August | 2012 | Debora Ratliff

Ancient winds blew glacial silt into rolling dunes in eastern Washington and western Idaho. In this agriculturally fertile area known as the Palouse, the hills are plowed into intricate contours for planting wheat and beans. Abstract patterns and colors stretch as far as the eye can see–a perfect venue for a workshop on iPhoneography.

More and more, I travel sans computer, relying on my iPhone and iPad for storing and tweaking travel photos. I still take most photos with my Canon Powershot SX20is camera, but the iPhone increasingly serves as a second camera. Many of these Palouse photos were taken on the iPhone, and all the photos were processed in various apps on the iPad.

Sunrise Palette (Two photos taken with Canon, merged in True HDR app, fine tuned in Snapseed app)

Self-portrait (iPhone, Hipstamatic)

Lone Tree and Steptoe Butte, iPhone photo

Same photo, with effect added in Moku Hanga app

After Moku Hanga effect, converted to black and white in Snapseed, then added Drama filter in Snapseed

Started with two plain photos, converted one to a sketch in Photo Artista Sketch app, then merged/blended the sketch with the barn photo in Filterstorm

Greens and blacks

Started with iPhone Hipstamatic photo, converted to sepia in OldPhotoPro app

Morning in the Palouse

Palouse in Black & White

The moose are loose in Palouse

An iPhoneography workshop in the rolling Palouse Hills of Eastern Washington with Teri Lou Dantzler and Harry Sandler offered up incredible photo ops and 4 days of learning about taking and processing photos with the iPhone and iPad. But the trip gave the added wonderful bonus of the people in the class. We braved 4 a.m. wake-ups for sunrise shoots, scorching heat in the high 90s, and dust everywhere. No whiners here–only a bunch of photo and iPhone fanatics who made the time an unforgettably fun experience.

And when they hunkered down in a patch of posies seeking the perfect shot, they looked like a bunch of lovely flowers themselves.