iPhoneography & Instagram

Posted on 31st January 2012 in Photography, Tech

I’ve had my iPhone 4S for about 3 months now, and already I don’t know how I ever lived without it. I had an Android (Samsung Galaxy S) before this, which I thought was great. But I had no idea what I was missing. Nothing beats the iPhone. Period. Any of you who’ve had both know what I’m talking about.

My favorite thing about it? The incredible optics of it’s camera. Pair this incredible camera with the multitude of photography apps and you have a recipe for creative inspiration.

Best of all, most iPhoneographers culminate and share their creations in one central place: Instagram.

While many people simply snap photos using Instagram itself, and apply one of Instagram’s built-in filters, I like to do a bit more. I usually run my iPhone photos through no less than two or three photo apps capable of different types of editing before uploading them to Instagram. I’ve been making an effort lately to make every photo truly worth viewing.

Here are a handful of my most recent iPhone creations, along with descriptions of how I created them. I hope you enjoy them. If you have an iPhone, hop onto Instagram and say hello, wouldja? (My username is lemonjenny.)

I snapped this photo outside the Utah Museum of Natural History. It was around 3:00 in the afternoon, so the sun had begun to sink, and I was able to capture it in the photo. I loved how this little knoll created a perfect horizon. I loved the symmetry of the baby trees and their supports, and how they made such pretty silhouettes against the overcast sky.

I shot this using the iPhone’s native camera app, as I do with almost every one of my photos. Then using Snapseed, I adjusted the ambiance to bring out the sky’s texture, and added a little sharpness. Then I used PhotoForge2 to add a perfect Vignette, and a few PopCam FX. Finally, I used Magic Hour to adjust the curves a little more before uploading it to Instagram and applying the Amaro filter.

I set up this self portrait in the main lobby of the Utah Museum of Natural History. They have this beautiful light projection of branches blowing in the breeze, and I just couldn’t take my eyes off of it. I wanted to try to capture some of those shadows and light on my face.

To edit this, I used Snapseed to adjust the ambiance, and PhotoForge2 to add PopCam FX and Vignette before uploading to Instagram (with no additional filter).

Another photo from inside the Natural History Museum. A wall full of dead, beautiful bugs. How could I resist?

To edit, I used Snapseed for ambiance, and PhotoForge2 for PopCam FX and Vignette, before uploading to Instagram using the Hudson filter.

These two were also taken at the Natural History Museum (I took a lot of photos that day) on their fourth/fifth floor. They have this massive incredible cement wall that’s textured to look like old reclaimed bleached wood. It’s so so gorgeous I could hardly stand it. I want to take people there for portrait sessions. I need to find out if they allow it. Also: look how handsome Steve looks in that photo. Looove.

For both these photos, I used snapseed to adjust ambiance and lower the saturation and add sharpness. Then I added some Vignette and PopCam FX in PhotoForge2 before uploading to Instagram using the Amaro and Valencia filters.

This was just a plain old shrub outside of Rubio’s on 5400 South State. Not a pretty place in the least, but I was determined to find something beautiful to photograph. It’s all about angle and composition, right? This photo also reminds me how warm it’s been this winter. The end of January is usually completely intolerable in it’s cold and gloominess, but this January was full of sunny mild days just like this one was.

This photo was edited using mostly Magic Hour (for curves and vignette) and Camera+ (for additional coloring) before importing into Instagram and using the Brannan filter.

This photo was taken from the passenger seat of our car as we sped up 9800 south. I was surprised it wasn’t more blurry.

To edit this photo, I used PicFrame to create the mirror, then used Snapseed for ambiance and desaturation, and Camera+ for additional color effects and vignette. Then I uploaded it to Instagram and applied the X-Pro II filter.

I love this photo for it’s simplicity. I shot this in a fairly ugly part of Sandy, Utah, cropping out the ugly buildings and street signs around me.

All I did to this photo was add vignette in PhotoForge2, and a little coloring effects using Camera+ before uploading to Instagram and applying the EarlyBird filter.

I took this photo this morning. It’s a hill near my home. I love this hill. I’ve taken many photos on this hill, and I’m sure I’ll take more in the future. There didn’t used to be any homes up there, but more and more are added every month. I still think it looks pretty.

I used Snapseed to adjust ambiance, reduce saturation and add drama to this photo. Then I used PhotoForge2 to add vignette before uploading to Instagram and applying the Brannan filter.

I took this photo today on my lunch break, while walking to my car. I’ve seen people do diptych’s using half of a face, and half something else completely unrelated, and I loved the idea. Both of these photo used here were shot without much thought. I was lucky they turned out good enough to use.

To edit it, I used PicFrame to create the diptych, then Magic Hour to play with the color before uploading it to Instagram and applying the Walden filter.

***

I may know how to sling a DSLR like a relative pro, but I’m still new at this iPhoneography thing, and I hope to keep learning and growing. That’s the main reason why I wanted to share which apps I like and use the most, because not enough people do, and I’m always curious at how others do it.

So… it’s your turn! Which apps are your favorites? How do you go about concocting your favorite mix of iPhoneography edits?

Kitty TeeVee

Posted on 26th January 2012 in The Cats & Other Pets

Recently we discovered a magical little item called The Butterfly Jar. It appears to be a live Monarch butterfly fluttering around inside a mason jar, but it’s all a mechanical little illusion. It’s very cool though. You tap on the lid, and the butterfly flutters about for a few minutes, incredibly life-like. It’ll even stop fluttering and land, slowly moving it’s wings like a real butterfly.

As soon as I saw this thing, I knew I had to buy one for the cats.

I’ve never had a “cat toy” that was more of a hit.

When I first brought it home, Bug and Sooki sat staring at it and swatting at it for over an hour.

It was so fun to watch them sit in fascination of the thing, their cute faces perked up and curious!

It’s been a few weeks since I first brought it home, and I leave the butterfly jar on the floor in my office so they can play with it whenever they like. Sooki has figured out how to activate it herself, and does so several times a day.

I often find her like this, mesmerized:

The best part of all of this is that it surprisingly calms Sooki down, which is great since she is so prone to anxiety. (She’s been much less crazy since she’s had her new little butterfly friend!) This little thing makes her so happy. Steve thinks it’s because she knows the butterfly can’t get away. She loves to just lay down and watch it.

I find her like this every day now. It makes my heart want to explode from the cuteness!

The jars are made by a company named Gemmy, and you can get them at Lowes, near the indoor plants. I think I should buy one for every friend who has a kitty! (Also, I’ve found that my kitties aren’t the only ones enjoying these! Look here!)

Best and Worst of 2011

Posted on 4th January 2012 in Lists

I’ve done this Best & Worst list a few years in a row, and it’d be a shame to stop, ya know? So here, I present to you, my random, misguided, completely irreverent and thrown-together best & worst of 2011 list. Please enjoy, and do let me know if I left anything out!

Best drink: Riesling

Best books read: A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. I finished A Storm of Swords in 2011, and deemed it “The Best Book I Have Ever Read.”  I’m currently on book 5 in the series.

Best newly discovered dining spot: The Beehive Tea Room. I usually order one of their many herbal teas and a toasted croissant with jam.

Best purse: Steve Madden dark silver quilted satchel that’s shaped like a bowling bag.

Most moving experience / Best addition to the family: Welcoming Arthur. My first time watching a baby be born. And to make it even more amazing, it was my little sister welcoming her firstborn. Little Arthur, who still rocks the world with his incredible cuteness to this day.

Best animal pet I’ll never have: Alpacas. Want!

Best Perennial Planted: Agastache. It smells like the cabin (mountain mint) and is so pretty and fast growing!

Best Beer: ”Ruffhouse Brewery” beer, our neighbors homebrew.

Best Home Decor Finished Project: The Living Room. Finally after two years of messing with it, I’ve got it to where I love it. I painted (twice), bought furniture, moved it around, hung drapes, accessorized, re-accessorized, mixed textures and colors and metals, and fiddled with it like crazy. By the end of the year, I finally loved how it looked.

Best online tool: Polyvore intrigued me, and I thought it might become my new 2011 obsession. But then along came Pinterest, which nearly made me forget all about Polyvore.

Best photo project (that I actually finished): I gave myself a 30-day cameraphone challenge in March. I took an interesting photo each and every day and uploaded it to Flickr.

Best Hair Decision: Going brunette and cutting bangs.

Best Vacation: Our week in the Pacific Northwest.  The forests, the ocean, the city… we had it all in this one trip. It was heaven. I want to do that exact same vacation all over again. Again and again and again!

Best Prank: One day, Steve and another co-worker (named Tyrel) coincidentally wore the exact same outfit to work. Shirt, pants, even down to the shoes… they matched exactly. It tripped them out. But then, Tyrel had an idea. He said I should start secretly texting him in the morning telling him what Steve was wearing that day, so he could “accidentally” match him every day. I loved this brilliant plan, and did it every day. It went on for WEEKS, and completely freaking Steve out. Some days it was uncanny how perfectly Tyrel matched what Steve was wearing. Steve never suspected he was the butt of a prank. By the end of week two, everyone at work was in on the joke except Steve. Then, in a rookie fail move, he discovered my calendar reminder to myself to send my daily texts. He was blown away, and to be honest, it took a few hours for him to see how HILARIOUS the whole thing was. But it was. Ohhh it was.

Best movie: Bridesmaids (comedy) and Water for Elephants (drama)

Best tweet: This one: (and the ensuing alpaca and animated gif-based twitter thread that followed.)

Best song I couldn’t stop listening to: The epic 25 minute masterpiece: Impossible Soul by Sufjan Stevens

Best camping trip: Sommer’s Bachelorette Party camping trip in Southern Utah!

Best “worth the wait” meeting: Meeting Ree from The Pioneer Woman. Waited for quite a while to get my book signed by her, but she was so sweet, it was worth it! She even remembered me and my photo that won her contest last year. :)

Best “fun” purchase: iPhones! I bit the bullet and ditched my Android for the new iPhone 4S when it came out in October. Steve loved it so much, he bought an iPhone 4 off Craigslist only hours later.

Best moment (Steve): Standing on the beach in Cape Meares, Oregon, flying a kite.

Best blog: I gotta be honest, I’ve been loving WrongNumberTexts. That and Emily Henderson’s blog.

Best footwear: Tall boots FTW. Again.

Best coffee: A little drive-thru espresso shack we discovered called “Pin-Up Girl Espresso” on 5400 South. Best brew in town. Their black&tan latte was especially delicious.

Best new TV show: It’s going to be hard to pick only one. Happy Endings. The New Girl. Up All Night. Pan Am. Hart of Dixie. Suburgatory. Once Upon a Time. Those were all new this year, and I love all of them. But what can top the best of the new 2011 shows:  Game of Thrones on HBO? NOTHING, that’s what.

Best Guilty Pleasure TV show (for Jenny): Guilt? What Guilt?! TV is fun! I’m not ashamed. But really the only “trashy guilty” TV I watch is The Bachelor. I mean, it’s awful. But I’ll watch it every time.

Best new tradition: White Elephant party for friends! This replaced our annual Pie Day tradition, and I believe I like it better. Look forward to it Dec 2012. :)

Best photo I took: Usually this is hard for me to narrow down, but this year it was clear. My favorite photo I took this year was this one of my sister, the first second she laid eyes on her newborn baby Arthur. The look of relief, awe and love is so perfect. It still makes me want to cry every time I look at it:

Best claim to fame (Steve): Opening for Michael Franti at Red Butte Garden with his band Honest Soul. He was even chased down for his autograph after the show. :)

Best claim to  fame (Jenny): Being invited to be a Huffington Post blogger, and having my first blog post about my photography published and featured on the Huffington Post’s “Exposure” section.

Best claim to fame (combined): Being in the Daybreak commercial. Had no idea people would even recognize us, but we still hear from people who spotted us in this ad!

Best actor crush: Really digging Kit Harington. You know nothing, Jon Snow.

Best actress crush: Jane Levy. I can’t stop looking at her.

Best iPhone app: Instagram. Apple agrees, and even named it the App of the Year. 

Best sushi: Ecstasy Roll at Blue Fish. Haven’t found anything to top it year after year!

Best color: Pineapple Yellow #E5EB67 (Still obsessed with this color!)

Best sports victory: The awesome Pac-12 Utah Football team beating BYU by a whopping 44 points! SUCK IT COOOUUUGARS!

Best shot made, caught on camera (Steve): These ones:

 [Google Reader readers, you won't be able to see those embedded videos. You'll hafta click thru to see them.]

Best smell: See “Best perennial planted”

Best financial milestone: Saving saving saving! I did better this year than last at holding onto extra dough.

Best nostalgic YouTube find: This video of the Page & Plant concert I attended in 1995. I’m so glad someone captured this!!

Best fish pet: Schilling # 5, my work fish. Sadly, this will be his last year winning, as 2011 was the year the Schilling swam his last swim. Blew his last bubble. RIP Schilling.

*************

Worst worry/stress: Steve’s EGD. That sucked. Anything where the C-word is a scare (far down the road or no) is going to worry me to the point of potential hair loss.

Worst scare: Geoff’s car accident, which could have taken his life, but luckily only took his eyesight for a couple of months. Thankfully he’s all better now. But GEEZ that was a horrible scare. We love Geoff!!!

Worst political whack-jobs: Pretty much any member of The Tea Party. They’ve gone off the deep end. Buh-bye crazies!

Worst annoyance: People who let their kids run loudly wildly rampant in public places… especially sit-down restaurants! Control your brood when you’re in public, people! Is that really too much to ask?

Worst weather: Gray. Any day that was void of any sort of color or sunshine.

Worst sports disappointement: Jerry Sloan suddenly leaving the Jazz. We were lucky enough to see his last game.

Worst hit-and-run: The douchebag who rear-ended us while we sat at the light on Redwood Rd & 3500 South, then sped off, running the red light. Jerk. He’s lucky he didn’t do any damage.

Worst talk show host: LENO. You fail, Leno.

Worst legislative bill proposed: Curt Oda’s asinine bill permitting feral cats to be shot and killed by anyone. Thankfully the bill failed miserably.

Worst house fail: Trying and failing to keep the basement organized and clean.

Worst dumb-blonde moment: Missing my flight home from Washington by an entire 24 hours. DUH!

Worst insects: Ground-Dwelling Wasps. They bested us. We couldn’t kill them! Finally, the cold did. I hope they don’t come back this year.

Worst unfinished project: Um. Same as last year (Project window trim) Oops. But hey, we did at least make a little progress! Steve sanded two of the windows. At this rate, by 2016 we’ll be finished!

Worst flight: The trip home from Pasco, Washington. Sitting in the back row of a 50-seat puddle jumper through turbulence big enough to send drinks flying off table trays? Pure frightening hell.

Worst disappointing movie that should have been funny: Hangover 2

Worst feline diagnostic tool: Google. Note to self: Do NOT e-diagnose your cats. Do NOT e-diagnose your cats.

Worst new “star”: Rebecca Black. Obviously. But also, who the hell is this trainwreck?!

Worst cancellation of a great TV show: This award has to go to Steve’s favorite show, Bored to Death. He’s still getting over it.

Festivus 2011

Posted on 28th December 2011 in Holidays

Christmastyme has come and gone once again. Every year I get older, and every year it arrives and is gone faster than the last.

I’m always a little relieved once it’s over… I’m no scrooge or anything, but normalcy is a life-mode that I greatly appreciate. So getting back to it is always nice. But the days leading up to Christmas are always the best! The Christmas song stuck in my head all holiday season this year? This one, from Jimmy Fallon’s monologue on SNL Dec 17th:

I just love the happy “Christmaaaaaaaaaas!!!” throughout the whole song. Plus, Jimmy Fallon is awesome.

This year Steve and I planned ahead and bought two stinky ugly slightly broken Ugly Christmas Sweaters from this website. Steve needed to buy one because he was scheduled to play the Ugly Christmas Sweater party at Gracies with one of his bands, so I decided to join the fun and buy one for myself too. We shopped in the “Tired, Ugly and Cheap” section of the site, because we really didn’t feel like spending $40+ on an ugly sweater we’ll wear once. They were smelly indeed when we received them, but nothing a quick wash couldn’t fix! Then we each bought matching disgusting $5 holiday turtlenecks from Kmart to complete the look.

We wore them to our Christmas Eve celebration with my side of the family. We didn’t tell them we were going to do it, we just showed up looking ridiculous.

Christmas Eve is always my favorite part of Christmas. Probably because it’s always been the “main big” Christmas event in my family since I was little. We celebrate on Christmas Eve because that’s the German way to do it. I love it. This year was no different. We had a great time watching everyone open their presents and throw wrapping paper everywhere. This year was especially great because there wasn’t a single person missing. All of our siblings, step-siblings, and all nieces and nephews were there. A first time for that! It was… crowded. To say the least. But the chaos was wonderful.

Look at Elvis. That dog cracks me up. Here are a few more of my favorite photos that I took that night. (To see all hundred-something photos, click here). Notice Santa in these photos? Well… he showed up right before we opened presents to frighten and delight us all. It was hilarious. (Especially since his not-real glasses were fogged up and he was basically Big Blind Santa.) Click the thumbnails to see the photo larger:

After the party, Heather and Cory joined us as we drove back home to South Jordan. We stopped for gas on the way, only to be told by a fellow gasser-upper that our tire was flat. He was pointing it out to Steve, all the while with a bit of a smirk on his face. Inside the car, Heather, Cory and I were laughing because we realized that the guy was probably laughing at Steve’s stupid sweater. Ha! We filled the tire with air, and went on our merry way.

The next morning we woke up bright and early and drove to Eric & Christine’s new house for Christmas Morning. The first thing we learned when we walked through the front door is that Santa brought Colette every little girls dream gift: A kitten! She named her snowflake.

Snowflake was a rescue from a hoarder house. How lucky that Santa brought her here, to a loving happy warm house, with the worlds most adorable little 5 year old girl! She’s such a well-mannered kitty, too. She lets Colette carry her around even when she wants to squirm and run away. Colette is so good with her. She knows to be gentle, and loves her so so much. It was the cutest thing in the world to see!

While Colette cuddled her kitty, we started on breakfast. We opted for regular pancakes (rather than crepe’s, our normal Christmas tradition) and bacon, eggs, and sausage. Eric worked the eggs, and had Cory (the vegetarian) cooking the meat on the skillet, leaving me skillet space for pancakes. I walked into the kitchen to find the two of them talking in Monty Python “spam speak” to each other. I wish I could have caught it on video, because it was hilarious, and a little nostalgic because it was exactly what my Dad and his brother Frank used to do. Cory and Eric were like the reincarnation of my Dad & his brother’s silliness. It was awesome.

After breakfast we got my Mom into the party via webcam. She & Geoff couldn’t come to Utah for Christmas this year, sadly. Thank goodness for technology… we were able to feel a little like they were there with us. After chatting with them, we broke right into the presents. My favorite things I received this Christmas came from my two brothers, who each gave me something they personally handmade!

Eric used slices of wood from a 35 year old fallen pine tree at my Oma & Opa’s house (that my Oma had personally planted) to make books for all of us. The wood was carved and sliced and sanded down into the hardback cover of a handmade book. (The tree had fallen down in a recent hurricane-strength windstorm that devastated hundreds of trees and fences and rooftops.) I love it so much, it’s such a great tribute to something my Oma lovingly planted with her own two hands. Cory made me the most amazing adorable hilarious little skulpy alley cat. The level of detail he put into making this cat’s face silly looking is astounding. It sits on my desk now to make me happy every time I sit down at my computer.

Great gifts were given and received, and we hung out and enjoyed each other for a few hours before heading home. Here are a few more of my favorite photos from Christmas morning, and a couple from Christmas afternoon. (Notice the cool shaped bokeh in the background of some of these photos? It’s from one of the gifts I received from Steve… a bokeh masters kit. So cool!)

After spending a few relaxing hours at home, we headed out to our third and final Christmas gathering at the Bauman’s house. There we had an absolutely delicious Christmas dinner of ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, salads, rolls, veggies, etc etc etc before opening even more presents. It seems like I’m always totally pooped by the third gathering, and just veg out on the couch watching the kids open gifts. This year was no different… I was exhausted! But we still had a great time and stayed for hours.

We drove home by 8 or 9, on dry roads. It was a blue Christmas this year… in the best way possible. No scary snowy roads, just sunshine and family and happiness. I gotta say, it was a good one!

 

Weekend Report.

Posted on 14th November 2011 in This One Time...

Gigs Steve played: 3
I always warn him that he’s going to be dead tired when he books gigs like he did last weekend. We worked all day Saturday, then he went straight to an evening gig at Capital Church, then later to a gig at Gracies. He got home at 2:30 am, then slept for 4 precious hours before waking up to play the morning church service at Capital Church. Poor dood. He was all tuckered out after that.

Mall mobs battled: 1
Crate & Barrel opened this weekend at Fashion Place Mall – the first Crate & Barrel in Utah. I waited until the day after Opening Day to check it out. An H&M opened at the same time, and even a day later, there was still a LINE OUT THE DOOR to get in. Luckily, Crate & Barrel was manageable. I’m pretty sure I want almost every single thing in that store. But this time, I only bought a few coasters.

TV watched: Probably too much.
Confession: I love Fall TV season. The return of so many of my favorite shows, PLUS a barage of new ones to check out. This year it seems the new TV that’s been launched is better than normal. GREAT, in fact. A few favorites: The New Girl, Up All Night, Suburgatory, Once Upon a Time, and best of all: Pan Am. Add those to the line up of returning shows I’m addicted to, and, well, lets just say my DVR is tired and overworked.

Sushi eaten: 1 roll
New place we tried called Sakana. Very very yummy. Steve also had me try Agedashi Tofu, which I found to be quite delicious.

Toes stubbed: 0
Ain’t that great?

This weekend’s Instagrams: