Instagram

My Newest Photograph (July 11th, 2012)

Along with reworking my blogging life, I've also been working on updating my instagram life. If you did not know me, I love instagram! I like the idea of sending small photos to one another where the individuals have put time and effort into picking the best of their photographs. And with my iPhones camera and some powerful apps, I have really branched out to trying to make some of the best photography I possibly can. The following is my blog update which will have a lot of photos but be a rather short read. Enjoy.

Instagram

A Short Blog

~~My Full Gallery~~

So the first photograph I want to show off is my most recent one, taken yesterday but posted on instagram today. This is actually the most editing I've ever done on a photograph, starting with the simple image and really working with my iPhone. First I increased the details and colors, then I worked on getting the two different color edits. From there I had to rotate the pictures, put them together using a montage app, then rotate them back and add in my name. In other words, I spent a lot of time deciding exactly how to do this. And why go through all this effort? Because the slanted frames actually looked better and more unique than the straight up-and-down ones that I could have easily done. More importantly, it followed all the rules

A Stormy Sunset (July 8th, 2012)

The Rules:

As with anything I do, I like to make things more complicated. So, below are the rules that I follow when making my pictures.

• All photographs must be taken with my iPhone's built in camera.
• All editing must be done using only applications found on my iPhone, no computer editing.
• There will be at least one photograph taken and uploaded for every day of the year (though I do not need to take one photograph a day).
• Photographs will be labeled with a minimum of the state they were taken in.

My rules have also become more complex since I began. There are also exceptions, but I won't note them here

Track and Field (July 6th, 2012)

One of the things that has happened to my pictures since I started is the colors have become much more vibrant. Why? Most of the time this is a combination of effects though, where I use an HDR application to really bring out the best of the lighting while also saturating the photo in post-editing. For instance, on the track and field picture I have extreme Blues and Greens, which is caused by an HDR picture and an over saturation of the photo.

The difficulty with HDR photography is that whatever is in the background (usually the sky) and whatever is in the foreground will be merged into a much more congruent photograph, but not always with agreeing colors. Post over-saturation also have problems consisting of the need for balance with adding color and working with what is already there. I'm slowly becoming better at this, though I'm not perfect at it yet.

A Fence in the Sunset (May 5th, 2012)

Another major improvement I've made when taking photographs is understanding the use of sunlight, clouds, and objects. Sunlight is what can make or breaks the photo, or at least that's what I first discovered when I started taking sunset pictures and noticing that they naturally looked better. 

A few days later, I also solved that the best colors come when there are clouds in the sky as well, which offer a contrast in lighting. Basically, clouds bend the light's path down to the earth, causing changes that add color to the lighting. Add a touch of rain, which exaggerates the color spectrum, and the final result are extremely colorful picture.

Last, add in a few objects to block the light and create glare, which has to be done just right, and the picture becomes manufactured for beauty. This is how I achieve my original goal.

Well, that's all I really have to say on my artwork. I hope this has provided some insight into how I make my photographs for instagram and how I seem to get some of the best, brightest, and most colorful pictures every time! Now if only I could get more picture with friends!

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Night Fall Starlight (March 24th, 2012)

iPhone Applications:
Here's a short list of my apps [and my ratings]

• [5.0 / 5.0]  Pro HDR
• [3.7 / 5.0]  Camera+ 
• [3.5 / 5.0]  360 Panorama
• [4.0 / 5.0]  Pano
• [4.4 / 5.0]  Fast Camera
• [4.0 / 5.0]  Slow Shutter
• [5.0 / 5.0]  Snapseed
• [4.7 / 5.0]  Pixlr-o-matic
• [3.6 / 5.0]  Photo FX
• [3.5 / 5.0]  Color Splash
• [3.8 / 5.0]  PicFrames

The Spotted Canvas uses the application programming interface provided by their creators but is not endorsed or certified by their creators. Logos and trademarks used on this website includes, but is not limited to, Pro HDR, Camera+, 360 Panorama, Pano, Fast Camera, Slow Shutter, Snapseed, Pixlr-o-matic, Photo FX, Color Splash, and Pic Frames and are property of their creators.