Olloclip

The nifty Olloclip is about the size of C Cell battery, or if you like food, about the size of a mini Snickers bar.  It clips on to your beloved iPhone 4S and has a Fisheye lens (the large lens facing the left above), or a Wide Angle lens (the small lens facing right).  It also comes with a Macro lens (unscrew the Wide Angle lens and it is hidden there).  It comes with a two lens caps, and a microfiber bag to carry your stuff in.

  The cool thing about having a hobby you like is that you come in to contact with others following the same interest as yourself.  With others you get to share your passion for the hobby, show them your work, see their work, get valuable feedback and grow your interest in the hobby.  Plus, you also come across stuff that you might not otherwise find out about.  The olloclip is one such thing that I would have not found out about had it not been for Instagram.
  If you are not familiar with Instagram, it is essentially Facebook for photographers of all skill levels.  Interestingly enough, Facebook bought Instagram this week, making the owners some very wealthy individual$.  Good for them. :-)
  On Instagram, you can post your photographs and share with the world your vision, talent and ability.  In return, anyone in the world can find your photograph and "like" it or comment on it.  Hopefully the comments will always be positive - so far I have not had any negative comments (knock on wood).  It is a great way to see work by other people and also come across information that you might not otherwise come across.  For example, other photographers might make comments about where they took their picture, what app they used, or contests going on.
  When you post on Instagram, you will typically include a hashtag (#) which is essentially a big collection of photographs from other photographers that used the same hashtag.  For example, you might post your picture as #instagram_underdogs, which is a group of photographers that are trying to garner fans and followers.  One such hashtag I came across a while back was #olloclip.  I had no idea what it was until I read the comments on a photograph, and the photographer was discussing how she loved her olloclip.  Well, being very curious, I googled the word and came across www.olloclip.com - a company that created the device above.  On their site they have a neat video showing the efforts they went to in manufacturing the prototype for the device, plus a store where you can order a black olloclip or a red olloclip.  It took about a week before I felt comfortable enough in parting with the approx $75 it took to buy the lens, but I finally ordered it, then sat by my mailbox over the Easter holiday waiting for the Postman to ring twice.  I hear he always rings twice, but the truth of the matter, Mr. Postman must have been nipping at the bottle, because it showed up two days late with Priority Mail.  What's up with that?
  But I digress - we were talking about the wonders of the olloclip.
  I was so excited about finally buying an olloclip, as I love photography and take tons of pics with my beloved iPhone4S.  I hate to say it, but I seldom use my beloved orange Pentax DSLR anymore.  It is a great camera and I really try to like using my Lensbaby (wow, it is really a challenge to use), but who really wants to walk around anonymously amongst the masses lugging a camera that screams "invasion of privacy"?
  So the iPhone is perfect for me and perfect for what I enjoy about photography - doing my own thing without having anyone hassling me (it is not usually a pleasant experience).  But after a while, you just wish you had those cool lenses for your iPhone.
  Welcome to 2012 and the olloclip.  The olloclip is essentially a lens for your iPhone, just like what you use on your DSLR, except it is much simpler to use - no F-Stops, focusing, or worrying about dust when you change it.  It is such a clever device, I am surprised that they are not more common-place.  Or perhaps they are - I just came across them recently.
  I have mainly used the Macro lens to date, and really like the results.  The Wide Angle lens is better than expected, and great for taking pictures of landscapes and buildings.  The Macro lens has opened up a whole new world to me, as witnessed with the pictures below - I took these the first day I used the lens and have been hooked ever since.

Original:  A flower bud with the morning sunrise smiling upon it.  But not shining enough to make a pretty picture.  No worries - I have Snapseed, Photoshop, and 5 minutes to spare.

Finished Masterpiece:  Not bad for the one of the first pictures I took with my beloved olloclip macro lens.  I used Snapseed to bring out the color, bring out the dead (not familiar with Monty Python?), sharpen the detail, and give it that Kapow! that the picture is screaming for.  I then used Photoshop to tame down the image a little so we do not get too wild, then brought it back in to Snapseed for a little fine tuning.  I love the bokeh effect created - the Lensbaby is great for this effect and I am pleasantly surprised with the olloclip creating this effect as well.  Me so happy.