A Day In The Life Of ...,  News

A Day In The Life Of Fernando Prats – An Incredibly Talented iPhone Photographer

Welcome to our very exciting new column on theappwhisperer.com. This section entitled ‘A day in the life of …’ and this is where we’ll be taking 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 forty ninth installment of the series, you can read the others here if you have missed them so far. Fernando was born in Buenos Aires and has lived in Barcelona for the past ten years. He is the Creative Director of Estudi Prats and the author of countless short stories and poetry books. Fernando’s photographic work has been published in numerous magazines, exhibitions and websites.

Read more about Fernando in our exclusive interview below…

Each image is titled with the apps used to create it in sequential order. You can find all the links the 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…

photographer

©Fernando Prats – ‘+IVA’ – Booster!, Part, Photoforge2, Snapseed, Blender

 

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

FP – I get up at 7 a.m., have breakfast while listening to the radio, take a quick look at the headlines of messages and comments in social networks on an iPad 3, take my children to school and open the studio, all within a distance of 300 m.

Magic Hour…

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©Fernando Prats – ‘1000secrets’ – Mattebox, NoiseMaster, Phototoaster, Squaready

 

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

FP – Yes, I do, and I usually do it even compulsively whenever I’m on a trip. In my day-to-day routine I don’t usually get a chance or a time that seduces me particularly, so early, with some hurry and in already assimilated landscapes.

 

Photographer vs Mobile Photographer

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©Fernando Prats – ‘A day in advance poetry’ – Camera+, CropSuey, TouchRetouch, Picfx

 

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

FP – I don’t consider it a transition but rather a widening of tools and possibilities. I’m not interested in purism in any of its sides, unless it is a personal and intimate game or simply an artistic decision. Even if it’s true that I don’t see any point anymore in photographing with compact cameras (in fact, snapshots as such have been for a long time a prerogative of the iPhone, in my case), there is a variety of circumstances and possible shots that I enjoy in the company of a Nikon and some of my favorite lenses, such as a 11-16 mm, 30 mm,, 50 mm, 85 mm and a 70-200 mm. I think we are in an era of fast changes and, while mobile photography doesn’t incorporate a high quality optical zoom, longer battery life and more manual settings, there are some photographic results that are simply hard to achieve. I enjoy 645Pro, Mattebox, MPro and Booster! because they allow me to customize the result of the shot and not simply filter it with a particular effect. There is still a long way to go. In any case, I’m interested in the concept rather than in a correct photography or in an image which is only the trace of the apps used.

New Apps…

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©Fernando Prats – ‘A new days is always possible, I guess’ – 645Pro, Snapseed

 

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

FP – I must admit I receive and fly over the daily notifications of Appsfire and Appshopper.

Updates…

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©Fernando Prats – ‘A possible area for maps mentioned before’ – Procamera, Blurfx, ScratchCam, PictureShow, Snapseed

 

JC – How often do you update your existing apps?

FP – Daily.

Location, Location, Location…

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©Fernando Prats – ‘Abstract my building’ – Leme Cam, VintageScene, Snapseed

 

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

FP – A city with a character of its own.

Tools Of The Trade…

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©Fernando Prats – ‘Almost always’ – MPro, ScratchCam

 

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?

FP – No, I use a plain iPhone 4S, with over 500 apps and a plain new iPad. I plan shots thinking on composition and what I want to show about something.

Sharing…

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©Fernando Prats – ‘Although she also used to wear a 15 year olds Miles Davies t-shirt’ – Camera+, Lego Photo, Interlacer, PhotoFX by Tiffen

 

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

FP – I upload them to Flickr, Instagram, iPhoneArts, Tumblr and my website. And share these links on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest. Besides this, once in a while I update other galleries at 500px, Saatchi, litmind, etc.

 

Favorite Apps…

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©Fernando Prats – ‘Boson’ – 645Pro, PerfectlyClear, Phototoaster, iColorama S, SnapseedThe cup – 645Pro, PerfectlyClear, Phototoaster, iColorama S, Snapseed

 

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

FP – For shooting: 645Pro, MPro, Booster!, Mattebox and SlowShutter. For editing Snapseed, PhotoForge 2, PhotoToaster, iColorama S. Utilities: PerfectlyClear, PhotoSize, Squaready. FX: Pixlromatic+, ScratchCam, Picfx. DOF: Big Lens. Layers: Superimpose, Blender. Retro: Lo-Mob, Instant110. Experimental: pxl, Satromizer, Decim8, Piece, Part. Other: CameraTan, FluidFX, PicFrame, Hipstamatic, Photo fx by Tiffen, etc. I also usually employ some other apps for video and music.

 

Frequency…

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©Fernando Prats – ‘Candidates for another babble speech’ – Hipstamatic, Iris Photo Suite, Normalize, FX PhotoStudio

 

JC – Do you take photographs with your iPhone everyday?

FP – I’d say so. There’s hardly a day when I don’t take any.

 

Favorite Subjects…

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©Fernando Prats – ‘Difficulties when it’s time to choose’ – Camera+, TwistCam, Snapseed

 

JC – What are your favorite subjects?

FP – What I’m not interested in at all is unary photography. One as professional and codified as naïve and indolent, postcard or report-like in any of its forms, emphasizing the real without splitting it or making it hesitate. What Barthes called the stadium. My interest is the production of concepts daring to pierce the fat and trigger possible readings. Proposing diverse, not univocal associations around an idea, which I try to complete with the choice of a title, tags, descriptions and links. In practice, in order to do so I look for possible shapes, figures, situations and geometries, any object-subject is good.

Top Five Tips…

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©Fernando Prats – ‘Exchanging claps’ – Camera+, Phototoaster, Iris Photo Suite

 

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

FP – Studying, experimenting, deciding what is intended to communicate, not settling for the effects of effects per se nor the froth of empty praise, and publishing.

Editing…

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©Fernando Prats – ‘Flowers of a digital era’ – CameraAwesome!, TinyWorld, Picfx, Snapseed

 

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

FP – Most of the images taken with my iPhone I edit them on the iPhone itself and then check on the iPad, while I usually edit photos taken with other cameras on an iMac 27’’. However, and picking up my hybrid ethics and a certain rebel spirit, every now and then I edit any image in any device.

 

Videography…

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©Fernando Prats – ‘FMI’ – Hipstamatic, Picfx, Phototoaster

 

JC – Do you enjoy videography with your iPhone?

FP – Yes, and I’m very interested in it. I use FilmicPro, CinePro and I sometimes play with 8mm, Movie360 or Silent Film Director and AvidStudio on the iPad. I consider that the big limitation in this aspect, nowadays, is storage space, and thus I edit most of the videos with Final Cut Pro X.

The Future Of Mobile Photography…

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©Fernando Prats – ‘Gestures around localization’ – Procamera, Blurfx, ScratchCam, PictureShow, Snapseed

 

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

FP – I think we are witnessing a moment of change and discussion of old paradigms which comes cyclically. Shortly, approaches, value differentiations and disquisitions between photography and mobile photography will have ceased existing, giving way to new old dilemmas.

 

Popularity…

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©Fernando Prats – ‘Harpo was right’ – Mattebox, pxl, Snapseed

 

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

FP – I guess street photography, because of the discretion, size and ubiquity of the device, and “casual” photography, omnipresent in Instagram. But I don’t think the area of interest depends on the means or adjusts to a thematic axis. Certainly, the popularization of mobile photography is based on a certain simplicity in its use –achieving results popularly legitimated as “cool” is just two clicks away- and in sharing those images. And this is not an exclusive prerogative of those devoted to photography.

 

Where In The World…?

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©Fernando Prats – ‘Images as metonymy, expansive force’ – 645Pro, iColorama, Photogene2, Snapseed

 

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

FP – I don’t consider it is country-specific, not in the slightest; it’s just that the unequal socio-economic landscape transforms market prizes into everyday gadget or object of desire, depending of the area the finger points at in the map.

 

iPhone 5…

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©Fernando Prats – ‘Imaginary drawings: Leila’ – SlowShutter, Iris Photo Suite, InstantSketch, Picfx

 

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

FP – I’m hoping for a 10 Mbpx camera, a little lighter, with a larger screen within the same body, with a longer-lasting battery, and renewed features through iOS6. What I also would like is a substantial increase in storage space, the incorporation of optical zoom, and the increase in sensor size along with resolution increase.

 

TheAppWhisperer.com

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©Fernando Prats – ‘Imaginary people: Alessandro – SlowShutter, Iris Photo Suite, Grungestastic, Snapseed

 

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

FP – I think it is a clearly expanding website, in which Joanne’s dedication shows and is noticed, fortunately.

 

Links To All Apps Used And Mentioned In This Article…

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Contact Details For Fernando…

art

©Fernando Prats – ‘Imaginary people – Rachel, and the crowd’ – SlowShutter, Iris Photo Suite, ScratchCam, PaintFX, Snapseed

 

Website: http://fernandoprats.com
Flickr: http://flickr.com/photos/fernandoprats
Instagram & Twitter: @fernandoprats

CV: http://fernandoprats.com/es/impressum/

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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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