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She's going to come up with a lot of fun ways to get back at you for this, mom.

​Hey hipster. Stop shooting shit with your iPhone and pretending you're artistic. We're over it -- you and your incessant snapshots of your carefully laid out "best moment ever" scenario, replete with a "Toaster" or "Kelvin" filter.

You too, Crafty Moms. Your baby isn't any cuter in black and white -- not even with that hot pink color pop on the ridonculous bow on its headband, dwarfing its pudgy body like some rhinestone-encrusted mitre.

You're going to start a pretend photography business with its own Facebook page and everything, aren't you? God help us.

Still think you got the chops? Here's a good way to find out, after the jump.

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​This summer I chose Instagram as my main source of social media. I ignored, for the most part, Facebook, Twitter, my blog and others like this one.

I call Instagram the photo version of Twitter. They call it "a fast, beautiful and fun way to share your life with friends through a series of pictures."

The idea: Shoot your photo, upload to Instagram, choose a funky filter, title it, select share channels and hit done. Double tap if you like someone else's image. Depending on who you choose to follow, inspiring images from friends and strangers roll in like a news wire.

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homage to Christenberry. Tennessee. July 2011 © Allison V. Smith

​I'm on the road again.
I'll be taking a few weeks off from the blogging world to take it all in and catch up on some personal projects.

Follow the jump to see more postcards from the road.

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This isn't the PX 680 Beta, but it is one of Bartholow's favorite IP films.

​Local marketing and design consult, Gorilla vs. Bear creative director and, in my opinion, Polaroid Pro David Bartholow was asked by the Impossible Project to field test their new color film for the 600 Polaroid Cameras.

In case you weren't aware, Polaroid stopped producing their analog instant film in February 2008. Not long after, 10 former Polaroid employees teamed together to make instant film available again; they call themselves the Impossible Project.

So, the Impossible Project sent Bartholow a few packs of their PX 680 First Flush Beta out of the blue and invited him to be part of a test. A Beta Test.

Bartholow says: " I felt a bit of a responsibility to sport some of the city's textures for the unacquainted and took these one Saturday."

I love them!

I asked Bartholow for his thoughts on the film:

"You have to look at it this way. When Polaroid shut its doors on instant film, the Impossible Project took it upon themselves to reinvent a 60 year-old technology that had been perfected by a single company, which at that point was a shell of its former self. In the process of doing what they've managed to do, which is the staggering achievement of saving this medium, they've learned a lot about what it takes to create working film. With so many variables beyond light, temperature, and chemical composition to consider, the results will only ever be imperfect. But that's what I love most about it, really. The elements remain in control as their science does its magic."

Check out some of his test shots after the jump.

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Details from the Smallest Group Show, ever.

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I've been looking at your photos. I see them on Facebook, Twitter, Path, instagram and Flickr. Occasionally, I plan to post a few that I like, with your permission, in what I like to call, the Smallest Group Show, ever.

This installment: scenes from Texas summer. View the show after the jump.

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Death Row. Livingston, Texas. © Justin Clemons

​Local freelance photographer Justin Clemons was hired by Marie Claire UK to photograph two men on Texas' Death Row. (Note: "Within a month of the shoot, both inmates were dead.")

The current issue of Photo District News asks Clemons how he shot the assignment. Read about Clemons' lighting as he explains how he had to think quickly and problem solve in a tense situation!

I have photographed on Death Row and it's a strange, poorly lit space. Nice work, Justin.

See more examples of Clemons' style here and additional photos from his Death Row shoot after the jump.

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Dirk. June 2011. Dallas, Texas. © Allison V. Smith

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Tom Orr & Frances Bagley's studio. Dallas. May 2011. © Allison V. Smith

​When I am on assignment with my Canon 5D Mark II or shooting photographs for myself with my Hasselblad, chances are I am also making photographs with the Hipstamatic app on my iPhone. It has become my scratch pad for quick, inconspicuous pics.

Like any "toy" camera, there are mysteries and bit of magic that come with each image. It's fun when I am surprised by the outcome. I keep it simple and use the Blanko film and John S lens for most of my shots (that's Hipsta talk, folks). Then I run them through one of the Instagram app filters for the rounded corner look and occasionally a tilt shift. If you prefer black and white, I've been blown away by Hipstamtic's BlacKeys SuperGrain B+W Film.

Above, and after the jump, take a peek at some shots of my Hipsta shots taken over the past month around Dallas. And find more cell phone photo fun with iPhoneography and Life in LoFi.

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details from the Smallest Group Show, ever.

​I've been looking at your photos. I see them on Facebook, Twitter, Path, instagram and Flickr. Occasionally, I plan to post a few that I like, with your permission, in what I like to call, the Smallest Group Show, ever.

This installment: scenes of Texas weather. View the show after the jump.

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​I have always liked looking for excellent photography and design in newspapers, magazines, blogs. Lately a recent crop of photo/design related online magazines have caught my eye. Book mark these three bad boys, I have a feeling that more goodness will follow.

1814 Magazine: recently launched and based in Dallas, and founded by Michael Thomas. The first issue features work by Dallas artist Dan H. Phillips and also photographs by Stanley Marcus from the book, Reflection of a Man. Worth a read & a look.
Fun photo fact: 1814 is the year that Joseph Niepce achieved first photographic image with the camera obscura.

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