(Announcement: In related news, this post is also featured on The Huffington Post, as I will now be blogging for them on occasion. Follow my Huffington Post blog entries here!)

 

Phhhoto is an oddly named and extremely fun iPhone app that is the answer to all the visual questions you didn’t know you had. How can I share motion without worrying about audio? GIFs! How can I fall in love again with exploring the world like I did so long ago through photography? GIFs! There’s a certain magic that I’ve discovered with this app, and I really do feel the same as I did when I first picked up a camera and explored the world by making pictures.

 

(Broad Street & Beaver Street, New York)

Simply point your camera at something, press the shutter once, and Phhhoto will take a brief series of pictures to create an instant GIF. It’s amazing. Make a caption and click share, and then go find something else to GIF (I think GIF is going to become a verb soon, FYI).

The social side of the app seems to be modeled after Instagram, so when you browse others’ posts, you can like them and make comments. Also, you can save the GIF as a video for sharing on Instagram and other social media platforms. The original GIF is always saved as a GIF on your phone, and it is a nice surprise to see that the motion in the GIF actually moves if you are to send it to someone via the iPhone’s messaging app.

The app is quite new, so I’m sure it will improve, but one thing that bugs me is that you are forced to shoot verticals. Also, there is a bit of a delay after hitting the shutter button. Regarding the social side of the app, the network seems to be growing but the creators haven’t yet implemented an alert system. Once I’m able to know when people like and comment on my GIFs, I will be very pleased 🙂

I’ve included a few GIFs I made below. Download the free Phhhoto app and follow me: @davidmryder.

 

(Blue Moon Tavern, Seattle)

 

(My garage, Seattle)

 

(Fishing for coho in the Duwamish River, Seattle)