A Day In The Life Of Elaina Wilcox – A Very Talented Professional Photographer Turned 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 seventieth first installment of the series, if you have missed our previous interviews please go here. Elaina started working as a professional photographer in the early 90’s as an event and music photographer. She moved to Austin Texas and her music photography career went into full bloom. in 2010 Elaina moved with her husband to Los Angeles and along with music photography, she pursued portrait photography. Her journey with iPhone art photography was born out of love of art and technology. The artistic ease of using the iPhone as an extension of her photography along with the amazing apps available make creating art photography a true passion for Elaina.
You can read more about Elaina in the interview below…
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 [email protected], and we’ll get it set up.)
Elaina
Elaina Wilcox ~ freelance photographer
Headshot & Portrait:
www.ElainaWilcoxphotography.com
Connect~
First Things First
© Elaina Wilcox – ‘Making Her Way’ – Photoshop touch, PhotoWizard
Joanne – Let’s start at the beginning of the day, how does your day start?
Elaina – During the week I get up, take my daughter to school, and if I have a traditional portrait shoot, I will either get my studio ready or meet with the client at an outdoor location. if I don’t have a client scheduled I come home check my email, tidy up the house and edit photos. Weekends are spontaneous, depending on what’s going on. I love to go to the beach or a unique Los Angeles neighborhood to shoot iPhone work.
Golden Hour
© Elaina Wilcox – ‘Path To The Pink’ – Snapseed, Image Blender, Photo Wizard
Joanne – Do you like to head out and take photographs early on?
Elaina – During the week, yes, on the weekends I prefer later in the afternoon….closer to magic hour.
Photographer vs Mobile Photographer
© Elaina Wilcox – ‘A new World And Its Leader’ – Juxtaposer, Image Blender, iColorama
Joanne – How did the transition from traditional photographer to mobile photographer develop? (pardon the pun).
Elaina – I was on a traditional shoot (a music photography assignment) and was only allowed 3 shots, so when my shooting time was over, I went back into the crowd and pulled out my iPhone. I was astounded when I went home and looked at the cool looks the tiny mobile device gave me. I emailed both my Canon and iPhone shots to the artist, and they loved them! From then on, I was hooked!
New Apps
© Elaina Wilcox – ‘Gig Girl’ – Superimpose, Snapseed
Joanne – Do you like to download new apps regularly?
Elaina – I’m very selective, I only download full res.apps that are useful to my style of shooting and editing.
Updates
© Elaina Wilcox – ‘The One Magical Day’ – Photoshop Touch, Photo Wizard
Joanne – How often do you update your existing apps?
Elaina – As soon as the update is available…I’m like a kid opening a new present!
Location, Location, Location
© Elaina Wilcox – ‘Sabitoge’ – Photoshop Touch, iColorama
Joanne – Where’s your favorite place in the world for a shoot?
Elaina – I can’t say I have one favorite place. Certainly living in Los Angeles offers many diverse shooting locations,but my favorite spots are Venice beach,and Hollywood. Those two spots offer such a rich shooting environment. Especially for photographing people. The folks in LA are quite unique 😉
Tools Of The Trade
© Elaina Wilcox – ‘A Rose Is A Rose’ – ScratchCam, Snapseed
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?
Elaina – I’m not that organized, I might need to look into downloading that!
Favorite Apps
© Elaina Wilcox – ‘Waiting Her Turn’ – Instagram
Joanne – What are your favorite, at the moment, iPhoneography apps?
Elaina – Photoshop Touch, Icolorama, Snapseed, Photo wizard, slowshutter, touch retouch and superimpose.
Sharing
© Elaina Wilcox – ‘The Morners’ – Instagram
Joanne – Where do you like to upload your photographs? Flickr, Instagram?
Elaina – I have an account for both of those sites, but my favorite online websites are: Pixels- the art of the iPhone, IPA and my Facebook page.
Frequency
© Elaina Wilcox – ‘Sweet Daughter’ – Photo Wizard, iColorama, Glaze
Joanne – Do you take photographs with your iPhone everyday?
Elaina – Yes, I take photos wherever I am. I was Christmas shopping today and there I was in the department store taking iPhone shots of different textures and patterns. The purse section gave me some great textures…HA!
Favorite Subjects
© Elaina Wilcox – ‘Last Ray Of Hope’ – Snapseed, Photo Wizard
Joanne – What are your favorite subjects to photograph?
Elaina – People and nature. I love the human face, it has so many wonderful expressions and nuances. Trees are my favorite nature subject. To me they represent the things in life I am drawn to – strength, endurance and unique beauty.
Teaching
© Elaina Wilcox – ‘The Magical Mystery Tree’ – Photo Wizard, Image Blender
Joanne – How did the teaching side come along?
Elaina – Well, I don’t teach as yet, but I am seriously thinking of offering a iPhone/ android mobile portrait photography course ( If anyone in the LA area would be interested let me know!)
Top Five Tips
© Elaina Wilcox – ‘The Solitary Path’ – Snapseed, Superimpose, Photoshop Touch
Joanne – What are your top five tips for iPhone photography?
Elaina –
1- Study the subject you want to shoot…if its people, take the time to watch the movements and expressions of the subject.
2- Take the time to get to know a wide range of apps. Learn them inside & out. The more you can work with different apps, the richer you’re work will be.
3- shoot all the time. Shoot everywhere you go, there are many times we walk right by an interesting place or person. When you’re Phone camera is at the ready, you’re more open to observing the world around you.
4- Be patient. It takes time to develop a personal style and editing structure.
5- Be friendly. You’re photography subjects will respond better to a person who is friendly, respectful and down to earth.
Editing
© Elaina Wilcox – ‘Tree On Fire’ – Snapseed, Image Blender, Snapseed
Joanne – Do you edit images on your iPhone or do you prefer to do that on a desktop/laptop?
Elaina – Mostly IPad,unless I’m somewhere that I can’t take it. Then I will edit on my IPhone. My eyes are not what they used to be, so the larger iPad screen works best for me.
Videography
© Elaina Wilcox – ‘Yellow Bloom’ – Instagram
Joanne – Do you enjoy videography with your iPhone?
Elaina – That’s not my thing, unless it’s taking videos of my kids or pets doing something cute or funny.
The Future Of Mobile Photography
© Elaina Wilcox – ‘Diva Named Dead’ – Snapseed, Image Blender, Laminar
Joanne – Where do you see the future of iPhone photography?
Elaina – The future for iPhone photography is wide open! It’s a huge new medium that is gaining more momentum everyday, thanks to people like yourself who are helping bring mobile photography to the forefront of the art world. The ease and spontaneity of this type of photography is wonderful and the apps that we have at our disposal are amazing!
Popularity
© Elaina Wilcox – ‘Victorian Rest’ – Snapseed, TouchRetouch, Image Blender
Joanne – What do you think is the most popular area of iPhoneography?
Elaina – That’s a great question and open to much debate. I admire a lot of street photography even though its not my thing, but it’s wildly popular within the art world. I believe portrait photography will continue to gain popularity with artist’s due to its ease and diversity with the different apps that can be applied.
Worldwide Phenomena?
© Elaina Wilcox – ‘Spirit Dance’ – Snapseed, Tiny Planets
Joanne – Do you think it’s country specific, are some nations more clued up?
Elaina – The momentum gained faster in the USA,but now the whole world has embraced it. I attended the Third wave show last week and was amazed at all the images from around the world! It was a truly diverse mix of artist!
iPhone 5
© Elaina Wilcox – ‘Lady Of The Field’ – Snapseed, Image Blender, Photoshop Touch
Joanne – Any thoughts on the new iPhone 5?
Elaina – I bought one a few weeks ago,and it’s my daily phone. I like the longer screen and honestly the ability to actually call someone and carry on a clear conversation is much improved. The camera is slightly better in its response time, but in my humble opinion, the saturation was richer with the iPhone 4.
TheAppWhisperer.com
© Elaina Wilcox – ‘Garden Of Eve’ – Superimpose, iColorama, Photoshop Touch
Joanne – What do you think of Joanne and theappwhisperer.com?
Elaina – I am very grateful to all the work you do to help bring this community of art and artist the recognition that is much deserved.
You’re dedication to all of us is much appreciated!
Links To All Apps Used Or Mentioned In This Interview
© Elaina Wilcox – ‘Ego’ – Image Blender, Flow Paper, Plastic Bullet
TheAppWhisperer has always had a dual mission: to promote the most talented mobile artists of the day and to support ambitious, inquisitive viewers the world over.
As the years pass TheAppWhisperer has gained readers and viewers and found new venues for that exchange. All this work thrives with the support of our community.
Please consider making a donation to TheAppWhisperer as this New Year commences because your support helps protect our independence and it means we can keep delivering the promotion of mobile artists that’s open for everyone around the world.
Every contribution, however big or small, is so valuable for our future.
Joanne Carter
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: [email protected]
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4 Comments
Robert Lancaster
Thanks for another amazing interview Joanne.
Elaina thank you so much for sharing your amazing images with us.
The piece entitled ‘Diva Named Dead’ is absolutely incredible.
I intend going back and looking over the images again as soon as I have finished with this comment.
Delta
Elaina, your work is fabulous – very diverse – I like that ! Thank you for this wonderful interview and thank you Joanne for providing the opportunity.
Kevin Kuster
Great interview and wonderful images. Elaine Wilcox you have some big talent.
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