candygrams

i saw a little post on fat mum slim's blog about candy colored photos and was inspired enough to download a couple rhonna farrer apps and quickly became obsessed.  i created these five images in one afternoon, with every intent of looking on my laptop for some more photos to import to my phone for some candy gram action.  then i lost my iphone and my new addiction has had to be put on hold temporarily.  i really can't wait to get back to the candy colored clouds.

instagram: #fatmumslim

i tried #fatmumslim's #fmsphotoaday challenge for the first time this month and loved it.  the prompts are fabulous and her examples/picks are so inspiring.  i added in my own "things i love theme" to the mix a la alissa fast and it was perfect and so easy.  so easy that i'm going for a third month with this photo a day thing.  i've decided on a roy g. biv theme in honor of st. patrick's day.  so sunday's will be red, monday's orange, tuesday's yellow, wednesdays green, thursdays (aqua) blue, fridays (true blue) indigo, saturdays violet.  i think it will make for a pretty calendar at the end of the month.  :)

instagram: #365

i have never ever ever wanted to do a 365/photo-a-day project.  and on the heels of my epic 52 week granny square fail, i really should have just said no.  but.  when i read the dainty squid's "project 365 + why you should do one too!"  i contemplated it, if just for a moment.  then a few days later i picked up a new stampington & company magazine, bella grace, and read an article about a photographer who's photographed her coffee cup every morning for the last three and a half years.  i know.  it sounds crazy, but the photos were really awesome.  after reading her tips for creative #365 photography i was hooked.  hooked for a month, that is.  i took on the photo-a-day challenge for the month of january and happened to walk right into the subject matter, my feet, on day one.  i really only got tired/bored/unmotivated with the project on three different days.  that's not bad out of 31 total.  i probably cheated with make-up days (photographed the day after) about three times as well, but you already knew i'm prone to that sort of thing.  this supercute calendar with all my daily january feet photos (created with the collect app) has me doing the happy dance.  i love it!  and i'm hooked!  at least for another month.  for february, i've decided to play along with alissa fast's "28 days of love" project using fatmumslim's #fmsphotoaday challenge on instagram.  wish me luck!

p.s. i am doris sander on instagram in case you want to see the february photos hot off the press :)

iphone camera and photo editing apps

g and i made a "coiniverous" bank for his 4th grade ffa project.

 

i got a new iphone 5s last week!  i LOVE it!!!  i've waited patiently for 2.5 years to own an iphone and this little baby does not disappoint.  the two main reasons i wanted it were the camera quality (hello 2.2 aperture!) and the diversity and functionality of the apps available (i am blown away by how much better the apps are for the iphone than for droids). 

here is a very brief overview of the camera apps i've downloaded thus far.  i may post more in depth reviews of some of them as i have more time to play and really learn what all they can do.

iphoto (free - itunes has it listed at $4.99, but it was a free dowload for me) - i added this one simply for the information button that tells me the date and time each photo in my gallery was taken or edited (very helpful with project life).  the photos app that came loaded on the phone did not have this information, but i've kept it as well since i can't find a button on iphoto that lets me delete unwanted photos.

procamera ($4.99) - this is an amazing app with many functions that i have yet to explore (including a self-timer).  the camera app pre-installed on the iphone is extremely basic.  what i was drawn to with procamera is the ability to separate the focal point from exposure.  really cool function.

the rest of the apps discussed below are all for post-processing.

this photo is straight out of the camera (sooc).

pictapgo ($1.99) - this app is so simple to use and has a wide array of free filters.  i prefer it as it easily adds the warmth and brightness that i like in my images.  it also has a nice selection of black and white filters that i know will come in handy.

vsco (free-ish) - this is the photo editing app that was popular when i first got my droid.  it wasn't available on the droid back then (but apparently is now).  it comes with a limited amount of filters with many more available for purchase.  it also allows you to adjust things like temperature, contrast, and brightness separately.  there is a much higher learning curve on this one to get the photos to come out exactly the way you want them to and it tends to give a more artsy/processed look.  it's a great app, but i'm not sure how much time i'll have to devote to it as pictapgo meets my current needs so much better and quicker.  i do like that it has an in app photo community, so i've kept it on my radar.  i love looking at beautiful photos.

sooc.  after mowing the lawn for the first time this spring.

pictapgo.  love the color saturation on this one.

vsco.  more of a vintage vibe.

my lawn is a beautiful place where weeds flowers abound.

pictureshow ($1.99) - and speaking of the vintage vibe . . . in searching for an app similar to vsco for my droid two years ago, i stumbled upon a fun app called vignette.  it has lots of toy camera filters and cool frames.  i loved playing around with it and wanted something similar for my new iphone.  vignette isn't available on the iphone and it took me FOREVER to find a comparable app.  i seriously looked through a lot of vintage/retro duds before finding pictureshow.  pictureshow is everything i wanted it to be and more.  so so fun to play with.

in pictureshow you can add toy camera filters, frames, light leaks/bokah, texture (like scratches and stains), text, and so much more.

while i prefer to make my photo editing choices post processing, i have discovered one fun sooc option in pictureshow that i like.  you can fire off four images and then adject the frame and filters to get this filmstrip/photobooth look.  i haven't quite mastered the timing and angle yet, but ha!

diptic ($0.99 + $0.99) - diptic is another photo app that i had on my droid.  it allows you to make photo collages.  i used it to size edit my phone pics to 3x4 and 2x2 so i could print them without editing them on my computer first.  the iphone version is much better.  i went ahead and paid an extra $0.99 for an upgrade that allows me to change my aspect ratio to 3:2 which is the size for 4x6 prints.  the iphone version also allows me to delete all borders between photos so i can bleed my prints all the way to the edge.  score.

diptic.  can you believe g and i took out a holly bush all by ourselves with just an ax and shovel?

a beautiful mess ($0.99) - a fun little app that allows me to add colorful text and borders to photos. 

a beautiful mess (also available on android).  perfect for pointing out those little details and for dull indoor photos.

collect (free + $1.99) - this app is perfect for 365/project life.  i'm not using it for journaling/note-taking, but it's great for that.  i mostly wanted the option of more type-written journaling in my project life albums without my having to get on the computer to do it.  for this, i went ahead and splurged on the $1.99 upgrade for annette haring's version (i first saw this app on her instagram feed).

 



at first i thought it was silly that i had to find all these different apps to do all the things that i wanted done with my photos.  then i realized that i was being silly.  these apps are all in the same place on the same phone and it takes just seconds to do each little thing.  they all combine and interact so well.  for example, the left image was taken using the procamera app then the text was added with the collect app.  the image on the right was edited in pictapgo.  then i combined them both on a 4x6 canvas in diptic so they'd be ready to print straight from my camera.  i love it!