Before we start here is a new feature you may not be aware of on your iPhone that’s running IOS 5.1. You can now take pictures directly from your lock screen. You’ll notice in the picture below that I’ve highlighted the camera icon in the lower right corner, flip that up and the iPhone automatically goes into the picture taking mode. You can now grab that shot before it disappears.

It all started with a photography course I took at Ithaca College and a Nikkormat camera that my friend Paul let me use for the class. The smell of the dark room, the beauty of printing the b/w negatives and the wonder as the image appeared on the paper. Long since lost are the images I took at the Watkins Glen race track that spring but the thrill and satisfaction of looking at the world as a photographer remains. Overtime that feeling took a back seat as kids and the responsibility and time of marriage and raising them took priority. But happily the wonderment has returned in the guise of my iPhone 4S and the iPro Lens system.

The iPro Lens System works on both the iPhone 4 and 4S. It comes with a great case for your phone and both a wide-angle and fisheye lens that screws directly onto the case over the existing iPhone lens. A handle safely stores both lenses and enables you to hand hold or attach your iPhone to any tripod. I love taking pictures with the system. Below is the classic Croton dam shot that I shot with my iPhone and the wide-angle lens attached. It was photo streamed to my iPad and then I processed it in iPhoto using one of the artistic filters.

Here is a view taken from the top of the dam standing over the falls looking towards Croton on Hudson with the iPhone and wide-angle lens attached and again processed through iPhoto on the iPad.

I turned around so my back was to the above view and I was facing the actual reservoir and the spill over. This time I used the fisheye lens. I could have cropped out the edges but decided it was more fun to leave them in.

The iPro Lens System drew me back to looking at the world with my photography eyes again and gave my daughter a great excuse to take a silly fisheye shot of me at our favorite pizza place.

As promised here’s how to print wirelessly from your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch when you don’t have one of the new Air Print capable printers…..use Printopia from ecamm. Check it out.

As for the new Air Print capable printers here’s one that works well and is reasonably priced from Canon.

Next week I’ll show you how to easily get your photos from your iPhone to your iPad if you’re not using iCloud. We’ll also look at some simple backup strategies for your iPhone, iPad and Apple desktop.

Just Because: A great version of a Hall and Oates tune that I came across…..wait for the Kazoo! Nicki Bluhm and The Gramblers. Shot with an iPhone! Check out all their covers.