Shake It Like a Polaroid Picture

You guys already know that I'm into photography - so this post is gonna go there for a minute :)

I'm far too lazy to lug around my dslr all the time so often I only have my iPhone with me to take quick snapshots. Now, the iPhone camera is not bad at all (I have the 3G) but sometimes, the pictures are kinda lacking and could definitely be better. I mean, even though they're snapshots (sometimes of random things like what I'm eating...you know how it is!) I still want them to look good - especially since I sometimes share these pics here on the blog.

So when one of my favourite photographers Bonnie Tsang shared that she uses the ShakeIt Photo app for her iPhone pics I knew I had to check it out.

I'll be the first to admit, I'm cheap with iPhone apps. 99% of the ones on my phone are free lol. But ShakeIt is TOTALLY worth the 99 cents it costs. I LOVE IT. It takes your photo from so-so and make it interesting. It has a slight cross-process meets polaroid feel and adds contrast that just makes your picture...cool :)

I'm totally a fan of before and afters before buying so here's a couple for you to see what it does:

Awesome, right?

One thing to keep in mind is that it makes the image into a square format - which I'm still getting used to and, to be honest, I'm quite enjoying training my eyes to "see" pictures in that format. What's great is you can also apply it to pics that you've already taken and have saved on your phone - in addition, of course, to the new pics you take. So this past weekend after I got the app I had fun applying it to pics I had on my phone and taking new pics. Oh, and a fun feature - when you take a pic (or apply it to a pic already on your phone) you can shake your phone back and forth and the pictures moves back and forth - and then appears - just like a polaroid! And it adds that cool ol' school polaroid border. So fun.

So - definitely two thumbs up! And you'll be seeing a lot more of my iPhone pictures now :)

There are TONS of camera/photography apps available and it can be overwhelming - so I wanted to share this one with you all because I really think it's great. I also got 2 or 3 more that I like (but I think I like this one the most)...I'll share the others in another post :)

Do you use any camera/photography apps for your iPhone? If so which ones?

Picture Perfect

I've been on the hunt for the perfect point and shoot camera for a while.

But not any point and shoot.

As someone who currently only shoots with an slr I've grown to love having that extra control over my images...and having various lens options.

So I want a point and shoot that's lightweight enough for me to carry around in my pocket/purse all the time...because really, I don't want to lug my slr out to dinner with family and friends or a simple outing...

BUT

I want one that has some manual features...and it would be nice if it had some lens options...

and video might be nice too...

and I hadn't seen any that fit these requirements (maybe I wasn't looking hard enough)

until last night.

I soooooooo want this camera.

Especially after reading this review and seeing the images and videos captured with it. So awesome.

Let's see:

pocket-sized & lightweight = check

manual controls = check

option to change lenses = check

video = check (HD video I might add)

super cool minimal design = check (love the retro film type of feel)

Ugh. I forsee a new camera purchase in the near future...

What type of point and shoot do you use?