A Day In The Life Of Donny Tidmore – An Intriguing Android Photographer

Email – [email protected]
Instagram (@mynamesdonny) – http://web.stagram.com/n/mynamesdonny/
Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/mynamesdonny/
Tumblr – http://donnytidmore.tumblr.com/
Google+ – http://plus.ly/donnytidmore

© Donny Tidmore – ‘Untitled’ – Apps Used – Vignette, Little Photo

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

Donny – Well…this certainly isn’t going to sound glamorous. My alarm goes off right before 6. I let the dog out. Get dressed. Let the dog back in. If I get a wild hair…I might even eat something. And then I’m off to work, hoping to get there by 7.

© Donny Tidmore – ‘Untitled’ – Apps Used – Vignette, Little Photo

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

Donny – I occasionally do, on the weekends. I actually do really enjoy the early morning but on a day to day basis, I just don’t have the time to make a consistent practice of it.

© Donny Tidmore – ‘Untitled’ – Apps Used – Vignette, Little Photo

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

Donny – Oh but puns are so much fun! My journey as a photographer actually began a few years back with an old Android phone. My girlfriend saw my photos and encouraged me to really pick up the camera as a serious hobby. But as for mobile photography, I began to really take it seriously when Instagram came to Android. It was then that I was really able to see the quality photos and art that so many were producing with their phones. This coincided with a time that I really didn’t have as much post processing time at my computer to work on my traditional photography. Those two things cane together, and I became obsessed with creating images on my phone.

© Donny Tidmore – ‘Untitled’ – Apps Used – Vignette, Little Photo

Joanne – Do you like to download new Android apps regularly?

Donny – I wouldn’t say regularly. I do like to keep my eyes peeled for something that might work well for me. But in all honesty, there are certainly not as many quality photography apps available to Android users as there are to iPhone users.

© Donny Tidmore – ‘Untitled’ – Apps Used – Vignette, Little Photo, PicsArt

Joanne – How often do you update your existing apps?

Donny – I update anytime there are updates to be had.

© Donny Tidmore – ‘Untitled’ – Apps Used – Vignette, Little Photo, PicsArt

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

Donny – I’m currently working on a series of cemetery monuments (statutes)…and there’s an old cemetery near here that I love to walk, and shoot, for hours. But as for places I desperately WANT to shoot…I want access to an abandoned asylum (But I’ll take any abandoned building!)

© Donny Tidmore – ‘Untitled’ – Apps Used – Vignette, Little Photo, PicsPlay

Joanne – Do you also use Android Photographer tool apps, such as Sun Surveyor?

Donny – No, I never have. I might check one out sometime…but I’m more a “take what I’m given and hope it works” kind of guy.

© Donny Tidmore – ‘Untitled’ – Apps Used – Vignette, Little Photo, PicsPlay

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

Donny – Vignette has always been the first app I go to. I use it for the first edits I make almost exclusively. I really like Little Photo, and for quite a while, it was the only thing I knew of to sort of work with layers for textures…but it doesn’t save images in full res. So Recently I’ve been working with layers in PicShop. And PicsPlay is another app I’ve recently found and I really like it.

© Donny Tidmore – ‘Untitled’ – Apps Used – Vignette, Little Photo

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

Donny – I use Flickr for my traditional photography (though I’m nowhere near as active there as I once was), and IG for my mobile work. I have a selective hodgepodge of both on Google+ and Tumblr.

© Donny Tidmore – ‘Untitled’ – Apps Used – Vignette, Little Photo, PicsArt

Joanne – Do you take photographs with your Droid everyday?

Donny – I once did…but not at the moment. My work and kids can keep me quite busy, so I take whatever opportunities I can to shoot, and tend to stockpile images from those days. I do, however, work on photos on my Android everyday.

© Donny Tidmore – ‘Untitled’ – Apps Used – Vignette, PicShop, PicsPlay

Joanne – What are your favorite subjects to photograph?

Donny – Hmmm. I really dig shooting doors and windows. Architecture. But it’s not necessarily the details of the subject itself that interest me…so much as when looked at as a whole…what feeling can I convey with it. So my favorites can really be…anything.

© Donny Tidmore – ‘Untitled’ – Apps Used – Vignette, PicShop, PicsPlay

Joanne – How did the teaching side come along?

Donny – “I’m so very much the type that learns by doing. And in that respect…I constantly feel like I’m being taught by those “moments of seeing” while shooting or editing. But as for teaching others? That is not one of my strong points”

© Donny Tidmore – ‘Untitled’ – Apps Used – Vignette, PicShop, PicsPlay

Joanne – What are your top five tips for Androidography?

Donny –

– Apps. Try lots of them until you find the ones that work right for you.

– Shoot as often as you can. For a beginner shoot everything you see that is even moderately interesting to you. Work on editing images every day.

– Listen to yourself. Realize that if you are drawn to something, while shooting or processing, explorer that. You are drawn to it for a reason.

– Get lost…wander. The subjects will find you when you do.

– Just have fun. Create what makes YOU feel good.

© Donny Tidmore – ‘Untitled’ – Apps Used – Vignette, PicShop, PicsPlay

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

Donny – Everything that I shoot on my phone, I edit on my phone. Everything that I shoot with my camera, I edit on my computer. I’ve been quite happy doing things that way.

© Donny Tidmore – ‘Untitled’ – Apps Used – Vignette, PicShop, PicsPlay

Joanne – What’s your favorite app/s for editing images on your device?

Donny – I don’t know that I have a favorite. There really isn’t a single app that I’m in love with. But I do really enjoy shooting with and doing minor editing with Vignette.

© Donny Tidmore – ‘Untitled’ – Apps Used – Vignette, PicShop

Joanne – Do you enjoy videography with your Android device?

Donny – I really haven’t done any videography on my phone, other than my kids and family stuff. But it’s something that I’m definitely interested in pursuing it.

© Donny Tidmore – ‘Untitled’ – Apps Used – Vignette, PicsPlay, PicShop

Joanne – We’d love to know what particular Android device you use?

Donny – I have a Samsung Galaxy S2.

© Donny Tidmore – ‘Untitled’ – Apps Used – Vignette, PicsPlay, PicShop

Joanne – Have you tried any other models, Nokia, LG for example?

Donny – My first Android was a cheap Motorola. My kids have an LG, and my girlfriend has an older HTC. Without throwing those others manufacturers under the bus…I’ll just say that I’m very happy with what I have.

© Donny Tidmore – ‘Untitled’ – Apps Used – Vignette, PicsPlay, PicShop

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

Donny – Oh wow…sky’s the limit. As phones get more and more computing power, better sensors, and the ability to shoot RAW, the quality of what we are able to produce will be amazing. This isn’t a “fad” that will be going away anytime soon.

© Donny Tidmore – ‘Untitled’ – Apps Used – Vignette, PicsPlay

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

Donny – Well I can only speak for myself. For me it is the ability to have the entire process of shooting, editing, and then sharing it with the world all take place on a small handheld device.

© Donny Tidmore – ‘Untitled’ – Apps Used – Vignette

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

Donny – From what I’ve seen…this thing is absolutely global.

Joanne – Have you ever owned an iPhone? Would you consider one for mobile photography?

Donny – I have not. But yes, I would certainly think about it. I love Android OS, and I love the phones that Samsung has been putting out. But I certainly have some jealously over the massive number of quality editing apps available for iPhone. I think that would be the only reason I’d switch.

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

Donny – This seems to be a wonderful resource and I am thrilled that Joanne found me! I will certainly look forward to browsing this site from now on!

Vignette
Little Photo
Pixlr-O-Matic
Snaptastic
PicsPlay
PicShop
PicsArt
Cymera
Magic Hour
Sun Surveyor
Instagram

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