I recently made a road trip with my nephew from Baltimore to Phoenix with some great stops along the way. Since he was doing most of the driving I was able to make some shots through the windows of the car. It was early fall when we left Maryland and I made my first road shot.  My nephew said, I should make a road shot for every state we passed through. Perfect! I had already committed to writing an article on making series images on the iPhone and this was an idea that tied right into the article.

Growing up in the 1950’s and 1960’s I saw country roads transform into major highways as the American public fell in love with travel and the automobile became an every man’s way to handle the commute to work from sprawling suburbs, to take sightseeing vacations across America. As a child there was no greater joy than when my dad piled us into the car for a “DRIVE,” often to the Allegheny Mountains in fall or the ocean in summer. I was in a “Retro” mood and Iris had what I wanted in FX. 

When my nephew and I left Maryland the skies were grey. My first shot did not have any color going for it so that was one more reason to process the shot with monochrome FX in Iris. I was shooting with the app ClassicPan as it gave me a wide and narrow view of the road through the front windshield, which helped eliminate catching any car interior or exterior. (Bugs on the windshield did occasionally present a problem so every time we stopped for gas I cleaned them!) I really liked the retro feeling the FX in Iris allowed me to create. I finished the image by adding text from Phonto and borders in Snapseed.

[imageeffect type="frame" align="aligncenter" width="488" height="217"  alt="Karen Messick" url="http://thebeginnerslens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/series1.png"  ]<p>&nbsp;</p>

As we continued on our trip I realized the second shot I made, I did not process in exactly the same way and I did not like the result as much, so I went back and decided to write down all the steps to get the same effect for every shot I was going to process. This attention to recording slider levels gave me the ability to consistently create the series look I wanted in each image. With the iPhone and iPad on board it was easy to post the finished shots to Facebook as we traveled across the country. I had lots of great feedback from my friends as I toured and posted. One comment even asked about the app processing I was using! 

[imageeffect type="frame" align="aligncenter" width="369 " height="164"  alt="Karen Messick" url="http://thebeginnerslens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/series2.png"  ]<p>&nbsp;</p>
[imageeffect type="frame" align="aligncenter" width="370 " height="164"  alt="Karen Messick" url="http://thebeginnerslens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/series3.png"  ]<p>&nbsp;</p>

The formula for these images is as follows: 

1. Shoot in ClassicPan:Film ~Vivid, no Sprockets

2. Process in Iris: Make appropriate adjustments first with Shadow/Highlight
                        Add FX ~ Retro adjust strength to 48% then apply
                        Add FX ~ Vintage Print (by tabbing on the more key at the bottom of the       
                        Iris FX page) adjust strength to 45% then apply and save to camera roll. 
3. Open the saved image in Phonto: Tap the image to bring up the font menu. Make the following selections: Type~ Georgia: Size ~ .68 Tilt~ None Color ~Red 184, Green 153, Blue 39, and Alpha .48 Then hit done and move the text box to the location in your image you desire.

4. Frame in Snapseed: Open the saved image out of Phonto in Snapseed. Tap on Frames icon at the bottom of Snapseeds opening page, tap the star and select Frame choice #5. Select a frame width between 5 and 15 and an offset of 100%and save.

[imageeffect type="frame" align="aligncenter" width="369 " height="164"  alt="Karen Messick" url="http://thebeginnerslens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/series4.png"  ]<p>&nbsp;</p>
[imageeffect type="frame" align="aligncenter" width="369 " height="164"  alt="Karen Messick" url="http://thebeginnerslens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/series5.png"  ]<p>&nbsp;</p>

Here are my General Tips on Creating a Series:

a. Use the same format for your images; for example you could choose formats that are: 
    Square~ Hipstamatic: Panoramic~ ClassicPan or Standard format~Camera Plus.
    By using the same format every time you begin to build consistency in your images.
    While not necessary in creating a series it is an idea to start your series.

b. Use a consistent subject, processing  or theme. For example you could shoot a series of say Daisies and mix up the formats, square, standard and panoramic while keeping the processing similar, or you could shoot a series of shots with the same format, similar processing and different subjects with a similar theme as I did with the road shots here. 

c. Keep notes on your processing steps. You never know when a series will develop. (I understand how the flow of creativity just jumps from one app to another..and sometimes you just have to go with it.) Saving images along the way as each step is applied can also help you back track when necessary. Using app linking you do not get a path so be careful when jumping from app to app using linking. 

d. Share your work! 

[imageeffect type="frame" align="aligncenter" width="436" height="181"  alt="Karen Messick" url="http://thebeginnerslens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/series6.png"  ]<p>&nbsp;</p>

I continued to use the same ideas and processes all the way back home in the airports as the series not only became a series, but the images told a story by combining text with the image! 

[imageeffect type="frame" align="aligncenter" width="522" height="232"  alt="Karen Messick" url="http://thebeginnerslens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/series7.png"  ]<p>&nbsp;</p>
