The Paradise Valley, Mount Rainier NP, Washington © Jay Goodrich

Last week I created a post asking what a certain photo of Olympic National Park had to do with the new iPhone 4 even though the photo itself was not taken with the iPhone 4. I managed to stump everyone who participated. Thank you all for playing along. The answer is that last week’s photo is an HDR image, a series of 4 exposures that I hand blended in Photoshop. The connection to the iPhone is: now with the new iOS for the iPhone you can create in-camera/phone HDR (high dynamic range) images with one touch of the shutter release.

Now for the nuts and bolts. It really works. Pretty nicely too. Exceptionally well if you think about the fact that you are creating images with a phone and nothing else. The above image was created using the HDR function in a new iPhone 4. I did some post processing in Lightroom 3 just to add some saturation, but that for the most part that is it. Pretty cool. Super fast. And like Chase Jarvis always says–”The Best Camera is the One That’s With You.” This little add by Apple is a new key to getting great landscape shots at the beginning and ending of the day when the light is low and super contrasty. I know HDR has been around since the 3Gs hit the shelves, but those are third party apps, to have this little gem, all you have to do is upgrade your phone’s operating system. And just so you don’t think I am pulling your chain, here is the image with the HDR function turned off:

The Paradise Valley--No HDR, Mount Rainier NP, Washington © Jay Goodrich

Pretty amazing isn’t it. But wait there’s more….

The image of Olympic National Park that we posted last week will be one of ten in a new series of images of mine that are going to be mastered for use as wallpaper on your Lock and/or Home Screens of your iPhone. I know what you are thinking–How much? Well here’s the deal…it’s FREE! Not a penny, but there is a simple catch–all you have to do is sign-up for our monthly newsletter. It is in this newsletter that we will post the link to download the file that gives you 10 original Jay Goodrich images for use on your iPhone free of charge. Not too bad. And, remember we will never sell, forward, or share your email with anyone. Period. And if you are wondering how to sign up for our newsletter look at the top right of any post on this blog. Oh, and the next newsletter is set to go out on October 1st.

Tomorrow I will be posting more images on the Outdoor Photographer Blog highlighting this evening in Paradise Valley.

Second Beach Seastack, Olympic N.P., Washington © Jay Goodrich

the new iPhone 4? The answer is not that it was taken with an iPhone 4 or any phone for that matter. You can guess, I dare you.

Terminator Sculpture, Venice Beach, CA © Jay Goodrich

iPhone you have been targeted for termination. Sorry but you are on your way out. I know you are all thinking that this is impossible, but it is true. I have decided to pitch the iPhone for…the new iPhone 4. Come on, you didn’t seriously think I would ever get rid of my iPhone did you.

I watched Steve Jobs’ keynote last night right about the time the new iPhone went on sale. Jobs started off joking about the whole gizmodo debacle by stating, “stop me if you have already seen this…believe me, you ain’t seen it…the precision of which this is made…its closet kin, is like a beautiful old Leica camera.” Seriously, you had me at,”Hello.” If you are a photographer and his opening doesn’t make you want to go out and buy this thing, I don’t know what will. I am so excited about the upcoming new feature set, that I am trying not to pee my pants. Particularly, when it comes to the camera side of the phone. Jobs discussed that Apple has updated the sensor to a backside illuminated sensor and what that immediately translates to is better pictures. The other key point of the brand new 5 megapixel camera is that they kept the individual pixel size the same and actually increased the size of the sensor. Usually when camera companies increase the amount of pixels, the size of the pixel shrinks, thus so does the quality of the recordable information. Translation: again, better photos. Apple decided to not stop there, and added full resolution HD video at 720p at 30 frames per second. Did I mention that I am drooling to get my hands on this thing.

I smell new iPhone projects. I have been working on a book idea utilizing the iPhone and this past year photographed a one-day, 12 hour project using only the iPhone, but now, the doors have been blown off and the Terminator is walking in. Books, films, web, prints, are all possible. Creative genius unleashed…there are no reasonable excuses. Man I am going to have to step up to the plate now.

As if the camera weren’t enough, they put the iPad processor in this thing. Yes, the A4 processor that is pushing all of those iPad apps is indeed controlling this little hand held device. I have a feeling it is going to scream with speed.

But wait, there’s more…Apple has dubbed the new display the “Retina Display” because of it’s ability to produce a resolution finer than the human retina can see beyond. As Jobs discussed, the human retina can only see 300 pixels per inch, as if that were a small number, so they made the new iPhone display 326 pixels per inch just to be safe. In a 3 1/2″ screen you now get 960 x 640 pixels and an 800:1 contrast ratio. Couple all this with improved battery life and the usual enviro-friendly manufacturing and, did I mention I was going to pee…I feel much better now.

So where do you head from here? Besides your local Apple store or the company’s website? Well with every positive there has to be some kind of negative right? In this write up it comes from AT&T. You are now going to pay more, again, to own this puppy. I can see that they are giving away the 3G plan for the iPad, so I guess it makes perfect sense that they need to make it up somewhere. And that somewhere is in ownership of this new phone. You have to subscribe to 3 separate plans now, one for service, one for data, and one for text messages. Looking at the bright side though, you can now use your brand new iPhone 4 for tethering to your l aptop when you have no Wi-Fi available. Life is about peaks and valleys and gives and takes…or something like that.

I am a little bummed though, because like that trademark of hair that resides on my chin, a white iPhone resides in my pocket and as of yet, I can’t order my phone. I guess I will need to wait some more?

P.S.-The image for this post was captured with my iPhone and processed using only Adobe’s brand new Lightroom 3. Which I will be talking about real soon.