Street Photography using the Nokia Creative Studio on the Lumia 1020

inspiringcity

Earlier this month I was asked to test out the new camera phone from Nokia, the Lumia 1020. In order to introduce the phone Nokia got together a group of street art and lifestyle bloggers from London and gave us a street art tour of the East End. It was a lot of fun but really it needed a bit more time to play around with than just the one day and so we got to keep it for a month just to play around with and see what pictures we could take.

One of the big things that Nokia seem to be using to advertise the camera phone is it’s boast of 41 million megapixels. The idea being that you can take a picture from far away and crop it to such an extent that the quality will not be diminished. But the phone allows you to do so much more than that, the low light capabilities of the camera are impressive with the camera adjusting to such a degree that so long as you have a reasonably steady hand you don’t need a tripod.

Also the Creative Studio feature allows you to make some really cool post production edits to not only the photos you take on the camera but to any picture you store on the device. My favourite part of the studio being the ‘colour pop’ feature which allows the editor to remove colour from the photograph and then add back only the colours that you want back in. It’s easy to use and produces some superb effects.

Anyway I’ve been playing around a lot and I wanted an excuse to show off some of the photos taken over the month of December that haven’t yet appeared in the blog. All of the photos in the gallery below have been edited using the Creative Studio because I wanted to try and showcase what it could do.

*Note – Since this article was written Nokia have updated the Creative Studio and the Colour Pop no longer seems to be available. There is a holding message saying that the feature is ‘in development’ which is a shame and we’ll be looking forward to it being fixed.

This shot of a Night Bus zooming through the city is one of my favourites. Basically the colour has been taken out and then the buses colour has been put back in.
This shot of a Night Bus zooming through the city is one of my favourites. Basically the colour has been taken out and then the buses colour has been put back in.
A sticker from D*Face in the City one half has been given a little filter whilst the other has been left in Black and white
A sticker from D*Face in the City one half has been given a little filter whilst the other has been left in Black and white
The Lloyds Building in the City I used a long exposure and then took some of the colour out
The Lloyds Building in the City I used a long exposure and then took some of the colour out
Grimsby Street in the rain. An atmospheric street at the best of times I took out all the colour apart from the yellow
Grimsby Street in the rain. An atmospheric street at the best of times I took out all the colour apart from the yellow
Hanbury Street in the evening. I used a long exposure and then made it black and white
Hanbury Street in the evening. I used a long exposure and then made it black and white
Chance Street in Shoreditch, cropped and with a filter added
Chance Street in Shoreditch, cropped and with a filter added
St. Botolph's Church in Aldgate with the Gherkin and the Cheesegrater in the background. All I did here was add a filter on a foggy day
St. Botolph’s Church in Aldgate with the Gherkin and the Cheesegrater in the background. All I did here was add a filter on a foggy day

Street Art of course gives a great opportunity to really play around with things and the next gallery focuses on some of the art in the area which has been edited using the Creative Studio.

A suberb piece from Elfin in the Holywell Lane car park. A lot of the colour has actually been removed from this shot
A suberb piece from Elfin in the Holywell Lane car park. A lot of the colour has actually been removed from this shot
An atmospheric bunch of paste ups on Toynbee Street. A filter has been applied and the contrast played with
An atmospheric bunch of paste ups on Toynbee Street. A filter has been applied and the contrast played with
A little slinkachu character walking over a hill with a big mushroom in the background. The colour has been removed apart from the blue and certain splashes of brown
A little slinkachu character walking over a hill with a big mushroom in the background. The colour has been removed apart from the blue and certain splashes of brown
MadC's mural on Chance Street normally has some really bright pinks and reds but not here
MadC’s mural on Chance Street normally has some really bright pinks and reds but not here
Chance Street again and this time it is just the yellow which has stayed in
Chance Street again and this time it is just the yellow which has stayed in
This sticker on Whitby Street is by Italian artist Alo. Here all the colour has been removed apart from the yellow
This sticker on Whitby Street is by Italian artist Alo. Here all the colour has been removed apart from the yellow
A sticker from Angry Face on Hanbury Street. The colours of the bricks have been taken out
A sticker from Angry Face on Hanbury Street. The colours of the bricks have been taken out
Classic piece from Mobstr on Hanbury Street. A filter has been applied
Classic piece from Mobstr on Hanbury Street. A filter has been applied
A portrait of a girl on Grimsby Street from Hannah Adamaszek. I've played around with the focus a little here.
A portrait of a girl on Grimsby Street from Hannah Adamaszek. I’ve played around with the focus a little here.
Some visitors admire the art at the Hoxton Gallery. Here I've used a filter and played around with the focus around the edges
Some visitors admire the art at the Hoxton Gallery. Here I’ve used a filter and played around with the focus around the edges
Millo, the Italian artist, at the Hoxton Gallery. I've taken all the colour out apart from a little bit of red
Millo, the Italian artist, at the Hoxton Gallery. I’ve taken all the colour out apart from a little bit of red
A paste up from Sweet Toof on Toynbee Street. All the colour has been removed and only certain ones put back in. This shot was also taken with pretty much only the street light for illumination and no tripod
A paste up from Sweet Toof on Toynbee Street. All the colour has been removed and only certain ones put back in. This shot was also taken with pretty much only the street light for illumination and no tripod
A sticker on a lamppost from Rowan Newton and a bit of shutter art from Dscreet on Hanbury Street. All colour taken out apart from the red and yellow
A sticker on a lamppost from Rowan Newton and a bit of shutter art from Dscreet on Hanbury Street. All colour taken out apart from the red and yellow
Airborne Mark painting a mural in Camden. I really like this effect, the shot was taken using the Nokia Smart Cam
Airborne Mark painting a mural in Camden. I really like this effect, the shot was taken using the Nokia Smart Cam

For a few more blog posts with photos taken using the Nokia Lumia 1020 try:

Art of the State – A little bit of fun with a Nokia Lumia
LDN Graffiti – #zoomingeast with Nokia UK
Posh, Broke & Bored – #zoomingeast with Nokia Lumia 1020
The Prosecco Diairies – Nokia Lumia 1020 Street Art Tour

Published by inspiringcity

11 Comments

  2. Pingback: A Whistle Stop Street Art Tour around Camden Town | Inspiring City
  4. Pingback: An Alternative Photographic Journey through the Leake Street Graffiti Tunnel for Femme Fierce | Inspiring City

  5. Hi, I really like your blog and the images you took with Nokia Lumia actually convinced me to buy this phone. I must admit I’ quite impressed with the camera capabilities. Out of curiosity, did you use a grip and a tripod when using a long exposure setting? thank you 🙂

    Reply

    1. hi Kat thanks for the comment. I took most of the shots hand held because its ability to shoot in low light is a lot better than most. For the long exposure settings i adjusted to quarter of a second and either tried to hold very still or use a gate, fence or post to balance on :). Thanks for reading the blog 🙂

      Reply

    1. Hi jenn, the photos automatically upload to sky drive and I then download them from there to my computer and then insert into the post that way. All the editing I do in the phone though 🙂

      Reply
  7. Pingback: 20 of the Best Street Art photographs to celebrate the year from Inspiring City | Inspiring City

Leave a Reply