab to it's post editing area. It offers a simple drag and drop control panel to your posts allowing you to easily add images and links to your posts based on the content you have written.

Related:

• Add Twitter to Posterous using Dropbox
• Add an Instagram RSS feed to Posterous
• Display Google Reader Shared Items in Posterous
• How to publish your RSS feed to twitter
• Custom Posterous Themes
• Why use @Posterous Autoposting
• Customising Posterous
• Things you should setup on Posterous
• Handy widgets and badges for Posterous

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Shhh, it's the bloggers secret. A quick chat about Monitisation (To Monitize) your blog and a basic example of some of the earnings you can get from a few clicks.

And to see it in action ... here are a few examples of related adverts for my blog! ...

Related:

• VLOMO11 Video Blogging month
• VLOMO10 Video Blogging month

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Here is my selection of iPhone photography for October. This month I have moved away from Hipstamatic and tried to vary the styles by using different apps, effects and final photo sizes. The images produced here were edited with the following iPhone Apps:

• Camera+
• Best Camera
• AutoStitch
• Fotoffiti 
• Instagram

See the full gallery on Posterous

Related posts:

• iPhoneography Septemeber 2001
• iPhoneography August 2011
• iPhoneography July 2011
• iPhoneography June 2011
• iPhoneography April & May 2011
• iPhoneography March 2011
• All posts tagged with iPhoneography

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It's November and that means it's Video Blogging Month. The idea is to post one video for each day in November and a fair number of vloggers from around the World take part. There aren't really any rules, it can be a video that wasn't necessarily shot on that day as long as it is the first time it's been uploaded to the internet. It certainly gets you thinking about what to post each day and the aim is to push yourself and enjoy it!

Due to bandwidth limitations I'll probably be using the iPhone for the shooting, editing (if any) and uploading. Using the iPhone makes it really quick and easy to publish. Iv'e added a screen grab below of the video apps I have loaded onto the phone and will be using.

I've embedded the YouTube video playlist below, so each new video should be added as I go. I'm not promising to make a video everyday, but I'll try.

View the full VLOMO11 playlist 

Related:

• VLOMO10 Video Blogging month

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In May I posted some profile snapshots and the idea was to create a range of profile snapshots when things change. I've changed my custom Posterous theme and profile skins again and this time I've gone for minimal white. I see many online identities constantly evolving and I love looking back at old profile screen-grabs to see how things have moved on. 

In May we didn't have Google Plus, but we were starting to see the Google profile page giving hints of things to come. We're now seeing most sites using a navigation/information bar at the top of the page and much more HTML5 and CSS3 slickness slidy bar type things ;)

Oh, and on the subject of CSS, keep an eye on "CSS Off" which will be a great place to see how front end developers interpret design briefs in different ways.

Related:

• Profile Snapshots - May 2011
• Social Media Portal
• about.me - a custom profile
• Facebook profile hack
• Black or White - Posterous CSS
• Avatar icon logo gravatar mii identity wee insignia emblem
• Google has found 'some' of your public pages

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I've signed into Statigram and clicked the button to email all my 'snapshots' to me. Once you have the images in your camera roll you can then post them to Instagram. Looks like I missed my Instagram Birthday by 6 days.

Here is my public profile: http://statigr.am/richardmackney

And here is a copy of the email:

----------------------------------------

All 7 snapshots of your Instagram statistics are attached to this email.

You're on your iPhone right now?

• Save the image in your library
• Open your Instagram app and share your snapshots with your community

(You can even give it your favorite filtering option! ;) )

Don't forget the #statigram, we like to follow our users.

See you soon on Statigr.am

----------------------------------------

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The caravan has been put away for the winter so I decided to try and use my 50W solar panel for something at home.

First thoughts were based around a test project to see if a 50W panel could be used to keep all my tech charged during winter in the UK. But then my thoughts turned to my current electricity usage and I started thinking what would be the best use of the Sun's power on a daily basis.

I've decided to rig the panel in the garage and power an external night light that is on from dusk till dawn. Currently the light uses an 11W CF bulb but I'm planning to switch it to a 3W LED bulb running on 12 volts.

I've rigged the solar controller to two batteries in the boot of the Mini! and this provides a charge to the batteries but also has a dedicated regulated 12v output for connection to the lighting system. The controller will not overcharge the batteries and will shut down the output if the battery level is too low. The batteries also let me start the Mini up every two weeks.

Stay tuned for results, I'll post about the power generation and nightly usage as I learn more about the system. I'll also post links to the items when I get off the iPhone!

• HQRP 10A Solar Panel Battery Charge Controller / Regulator

(Sent from iPhone)

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We sleep half our lives. We need a good night of sleep to function efficiently. With this in mind, surely we should be ensuring we have the right equipment to allow us to maximise our time asleep?

We spend a lot of money on the things we use during the day and now it's time to start 'investing' in a good night's sleep. So here is a video I shot on the iPhone today showing the 'Sleep Technology' that Baavet have to offer ...

Make sure you visit their website http://www.baavet.co.uk

(Sent from iPhone)

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The show is THE place to go to see the full range of caravans and motorhomes available in the UK and gives you a chance to look inside at all the layout and design options. Technology also plays a big role at the show with stands demonstrating the latest solar panels, batteries, navigation and entertainment systems - it really is the place to go to see what's new in the world of mobile living.

You now have five days left to visit :)

See the full gallery on Posterous

Related:

• Caravan & Motorhome Show 2010
• Caravan & Motorhome Show 2009
• Caravan & Motorhome Show 2008
• 6.5W Folding Solar charger MMP4
• Caravan Energy Systems
• Touring Caravan Freeview Reception

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See the full gallery on Posterous

Today was an inset day (IN-SErvice Training day) so we took the kids to Splash Landings ... what a place! I've went to the hotel when it first opened as a company 'day' but I don't think the pool was there.

It was quite surreal ordering a beer and sitting outside on a deckchair in just my swimming shorts in October.

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Today we took the kids for a picnic on the top (in hot weather in October!) and I showed them our old routes and helped them with some basic bouldering.

See the full gallery on Posterous

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Here's a quick 'What's In Your Bag?' update. As usuall check out the photo on flickr to view the notes over each item (and of course the popular flickr group).

A few things have changed recently, mainly that I've decided to carry a compact travel camera (a 40th present) with GPS for logging locations for my Google Earth Panoramio account and that means extra power and chargers required. Everything can actually be charged via the eXtreme 5v battery but a 12 volt source is usually available (car, caravan) so ultimately everything is geared up to use a 12v current.

I've linked the items to further information ...

• Troop Messenger Bag (iPad size)
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ10
• INOV8 12v Battery Charger
• Three MiFi
• Powermonkey eXtreme battery
• iPhone 4
• Twin USB and Twin 12v Adapter
• Powertraveller Motormonkey
• Cables and Monkeynuts 

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