How I Edit My Instagram Photos [2016 Edition]

I use Instagram. A lot. So much so that I've even written an article on it for work, and - as of writing this post - I've posted 1,958 pictures onto my account, going back as far as my sophomore year of college.

Now, I've talked about Instagram posting before, but the apps I use now have changed quite a bit since then.

(Disclaimer: I'm using an iPhone to do these edits, but the apps I'm using are also available on other platforms; just click the links to check them out. :] )

For our example today, I'm going to edit a picture of one of my adorable dogs, Azalea.

This is Azalea. She's my baby diva princess, and I wouldn't have it any other way. :) It's rare to get her to look at the camera straight-on. Lol.

Step 1: A Color Story

If I only edit with one app, it's "A Color Story." I love it because of how easy it is to achieve the look I want, which usually consists of brightened colors and heightened contrast. I especially love the way this kind of style looks in travel photography.

My go-to filter is "Disco Ball" under the "Good Vibes" set. I'll also use "Lipstick" and "Palm Springs", and sometimes "Laura" if I want it in black and white. Then, I'll turn it up or down as needed to enhance the photo. Occasionally, I'll use the Color Fog or Light Leak feature to add a fun little something extra to the photo.

And that's usually all I do! I do this to pictures of landscapes, objects, people, and selfies.

But if I want to add something else, I enlist the help of a second app...

[Optional] Step 2: Over or A Beautiful Mess

Occasionally, I'll add text to a photo. When I add text, it's usually an overlay, because I've always loved the idea of a "handwritten" note or phrase or typography on an otherwise blank canvas. I usually add text to food photos or landscapes (like out plane windows). 

Left: edited with A Beautiful Mess; Right: edited with Over

To Collage or Not to Collage?

For my collages, I usually use Moldiv, but there are SO many apps out there to choose from to make them (across different types of phones, too!).

How do you like to edit your photos for Instagram? Please let me know in the comments! :)

Instagram Roundup: 36 Hours in Atlanta

Hey hey! :)

So, last weekend, I spent 36 hours in Atlanta. I visited family and attended a pretty rad convention. That sounds like not that much on paper, but it was the most jam-packed, fun whirlwind of 36 hours I've spent in awhile.

Let's get into the roundup, shall we?

1. My beautiful cousin went to prom this weekend. I'm a proud cousin. :')

2. Mom and I attended Southeast PlannerCon! We had an absolute blast. We attended workshops, heard speakers (including ladies I've seen on YouTube, like MissTrenchcoat), and shopped at various sticker vendors. I got to meet The Reset Girl, Belinda Selene, and even more amazing ladies. And I got to spend awesome quality time with my mom, which is always so much fun. We took this photo at the Pipsticks booth.

3. I took this quick snap before I boarded the plane back home. One of the workshops I attended was hosted by Maureen Vazquez, who runs Pipsticks, and she talked about ways to up one's Instagram game. She was SO sweet, and was actually kind enough to critique my recent Instagram posts. She suggested that I take more black and white photos, so I tried some black and white editing with this one. I may do black and white photos more often now.

Welp, that wraps up this roundup! :) How was your weekend?

An Instagram Roundup of the Dog Days of Summer

1. On our way from church to lunch a couple weeks ago, we saw this dog enjoying life and the road while cruising in a pickup truck. He looked like he was enjoying his Sunday very much. :)

2. I picked up these combat boots at an H&M in Florida, of all places. I've never owned a pair of combat boots before, but I really love the floral print on these, and the colors will be great for this coming Fall season. I've worn them with black jeans so far, but I want to try them with other pieces, too.

3. This candle smells amazing! There was another candle sale at Bath & Body Works (seriously, they have sales a lot), and I picked up this and another 3-wick candle (Pink Apple Punch, if you're curious). This particular candle smells like a joyful fruit smoothie and I love it.

4. I love my agenda I'm using this year! It's by Kate Spade, has books all over it, and has generally made my postgrad life a lot more organized. I'm able to keep track of so much, from work to social things to birthdays to everything else, which helps a lot.

5. I. love. this. nail. polish. Sally Hansen has surprised me with how great their Triple Shine nail polishes are. This particular color is called "Make Waves", and it's a fabulous shimmery mermaid teal/blue/green. This will be a great color to transition into Fall because of how fun and unexpected it is. Also, it's opaque in two coats. Opaque shimmery polishes tend to be rare these days, so it was nice that this applied so well.

6. The Loveless Cafe is awesome! If you ever visit Nashville and want good Southern cooking, you have to try this place, just because they have the best biscuits and fried chicken around. Fun fact: this was the place I had my first dinner as a postgrad; we came here right after I graduated from college. I've also been here for my 18th birthday.

Posting to Instagram in a Few Easy Steps

It's absolutely no secret that I love taking pictures and posting them to Instagram. The pictures I post range greatly from my lunch to my travels.

I love trying new apps and filters to enhance my Instagram photos, and through experimenting with these apps and editing, I think I've come up with my own step-by-step method to how I take a picture from my camera roll to my Instagram feed. Plus, it's actually pretty quick, and will take you under ten or even five minutes.

To show you how I post photos to Instagram and what process I use to edit, I'm going to use the snap I took today of my lunch from Panda Express.

1. Take your picture.

I highly, highly recommend that you take your photo using your basic camera app, not the camera that's built into Instagram. This way, you have more control over the composition of your photo, the focus will be much sharper and clearer, and you can decide whether to crop it or not. Remember, you can crop it as much as you like - you're not limited to the square format (more on this in a second).

2. Add a filter and/or crop.

This is where the fun begins. After I take a picture, I open it in an editing app. Depending on the app I use, I'm able to crop the photo or resize it to fit the square format (which leaves the white bars on either side of the photo that you see in a lot of Instagram snaps), correct the colors/exposure/contrast, and add a snazzy filter, all without exiting the app. If I like the filter in one app, but can only crop it to landscape or portrait format in another, I'll just use the two apps separately, and I'll save the photo in my camera roll between apps so I don't lose my work.

Apps I use for filters: Afterlight (a one-stop shop), VSCO cam, Litely

Apps I use to crop portrait or landscape-style: Whitagram

3. Add a sticker, a border, or any other decoration.

Decoration usually just involves a border for my regular photos, but sometimes, I'll add a cute phrase or sticker to add interest. Whether you add decorations or not, the choice is up to you. Have fun and get creative!

Apps I use to decorate: A Beautiful Mess, Little Moments, LINE Camera

4. Post away! :)

Once you're satisfied with your creation, just upload it to Instagram, add a caption/emojis/hashtags, and you're set!

An Instagram Roundup of Beach Happenings

1. I love this candle. I discovered it in our candle stash down here, and it smells just like sugary lemonade, and it's awesome. I also like the quote, too. :)

2. The other day, we had breakfast at a Mexican restaurant called Don Pedro's in Destin. They have amazing coffee, and also serve chilequiles, a dish that's kind of like nachos, but with bacon. It's as amazing as it sounds.

3. Readers, meet the chilequiles. :)

4. I was in the mood to wear the bright floral hat that I picked up at the Forever21 down here. It's super-bright and colorful in person, and it'll be great to travel with if I know I'm going to be in some serious sun (like down here in Florida, which I don't mind one bit ;).

5. We played Bananagrams with some friends of ours. If you've never played it before, it's basically Scrabble without the board. I didn't win that night, but I was especially proud of this hand, so onto my Instagram feed it went.

6. I found this adorable sign in Grayton Beach. I'd seen it before, but it was just too cute not to share.

7. If you go to any beach at any time, seeing the sunset is always a must. I was able to get a great picture on this particular evening walk, and I love how the filter and quote turned out.

8. I made friends with a tiny frog. He was stuck to our back door, and he was so so so cute. We've had more frogs down here than I've ever seen, and I've spent a good portion of my childhood down here. Welp, the more cuteness, the merrier, I guess. :)

9. Tonight, we decided to try a new ice cream place called the Blue Mountain Beach Creamery. They had some really yummy flavors. The one I got was Red Velvet Cake, but I also recommend the Salted Caramel, too.

Apps I've Been Loving Lately

I love playing with new apps. I really, really do - especially photo apps.

Whenever I see an interesting app crop up, I get excited. Sometimes these new apps are good, some are meh, and some I just can't see myself using on the regular. However, I've found a few new apps that I've really enjoyed.

Litely

Photo credit

This app boasts simple, film-like filters that lightly edit photos (lightly...get it? haha!).

I love it for its subtle editing. I use this when I don't really feel like heavily editing photos, and I can directly import photos into Whitagram (or any other photo cropping app) for further tweaking before I post them to Instagram. I'd also compare this to VSCO cam, too, but with more subtle editing and easier features (at least in my opinion).

Little Moments

photo credit

This is a newbie to my collection. However, after playing with this app some, I can tell you right now that it's a favorite.

The stickers and phrases you can use are fabulous and adorable, the color options are great, the filters are surprisingly extensive (especially compared to A Beautiful Mess - an all-time favorite of mine), and - this is the best part - the have photo prompts built into the app. Ever wanted to try those monthly photo challenges? Now you have them at your fingertips!

photo credit

Crop Video Square

photo credit

I'm aware that there are other apps like this, but I really love this video cropping app just because 1) the colors are easier to pick from, 2) you don't have to have it be 15 seconds if you don't want to, and 3) you can tilt the video, which adds interest to your feed. 

Here's what I mean:

Instaplace

Have you seen me tag photos on my Instagram with places? I've been using this app to do it.

My mom introduced this app to me. It uses your location - via wifi or cell tower - to tag your location and create an overlay with it to use on your photos. It's fun to make these at different locations. :)

Monogram It

I'm a fan of monograms. Maybe it's just the South in me, or maybe it's just the fact that I honestly get excited when I see my name on things - Savannah was an uncommon name back when I was little. But I digress.

This app is a great way to make your own monogram wallpapers right on your phone. You have so many options in fonts, backgrounds, and colors, and you can also use your own images. It's honestly the best monogram app I've ever used. Plus, it's compatible for iPads, too!

Here are some I've made:

Bloglovin'

Of course, a blog-related app is on this list. ;)

I didn't think that this app would be used as much as my other social media - especially since I prefer reading my favorite blogs on a desktop - but I actually really love it. It's fabulous for travel and catching up on blogs on the go.

What apps have you been loving lately?

On Graduating from College and Being a Postgrad

Dear reader,

I graduated college this month.

On May 17, I ran across the parking lot to the entrance of my university's auditorium, and I was carrying a cap, gown, cords, and a little tassel. I put that regalia on to walk into said auditorium, walk across a stage, and receive my degree of a Bachelor of Arts in English.

Typing that out still feels weird to me, even after a week and a half, but it's true.

So much happened before graduation that once it actually happened, it was as though I'd done something crazy, like skydiving or some other incredible feat. I went to college. In the past tense.

A ton of my dearest friends came to graduation, too. One of them asked me how it felt. He followed that with, "I know that's a loaded question." It was surreal, happy, and bittersweet, simply because I wouldn't be around the people who are basically my second family as often, but I know 100% for sure that I'll see them again.

What happens now?

In short: pausing and prayer. Let me explain.

My mom gave me Katherine Schwarzenegger's newest book, I Just Graduated: Now What?. In her introduction, Katherine retells her graduation and postgrad story, and I found parallels between my stage of life and hers at that time. What resonated with me, though, was the advice her mom gave at her commencement speech: pause. Pausing was essentially the idea of not rushing into trying to find a job (unless you have one) or a new place to live (unless that's lined up). The rushing can cause anxiety, so it isn't too bad of an idea to decompress and figure things out before really diving into the land of the workforce.

This is where prayer comes in.

I understand that I can't pause forever. I do have a gig with a print magazine, and I couldn't be happier about it. I also have other options for work, too. And I plan on starting on that first novel, short story, or what have you. The future is honestly still daunting, though, but what's keeping me going is my faith.

Romans 8:28 - And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

So, right now, in this season, I'm leaning on Him. I'm sitting at the doorway to the next opportunity that He has ready for me, and I'm waiting for the doorbell. In the meantime, I'm going to write, work, and be the best daughter, friend, person, and Christian I can possibly be.

Here I come, real life. Adventure is out there.

Posted with Blogsy

Adventures with Lipstick and Unicorns

It's no secret that I'm very, very girly. I love fashion, makeup, and expressing myself with the two. Because of this, I will try out trends and wear fun things like, for example, bright lipstick.
Say hello to my new little friends:

If you're not already familiar with the packaging, these beauties are from Lime Crime Cosmetics. Not only is the packaging amazing (um, holographic unicorns...need I say more?) but the colors I chose are SO pretty. I picked up Retrofuturist and Countessa Fluorescent.

When I was browsing the shades, I figured a classic red would be good to try. I wore Retrofuturist all day today and LOVED it. It's like a candy apple color in person, and it's kind of glossy. It does transfer, though, so I wouldn't recommend it for heavy duty longwear. I have some shades of Lime Crime's Velvetine liquid lipsticks, and oh my biscuits, those last a WHILE.

Countessa Fluorescent is not for the faint of heart. Yes, it shocked me how bright it was, but this is pretty much what I signed up for: an unabashed neon blue-based pink. But the more I see it on, the more I love it. I'm planning on wearing it to a function I have coming up, and I plan to keep my eye and face makeup minimal/natural to balance the lipstick out.
Overall, with the swatches and some wear, I love these lipsticks. They make me super happy, and I imagine their other lip shades are nice as well. They do have some interesting shades that are both wearable and daring, so do check Lime Crime out if you're into adventurous lip colors and other such things. :)
I hope y'all enjoyed this review! I think I want to do more of these with random products I love, so hopefully you'll see more of me playing with makeup on this blog!

Disclaimer: I am not sponsored by Lime Crime. These lipsticks were just too awesome not to share with y'all :)

Posted with Blogsy

Snow Day!

I guess you could say that today came about in a series of text messages.
First came the message that the radio station was off the air and that I didn't have to go into work. Then came the message that my university had canceled all classes for the day.
My university hasn't closed for inclement weather in twenty-seven years. Supposedly.
So this meant that it was perfectly acceptable to stay in and enjoy the day off.

Here's what I did today:

1. Worked on homework. (I am a college student after all.)
2. Watched Disney movies. I basically fell back in love with Beauty and the Beast.
3. Drank coffee and tea.
4. Put on a face mask. Hey, if you have the time, a beauty treatment is always fun option for a day off.
5. Facetimed my parents and my two puppies. Harvey and Azalea, my two miniature schnauzers, actually like the snow!
6. Slept in, because yes.
7. I tidied up some. (I guess Snow White inspired me?)
8. I mostly relaxed. And that's really what I needed most. Now, I'm ready to take on this week. :)

Posted with Blogsy

How [I] Instagram

I enjoy Instagram a whole lot. I enjoy the process of not just snapping a photo, slapping on a filter, and posting it, but also using other apps to add color, words, and effects that I would not be able to use otherwise.

Here are the main apps I use to edit and post Instagram photos. I use an iPhone 5C, so you can find all of these apps in the App Store (and a few possibly on Android or Google Play/Windows).

1. Afterlight
I have used this app so much to obtain amazing filters. I would say it has at least double, if not triple the amount of filters. The filters are also easy to work with and feel softer than the preset filters on Instagram.

This app also contains an array of simple frames and cutouts, and also enables a user to crop an entire photo into a square shape with white bars at the sides (like a widescreen TV). There are apps that can do this separately, but I like that I can do so much within this one app. The fewer apps I use, the faster I can post an image.

2. A Beautiful Mess
I LOVE this one! Developed by the team of sisters behind the blog of the same name, this app is so cute and whimsical, and I love how much color the app brings to my feed.

The app has a few basic filters, but it's the best for frames, text, and prewritten phrases. The doodles are cute, too.

What I'll often do is start by editing the photo in Afterlight, then run the photo through either this app or the next app I'm about to mention.

3. Rhonda Designs
This app is also based off a blog, and it functions similarly to A Beautiful Mess, but there are a lot more options for fun quotes and fonts to freehand text. There are more filters, too.

4. Studio Design
If I'm ever feeling especially like a hipster on a given day, I'll use this app. I'll upload a photo either right off my camera roll or after running it through Afterlight, and then I'll either make my own design with the overlays OR remix a design I really love. The designs are so artsy and I love them, and I'll often come across really great scriptures or quotes to use.

I hope this list helped you out in some way. :) If you'd like to see more posts like this, or have Instagram editing-related questions, comment below!

Posted with Blogsy