I bought a used Apple iPhone 3G a little more than a year ago; I upgraded to a used iPhone 3GS a few months later. iPhoneography rekindled my interest in photography. I have taken more than 1,500 photos using my iPhones during the past year -- that's more photos than I've taken in years! Inspired by a recent Tweet from professional photographer Rick Sammon ...

Selecting your best photos can be challenging -- as well as quite rewarding.

... I started a project to select my best iPhone photos from the past year. Along the way I learned about some of the advanced features of Aperture, a professional-grade tool for organizing and adjusting photos. Embedded in the EXIF/IPTC info of every photo is a title, caption, one or more keywords, copyright notice, and a geotag.

Conventional wisdom says I should rank the photos and lead with my best shot; I chose to present the photos in chronological order instead. In this order, the gallery reflects the passing of time as well as the persistence of my interests. Here they are -- 25 of my favorite photos, and five of my favorite panorama photos. All photos were taken using the iPhone's built in camera; photo 16 of 25 was post-processed using Diptic app.

Panorama photos 1 through 3 (shown below) were created using AutoStitch Panorama app; panorama photos 4 and 5 were created using Photosynth app (panorama photo 4 was adjusted and cropped using Aperture).

Tech Tips: You may be wondering, "Why did you buy used iPhones?" If you have a used smartphone, then you do not have to commit to a long-term contract with a wireless phone service provider. That's a gold nugget of wisdom I'm happy to share! "FxIF" is an add-on for the Mozilla Firefox Web browser that allows the user to view EXIF info -- including GPS info, when available -- by simply right-clicking on a Web page photo and selecting "EXIF Data."

I attended the Northern Virginia Photographic Society field trip to Huntley Meadows Park on Saturday, 07 May 2011 from 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. I enjoyed the opportunity to chat with many amateur-, pro-am-, and professional photographers. Much of the discussion was focused upon photography equipment and spotting scopes (see photos 17-18). Thanks to Curtis Gibbens, NVPS Field Trip Coordinator, for arranging the event.

I used two photo apps to shoot the preceding geotagged panorama photos: Photosynth (free); and 360 Panorama ($1.99). Hyperlinks to online interactive versions of the panorama photos are listed below. Tech Tips: Silverlight, the Microsoft equivalent of Adobe Flash, is required for viewing Photosynth panoramas. Silverlight is incompatible with Safari Mobile for Apple iOS.

1. First floor, HMP observation tower. (Photosynth)
2. View of the wetland as seen from the top floor of the two-story observation tower, Huntley Meadows Park. (360 Panorama)
3. Another view of the wetland from the same vantage point, featuring reflections in the water of cumuliform clouds in the sky. (360 Panorama)
4. View from HMP observation tower. (Photosynth)
5. NoVA Photographic Society field trip. (Photosynth)
6. A large group of birders and photographers gathered on the observation tower. (360 Panorama)
7. View from the boardwalk near the middle of the wetland area. (360 Panorama)  

And of course, a trip to Huntley Meadows Park is all about watching the wetland wildlife. A snapping turtle, ducks, and geese are shown in the following photo gallery and video clip. I saw several other animals that were either too far away or moved too fast to photograph with an iPhone camera, including egrets, hawks, herons, and vultures, among others. Two observations made the mental highlight reel: I saw an osprey dive for and catch a fish (an awesome display of aerobatics); and I spotted an iridescent blue-green tree swallow, the first I've ever seen (thanks to the birders who identified the bluish blur that flew by my head).

Related Resources:

• Duck, duck, goose!
• Equinox sunrise
• Butterflies are beautiful ...
• Photowalking Huntley Meadows Park
• Huntley Meadows Park panorama

I used Photosynth app (free) to shoot the preceding geotagged panorama photo of Milway Meadows, a residential community in Fairfax County, Virginia. An online interactive version of the photo simulates virtual reality, enabling you to see what I saw (Silverlight required, the Microsoft equivalent of Adobe Flash). That is, assuming you aren't using the Safari Mobile Web browser on an Apple iOS mobile device. Seriously, why would Microsoft choose to use a platform like Silverlight that excludes a significant percentage of the market for mobile devices from using their product? That's a business model that makes NO sense!

There is a free app called iSynth that is billed as a Photosynth viewer. I downloaded, installed, and tested iSynth on my Apple iPhone 3GS and iPad 1. A simple search caused iSynth to crash on BOTH devices, and now it crashes every time I try to launch the app. Based upon my experience, I think it's fair to say iSynth is not ready for prime time.

Photosynth is an interesting solution to the problem of how to stitch together a series of overlapping photos to create a panorama photo. As you turn around an axis of rotation, Photosynth displays a green frame that indicates the camera is correctly positioned to take the next frame; then Photosynth shoots the photo automatically. Sounds simple, right? If only the process worked better! You don't have to look very closely at the panorama photo (shown above) to see the seams between frames; in some places, the frames are obviously misaligned. Contrast the Photosynth app panorama photo with the same scene shot using AutoStitch Panorama app, and I think you'll agree with me that AutoStitch is still King of the Hill in the field of photo-stitching panorama apps.