iphoneography

How I Edited This Pic On My Phone
BabiesPhotography

How I Edited This Pic On My Phone

by Jill
written by Jill

I’ve been doing a bit of this lately over on Instagram now that they’ve introduced “albums.” I take a fully edited pic and break down the steps and apps I used to get from straight out of (phone) camera to the final image.

I thought I’d do one here today, showing you how I documented Wallace’s newest milestone- the airplane baby phase, since quite a few people asked how I got this shot.

To start, I had to rest the phone on my boobs, and set the timer. It took a few test shots to figure out proper placement…

Mobile Phone Picture Play | BabyRabies.com

And I had to switch from the 3-second timer to the 10-second timer because I needed more time to get Wallace’s attention.

Mobile Phone Picture Play | BabyRabies.com

Once I got a shot I was happy with (after about 4 tries), I took it into a new app I just downloaded called TouchRetouch (also available in Google Play) because I wanted to get rid of that ugly vent.

Mobile Phone Picture Play | BabyRabies.com

I selected “Object Removal” in the bottom left corner, then I used the brush, painted over the vent, and pressed “go.”

Mobile Phone Picture Play | BabyRabies.com

Voila! Bye bye, vent.

Mobile Phone Picture Play | BabyRabies.com

Next, I opened A Color Story app (also in Google Play), and used my very favorite tool- curves, to pull up the shadows a bit and brighten up his face.

Mobile Phone Picture Play | BabyRabies.com

I decided to turn this black and white, so I went into the B&W set of filters, and chose Audrey. This is my go-to B&W filter for this app because it brightens the skin tone up, and gives a good amount of contrast and clarity. I kept this at full strength.

Mobile Phone Picture Play | BabyRabies.com

So then I took it over to Instagram. Now, technically, IG only has a few true B&W filters, but if your image is already B&W to begin with, all the filters play into that.

Mobile Phone Picture Play | BabyRabies.com

I liked what Ludwig had going on here, but took it down to about half strength.

Mobile Phone Picture Play | BabyRabies.com

And that’s how I took this picture from eh, pretty cool…

Mobile Phone Picture Play | BabyRabies.com

To OMG best picture of a 2.5 month old!

Mobile Phone Picture Play | BabyRabies.com

Mobile Phone Edit Picture Play | BabyRabies.com

Like I mentioned, I’ve shared a few other photo editing tutorials on my @BabyRabies Instagram account. You can find them with the #BabyRabiesPicturePlay hashtag. Here are a couple! Be sure to click through to see all the steps.

I didn’t have time to share one of my fav mobile photo editing tricks in my FB live #babyrabiesplaygroup today so I’m sharing here now. ? How to remove blemishes? Wallace is always scratching his face (no matter how much I cut his nails) in his unending quest to suck his thumb. ??Snapseed is a free app that has a “healing tool” Once you select it the tool, zoom in a bit on the area you want to heal. This takes some practice. Sometimes it will just heal a big streak instead of zooming in. Reverse it and try again. ??Heal blemishes by simply tapping on them. A red dot will appear, and then it will clone out that spot. Sometimes it will put something weird in its place like a nostril hole. Don’t fret. Reverse. Try again. Maybe zoom in a bit more and retry. (This also works for healing your own zits. Take my word for it.) ??Now that everything is healed, I’ll take you through the rest of my edits. First, I open in A Color Story app. ?? I go to tools, then curves. Then I pull the middle of the curve up just a bit to brighten the skin. ?? My go-to filter here is “Everyday” under Essentials. Note that I’m not using it at 100. ?? Once I take it to IG, I like to use the Clarendon filter but scaled wayyyy back, to maybe 20ish. I just like the little bit of cool and blue it adds. ???????????? I loved talking about mobile phone photography and editing today! If you missed it, the episode will stay up on my FB pg- Facebook.com/babyrabiesblog Catch me tomorrow over on @bebeaulait! I’m doing an IG takeover for them. #babyrabiespictureplay

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PhotographyThe Story

Sunlit Clovers and Dumb Luck

by Jill
written by Jill

She zig zagged through the strip of dead grass alongside our house as the sun was setting behind her, looking for dandelions. I was squinting, trying to keep her in my sight and make sure she didn’t run into the neighbor’s yard and mess with some tools they had stacked against their house.

Ugh. The sun was SO blinding.

And it was then that my photographer brain turned on. I grabbed the only camera I had with me- my iPhone, squatted low, and took a picture of her hovering over a single patch of green… some perfectly sunlit clovers.

It was dumb luck. I had no idea if I even captured anything because the sun made it hard to see my screen.

Next time you’re out playing with your kids and you have to squint because the sun is right behind them, get low, snap a pic, test your luck.

I edited this in Snapseed to up the contrast and saturation, warm the white balance, and then I applied the Low-Fi filter in Instagram. If you want to follow me over there, I’m @BabyRabies.

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PhotographyThe Story

That Time I Took A Broken Camera To Florida

by Jill
written by Jill

You may have noticed things were a little quiet around here last week… or maybe you didn’t.

Either way, I gave myself the week off to enjoy a trip to the TradeWinds Resort in St. Pete Beach, Florida, and to celebrate my birthday.

 

The lovely Palm Court Italian Grill at TradeWinds surprised me with cake and an amazing dinner on my birthday.

I had super grand plans for this trip I was covering for 5 Minutes For Mom (full review to be posted over there shortly- you’ll LOVE this place if you need a great beach escape for your whole family). The biggest of my plans was spending time taking gorgeous pictures.

It’s so rare that I get a chance to really focus on the act of photography. Most of the time, I try to snap something really quick, giving a little thought to exposure and the technical details, but never having much time to think creatively about posing and lighting before a kid tries to grab my camera or one of them needs me to do something that requires me putting it safely away.

This time, I was going to rent wide angle and macro lenses. I was going to bring a tripod and a remote. I was going to experiment and get creative, spending my days on the beach at sunset, dreaming of getting the perfect shot to blow up and put on a canvas to hang in our room.

And then my plans started to fall apart. My already finicky Canon MK II started giving me a error a couple weeks before the trip. I looked into sending it off to get fixed, but I wouldn’t get it back in time for the trip, and I had other projects I needed to complete with it. I fidgeted and fussed with it to get it to work 30% of the time. I figured if I can only get 30% of the pictures I wanted in Florida, that would be okay. I had 3 days, after all.

I chose not to rent the lenses because I was going to need to save that money… to buy a new camera. Yup. I. was. done. with my MK II. We’ve had a rocky relationship from day one, and I was sick of it. I did a ton of research on the 6D, a new full frame camera by Canon that has wifi capabilities! I knew we were meant to be soul mates.

Scott waited in line with all the kids to go down the TradeWinds big beach slide. Thrill seeker.

Problem? By the time I could order it, it wouldn’t be delivered until 2 days into our trip. I did NOT want to risk having it delivered to the resort, so I prayed my MK II would give me one final run and at least a handful of decent shots.

Nope.

It didn’t work the ENTIRE time we were there. My tripod, my remote, my plans were all for nothing. I took it out on a sunset sail with us, in hopes I would get just ONE random, lucky shot out of it (because, remember, it WAS working 30% of the time before we got to Florida). Scott’s words as we were heading out of the hotel:

“I don’t think you should bring that. I’m worried it’s not going to work, and you’re going to throw it into the ocean.”

It’s like I throw things, or something, when I get mad. What?

So our entire, gorgeous trip to the beautiful St. Pete Beach and Tradewinds Resort is all documented via iPhone. And you know what? I’m not that upset. It was a great challenge to rock what I had, to not rely on fancy technology or Photoshop and Lightroom (though I did process these with Snapseed and then some more in Instagram for a few).

Of course, I had to indulge in a (virgin) beachy drink. The baby really enjoyed it.

Maybe I enjoyed the experiences more not lugging around my big camera? I don’t know, but that little iPhone camera sure was handy and did a great job. Can’t wait to print the pics using some of my favorite ways to get pictures off my phone and into my home.

Dolphins at sunset on my birthday. AMAZING.  

Stay tuned for the introduction of my new Canon lovah- the 6D! OMG, making out with it so hard right now.

Huge thanks to TradeWinds Resort for sending us out there and giving me all these great photo opps, regardless of the camera I had to use. I’ll let you all know when I do the full review for 5 Minutes For Mom.

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Get Instagram Pics Off Your Phone And Into Your Home
PhotographyReviews

Get Instagram Pics Off Your Phone And Into Your Home

by Jill
written by Jill

I’ve fallen in love with Instagram over the last year and a half as a quick place to share random moments. They’re often the “small” moments. The ones I don’t have time to grab my DSLR for. And many times, they’re the moments that mean the most to me… the ones that capture “real life” the best.

But, what can you do with a bunch of square, low resolution (in comparison to my DSLR pics) pictures? Turns out, lots. In fact, I think it’s safe to say I have more Instagram pictures printed than I do DSLR pictures at this moment.

Here are some of my favorite ways to get Instagram pictures off your phone and into your home:

1. Printstagram – I landed here simply looking for a way to print off my pictures into old-fashioned, hold them in your hand, prints. And while their prints ARE lovely and a great price, I fell in love with all the other little things they offer, too. Like Mini-Books and stickers!

2. Blurb for Instagram- I was able to print off a Blurb book last year full of Instagram photos of the spring and summer of 2011. It was such a simple process and the book turned out beautiful.

3. Rag & Bone Bindery Instabooks– So what do you do with those 4×4 paper prints you order from Prinstagram? You pop them in one of these gorgeous, handcrafted Instabooks. It’s super easy, but the end result is so sophisticated and… real, you know? Like, an actual stack of paper pictures, carefully adhered (with included sticky corners) inside a quality, archival, accordion style book. This is the stuff you hand down to your kids.

4. Stickygram- Turn your Instagram pics into magnets! Our magnets are pretty lame-o. The assortment ranges from the pizza-delivery number to the Cowboys football schedule. But these? Little squares of happy memories. Forget using the plumber’s magnet to hold up your favorite family photo. Just make the picture the magnet!

5. CanvasPop– Sometimes a picture deserves to be the center of attention. Sometimes it begs to be printed on a gallery-wrapped canvas. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of this 12″x12″ canvas of one of my favorite Instagram pics of all time.

6. Coastergrams by Fleur de Stone on Etsy- I did a quick search on Etsy last month to see if anyone sold Instagram-specific items, and I was thrilled to turn up this shop, located in Austin, TX. I immediately sent him 4 Instagram pics I took at my mom’s beautiful country home. I could not be more happy with the quality! These are Christmas gift worthy, and I’m wrapping them up for my mom tomorrow. Well… I’ll probably not bother with wrapping since my mom reads this blog religiously and will already know. So happy early Christmas, Mom!

There are many more options out there for printing your Instagram pics. These are just a handful I’ve had the chance to try out and really love. Whether you print them for photo albums, or you turn them into wall art, make sure you get some of your favorite Instagram pics off your phone and into your home soon. They are even more beautiful without a screen between you and them.

While we’re on the subject of Instagram, you can follow me @BabyRabies. And here are a few of my favorite apps for Instagram pics for the iPhone:

  •  Snapseed– Love using this app for when I need to get detailed with adjusting the white balance and brightness of photos.
  • Camera Plus– This is my go-to app for iPhoneography. I take pics in this first, then adjust the settings (usually adjusting my exposure by choosing the “Backlit” setting), then send it over to Instagram.
  •  VSCO Cam– This is my favorite app for black & white pictures. I love that it replicates a filmy look, and I learned of it from one of my biggest photography idols- Emma Wood- when she guest posted here. 
  •  InstapicFrames– Sometimes you need a few pics to tell a story. Rather than clogging your followers’ feed, try piecing the pictures together in one collage, like what I did with the Printstagram pics above. This is a super easy app to use for that.
  •  Phonto– Easy and customizable way to add text to your photos. Whether you want to caption it, or use it to convey a message, sometimes it’s helpful to have a way to put words on your photos
Did I miss any products or apps that you love? Please share!

*Disclosure- Some of these items I purchased myself, and some were sent to me to review or to demo on Texas Living (I’ll be on Monday, November 19th showing them off!). I wasn’t paid to write about them, and didn’t include a few that I couldn’t personally recommend. Everything I listed above is good stuff, and all the pictures are my own.

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Photography

iPhone and Instagram Inspiration

by Jill
written by Jill

I know a lot of you lament that you don’t have “fancy” cameras or that you don’t have time to learn how to use yours, and thus you feel you will never get “beautiful” pictures.

I don’t believe that’s how it has to be, though! The key to getting beautiful pictures isn’t the camera that you use, it’s you knowing enough to make whatever you have work for you.

I’ve been inspired by Emma Wood since I discovered her on the Clickin Moms forums last year. She does phenomenal things with her Nikon D700. But you know what? Even she admits that sometimes an iPhone is just a better tool, and the images she captures with hers are stunning. 

I asked Emma to write a guest post for me on this subject and I’m super excited to share it with you all today. I hope it inspires you to get creative with whatever camera is easiest for you to document everyday life with. It’s certainly made me look at Instagram as an entirely new canvas. (Do you follow me over there yet? @Babyrabies)

After a day out with my family last week, as I was looking through my pictures, I realised that I had many more images on my iPhone then I did my Nikon and something struck me that I think is probably true for many people.   As fantastic as my camera is, and as in love as I am with it, it’s just not always possible or convenient to capture every moment with it.

Picture this.  There I was walking over potholes in the mud, a human packhorse – holding all the kids coats, that they’d decided they didn’t need to wear, under one arm,  while holding onto my 3yr olds hand with the other, trying to distract her from her worries about stepping in sheep poop.  At the same time keeping a watchful eye on two of my other smaller children who were getting a bit too close to the edge of a hill for my comfort, and trying to have a conversation with my Hubby about what groceries we needed to get on the way home.

Sound familiar?   As we rounded the corner to a spectacular view with the prettiest light i’ve seen in a long time, did I think about getting out my D700?  Absolutely!   But my beloved camera was in my camera bag slung across my body underneath a handful of coats and it would have meant letting go of too many of the balls I was trying to juggle.   So instead, for the majority of the day, I found myself reaching into my coat pocket for my iPhone 4s.

I knew that there were moments that I needed to capture, that couldn’t be missed on one of the very few and precious days that I had with my family, and my iPhone camera was easy, accessible and I think pretty darn effective.  Don’t get me wrong, my D700 is still the love of my life and there isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t pick it up, but having the convenience of my iPhone camera absolutely rocks my world these days.

Here are some images I did manage to get with my D700

And a couple more iPhone pics…

In some ways, I actually think I captured the real feel of the day with the iPhone camera, probably because with it, I managed to snap those fleeting moments faster than I would using my DSLR.  They might not be perfect, they might not be as aesthetically pleasing, but they are real, raw and honest – I like that!

And just a few of my very favourite iPhone images.  I usually edit them using the VSCO CAM app because I love the filmy feel to it,  and then take them straight into Instagram.

So no excuses, if you don’t have a DSLR, or even if you do and it’s all too difficult, grab that iPhone or whatever else you DO have and see what you get. You never know, you might be surprised.

Emma Wood is a mother of 7, wife of a pilot and natural light, film inspired lover.  She spends her days documenting the lives of her children and family, which is what inspired her to learn as much as she could about photography and to join Clickin Moms 2 years ago.  After spending a great deal of her life traveling and living abroad, she now lives in the UK. You can follow her on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. She blogs here.

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Photography

#CatEffects -The Funniest Thing To Happen To iPhoneography

by Jill
written by Jill

Yesterday morning, my brilliant, hilarious sister posted this to my Facebook wall.

At first I was all, “Aww! That’s the picture I took of her and Leyna last month when we…” but then I was all “HOLY CATS! What the what? There wasn’t a cat there!”

She told me it was an app called Cat Effects, and that she was officially addicted and couldn’t stop herself from putting a cat on everything. Shortly after that, she bestowed this precious gem upon me…

And I nearly peed myself, followed by, obviously, downloading the app for myself.

Remember that time I had twins?

Or what about that time I ran into a couple monsters and a couple strays on Sesame Street?

And then there was that time I took Mr. Pookie’s pictures in the bluebonnets at sunset…

This one time we had to cram into a bathtub during a tornado warning. Of course, the cat came along, too.

I’ll never forget that time I was flying to San Diego and saw these fearless kitties hanging out on the wing of the plane.

Or that time we went back to visit MIZZOU and Leyna got to pet a tiger.

And how could I ever forget the look on this kitty’s face when I found out I was pregnant with my 2nd baby.

To clarify, that was the pregnancy test from my last pregnancy. This is not some hilariously twisted way of telling you all I’m pregnant again. Although that would be THE BEST EVER. You know, for the funny, not for the being pregnant again.

I was laughing over half the day yesterday. I laid in bed last night, next to my peacefully sleeping husband, and put cats in all the pictures while laughing so hard I was crying. After about 10 minutes, Scott rolled over and grumbled, “Stop putting cats on everything and go to bed.”

If you download it, I’m just going to warn you that you will NOT be able to stop, and then you’re going to feel the urge to share your cat photo bomb pictures with all your friends and family, and possibly feel the need to tell the world about it on your blog.

Cat Effects did not pay me to write about this. They have no idea who I am, but may be wondering why they had a spike in downloads yesterday after I couldn’t stop sharing my #CatEffects pics on every social media platform available to me. The app is free, but only for iPhones. Put a cat on it! I am forever in debt to my sister for this discovery.

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PhotographyReviews

When 2 Awesome Things Really Love Each Other… (A Blurb/Instagram Giveaway)

by Jill
written by Jill

They make more awesome things.

Like this.

That little nugget of niftiness is a Blurb photo book, made entirely from my Spring/Summer 2011 Instagram pictures, taken on my iPhone.

Do you Instagram? If you have an iPhone, you should. It’s so easy to take fun shots of your day with your phone and edit them with really cool filters. Plus, it’s FREE! (I think it’s only an iPhone thing, though. Corrected! It’s an iPhone AND iPod Touch thing.)

Blurb has partnered with Instagram to make it *super* simple to link up to your Instagram account and create a book that will take all your Instagram pictures off your phone and put them on paper. It seriously took me about 40 minutes to put the whole thing together. Momma likes!

Books are printed in 7×7 format, and prices for a soft-cover, 20 page book start at just $10.95! (Though mine, shown here, was valued closer to $40 since it’s hard-cover and more pages.)

I loved putting the pictures I took throughout spring and summer in it, but you know what I was thinking would be even cooler? Remember our Ordinary Day In The Life Photo Challenge? How great would it be to take Instagrams throughout your ordinary day, and then print them in a Blurb book?! I think I’m going to have to do that sometime.

Now for the fun! Of course, I’m giving one away to one of you (hard-cover, up to 60 pages). There are NO location restrictions on this one! And all you have to do to enter is:

1. Leave a comment telling me you want this! (Remember, you’ll need to have an iPhone or iPod Touch with the Instagram app in order to make one of these books.)

If you want a few other entries to increase your chances you can:

2. Follow me on Twitter
3. Like me on Facebook
4. Sign up for my newsletter

If you have multiple entries, please leave a separate comment for each one and allow time for moderation. I’ll choose a winner with Random.org Friday, September 30th.

**Disclosure- Blurb provided the book for me and for the giveaway at no charge. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated in any other way for this post. 

Entries are closed. Congrats to Erin, commenter #148, as chosen by Random.org.

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