Sunday 2 October 2011

Instagram, Hipstamatic, and all those things that are too cool for me

A month after our wedding, we are still waiting for the official photographs (perhaps that is not a long time, but I haven't been married before so I don't know). I am getting a little restless - starting to wonder if they've been lost or deleted, if none of them are the kinds of arty shots I wanted, if I'll be disappointed...

Thankfully one of my bridesmaids had her iPhone with her on the day. And she took my favourite photo so far:

Taken with camera+ for iPhone using beach mode and lo-fi filter

Although I think this one, by one of the groomsmen, is pretty awesome too:

This is what happens after I mess around with photos in Paint.net

Not having an iPhone myself, or any kind of fancy phone, I don't have the cool little apps that make magic like this happen instantly. Instead, I mess around for half an hour in Paint.net until I've got the effect I want. Paint.net is quite good, though, because you can download add-ons to get different effects and new ones are being developed all the time, so it's kind of a similar set up, post-production, to phone apps. Plus it's easier to learn that Photoshop.

I love looking at phone app photos to see what people have done with them: they're a great source of inspiration. Not just for my own photo-editing, but also for crafting. Colour combos, angles, shadows... take, for example, the October challenge over at True XOXO Girls: be Inspired By Instagram. If you're still reading this, STOP and go check out the challenge NOW because the creations the team have come up with this month are BLOWING MY MIND. I've been designing with True XOXO for almost a year, and I've never seen such eye candy from the team. Seriously, go NOW. No, hang on, wait a second. Let me just show you my own Insta-Inspired layout:




I coloured the rainbow rays onto patterned vellum with Copic markers and I love what came out.



All right, now you can go.


7 comments:

  1. The wedding photos will be fine! Two amazing photos! and no doubt there will be many more. I like your layout, it is interesting to see how you used the vellum. I don't have a fancy phone either, I will go and look at the challenge, and maybe learn some tips.

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  2. Who needs the professionals with pictures like these? They are fantastic!

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  3. Love the photos, you were gorgeous! As for the page, the vellum/Copic combo: outstanding! Amazing page :)

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  4. You've managed a great effect....love it.

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  5. What lovely photos, I'm sure these will turn out to be your favourites

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  6. How much do I love your bridal dress? It's so unique (ie FABULOUS)!!!
    DIVA! Your hair and shoes are AMAZING!! The groom looks fantastic but really it's ALL about the bride and her slamming dress and bouquet! This was my favorite page from the challenge- the rainbow- the attitude photo-it's PERFECT xoxo!

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  7. mwahaha - you are the queen in the 2nd photo - i LOVE it :) :) :) :) :) :)

    Fab layout and YAAAAAAh to the sass!!!! I need to move to the US now xoxo

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