Hipstamatic will not improve your photography

By Michal | Published 26/04/2010

A recent look at the most populat iPhone photo apps revealed that Apple fans are in fact a very sentimental lot. Hipstamatic rules. iPhone users want their pictures to look more analogue, or retro and less clinical and bland.

And as much as I love Hisptamatic – with its choice of ‘lenses’, ‘films’ and ‘flashes’ (all electronically generated, for the uninitiated amongst you) – I still am very ambivalent about such apps. They make photography fun, no doubt about that, they do add an extra dimension to what otherwise would have been another mobile shot, but they also give a false sense of creativity.

A good friend of mine told me she’d fallen in love with Hipstamatic “because it allows me to do what you do in Photoshop but without Photoshop”. (I hardly use Photoshop. Lightroom, yes, but not Photoshop, and certainly not to make my pictures look like faded Polaroids. But that’s a different story.)

Someone else told me their pictures look so much better with Hipstamatic.

And that’s the problem. Many Hipstamatic users think they are ‘creative’, while in fact all they get is just a different quality print. And by quality I mean colours mostly. The composition or indeed the subject are not enhanced by the app – they’re still in the hands of the photographer. Therefore many Hipstamatic pictures, actually most of the ones I’ve seen, are bland or actually very bad. They do look different, particulary if compared with similar, untreated mobile snaps (after all Hipstamatic works with a 3mp mobile camera only), but they don’t necessarily make any of us more creative or turn us into better photographers.

The usual rules of composition still apply, the framing is still important and so is the subject. Hipstamatic will not improve anyone’s mediocre skills, I’m afraid.

Which is not to say we shouldn’t have fun with apps like Hipstamatic. Or its sister retro app, SwankoLab, which doesn’t allow you to take pics, but helps “develop” existing ones in a digitally recreated old-fashioned darkroom. Like Hipstamatic, it’s a lot of fun. But that’s what SwankoLab, Hipstamatic or The Best Cam are – fun apps and nothing more.

And like with many apps, the novelty will soon wear thin, the specially-created Flickr groups will overflow with thousands of mass-produced pics and we’ll jump on the next big thing.

For now however, retro is in.

This entry was posted in photography, software and tagged Best Cam, hipstamatic, iphone, SwankoLab. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

http://flickr.com/mishobaranovic Misho Baranovic

I kind of have to agree, there are a lot of poor hipstamatic photos floating around flickr, lots of flowers, lamp posts and dogs. But personally i have really enjoyed using the app, it has given me some constraints and produced some wonderful effects, particularly for BW. I have stopped using it and migrated over to simple BW swanko but it really did give me the confidence to embrace BW photography.
Michal

Absolutely agree. Don’t get me wrong, I love this app too. It encourages discovery and creativity, but it won’t replace the basics of photography. I realise it’s probably unfair to single this app out as the same can be said about Photoshop and many other apps. But it’s the latest one to capture everyone’s imagination, hence the post.
http://www.tim-matthews.com Tim

Your points may be vaild but a little serious. If people are having fun with the hipstamatic app then they are more likely to want more and possibly learn about composition. Its not like the this app is going to replace the SLR overnight. For me its about fun!
Michal

For me too. As I said, I love the app. I’m also having fun with it. All I’m saying is don’t let it give you a false sense of creativity. Many HDR pics are not necessarily better because they are HDR, yet many people believe they are. Same logic.
Kristen

I used real plastic cameras (the Helga) many years ago, and this was at a photography school. Here’s what I like about the Hipstamatic app — the square viewfinder actually makes you pay attention and frame more than you usually would. Framing in a square is very different than in a rectangle and it’s a nice change. Borders always improve a photograph. And finally, though goofy, the “developing” time makes you pause and select the moment you’ll take a photo (because you won’t be able to take another right away). I also like that it doesn’t show the photo right away, but which encourages me to keep shooting. There’s nothing wrong with a really fun app and to me, this is it!
http://twitter.com/raena Raena

You could have this entire conversation about any recent photo fad, like HDR or (physical) toy cameras or whatever, and it’d still be accurate.

Also, 90% of everything is crap
http://chriscoffin.org Chris

counterpoint: http://chriscoffin.org/
Michal

Chris, you need to get your facts right. If you look closely, you’d notice that only 4 out of 366 images in my Flickr photostream are Hipstamatic images. Lies and misinformation weaken your argument. “Chris Coffin is a liar” would make for a lovely blog title, wouldn’t it?
http://chriscoffin.org Chris

You’re right, I stand corrected ( and so does my post ).

Still, I find it amusing that you chose to reply and refute only my postscript, and ignore the actual points of my post. Thanks for the lovely discourse
Michal

It’s difficult to respond if you don’t allow people to comment.
http://www.myglasseye.net owen-b

Well you miserable so-and-so!

Of course you still need a bit of skill to frame up a good shot but why not just let people enjoy doing something more interesting with their photos than just taking them and forgetting about them.

I’ve got to assume you take yourself reasonably seriously as a photographer or you wouldn’t have posted a post that sneers at these sorts of apps. It’s true that Hipstamatic is now a hugely overused app and that means that all the looks it applies have sort of lost their appeal, as you sagely predicted would happen, but here’s the thing:

People are having fun, and nobody thinks they are the Greatest Photographer In The World after using Hipstamatic or PictureShow or Swankolab etc – they just think they’ve got more interesting photos than they’re used to taking. And they probably have.
http://www.beadwife.com Kalera

I love Hipstamatic because, while I am already a competent photographer, the increased challenge of framing when the “lens” is offset engages my interest a lot more than a simple point and shoot. The timing delay ensures that I am more careful with the shots I do take, and best of all, the prints are square, my preferred format.

I also love Hipstamatic because it’s making people interested in analog photography again. Sure, so it leads to countless twentysomething hipsters toting around Argus 40′s and considering themselves Very Serious Photographers, but I love analog media and I’m happy to see the kids embracing it, if only for a little while.
Kieron Jackson

The fact that this app makes people look differently at the picures they are taking (myself included) should be enough.

I agree it doesn’t make you a ‘better’ photographer, but surely anything that inspires creativity and thought isn’t nescessarily a bad thing. Some of the best concert photographs I ever took were with a crappy minolta camera with a bog standard lense and only two film setting (100 and 400,it had a switch on top to select, you had to do it maually people!!!LOL), and if this app can do for me what that camera did, i.e. give me a sense of pride and excitement about my pictures, then I’ll keep using it and so should everyone who has it.

In the end, I don’t know anyone who uses their iPhone for professional purposes, but if you want something fun and quirky to remember a family day or special event from, then this app is absolutely perfect.
RCG

The whole point of bringing up this discussion is lost on me. I doubt that people who use Hipstamatic do so in order to actually “improve” their photo skills, and the same could be said for actually using an phone to take pictures. The idea of using any camera app is to have fun with it & be creative. If you really want to improve your photo skills then invest in an actual camera, not a phone. I find Hipstamatic to be great fun, but i’d never use my Phone to compose any professional image.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/89701812@N00/ soup

Well said. Hipstamatic is a lot of fun and has an amazing UI experience. The main problem is that the filters/borders/flashes are SO drastic that the end result becomes more about them and less about the photograph itself. Also, the effects are so recognizable now that it’s become a bit cliché. Most people would be better off using a ‘retro camera’ app that does less so they can learn to focus on composition, lighting, color, etc.
Still, it’s amazingly fun to use so as long as it’s used judiciouly, it’s a wonderful app and a brilliant demonstration of how powerful a little lightweight ‘app’ can be.
http://myleicablog.blogspot.com/ Lainer

I love the app. I also love using old film in various cameras. This app reminds me of film and square format photography, but without the expense. Sure, you give up a lot of control in how the photo comes out, but the same can be said for a Holga camera. Enjoy the app. Also, crappy photographers will take crappy Hipstamatic shots too. LOL!