A Day in the Life of Lee Thatcher – An Inspiring Mobile Street Photographer

Lee’s work can be found:

Website
EyeEm
Instagram
Flickr
Google+

on IG, IPA, EyeEm, Google+ or Flickr. Lee also has his own site www.leethatcher.com

‘Young Once’ ©Lee Thatcher -Apps used:  Hipstamatic, Lo-Mob, ScratchCam, Blender, Noir, Snapseed

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

Lee – Usually I’m up at 6:30, I have a young daughter who is an early riser so no time for laying about. I usually check my IG and EyeEM feeds on my iPhone first thing if I have time. Its great to start the day seeing what others have posted

‘Blown’ ©Lee Thatcher- Apps used: Hipstamatic, Snapseed

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

Lee – I’m usually too busy first thing so no. I like street photography and in my town the streets are usually quiet until 9am or 10am. I like to go into town on my lunch break and get some shots in for an hour. I also try to get out or a couple of hours on a weekend too.

‘Carried Away’ ©Lee Thatcher – Apps Used: Hipstamatic, Noir

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

Lee – I’ve never been a traditional photographer. I have only come to photography in the past year or two, I really started with iPhone photography and then became interested in straight street photography. I usually switch between the heavily apped shots and the straight shots to give myself a little variety. I always shoot with my iPhone though as I don’t have another camera.

‘Dark Angel’ ©Lee Thatcher – Apps used: Hipstamatic, Noir, Snapseed

Joanne – Do you like to download new iPhone photography apps regularly?

Lee – I do, although I find that these days I’m sticking to the same few; Hipstamatic, Snapseed, Noir, InfiniCam and recently SwankoLab.

‘Embroidery’ ©Lee Thatcher – Apps Used: ProCamera, Blender, ScratchCam, Pixlromatic

Joanne – How often do you update your existing apps?

Lee – As often as updates are released, I hate seeing the badge icon on my App Store app. I’ve been bitten by this in the past when updates have been a bit buggy but most of the time I’m happy with the updates and the better features.

‘Goodbye Autumn’ ©Lee Thatcher -Apps used: Hipstamatic, Snapseed, Lo-Mob

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

Lee – I go to London on business a few times a year and I love to see the buildings and people there, but even though my city is small I like the familiarity of it, I like knowing the streets well and I’m beginning to know where the light will be. So I guess I would say home is my favorite place.

‘Half the Story’ ©Lee Thatcher- Apps used: Hipstamatic, Plastic Bullet, Snapseed, ScratchCam

Joanne – Do you also use iPhone photography tool apps, such as The Photographer’s Ephemeris?

Lee – No. I have never heard of this. I’ll look it up.

‘John’ ©Lee Thatcher- Apps Used: CameraSharp, Noir, Pixlromatic

Joanne – If so, do you use them to plan you shoot?

Lee – I’ll have to take a look at this but really my shoots are rarely planned. I am a dad first so everything fits around that. I love it if I can get out to shoot and its great weather but really I just take what I can get. Sometimes its good to be in this position, it forces me to get out in the rain and poor conditions which can make for some interesting shots.

‘Learning’ ©Lee Thatcher- Apps used: Hipstamatic, BlurFX, Noir, Snapseed

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

Lee – Probably SwankoLab and Hipstamatic. Oh, and InfiniCam and Snapseed.

‘Lost in Thought’ ©Lee Thatcher- Apps used: Snapseed, Hipstamatic, Pixlromatic

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

Lee – I upload everywhere; IG, Flickr, EyeEm, Google +, Tumblr, IPA, SquareSpace. It’s just so simple and easy it seems silly not to. I have found that I get so much inspiration from different photography on each platform. I did decide to simplify things at the beginning of the year by just sticking with EyeEm and trying out Flickr, that decision didn’t last, I missed the other platforms and people on them.

‘Moments’ ©Lee Thatcher- Apps used: Hipstamatic, BlurFX, Noir, Snapseed

Joanne – Do you take photographs with your iPhone everday?

Lee – I do. Even if it is just pictures of my daughter that I don’t think I’ll use. I’m either trying new techniques, lenses, films, apps or thinking about composition.

‘My Tunes’ ©Lee Thatcher- Apps Used: ProCamera, Noir, Snapseed

Joanne – What are your favorite subjects?

Lee – I like street photography and I like sort of heavily app’d shots of my kid. I often have a image in my mind when I edit a shot and I try to get the picture to look that way. Sometimes along the way something different comes out and I go with it. I like surprising myself.

‘Old Friends’ ©Lee Thatcher – Apps used:  Hipstamatic, InfiniCam, CameraBag2

Joanne – Are you interested in teaching iPhone photography?

Lee – I have never taught, I would be a terrible teacher. I’m terrible at explaining myself.

‘Reflecting’ ©Lee Thatcher – Apps used: Hipstamatic, Filterstorm, Blender, Pixlromatic

Joanne – What are you top five tips for iPhoneography?

Lee –
Shoot what you enjoy. Think about what’s in the shot, not just the subject. What do you want the image to say, or what do you want the viewer to feel Slow down (Hipstamatic is great for this) Let the image marinate. This was a tip I heard from one of my favorite street photographer Rinzi Ruiz. Just let it sit for a while, I have so many that I would have normally posted straight away. After leaving them for a while I have realized that they are not very good or they don’t say what I wanted. It’s not to say I haven’t posted bad images but I’m probably posting less bad images as a result of this tip.

‘Remembering’ ©Lee Thatcher – Apps used: Hipstamatic, Snapseed

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

Lee – I edit on my iPhone or iPad, I never edit on a desktop. I really like how it feels to touch the image and move it, It feels like I make a connection with it. It’s difficult to explain but the thought of editing on a desktop doesn’t interest me right now. Also, the cost of desktop editing apps is very high, I couldn’t justify this cost because I know I can get what I need from a $2 app on my iPhone or iPad.

‘Smoke Break’ ©Lee Thatcher- Apps used: Hipstamatic, Snapseed

Joanne – Do you enjoy videography with your iPhone?

Lee – Yes. I have made a few iPhone videos of my daughter. The camera is really very good and gets better and better. Although I do admit that these videos were shot with the iPhone but edited on my iMac with Final Cut.

‘Street Life’ ©Lee Thatcher – Apps used: CameraSharp, Snapseed

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

Lee – I think it is just going to get bigger and better as more people come to it with fresh ideas and approaches. Everyone views the worlds slightly differently, so each of us can create our vision and present that through the many different social networks.

‘Waiting’ ©Lee Thatcher – Apps used:  Hipstamatic, BlurFX, InfiniCam, Noir, Snapseed, Pixlromatic

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

Lee – Street photography seems to be very popular. I think this may be because of how discreet the iPhone is. People are less conspicuous taking shots with an iPhone and as a result the get braver and more daring which is creating some unique shots.

‘Wandering’ ©Lee Thatcher -Apps used:  Hipstamatic, BlurFX, Noir, Snapseed

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

Lee – I think there is a lot of great photography coming from Asia. The people in this area seem to embrace the tools and create some amazing shots.

‘Weight of the World’ ©Lee Thatcher – Apps used: Hipstamatic, Snapseed

Joanne – What are your first impressions of the iPhone 5?

Lee – I was concerned when the rumors came out that it would be too big; I was pleasantly surprised by the size. And even though it’s only a little bit bigger than the iPhone 4 I do find that I’m doing more editing on the iPhone 5 rather than just the iPad. The camera really is amazing too, but the cameras on the iPhone 4 and 4s were also very good.

‘Winter on the Streets’ ©Lee Thatcher- Apps used: Hipstamatic, Noir

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

Lee – I’m quite new to the appwhisperer.com site although I am finding it really useful for the reviews. The interviews are always interesting and I think Joanne is playing an important role in the iPhone photography community. Thank you for the opportunity to answer your questions.

BlurFX
CameraBag 2
Snapseed
Hipstamatic
Noir Photo
InfiniCam
Pixlormatic
Filterstorm
CameraSharp
Plastic Bullet
ScratchCam
Lo-Mob
Image Blender
Swankolab

ProCamera

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