Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 6:17PM A selection of photos from my summer vacation:
California, Sonoma area, August 2010
Kunde Winery, August 2010 
San Francisco, August 2010
California, Point Reyes, August 2010
Lake Nicasio, August 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010 at 6:35PM 
USC Baseball, June 5, 2010, Columbia, S.C.The iPhone has become my go-to camera for panoramics, travel photos and the loosely-edited photographic noodlings that I enjoy so much. It's really become my favorite camera for everything!
A co-worker approached me this past Sunday having seen one of these random shots on Facebook and complimented me on the quality and wondered what camera I used. She was surprised to learn an iPhone took the shot and even suggested that the image needed to be published.
Her comments led me to examine all the photos I have taken on the iPhone since last September and select a few dozen for display here on my site.
Check out the new gallery here.
Most of these shots should be taken with a grain of salt -- while I strive for a good image "in camera" it's really the magic of several post-processing apps that give the images the glossy eye-candy look people seem to enjoy. Still, the simplicity of the camera, with limited exposure control, no zoom and the distinctive "iPhone look" put the onus on the photographer to create photos that are essentially studies of light and form. Indeed, many of my favorite images are cloud studies and the tried-and-true cliches of sand and sky. The portability of the device seems to lend itself well to capturing dramatic landscapes, whether while out beachcombing, or hanging out the window of a car speeding down I-77 after work.
Here are a few of the tools I employ on my iPhone:
CameraBag: I remember taking snapshots of a beach sunset and thinking they needed a little vignette to really pop. I downloaded this app while standing on the beach and uploaded an edited to Facebook while still on my walk. I don't use CamerBag much anymore because there are apps that offer more control, but I still love it's Holga-esque default and the "ColorCross" look.
Best Camera: Developed by Chase Jarvis, this app offers some default looks (I find some of them mildly overbearing), with some helpful tools for vignetting and toning.
PS Mobile: Photoshop's free mobile version. Great for fine-tuning an image and also offers some decent effects. I don't find myself using it a lot though.
AutoStitch: The best panorama app. It really works like magic. Feed it a series of photos and watch it quickly render large-megapixel panoramas that look great.
TiltShift: As its name implies, this app can modify photos to selectively blur images. Best with subtle use, as the "miniaturization" effect gets old quickly. Still, the level of control in this app is amazing.
Hipstamatic: Currently my favorite app to capture and process. I really love the "film" selections (My current favorite is 'Ina's '69' film with the default 'John S.' lens for a hypersaturated, nostalgic look). Some of the film/lens emulation can get zany, the app is slow and has a quirky-yet-endearing interface, and the extra film and lenses require a micropayment, but I really like the results I've obtained as of late.
I don't have immediate plans to get the iPhone 4, but certainly with its camera's increased megapixel count and 720p HD video capture, it's becoming a tool more and more viable for creative expression.
Monday, March 22, 2010 at 6:19PM Yes, I wholeheartedly ripped this off from sports photography guru Robert Seal, who does it a heck of a lot better in his Sports Illustrated shoot.
Michael Gilmore, Cayce, S.C., March 22, 2010
Michael Gilmore, Cayce, S.C., March 22, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 at 11:43AM On assignment for Lake Murray / Richland Northeast again, this time up in Blythewood. George Zara is the CEO of Providence Hospital, but crafts and repairs one-of-a-kind saddles for fun. The level of artistry involved, time and effort required to build a saddle is hard to comprehend, but it's evident Zara is a master at it.
Geroge Zara, Saddle Craftsman, February 2010
Geroge Zara, Saddle Craftsman, February 2010
Geroge Zara, Saddle Craftsman, February 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 at 11:33AM I haven't posted any of my video work on here before, but in fact my full-time job is that of a videographer. It's just that the stuff I shoot isn't all that exciting most of the time. Last week I spent some time with the identical Mathias quadruplets over in Lexington, S.C., and had a blast documenting them.
The Mathias Quads: Age 10 from Andrew Haworth on Vimeo.
Then a few days later, a massive snowstorm rolled into the area. I really just wanted to create a video that was akin to a moving postcard. I planned to shoot with my normal camera, the Canon XHA1, but I didn't want to fry it in the blizzard (it was getting iced up and melting snow was seeping into every cranny). I switched to a small pocket video camera, the Kodak Zi8, shooting in 1080p mode and got wonderful results.
I used MPEG Streamclip to convert the Kodak's AVCHD-compressed clips to Apple Prores 422, then assembled in Final Cut Pro. I used a piece of music from the FCP Creative Suite for a nostalgic feeling.
Snow falls in Downtown Columbia from Andrew Haworth on Vimeo.