InstaLove Free Template

Cathy Zielske, new owner of an iPhone, has recently shown an interest in camera apps (small, happy shriek).  She designed and shared a digi template (for free) specifically designed for pics snapped and edited with Instagram and such.  I made this page in no time flat, thanks to the template.  Fun, fun pics.  I am having a great time snapping them!  Even though this looks stark white, the page is intended as an 8.5 x 11 page.

Read her whole blogpost here.

And another....

Just today, Becky Higgins posted yet another lovely iPhone camera app: Camera+.  First of all, the app takes a pretty sweet photo...better than just taking it with the iPhone camera app.  It gives you a 9 x 9 grid in your field of vision, which helps greatly when establishing your focal point (rule of thirds, baby!).  I used what is called FX Effects --> Magic Hour for the photo of Max below to even out the contrast.  This effect had a slider that I could use to determine the degree of the effect.

The best part: for a limited time, the app is 99 cents!  Woot!  Now my Nikon is completely nervous.

Falling in Love with Easy

So, let's discuss how long it would have taken me to find the right Photoshop actions to alter this photo.  How many steps did it really take me?  1.  Uno.  Un.  O-N-E.

Hello, Instagram app for my iPhone. 

Instagram comes with a variety of actions that can make your pictures unique.  This one is called Nashville, and I like it for two reasons.  I love the frame that makes it look like a slide.  I also love that it changes the contrast so that the photo looks older.  Sometimes, vibrant colors are overrated.  What I want this photo to do is capture a memory that is fleeting.  I would not use this action for everything, but for this picture, I think it's perfect.

Another app I love is one I used with this photo.  

It's called PS Express, a mini Photoshop.  I actually purchased the full-blown app rather than just use the free one, so you know this is serious business.  Here's what I love: I can take a cruddy picture on my iPhone: poor light, hand shaking, too much movement, whatevs.  I can crop it, straighten it, rotate it, flip it, alter exposure/saturation/tint/contrast, make it black and white, use actions for sketch, soft focus, sharpening, and reducing noise, and choose effects (more actions) and borders.  All from this "app that could."  Then, when I am done, I can save it to my phone or upload to Facebook/Twitter if I desire.

I used soft focus on this pic of my guys at the park.

My poor Nikon D60 is getting a little jealous.  Every now and then, I pull it out.  But, for the everyday when I cannot lug that sucker around, I love my iPhone and these apps.

Giving credit where credit is due

I have done my share of commentary of my feelings toward Steve Jobs.  That behind me, I have to praise this little piece of sunshine... my iPhone4.

I know.  It's just a phone.  Yes.  But, allow me to give you a piece of my thought process over at least the last year.  I have kicked around getting a point-and-shoot that I could carry with me, as having the Nikon strapped around my neck is not always convenient.  When I want pictures that POP, absolutely.  But when something comes up in my every day, not so much.  I have an older Cool Pix, but was never 100% happy with my use of it (I think the camera is fine... it was my use of it as a photog that lacked... or at least that's my story).  I was also looking at purchasing a Flip video camera for those ever so cute things that happen in life that require everyone on Facebook to see.  My first gen iPhone had no video, so I was looking in to other options.  Note on cost: a point-and-shoot was looking to run me between $150 and $200 if I got a decent one on sale.  A Flip video... depended on the ads for the week... usually ran between $100-150 depending on the quality of video I wanted.

Sometimes, friends, it's good to wait.

My iPhone 4 is about as big as a standard iPod.  It takes amazing pictures.  It has the same limitations as a typical point-and-shoot as far as optical zoom.  You want a good zoom that's not super pixelated when printed at 300 dpi?  Use the Nikon not the point-and-shoot.  However, I just printed some day-to-day shots and, I have to say, WOW.  Just WOW.

The video is pretty great, too, although I must say we have been pretty spastic with it.  You have to be cautious as to how you hold it... you can actually video upside down (ask me how I know).  And, it saves the video in HD in .mov format.  What does that mean?  Large file sizes that have to be converted if you plan to edit, unless you use iMovie itself.  However, it works for our purposes.

So, there you have it.  One of the reasons, as a scrapbooker, that I love this phone.  $199 rather than $300 for two different pieces of equipment, and the same bang for the buck.  This merely scratches the surface of what this little baby can do!