'What I Shot -vs- What I Got'
'Reflected Faith in Black and White' - a Jewish worshiper enshrined in a billowing talit prayer shawl is reflected in a pair of stained glass windows at the tomb and compound of revered 2nd cent rabbinic sage, Shimon bar-Yohai, in the village of Meron, in northern Israel.
I picked this image as an example of what's possible with "meh" shots, taken on the fly. I'd original planned to visit the sacred compound, located on the slopes of Mt. Meron about a five minute drive from my home in Safed, in order to donate blood at the mobile blood station. But I stayed to revel in the chaotic, numinous and numerous prayer quorums - and, hopefully, make some discreet photos, two of which are included below.
Shot on an LGV20 mounted on a compact Beastgrip.com rig for handheld stability and maneuverability (check 'em out; if you're into serious mobile photography, I recommend them for the quality build, Meccano-like add-on ability, and speedy, friendly customer support).
I edited originally in color in the impressive (but, ahh... curiously-named) SCRWT app in order to morph and straighten the shooting angle - check out their detailed instructional video here: (https://vimeo.com/121749359) - and then exported from within the app to SnapSpeed for text addition, sharpening, selective lighting and shadowing, slight vignetting, and minor artifact removal.
While the juxtaposition of the colorful stained glass and monochrome of the subject's garb might have been pretty, the glass itself was shadowed and unlit, detracting from the effect, so I opted to reopen the image in the recently revised Lightroom Mobile app, for minor noise reduction, the black and white conversion (25 percent contrast), and a final "tweak 'n' polish," of the tone spread overall.
Hope this brief behind-the-scene essay helps your mobile shooting and editing. I welcome you to follow me on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/davidbrianbender/ for updates, tips, and photos, where we can chat and share images, ideas, and mobile photography creativity.
If you're in Israel, or plan to visit, I welcome you to join an upcoming smartphone photo trek and workshop - details at my website.
Good shooting!
