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A Day In The Life Of Lola Mitchell – The Most Incredible Composite Mobile Photographer

Welcome to our very exciting column on theappwhisperer.com. This section entitled ‘A day in the life of …’ and this is where we take a look at some hugely influential, interesting and accomplished individuals in the mobile photography world. People that we think you will love to learn more about.

This is our sixty seventh installment of the series, if you have missed our previous interviews, please go here. Today, we are featuring Lola Mitchell. Lola says she discovered iPhone photography shortly after getting her first iPhone a year and a half ago. Her love of photography started early, thanks to her father who was a professional photographer – Jorge Damonte. Through him, Lola learnt about other photographers and artists. He taught her the ropes and she dabbled in the darkroom. Lola explains that she always took photographs but never felt the urge to share or do anything further with them, that all changed with the iPhone.

Lola’s career, pre-kids was in production of documentary television and once she had kids she kept on taking photos and the iPhone gave her an outlet for more artistic montages. Lola’s work has been featured on many popular mobile photography sites and on Instagram her images were featured by @moible artistry and @wearejuxt. More recently, Lola’s images were displayed at the Los Angeles Mobile Arts Festival.

Read more about Lola in the following interview. You can find all the links to the apps mentioned at the end of this article.

(If you would like to be interviewed for our new ‘A day in the life of …’ section, just send an email to Joanne@theappwhisperer.com, and we’ll get it set up.)

 

First Things First

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© Lola Mitchell – ‘A Cloudy Day’ – Camera+, Rainy Daze, Dramatic B&W

 

Joanne – Let’s start at the beginning of the day, how does your day start?

Lola – It starts by dressing and feeding my kids (3 and 1) Then while they watch their morning cartoon and play I check all the iPhoneography sites.

Magic Hour

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© Lola Mitchell – ‘Bluebird’ – Camera+, Artree, Superimpose, Colorlake, Rainy Daze

 

Joanne – Do you like to head out and take photographs early on?

Lola – No. Someday I will get out early and take photos. But it has not happened yet.

 

Photographer vs Mobile Photographer

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© Lola Mitchell – ‘Brilliant Encounter’ – Camera+, Hipstamatic, Rays, Superimpose, Wood Camera, Glaze, Image Blender

 

Joanne – How did the transition from traditional photographer to mobile photographer develop? (pardon the pun).

Lola – When I finally was able to get an iPhone through my cell phone carrier about one year and a half ago. I really wanted Hipstamatic. Then I started noticing my friend Sara Tune’s photos on Facebook and was blown away when I found out everything was done on her iPhone. I started reading all the iphoneography sites and reading tutorials. I started app’ing my photos last December.

 

New Apps

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© Lola Mitchell – ‘Broken Playground’ – Decim8 of same picture as “My wings”, Rainy Daze, Snapseed, Hipstamatic, Superimpose

 

Joanne – Do you like to download new apps regularly?

Lola – Yes all the time. But I usually stick to a few apps. Sometimes I discover an app that just inspires me such as Artree right now.

Updates

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© Lola Mitchell – ‘Calm’ – Artree, Camera+, Superimpose

 

Joanne – How often do you update your existing apps?

Lola – Every time there is an update available I download it.

Location, Location, Location

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© Lola Mitchell – ‘Discovery’ – Camera+, Juxtaposer, Iris, Photocopier

 

Joanne – Where’s your favorite place in the world for a shoot?

Lola – Everywhere! I think every place has great potential. I would love to travel the world. Walking and see it all. Sometimes the challenge is getting amazing photos in places that might not be that appealing at first glance.

Tools Of The Trade

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© Lola Mitchell – ‘Entree des bains et douches’ – Camera+, Superimpose, Snapseed, Image Blender

 

Joanne – Do you also use iPhone photography tool apps, such as The Photographer’s Ephemeris and if so do you use it to plan your shoots?

Lola – No. I did even know what it was until today.

Favorite Apps

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© Lola Mitchell – ‘Flying’ – Hipstamatic, Native camera, Image blender, Awesome Camera, Scratchcam

 

Joanne – What are your favorite, at the moment, iPhoneography apps?

Lola – Hipstamatic, Camera +, Snapseed, Rainy Daze, Snow Daze, Artree, Glaze and always Superimpose and Image Blender.

Sharing

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© Lola Mitchell – ‘Freedom’ – Camera+, Superimpose, Vintage

 

Joanne – Where do you like to upload your photographs? Flickr, Instagram?

Lola – Flickr, Instagram, Eyem and IPA. I also send them to PixelEx and have a Facebook page as well.

Frequency

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© Lola Mitchell – ‘Going To See The Wizard’ – Decim8 of Venetian Paris, Superimpose, Camera+, Snapseed, Alien Sky, ScratchCam

 

Joanne – Do you take photographs with your iPhone everyday?

Lola – Yes everyday. There is always something I want to record, capture and perhaps incorporate into one of my edits.

Favorite Subjects

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© Lola Mitchell – ‘Her World’ – Camera+, Hipstamatic, Superimpose, Image Blender, Snapseed, PicFx

 

Joanne – What are your favorite subjects to photograph?

Lola – Nature, people, beautiful architecture. Whatever I find beautiful.

Teaching

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© Lola Mitchell – ‘Impending Alignment’ – Camera+, Hipstamatic, Superimpose, Rainy daze, Rays, Alien Sky, Image Blender, Flowpaper

 

Joanne – How did the teaching side come along?

Lola – I do not teach but I am always open about what apps I used. If or when I remember exactly what steps I took, I am always happy to share.

Top Five Tips

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© Lola Mitchell – ‘In Plain View’ – Hipstamatic, Camera+, Superimpose, Rainy daze, Smoosh, Image Blender

 

Joanne – What are your top five tips for iPhone photography?

Lola – The ones I try myself to follow:

1. Shoot! All the time, everyday. Practice practice.
2. Experiment. With apps, with angles, with subjects, with lights…Have fun!
3. Don’t try to follow a trend. Do what you like.
4. Get inspired by the amazing artists that have been doing it.
5. Experiment more. Always always keep learning, taking photos and evolving. keep having fun with it!

Editing

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© Lola Mitchell – ‘Jelly Fish’ – Camera+, Superimpose, Rays, Snapseed, Image Blender

 

Joanne – Do you edit images on your iPhone or do you prefer to do that on a desktop/laptop?

Lola – To me that was the revolution. Suddenly I had all these possibilities in my hand and was able to edit on the go. iPhone and sometimes the iPad. I have never really learned on the computer and do not own Photoshop.

Videography

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© Lola Mitchell – ‘Lady Tree’ – Hipstamatic, Camera+, Superimpose, Rays, Touch Retouch, Rainy daze

 

Joanne – Do you enjoy videography with your iPhone?

Lola – I focus on the photography. So no. Sometimes I take small videos on it but thats it.

The Future Of Mobile Photography

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© Lola Mitchell – ‘Leela’ – Hipstamatic, Camera+, Superimpose, Rainy daze, PicFx

 

Joanne – Where do you see the future of iPhone photography?

Lola – I think the future is limitless. If the crowd that showed up at the Los Angeles Mobile Arts festival is any indication. I have been seeing calls for submission which were for ‘photographers’ only that seem to be now open to ‘mobile photographers’. I personally think the iPhone is just another camera. Some have DSLR, some have compact cameras, some have iPhones. Imagination and creativity is what makes the real difference.

Popularity

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© Lola Mitchell – ‘Lost’ – Camera+, Hipstamatic, Superimpose, iColorama, Rainy daze, Glaze, PaintFx, Snapseed, Image Blender

 

Joanne – What do you think is the most popular area of iPhoneography?

Lola – I think they are several genres within the community and they all have their audience.

Worldwide Phenomena?

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© Lola Mitchell – ‘Love’ – Instant 110, simply B&W

 

Joanne – Do you think it’s country specific, are some nations more clued up?

Lola – No I think this is an international phenomenon. Its very clear when on Instagram. People from all around the world are doing it.

iPhone 5

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© Lola Mitchell – ‘Magic Night’ – Artree, Camera+, Superimpose, Rainy daze, Snow daze, Image Blender

 

Joanne – Are you pleased with the new iPhone 5 for mobile photography?

Lola – It’s a huge difference for me because previously I worked on the iPhone 4. The bump in image quality on both cameras is great and the bigger screen works really well.

TheAppWhisperer.com

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© Lola Mitchell – ‘Memories’ – Hipstamatic, Camera+, Artree, Superimpose, Rainy daze, Pix

 

Joanne – What do you think of Joanne and theappwhisperer.com?

Lola – The site is fantastic so I think its fair to say that Joanne must be an incredible person. She is passionate about this subject and keeps us all up to date. Thank you for running this site so wonderfully!

Joanne – Wow, thank you so much Lola.

Links To All Apps Used And Mentioned In This Interview

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© Lola Mitchell – ‘Music’ – Camera+, Flowpaper, Superimpose, Snapseed, Image Blender

 

Camera+
Rainy Daze
Dramatic B&W
Artree
Superimpose
ColorLake
Hipstamatic
Rays
Wood Camera
Glaze
Image Blender
Decim8
Snapseed
Juxtaposer
Iris Photo Suite
Photocopier
ScratchCam
Awesome Camera
Vintage
Alien Sky
PicFX
Flowpaper
Smoosh
TouchRetouch
iColorama
Instant 110
Simply B&W

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Joanne Carter, creator of the world’s most popular mobile photography and art website— TheAppWhisperer.com— TheAppWhisperer platform has been a pivotal cyberspace for mobile artists of all abilities to learn about, to explore, to celebrate and to share mobile artworks. Joanne’s compassion, inclusivity, and humility are hallmarks in all that she does, and is particularly evident in the platform she has built. In her words, “We all have the potential to remove ourselves from the centre of any circle and to expand a sphere of compassion outward; to include everyone interested in mobile art, ensuring every artist is within reach”, she has said. Promotion of mobile artists and the art form as a primary medium in today’s art world, has become her life’s focus. She has presented lectures bolstering mobile artists and their art from as far away as the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea to closer to her home in the UK at Focus on Imaging. Her experience as a jurist for mobile art competitions includes: Portugal, Canada, US, S Korea, UK and Italy. And her travels pioneering the breadth of mobile art includes key events in: Frankfurt, Naples, Amalfi Coast, Paris, Brazil, London. Pioneering the world’s first mobile art online gallery - TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com has extended her reach even further, shipping from London, UK to clients in the US, Europe and The Far East to a global group of collectors looking for exclusive art to hang in their homes and offices. The online gallery specialises in prints for discerning collectors of unique, previously unseen signed limited edition art. Her journey towards becoming The App Whisperer, includes (but is not limited to) working for a paparazzi photo agency for several years and as a deputy editor for a photo print magazine. Her own freelance photographic journalistic work is also widely acclaimed. She has been published extensively both within the UK and the US in national and international titles. These include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Popular Photography & Imaging, dpreview, NikonPro, Which? and more recently with the BBC as a Contributor, Columnist at Vogue Italia and Contributing Editor at LensCulture. Her professional photography has also been widely exhibited throughout Europe, including Italy, Portugal and the UK. She is currently writing several books, all related to mobile art and is always open to requests for new commissions for either writing or photography projects or a combination of both. Please contact her at: joanne@theappwhisperer.com

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