Chiiz Volume 7 :Fashion Photography

Category: Fine PortraIt Editing
Rating: 4.6/5
Platform: iOS
Cost: Free (offers in-app purchases)
Version: 2.6.1
Here are the thoughts that Marcus shares with us regarding the
Darkr App.
‘I have used analog cameras for over twenty years. I have even built a
couple of large-format cameras in Teak-wood myself. I have always
loved the true feeling when standing and looking at a huge negative.
For many years, I have had this project to photograph young
children with my large-format cameras. I also noticed that by using
a large-format cameras that really slows down the session, the better
images are made. For quite some time, I wanted to let other people
be able to try how it’s to shoot using large-format cameras and to
develop in a darkroom. So, I created an app called Darkr. It took
almost a full year with several hours every night building this app.
Darkr has been featured by Apple since day one and all over the
world. Darkr is divided into two sections. Firstly the camera-section.
Here you can choose to use a normal small camera, medium-format
camera or a large-format camera.
App of the Month
Darkr - Analog Retro Film
The darkroom is as close as a real darkroom can be. In a real
darkroom, one works with different strips. These strips are made
to find out how long the enlarger should put light on the paper. Just
as a real darkroom, you can make parts of the image brighter or
darker – which is called dodge and burn.
You have probably seen where one holds a hand, blocking the light
that hits the paper, making that area brighter. Instead of holding
your hands over the iPhone, you draw the mask the hand would
have created. The mask combined with the strip, makes the changes
to the image.
The goal is to understand that even the smallest change in local
brightness or darkness will improve the image very much. One can
add how many dodge or burn-layers as one wants. Darkr is only
for black and white-photos, however one can tone the images using
Sepia, Selenium or Cyanotype-tones.
The cameras are only manual, so you have to set the shutter-speed
as well as the ISO (in an iPhone one cannot change the aperture, but
you can change the ISO instead). One also has to focus manually,
but just to be sure you really nail the focus, you will see a loupe that
magnifies the image three times. Naturally as one does when focus
in a medium and large-format camera.
You can also add different film-emulsions like various Ilford-film
and Kodak-film. One can also add red, yellow and green-filter to
improve the contrast in the image.
The viewfinder is as real as it can be, that is, the large-format
camera’s viewfinder is upside-down and mirrored and the mediumformat
camera is mirrored. After you have snapped an image you
can develop it in a darkroom. Naturally you can develop the images
you have in your camera-roll.
To make the darkroom a bit easier, you will be presented with a
couple of tutorials. Both on how the darkroom actually works
and the comparison between Darkr and a real darkroom. By
understanding how a real darkroom works, it will make Darkr’s
workflow more understandable. There are also a couple of tutorials
of how I’m thinking when developing images. The app is made
exclusively for iPhone and iPad and are updated on a regular base.
For this issue, rather than reviewing an app,
we present you the idea behind the app and
its developer, who being just a regular guy at
work, created this amazing application. Marcus
Carlsson has been running his app-business for
two years now and he’s totally alone in it. ‘I just
love the whole piece’, says Marcus. Right now, the
business is his side-job, but he aims to quit his
day-time job and go full-time with app making.
Marcus Carlsson
58 Vol 7