My new "photography" obsession

First of all let me start off by wishing you a fantastic 2012!! May this be the year we all get closer to our goals and a place of peace and content.

I have set some goals myself and one of them includes this blog. I have so much to share and so much to learn from everyone. I have really enjoyed the past year's posts and feedback and hope to continue. So here's to this blog and to all of you!

For the first post of the year I would love to share my latest obsession, photography apps!!! I acquired an iPod Touch early 2011 and along came a world of apps, free apps, great apps and some not so great apps. The photography apps have been the best ones yet.

I love how easy they are to use and how creative you can be with them. The filters are amazing and the end results are something you can be proud of. The accessibility is fantastic. You will never miss another great moment with your kids and other "Kodak" moments.

I have shared some images that I have taken over the year on this blog. But what I did was, I put a slide show together with all the images I took with my phone and my iPod Touch.

Here is a look at that video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJdKULnWcoU


Here is more about the apps I have used:

Instagr.am was the first one I downloaded. It is an free app from the App Store. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find it for my HTC phone so I am not sure if it is available on the Android Market. Do let me know if I am wrong.
Anyway, this is a great one! You can share your pictures instantly with other people using the same app. You can invite your friends and also upload them instantly to Facebook and Twitter. The filters you can use are so much fun and very easy to use. (the photo of the mug is one my favourite one that I have taken with Instagr.am)
http://instagr.am/





The next free one I downloaded to my iPod and my HTC phone was the RetroCamera. I love how easy this was as well but also the variety of "cameras" is a lot of fun to use. The different cameras are just a variation to the filters in Instagram but you can also take Black & Whites which is also nice. The other thing that is great with this one is that you can find it on Android Market as well as in the App Store. (The next few images I took using RetroCamera)
http://www.androidzoom.com/android_applications/photography/retro-camera_gvcf.html

The first app that I paid for was the Hipstamatic app. It cost $1.99 so by no means did I not make my mortgage payment. Every now and again new filters and films are made available for free so it makes up for itself in the long run. It is a slightly bit more complicated to use than the other ones I have mentioned. There is a variety of filters you can use in combination with different film rolls and flash bulbs. Each item has a different feature and when used in different combinations, give different results. Confused?? I get it...but it's a lot of fun to play around with.
The only negative thing is that it tends to crash for some unknown reason. So make sure to update it when the updates are available.
http://hipstamatic.com/

Through Hipstamatic, I was introduced to IncrediBooth. This is again one of the apps you have to pay for. Again, not something that breaks your bank but these things do add up. Also there are some great free apps as well to make up for all this.
This one however, is fantastic and so much fun to use!! It works like an old-fashioned photo booth and takes four pictures in a row. It's a lot of fun to use with your kids, for your kids to use with their firneds and honestly, I always take it out at my girly evenings. You can use four different filters with different effects. You can upgrade as well for more filters and different kinds of booths. I just saw a "Bedazzled" add on that I have my eye on.
http://incredibooth.com/

All in all, these are a lot of fun to use and share. It's a great way to be creative and you can also get most of these prints printed for your walls and to share with friends and family.

I know this post was longer than most but I had lots to share...:-) I would love to hear which photography apps you enjoy using. What apps are your favourite??

Until we meet again....