A Day In The Life Of … Cat Morris – The Most Amazing And Talented Mobile Photographer

©Cat Morris – ‘Stairway To Heaven’ – Apps Used – SnapSeed, Decim8, Blender

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

CM – Well – I’m a very early riser. Most of the time I’m up between 4 and 4:30 am. I commute into NYC and start my work day at 8am. I MUST drink a few cups of coffee before I can focus on anything.

©Cat Morris – ‘Faded Glory’ – Apps Used – Snapseed

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

CM – I like to check my FaceBook photo groups, Instagram & P1xels while I’m on the bus. Sometimes play with an image although a bumpy bus ride makes that sort of difficult. I tend to take photos at all kinds of random times.

©Cat Morris – ‘From The Ground UP’ – Apps Used – Photo Wizard, AddLib, Rollage

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

CM – I started my career many years ago in the commercial photography field. First as an assistant and then as an interior stylist. When photography became work for me it stopped feeling like a creative outlet and I moved into graphic design. Flash forward to this past January. This was the first time in ages that I picked up a camera iPhone. I got an iPad around the holidays and found the App Flipboard which lead me to P1xels and I was blown away by the kind of work that was being created with iDevices! I had to jump in and try it out!

©Cat Morris – ‘Frenzy’ – Apps Used – Camera+, Modern Grunge, SnapSeed

JC – Do you like to download new iPhoneography apps regularly?

CM – It’s embarrassing. I’m completely addicted to trying new Apps. At one point I had close to 300 on my phone. I’ve been getting rid of some lately because I have no room left. But every time I see a review (thanks Joanne!) my finger gets itchy to click the App Store button!

©Cat Morris – ‘Poppy’ – Apps Used – Vintage Scene, ShockMyPic, Iris, ScratchCam

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

CM – I’ll shoot anywhere. From hours in my garden with my Olloclip to walking the streets of New York City. The absolute beauty of working on my iPhone is that I’m always ready for anything that catches my eye.

©Cat Morris – ‘Aging Beauty’ – Apps Used – Vintage Scene, ShockMyPic, Image Blender, SnapSeed

JC – 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?

CM – I’m afraid I didn’t know what that App was – had to look it up. I don’t really plan my shoots because I have so little time in my schedule. That’s about to change and maybe I’ll get better at planning shoots in the future. I’m also going to try and give myself new weekly challenges to help me stretch my creative muscles!

The FaceBook photo groups have been great for that too! There is an amazing community of phenomenally talented artists sharing their work and ideas and creating challenges there. Their support over the past few months has helped me grow immeasurably!

©Cat Morris – ‘Bathing Beauty’ – Apps Used – Stripe Cam, Tiny Planet, Diptic, Texture+

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

CM – I upload to FaceBook first, then Instagram. Instagram feeds my Flickr & Tumbler accounts. I also love iPhoneArt.com and when I’m feeling particularly bold I send my image(s) to Pixels. I have a WordPress site as well as my own site but I don’t update them as often as the others.

©Cat Morris – ‘Rugosa’ – Apps Used – Vintage Scene, ShockMyPic, Iris Photo Suite

JC – How often do you update your existing apps?

CM – I check for updates every morning. You just never know what new little surprise will be waiting for you in an updated App! It helps with the craving to buy new apps.

©Cat Morris – ‘Poppy Wheel’ – Apps Used – iColorama S, Iris, SnapSeed

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

CM – This is such a hard question!! right now I’ve been working on a series of abstracts so I guess these are the apps that I’m experimenting with now: Addlib, Tiny Planets, Diptic, Photo Wizard, Snapseed & Iris. But I love so many more! Been playing with Part this week for a challenge on MobiTog and finding it really interesting.

©Cat Morris – ‘Pearl Diving’ – Apps Used – StripeCam, PicFrame, Tiny Planets, Texture+, Image Blender, Pro HDR

JC – Do you take photographs with your iPhone everyday?

CM – I absolutely shoot every day. Most of the images no one will ever see but they become the raw materials for blending and layering to contribute to lots of pieces I’m working on.

©Cat Morris – ‘Hurtling Into The Unknown’ – Apps Used – StripeCam, Diptic, Tiny Planets, Rollage

JC – What are your favorite subjects?

CM – I find that I shoot nature most of the time. Flowers especially. I also like to shoot architecture, animals and lots of textures.

©Cat Morris – ‘Sea Nettle’ – Apps Used – AddLib, SnapSeed, Diptic, Tiny Planets, Photo Wizard, Image Blender

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

CM – 1. Have fun! 2. Don’t take it all too seriously. 3. Experiment     with both your     shooting style and your App’ing. 4. Don’t be     afraid to share your work.     5. Back up everything!!

©Cat Morris – ‘Man-O-War’ – Apps Used – AddLib, SnapSeed, Diptic, Tiny Planets, Photo Wizard, Image Blender

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

CM – I do everything on my iPhone 4s. I’ve tried working on my iPad but it feels overwhelming when I do. I decided on Jan. 1st that I wasn’t going to use my computer for photo work at all this year. So far I’m sticking to that.

©Cat Morris – ‘Lion’s Mane Jelly’ – Apps Used – AddLib, SnapSeed, Diptic, Tiny Planets, Photo Wizard, Image Blender

JC – Do you enjoy videography with your iPhone?

CM – I do. I’ve done a couple little abstract films for a group challenge on FB and would like to explore more. Link: CatMorris on YouTube I particularly liked creating the music on my iPhone too. I’m not a musician so that was terrifying!

©Cat Morris – ‘Nautilus’ – Apps Used – AddLib, SnapSeed, Diptic, Tiny Planets, Photo Wizard, Image Blender

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

CM – I think iPhoneography is only going to become more interesting and creatively challenging. I still have heated discussions with photographer friends who don’t think it has any merit, but with gallery showings like the Los Angeles Mobile Arts Festival kicking off his weekend the press and the general public are really going to see what this whole movement is all about!

©Cat Morris – ‘How Do You Like My Pearls?’ – Apps Used – AddLib, SnapSeed, Diptic, Tiny Planets, Photo Wizard, Image Blender

JC – What do you think is the most popular area of iPhone photography?

CM – Currently I think street photography is probably the most popular form of iPhoneography. I think it feels the most accessible to most people but there is so much interesting work being done in the areas of portraiture, landscape/urbanscape, abstraction right now. I don’t think we can say where this whole thing is going. It’s so exciting!!

©Cat Morris – ‘Cul-De-Sac’ – Apps Used – AddLib, SnapSeed, Diptic, Tiny Planets, Photo Wizard, Image Blender

JC – How did the teaching side come along?

CM – I’ve been teaching for Apple Inc. for nearly five years. I specialized in photography, film making and web design. Before that I taught cooking. I love to share my passions and help folks connect with their creative sides in different ways too.

©Cat Morris – ‘Meteor Shower’ – Apps Used – AddLib, SnapSeed, Diptic, Tiny Planets, Photo Wizard, Image Blender

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

CM – iPhoneography is worldwide! I’m meeting people from practically every continent and country. This is where I think technology has the ability to unite people in unbelievably positive ways. Creativity is the common language across cultures, ages and sexes.

©Cat Morris – ‘Cymbidium’ – Apps Used – AddLib, SnapSeed, Diptic, Tiny Planets, Photo Wizard, Image Blender

JC – What do you hope for in the iPhone 5?

CM – Naturally I hope it will have a better camera, more storage space and maybe not so easy to shatter when dropped 😉 I hope the shape doesn’t change too much because I sprung for the Olloclip lens and a Mophie battery case and I’d like to get more use out of them both in the future.

©Cat Morris – ‘Sleepy’ – Apps Used – AddLib, SnapSeed, Diptic, Tiny Planets, Photo Wizard, Image Blender

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

CM – I think that Joanne and theappwhisperer are an unbelievable resource for the iPhoneography community. I’ve learned so much through all the different articles, interviews & tutorials on the site. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t spend timing reading and even rereading the information you’re sharing.

JC – Thank you so much Cat, that really means a lot to me.

©Cat Morris – ‘I’m Watching You’ – Apps Used – Meta, Glaze, Decim8, SnapSeed

AddLib
Camera+
Glaze
Tiny Planets
Decim8
Diptic
Photo Wizard
PicFrame
Pro HDR
Rollage
ShockMyPic
ScratchCam
StripeCam
Snapseed
Meta
Texture+
iColorama S
Iris Photo Suite
Image Blender

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