“Snappy Hour” Mobile Phone Photography Revealed with Charles and Missy Needle.

This is a series I've been really excited to discuss with Charles and Missy over the last few months! I am really looking forward to sharing their passion for mobile phone photography with you all, along with the incredible opportunities offered by mobiles! - Mark.

About the event:

Learn how to get the most from the camera that’s always with you in this comprehensive 6-part series, presented by award-winning Colorado (USA) based photographers Charles and Melissa Needle. Using a combination of lectures and “live” demonstrations, the instructors will empower you to create mind-blowing masterpieces you never thought possible using nothing more than your mobile device!

Session 1- On Tap: Going Beyond “Point & Shoot”

21 May 2025

In this session, Charles and Melissa will inspire you to capture “art” in your everyday life using your mobile device and show you how to get the most from your native camera with all its hidden features. Then, they’ll reveal some helpful accessories and demonstrate two easy-to-use, mind-blowing shooting apps that can enhance your creativity: Average Camera Pro (Dominik Seibold) and Slow Shutter Cam (Cogitap Software).

Average Camera Pro allows you to take multiple photos and have them automatically combined into a single abstract/painterly image instantaneously, while Slow Shutter Cam enables you to create slow-shutter-speed effects using three distinct capture modes.

Session 2 – On Tap: Getting in Close

26 May 2025

Learn how to capture stunning closeups of various subjects using your mobile device. First, Charles and Melissa will demonstrate the amazing close-up capabilities that are built into the native iPhone camera. Then, they’ll discuss various accessory lenses that allow you to focus even closer than the native camera. The session will end with a discussion and live demo of various macro shooting apps, such as Macro by Camera+ (LateNiteSoft S.L.) and Focos (Bending Spoons Apps ApS), in which you can create beautiful bokeh effects usually achievable only with professional large aperture cameras.

Session 3 - On Tap: Smartphone Editing Tips & Techniques

11 June 2025

In this session, Charles and Melissa will discuss and demonstrate editing features built into the native iPhone camera. They will then review two key apps that can help you transform any image in your Camera Roll into a professional-looking WOW image:

Snapseed (Google) and TouchRetouch (ADVA Soft). Snapseed enables you to enhance photos and apply digital filters, while TouchRetouch allows you to eliminate challenging extraneous elements in your photo, such as power lines, fences, distracting background objects or people and more.

Session 4 - On Tap: Crafting Painterly/Abstract Images Using Your iPhone

15 October 2025

In this session, Charles and Melissa will discuss and demonstrate ways you can craft painterly/abstract images using four editing apps: Prisma (Prisma Labs, Inc.), Color Splash (Pocket Pixels Inc.), Artista Impresso (JixiPix Software) and Waterlogue (Tinrocket, LLC). With Prisma, you can create paintings using AI technology-based art filters. Color Splash converts photos to black & white and allows you to paint back color in select portions of your image. Artista Impresso enables you to create captivating painterly images in the style of 19 th century Impressionist artists, such as Monet and Van Gogh, while Waterlogue transforms images into watercolor paintings

Session 5 - On Tap: The Magic of Double Exposure

29 October 2025

Using a combination of lecture and step-by-step live demonstrations, Charles and Melissa will show you how to combine two or more images in your Camera Roll to create stunning works of art. You’ll learn how to add a soft glow to any image, add or change the background, insert a second image into a particular spot like a doorway or window, and overlay images to create something more abstract. To accomplish these special effects, Charles and Melissa will take a deep dive revealing the hidden magic inside Snapseed (Google)’s “Double Exposure” tool and explain the power behind another app called Image Blender (JHND/Sverige AB).

Session 6 - On Tap: Stunning Black & White Mobile Photography

12 November 2025

In this session, Charles and Melissa begin by exploring the native iPhone camera’s capabilities for capturing and/or editing black and white images. They will then discuss and demonstrate four fabulous black and white editing apps: Snapseed (Google), Dramatic Black and White (JixiPix Software), Vintage Scene (JixiPix Software) and TinType (Hipstamatic, LLC). The “Black and White” tool in Snapseed not only allows you to convert a photo to black and white, but it also allows you to apply filters to specific areas of the image. Dramatic Black and White app enables you to craft beautiful black and white imagery with extraordinary light, contrast and form, while Vintage Scene features sepia tones, grain, darkened edges, distressed paper and faded looks. TinType is an easy-to-use app that allows you to reproduce the look of photographic styles from more than 100 years ago, such as daguerreotypes, tintypes and more.

*Note: Android users are welcome with the understanding that Charles and Missy use and will demonstrate various apps and camera features using an iPhone. Many apps and techniques work on both iPhones and androids, and the

instructors will highlight similar android apps when possible. 

About Melissa and Charles

Charles and Melissa Needle are award-winning, husband-and-wife, Colorado-based fine art photographers with 35 years of combined teaching experience. They are sought-after speakers, having presented many in-person and online workshops and conference programs for national and international audiences, including the Royal Photographic Society (UK) and hundreds of camera clubs.

Charles has led photography workshops and tours in the US, Canada and Europe for the past 25 years, including locations such as Monet’s Garden (Giverny, France), Keukenhof Gardens (Netherlands), The Butchart Gardens (Canada), and private & public gardens in the UK… many with exclusive, private access. In addition, he has authored three cutting-edge instructional books: Tiny Worlds: Creative Macro

Photography Skills, Impressionistic Photography: A Field Guide to Using Your Camera as a Paintbrush, and Creative Macro Photography: Professional Tips & Techniques.

Charles is a North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) Showcase Award winner for 17 years in a row and placed in the Top Ten and Top 26 image categories for two of those years. In 2024, he made the shortlist for the Close-up Photographer of the Year international contest.  And in 2018 and 2021, Charles earned honorable mentions in the Macro and Visual FX categories of the prestigious Annual International Mobile Photography Awards Contest. He was also a semi-finalist in the 2014 Nature’s Best Photography Windland Smith Rice International Awards photo contest. In 2011, Charles was selected as a finalist, among 15,000 entries worldwide, in the International Garden Photographer of the Year photography contest, sponsored by The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (London, England). This exhibition traveled

throughout the United Kingdom.

Melissa has assisted Charles in workshops, classes and online teaching sessions since 2016. She enjoys literal image making but really loves exploring her creative side with various post-processing methods. She is a full-time professional photographer whose journey began at the age of 12 with the family camera. Her career has blossomed into a passion she enjoys, having presented at numerous camera clubs and conferences, including the New England Council of Camera Clubs (NECCC) annual conference in 2018, the New Hampshire Audubon Society and several online events.

Melissa has received numerous awards and honors over the past 33 years. Some of her notable awards include: Gold Key and Blue Ribbon awards for “Postcard Dreams” from The Boston Globe Art Show, cover features in Cape Cod Guide magazine, MUSC Humanitas, Neuroscience, and Cancer Research, blue ribbons in the Greater Lynn Photography Association (MA) camera club monthly contests, and recognition in the

Mobile Photography Awards Contest and NANPA Showcase Competition, where she won a prestigious Top-24 Image Award in 2020. In addition, Melissa’s work was selected to appear in three books: Charleston: A Photographic Portrait, Savannah: A Photographic Portrait, and Massachusetts: A Photographic Portrait. She currently leads the Greater Lynn Photographic Association (MA) smartphone specialty group and was awarded the title MNEC, Master Member of NECCC in 2022.

EACH TALK WILL BE RECORDED AND MADE AVAILABLE FOR TWO MONTHS.

This is hosted on our new Camversation LEARN platform, which allows you to quickly and easily access the content for all of this series! We're quite excited about it and think you'll love it!

Please use the link below to purchase:

www.camversation.co.uk

About the event: Click here to see MUCH more detail: Learn how to get the most from the camera that’s always with you in this comprehensive 6-part