We live in a flat

Thought I’ll write a bit about some lessons learned from hosting this photo challenge. 

#1 Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want
My expectations of photo challenges in general is that I hope it will build a sense of community among all the participants since we’re all doing this project together. The first photo challenge I hosted, I felt did not do this well enough. There wasn’t much interaction between the participants with each other.

So this time, I thought a co-host would be a good idea. And Meghan from Firebonnet.com did a wonderful job of visiting all the participants and in some cases having even more conversation with them than I managed to.

I don’t really like to impose, but this time I did also ask that participants try to visit and leave a comment on the host, co-hosts and other participants’ blogs. And I did observe greater levels of interaction this round of challenge compared to the last.

#2 Find ways to make sharing easier
There are two key things that I wanted to improve upon with this challenge – (1) making it easy for me to help you to (2) share your challenge content.

The most efficient way of sharing is the use of LinkyTools in blog hops. But I didn’t really want to do that. A recent Linky Tools breakdown caused many blogs to end up with pages with broken image links. Definitely not the best user experience to have for both the blogger and the readers. Also, Link Tools has no SEO benefits for the users who submit their links to the blog activity. But given that we are all in the same photo conversation, the exchange of links and any SEO boost that come with them I think is beneficial for all parties so like in the first round of the challenge, I persisted in collating all the participant links and publishing them on each post.

The problem with this is that it is pretty manual work, and I was usually behind on it for my first photo challenge. I have to say that the Phoneography Monday Photo Challenge by Lens and Pens by Sally and Michelle’s Weekly Pet Challenge are two of the few challenges that also take on the extra effort of collating the links. This definitely helps to drive the conversation, versus leaving the links to languish on the comments, because it does get tedious for a participant to come back and filter them out to visit. At least, I feel so.

What I came up with was the idea of the Photo Grid, that helps participants track their progress visually and allows other users to easily visit each of their photos for the different themes. It was also more efficient for me to collate the links as they came in (as long as you remember to leave them in the comments on the right post ;) ) rather than wait for the end of the week to do so like in the first photo challenge. By then, it becomes quite a chore hunting around for links :P It has made this work more efficient, although the posts still end up late sometimes due to me spending more time or less writing the post for each specific theme.

I know you have shared on your blogs that there are some themes you enjoyed more and some less. It was the same with me, some I enjoyed writing more, some I was less enthusiastic about but thought it would help to make a complete set of challenges for people exploring the different features in photo apps. So I am sorry that some times I am late and it throws you off at times. I do apologise!  :)

#3 Find ways to make the challenge more engaging
You would think that the Photo Grid appears to be more effort to me this time round compared to just copying and pasting links. But I assure you that it is effort that I find worth doing. For one, more participants have completed or are on your way to completing the full set of challenges compared to the last challenge. You guys are just so awesome for doing this the whole way with me and Meghan!

I also thought that it would help to provide some app suggestions for each theme to help you along, but in fact, a lot of times you have already some of your own favourite apps up your sleeves to share, which is really fantastic! I love that this makes the challenge more of a two-way conversation. I’m learning from you, as much as you’re learning from me. ;)

There were some failures as well. Chiefly the late posts. And also starting some activity on Pinterest, but not being able to sustain it the whole way. So I thank you for your patience and tolerance in this learning process!

Now I’ve rambled enough. Below you’ll find the photo grids. This was supposed to be the finale post but, I think Zeke’s Adventures and perhaps Sassmuffins and Forestwoodfolkart may be intending to complete the full challenge still. Zeke’s Adventures had an accident and a few rough weeks, which is why they need more time.  So I guess we’ll hang on a bit until you guys are done. ;)

For the finale post, if you can let me know the one photo that you are most happy with that you created for the challenge, that would be helpful for me to highlight in the finale. ;) Thank you so much!

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Congratulations for reaching the end of the Snappy Ha’ppy Photo Challenge!
Hosted by weliveinaflat.com and firebonnet.com 

Completed Photo Grids

[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

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Photo Grids
pending completion

Challenger| Zeke’s Adventures
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| ForestWoodFolkArt.wordpress.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| sassmuffins.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| LivingWithMyAncestors.wordpress.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Welcome back to the last week of the Snappy H’appy Photo Challenge, hosted by weliveinaflat and firebonnet. This week’s theme is Mix It Up because in this last week, you will have the liberty to do whatever you like with your photos. The only thing we ask of you is to try to and see if you can use at least two out of the 11 different image edit options that we covered in the last 11 weeks.

This means you still (1) share at least one good photo that you took or edited last week, (2) run it through a photo app on your smartphone or mobile device, apply 2 or more effects on the photo and share with us the result. So if there’s any topics covered in the last few weeks that you would like to explore further, this last week is the week to do it!

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And since this is the last week, I thought I go back to looking at photography and building a photo story.

Now in the last few weeks, we have gradually moved from photography to image editing, dabbling with double exposures, adding text effects and also colour splash. We were looking at singular photos. But most times, we like to delve into detail. We like to take multiple pictures and share them.

To present them in a stylistically consistent package to tell a story can be an art. I am of course not a master of that, but the following are some ways, I try to do this.

1. Use photos of similar colour family to make a collection. Notice that these are all photos taken at different times and in different countries and of different subjects. But the colour unites them to tell a story of the colour pink and its appearence in nature.

2. Besides images of similar colour, you can also use the same image editing style for the photos in the same collection. I ended up with a bunch of photos taken in a temple that I wasn’t too pleased with. But layering them using double exposure techniques gave these photos additional complexity and brightened the colour. The layered photos create a visual story of the motifs within the temple that I am pleased with.

4. Or simple use photos taken within the same period of time with the same context. In this set of photos, the light and colours remain consistent since they were taken in the same environment in the short span of time where Donna was fooling on the floor and I was fooling around with stickers in my hand. This means that I have a set of photos that have consistent colour and light levels and that gel together as a group.

4. But that doesn’t automatically mean there can’t be variation in the filters you use on the photos. Below, the set of 4 selfies depict the same dog taken in the same setting, but two photos with a warmer colour temperature and two with a cooler colour temperature and placing them alternately in a square format, I was able to achieve some variation in the colours to create interest but still have enough consistency remaining for the set of four to gel together as a whole rather than look jarring because the colours are different. Repeat elements in the visual, in colour or style to create consistency.

5. Create an action sequence. And help guide the eyes to travel through the photo from top to bottom or left to right, depending on the action. 
I chose to use the collage feature in Moldiv  to stitch the photos together quickly to create my collection. Other popular collage apps include Diptic (paid). Collage options can also be used in some of the other apps covered before like PicsArt.

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Now it’s your turn to share!

You can choose to collage a collection of your photos like what I did above, or you can choose to explore using multiple effects on 1 or more photos out of what we have covered in the last 11 weeks. It’s all up to your creativity and also the photo that you chose to work with.

Create your challenge post from now until Sunday, 11 May end of your day. Post your Photo of the Week and your App-ed version of that photo on your blog.

Pic 1 – Your Photo of the Week can be taken with any equipment – a regular camera, a DSLR, a smartphone, hack even a pin-hole camera if you so choose!

Pic 2 – Pic 2 is optional. The theme this week is to use 2 or more effects on the photo. In all cases, it would be helpful if you can name the app effect used so we can understand what you are doing ; )

Add the challenge badge and link your post to the host and co-host sites. Be nice and visit with some of the other challengers for this week! :) And do remember to leave me your blog post link in the comments below, in case I do not receive the pingback/trackback from your link.

For more information, you can read in detail more about the challenge and the instructions at the About page here. You can also grab the badges here.

Questions? Feel free to pose any questions in the comments below or email me at weliveinaflat@gmail.com. Next up, what happens after you have linked up? Why you start getting your challenger photo grid filled up!

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Got Get It!

This week, it’s your turn to share with us an app that you love or use fairly often! Tell us why you like it!

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Get Inspired!

And since we’re getting back to the basics, here are some of the type of photography that I like.

• Bright, airy pet photos and action shots
• Distinctive colours that are not as bright
• Cats from different angles
• Expressive dogs
• Clean, high key photos
• Anything goes on this account!

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Host Challenge Post

Donna and I discovered trees with seeds wrapped in cotton last week. I made a study of the tree and it’s parts from various angles, and also our interaction with it. I decided that the photos should have a blue-green tint in the highlights and an orange tint to deepen the shadows, so as to give the set of 5 photos a consistent colour treatment. However, the first photo does stand out from the rest because of the strong backlight and contrast as well as being the only picture with the vignette applied.

All the bits of cotton on the grass.
Apps used:
1. Snapseed to adjust light values,
2. VSCOcam mellow filter to colour correct,
3. Moldiv to stitch the photos together

Original photos:

Just Moldiv to quickly stitch up the five pictures to show you their original colour. The photos don’t gel as well because of the dark shadow for the parts of the tree taken against the backlight of the sky, versus the other photos that are more evenly exposed. Using the same colour filter across the photos helped to create a more consistent mood across the photos in the 1st set above.

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Challenger Photo Grids

Every week, challenger grids get updated with the new photos! At the end, you get to grab your grid off this blog for your own pleasure. :D Meanwhile, you can view one another’s photos on the blogs by clicking on the linked numbered weeks above each challenger’s photo grid. I will try to keep it up to date as quick as I can ;)

Host| weliveinaflat.com
[ photos tagged “snappy happy” ]

Host| firebonnet.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| Roxy The Traveling Dog
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| completelydisappear.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| Blogagaini
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| Zeke’s Adventures
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| 1stworlddog.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| Little Dogs Laughed
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| ForestWoodFolkArt.wordpress.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| LivingWithMyAncestors.wordpress.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| sassmuffins.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| Claim your photo grid, join the challenge today!

Next week, we’ll get Snappy H’appy with Creative Mixes for your photos! Thanks for checking out this Photo Challenge and making it all the way to the end of the post! ;) 

Ten Uses for Text on Photos

1) Make a notice
Left – Made with Studio; Right – Made with Moldiv

2) Add your brand/credit/attribution to your copyrighted images.
Left – Made with MOldiv; Right – Made with Studio

3) Supplementary text help to enhance or explain the photo

Left – Made with Moldiv; Right – Made with Studio

4) Label or title your photo

Left – Made with Moldiv; Right – Made with Studio

5) Add a mantra or make a quotograph/quotogram
 
Left – Made with Studio; Right – Made with Moldiv

6) Add balance to a photo
Both made with Moldiv

7) Text as part of the design
Both made with Studio

8) Tell a story
Both made with Moldiv

9) Embellish your photo collage
Left – Made with both Moldiv and Studio; Right – Made with Moldive

10) Make a festive e-card

Left – Made with Studio; Right – Made with Photoshop

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Welcome back to Week 11 of the Snappy H’appy Photo Challenge hosted by weliveinaflat and firebonnet ;)
This challenge asks you to (1) share a good photo that you took or edited last week, (2) run it through a photo app on your smartphone or mobile device and share with us the result. This week it’s time to add text to your photos!

Some all-in-one photo apps like Picsart easily help you add text to your photos. There are also dedicated text apps for this function like Phonto and Over. My two favourite are Moldiv, a collage app and Studio, a design app. Let’s take a look at them.

Moldiv

Moldiv is a collage app that I’ve featured in the Snappy H’appy cutouts post before so more details on that link. I also like the app for it’s selection of fonts and customisation options :) The following screens give you a quick overview of the text features.

Click on Edit Text and the following options will appear: 
This screen shows the Stroke/Shadow presets in the Edit Text section. 
This screen shows the available tag patterns to choose from, should you need a background for your text.

But if you prefer your text on photos to look less home-made or crafty and more designy, then the Studio app may be more up your alley.

Studio Design

Studio bills itself as the Instagram for design. That’s why the splash page for the app is the image feed from other users that you may follow.

Like Instagram, the button right at the bottom screen center lets you take or load your photo to begin. Or you may choose to start on a clean slate if you just want to play around with the text or design elements Studio has, without the photo.

The studio user interface can be more complex. Design elements like text are added as layers over your base image, if you have one.

There is a free library of overlays to choose from, and there are also more free and in-app purchases that you can download from the Overlay Market. For this post, we look specifically at the available text options that come with the app installed.

If you want to input your own text, you have the option of using “Text” or “Text Crops”. Voice/Thought Bubbles are useful background for your text if you desire ;)

And if you’re feeling uninspired for that day, riffle through the “Mantras” and “Social Jive” sections for pre-made phrases.

This screen above shows a text crop being used. It’s kind of obscured by the text bubbles though. Sorry about that!

This screen above shows a Text layer overlayed on top of the Text Crop layer.

This screen shows the edit options for Text.

You can choose to save to your Gallery/Camera album or to share on your social media accounts. 

 The result:

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Get Inspired!

• Made with Studio
• Made with Moldiv
• Quotographs people are pinning
• Memes people are pinning

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Go get it!
Photo apps for your mobile devices

iOS devices

• Design apps
  • Studio Design free, in app purchases [ iPhone ]
  • Rhonna Designs paid [ iPhone | iPad ]
• Collage apps
  • Moldiv free, with in app purchases [ iPhone | iPad ]
• Text apps
  • Path on paid [ iPhone | iPad ] – lets you draw a line where you want the text to appear
  • Phonto free [ iPhone | iPad ]
  • Over paid [ iPhone | iPad ]

Android devices

• featured in this post – Studio Design, Moldiv
• other apps with text feature – PicsArt

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Host Challenge Photo

Photo of the week
Edited with Photoshop. Last week’s photo to illustrate the training post. Photo was taken indoors at night so the quality wasn’t too good. 

Apped Photo

Edited with Snapseed and Studio. In Studio, added the round badge to focus on Donna’s volleyball smacking paw (‘cept there’s no volleyball, lol), and the text which I sized bigger than the original.  

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Now it’s your turn to share!

Create your challenge post from now until Sunday, 4 May end of your day. Post your Photo of the Week and your App-ed version of that photo on your blog. (You can follow my format above if you like).

Pic 1 – Your Photo of the Week can be taken with any equipment – a regular camera, a DSLR, a smartphone, hack even a pin-hole camera if you so choose!

Pic 2 – Pic 2 is optional. The theme this week is a Pop or Splash of colour, but if that is not your cup of tea, you are free to choose other app effects for your app-ed photo. In all cases, it would be helpful if you can name the app effect used so we can understand what you are doing ; )

Add the challenge badge and link your post to the host and co-host sites. Be nice and visit with some of the other challengers for this week! :) And do remember to leave me your blog post link in the comments below, in case I do not receive the pingback/trackback from your link.

For more information, you can read in detail more about the challenge and the instructions at the About page here. You can also grab the badges here.

Questions? Feel free to pose any questions in the comments below or email me at weliveinaflat@gmail.com. Next up, what happens after you have linked up? Why you start getting your challenger photo grid filled up!

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Challenger Photo Grids

Every week, challenger grids get updated with the new photos! At the end, you get to grab your grid off this blog for your own pleasure. :D Meanwhile, you can view one another’s photos on the blogs by clicking on the linked numbered weeks above each challenger’s photo grid. I will try to keep it up to date as quick as I can ;)

Host| weliveinaflat.com
[ photos tagged “snappy happy” ]

Host| firebonnet.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| 1stworlddog.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| Little Dogs Laughed
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| ForestWoodFolkArt.wordpress.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| Roxy The Traveling Dog
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| completelydisappear.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| Blogagaini
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| Zeke’s Adventures
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| LivingWithMyAncestors.wordpress.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| sassmuffins.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| Claim your photo grid, join the challenge today!

Next week, we’ll get Snappy H’appy with Creative Mixes for your photos! Thanks for checking out this Photo Challenge and making it all the way to the end of the post! ;) 

The graphite pencil has a long history and with it, the art of sketching.

Sketches can be made in any drawing medium. The term is most often applied to graphic work executed in a dry media such as silverpoint,graphite, pencil, charcoal or pastel. But it may also apply to drawings executed in pen and ink, ballpoint pen, water colour and oil paint. The latter two are generally referred to as “water colour sketches” and “oil sketches”. – wikipedia

And of course, with mobile app and digital imaging technology, we now have features in our apps that lets us turn photos into sketches. Personally, I find this very useful for blogging. Some photos that don’t work so well as photos actually don’t look half bad as a sketch! ;P

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Welcome back to Week 7 of the Snappy H’appy Photo Challenge hosted by weliveinaflat and firebonnet ;)

This challenge asks you to (1) share a good photo that you took or edited last week, (2) run it through a photo app on your smartphone or mobile device and share with us the result. We’re back to the theme of Art effects this week – Sketch effects. 

Most of my photos filtered with the sketch effect is done using Camera360. Whatever complaints I have with the app, the Sketch effect in it is seriously useful. The photo usually comes out looking rather refined as a black and white sketch. I love it because ugly, unwanted details in the background are usually diminished.

Camera360 photo app – Sketch effects

Above: Can hardly see the ugly storage boxes behind Donna, yah? ;P

Camera360 also gives a more refined black and white sketch effect. See if you can guess for the picture below, which one is the result from Camera360, and which one is not.

Camera360 is a free app that offers 15 categories of Multi-effects. You can access them by tapping on the Multi-effects button (screen i) after you have loaded up your photo in the app. From there, pick the Sketch option (screen 2) from the Effects menu. You then will get a choice of 9 sketch effects (screen 3). My favourites are Surreal (which is black and white) and Colour.

Screenshots from Camera360

Surreal gives you a black and white sketch like this: 

And Colour gives you a result that is somewhat like a refined colour pencil sketch:

I like that in both cases, the original ugly photo now looks more like a work of art.

The Sketch options in Camera360 are limited to nine filters. There is no option to tweak any of them. Just tap and apply, that’s it.  Simple to use, but doesn’t really give you any sort of experience or appreciation of the art of sketching.

Paper Camera photo app – Sketch effects

The paid app, Paper Camera, is more interesting in this respect. Offering 14* different filters, Paper Camera also gives you the option to play around and experiment with variables like – strokes, vignette, edges, contrast, brightness and lines.

*Out of the 14 filters, I only found 2 of them useful. I don’t really think I will use the other 12 that much as the styles didn’t appeal to me ;) You can see the filters in their video on their website here if you are thinking of whether you want to buy it.

Screenshots from Paper Camera. This screen shows the Sketch Up filter being applied. The slider bars under the Variables -Strokes, Vignette, Edges, Contrast, Brightness and Lines – can be adjusted to tweak the intensity of the variables.  

The result – you can create something that ends up looking more like a rough sketch, instead of a finished sketch that Camera360 always gives you.

Above: Donna on the floor using Paper Camera’s Sketch Up filter. You can control the strokes, lines and edges. It looks very much like a rough sketch, doesn’t it?

Above: Donna on the floor using Camera360 Surreal Sketch effect. The sketch looks like it is coloured in and the strokes are not determinable compared to Paper Camera. 

Here’s a another result from Paper Camera Sketch Up filter. This time with the Vignette effect. I do have an issue with the vignette which did not white out the edges of the image like I expect it to.

Just for fun, you may remember the original photo from last week’s photo challenge, for your reference here:

Paper Camera also has colour sketch filter options. I found that the filter Pastel Perfect worked well for some of my photos. Here is the same shopfront rendered with Pastel Perfect. Notice the the strokes across the photo:
Compare that to the same shopfront using Camera360 Sketch effect – Colour in the photo below. The photo is outlined to look like a sketch but without the strokes. I think it looks more like an inked comic in this case, rather than a colour pencil sketch. 

Further experimentation with Paper Camera showed that it delivers well when it comes to rendering more of a vintage, stylized effect for photos of flowers.

Paper Camera – Pastel Perfect filter (left); Comic Boom filter(right)

But because Paper Camera tries to replicate the the lines and hardness of strokes when it comes to sketching, details will be obscured like in the result below. You get the rough sketch of the shape of the dog but miss out much of the details.

Where it comes to getting a result that looks more finished and pleasant, I definitely still do prefer Camera360. Below you an see clearly Donna’s sleepy expression and her eyes, as well as the gentle detail in the curves of her side and in her paws.

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Get Inspired!

• Short film – Haven of Peace
• Blog – Citizen Sketcher
• Picture Gallery – Ian Hodgson
• Pinterest – Art Urban Sketches, Urban sketch
• Video – Da Vinci’s Demons Animation Episode 1
• Video – Polar Bear Sketches

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Go get it!
Photo apps for your mobile devices

iPhone users

• Apps reviewed in this post – Camera360 Free,  Paper Camera Paid Only [iPhone | iPad]
• Mobile Monet iPhone [ Free | Paid ] iPad [Free | Paid] – I’ve seen a good picture from blogagaini using this app ;)
• Toon Camera Paid [iPhone| iPad]

Android users

• Apps reviewed in this post – Camera360 Free, Paper Camera Paid Only
• Sketch Guru – wrote about this in the watercolour post, it has pencil sketch filters too. 

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Host Challenge Post

Photo of the Week 

Hand, edited with Snapseed, VSCOcam M3 present (adapted) and Photoshop. 

App Challenge Image 

Hand, Paper Camera Pastel Perfect filter, using the original photo, not the edited Photo of the Week. 

Hand, Paper Camera Pastel Perfect, using the edited Photo of the Week. The hand does not stand out as cleanly from the shadow as the image filtered using the original photo. I prefer the former because of the raw quality of the sketch and because the feathered bud comes out clearer than the latter.

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Now it’s your turn to share!

Create your challenge post from now until Sunday, 30 Mar end of your day. Post your Photo of the Week and your App-ed version of that photo on your blog. (You can follow my format above if you like).

Pic 1 – Your Photo of the Week can be taken with any equipment – a regular camera, a DSLR, a smartphone, hack even a pin-hole camera if you so choose!

Pic 2 – Pic 2 is optional. The theme this week is Sketch Effects, but if that is not your cup of tea, you are free to choose other app effects for your app-ed photo. In all cases, it would be helpful if you can name the app effect used so we can understand what you are doing ; )

Add the challenge badge and link your post to the host and co-host sites. Be nice and visit with some of the other challengers for this week! :) And do remember to leave me your blog post link in the comments below, in case I do not receive the pingback/trackback from your link.

For more information, you can read in detail more about the challenge and the instructions at the About page here. You can also grab the badges here.

Questions? Feel free to pose any questions in the comments below or email me at weliveinaflat@gmail.com. Next up, what happens after you have linked up? Why you start getting your challenger photo grid filled up!

---

Challenger Photo Grids

Every week, challenger grids get updated with the new photos! At the end, you get to grab your grid off this blog for your own pleasure. :D Meanwhile, you can view one another’s photos on the blogs by clicking on the linked numbered weeks above each challenger’s photo grid. I will try to keep it up to date as quick as I can ;)

Host| weliveinaflat.com
[ photos tagged “snappy happy” ]

Host| firebonnet.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| Blogagaini
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| Little Dogs Laughed
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| 1stworlddog.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| completelydisappear.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| LivingWithMyAncestors.wordpress.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| Roxy The Traveling Dog
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| Zeke’s Adventures
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Challenger| ForestWoodFolkArt.wordpress.com
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Challenger| sassmuffins.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| Claim your photo grid, join the challenge today!

Next week, we’ll get Snappy H’appy with Mirroring effects! Thanks for checking out this Photo Challenge and making it all the way to the end of the post! ;) 

Hi all! Really sorry for the late post this week! So I am happy to extend the deadline to the next Sunday rather than this Sunda if you need more time. Hope it helps!! Let me know if you prefer to continue with Week 7 next week or the week after. Thanks! 

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One of the easiest things to do with a photo app is to apply a colour filter. Tap to apply and there you have it, a boring photo given a little extra zing. Minimal effort.

Above: Filtered App: Aviary. 

Above: unfiltered 

So why is it that some people prefer unfiltered?

Welcome back to Week 6 of the Snappy H’appy Photo Challenge hosted by weliveinaflat and firebonnet ;) This challenge asks you to (1) share a good photo that you took or edited last week, (2) run it through a photo app on your smartphone or mobile device and share with us the result. We’re back to the theme of Colour this week and we will look at Colour filters. 

Our awesome Snappy H’appy crew includes co-host Meghan (Firebonnet) and also Melinda (1stWorldDog), Christy (Sassmuffins), CompletelyDisappear, Gretchen (Zeke’s Adventures), Meg (Little Dogs Laughed), Blogagaini and Mary (RoxyTheTravelingDog).

If you didn’t join us in the last five weeks, well hurry up, because there is just 7 weeks left in the challenge! It’s not too late to join in the fun. Backdated posts for the previous weeks are optional. For more details about the challenge, check out the Photo Challenge page. Now then, let’s talk about Colour Filters.

Why indeed do some people prefer unfiltered?

1) The filters may cause you to lose detail and that may not be desirable in some cases.

Left, unfiltered. Right, filtered with EyeEm app.

Compare the photos above and it comes obvious that details in the shadowy parts under the roof is lost in the photo on the right. In this case, I do not mind the loss of detail because I prefer the focus on the flower detail decorating the roof. I also like that the loss of detail added to the depth of the photo. But depending on the photo, the loss in detail may not be desirable.

2) It makes the photo look unnatural

The filters are not custom to your photo and sometimes may give the photo an over-exposed or overly yellow, pink, green or blue tint (depending on the filter used).

Above, unfiltered.  

Above, filtered with Aviary app, with the Arizona filter to give the scene a romantic vibe. My gripe with it is that the sculpture on the right looked over-exposed so that the detail on it is largely faded out. 

Above, the Aviary filtered photo with the levels changed in Photoshop to decrease the exposure/brightness. Can easily be done within Snapseed or VSCOcam as well.   

Above, unfiltered.  

Above, applied Clyde filter in Aviary app to give it more of a warm, old world feel.  

Above, again tune down the brightness of the Clyde filtered photo. Again this can just as easily be done in Snapseed or VSCOcam.

For my two set of shopfront photos above, I do feel that the Aviary filters make my photos too over-exposed so normally I continue to adjust the photo in photoshop or Snapseed/VSCOcam on my note.

3) Counting on the filter to enhance your photos may make you a lazier photographer

Thing is, you and I are not professional photographers. And a lot of times, we take photos not because the light is perfect, the setting is just gonna give us an amazing photo, etc, etc but because we saw something that we want to take a memento of that we can share with others either immediately on a social network on the phone or later when we meet up with friends.

This means, our photos taken on the spur of the moment, usually with no luxury of time for careful consideration, will not be the greatest thing made since sliced cheese.

Above, unfiltered.  

So if adding a filter can give you a leg up, why not?

Above, Aviary app, Sentosa filter. This filter remains me of the colours used in some movies ;) 

A look at Statigr.am tells me that 76% of my Instagram photos are unfiltered. The truth is, a large number of them are processed, just not with Instagram filters. Like Instagram, the Aviary app (used for the photos above in this post) provides a selection of different cool and warm filters that can be applied to enhance your photos. However, use the same filter too often, and your photos will all turn out with the same colour tone. Consistent… but maybe a little boring after some time.

Looking for more natural colours?

So by and large unless I want to achieve a specific vibe using colour filters, I usually use Snapseed and VSCOcam to tune up my photos while keeping them closer to their natural colour.

Abouve: Unfiltered 

Abouve: Processed – App: Snapseed and VSCOcam. 

Developed by the Visual Supply Company, hence the app name, VSCOcam appears pretty popular among the photographer/designer crowd. It has editing capabilities like Snapseed and I find the two complementary to each other since they each have their own strengths.

VSCOcam offers some additional features that Snapseed does not have including fade and tinting options. You can choose to tint the photo overall or just the highlights or the shadows. You can check out the highlights tint and shadows tint tutorials on their website.

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Get Inspired!

• What are people sharing on VSCO grid?
• highlights tint using VSCOcam
• shadows tint using VSCOcam

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Go get it!
Photo apps for your mobile devices

iPhone users

• Apps covered in this post
  • Aviary iPhone | iPad
  • Snapseed iPhone | iPad
  • VSCOcam (love the Mellow/Mood presets) iPhone
  • EyeEm iPhone | iPad
• Other apps with other filters
  • Camera+ iPhone | iPad
  • Moldiv (the Chic, Kchrome filters are nice) iPhone | iPad
  • Instagram iPhone

Android Phone users

• Apps covered in the post – Aviary, EyeEm, VSCOcam, Snapseed
• Moldiv, Instagram

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Host Challenge Post

Photo of the Week (unfiltered)
App Challenge Image (VSCOcam F2 preset) 

Unfiltered

VSCOcam (C1 preset)

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Now it’s your turn to share!

Create your challenge post from now until Sunday, 29 Mar end of your day. Post your Photo of the Week and your App-ed version of that photo on your blog. (You can follow my format above if you like).

Pic 1 – Your Photo of the Week can be taken with any equipment – a regular camera, a DSLR, a smartphone, hack even a pin-hole camera if you so choose!

Pic 2 – Pic 2 is optional. The theme this week is Colour Filters, but if that is not your cup of tea, you are free to choose other app effects for your app-ed photo. In all cases, it would be helpful if you can name the app effect used so we can understand what you are doing ; )

Add the challenge badge and link your post to the host and co-host sites. Be nice and visit with some of the other challengers for this week! :) And do remember to leave me your blog post link in the comments below, in case I do not receive the pingback/trackback from your link.

For more information, you can read in detail more about the challenge and the instructions at the About page here. You can also grab the badges here.

Questions? Feel free to pose any questions in the comments below or email me at weliveinaflat@gmail.com. Next up, what happens after you have linked up? Why you start getting your challenger photo grid filled up!

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Challenger Photo Grids

Every week, challenger grids get updated with the new photos! At the end, you get to grab your grid off this blog for your own pleasure. :D Meanwhile, you can view one another’s photos on the blogs by clicking on the linked numbered weeks above each challenger’s photo grid. I will try to keep it up to date as quick as I can ;)

Host| weliveinaflat.com
[ photos tagged “snappy happy” ]

Host| firebonnet.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| Little Dogs Laughed
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| Roxy The Traveling Dog
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| sassmuffins.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| completelydisappear.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| Zeke’s Adventures
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| Blogagaini
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| 1stworlddog.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

Challenger| Claim your photo grid, join the challenge today!

Next week, we’ll get Snappy H’appy with Colour Filters! Thanks for checking out this Photo Challenge and making it all the way to the end of the post! ;)