Home Sweet Home Screen

There are few objects in life more dear to me than my iPhone. 
I have a tendency to go a little App-Crazy, and I use my phone all the time for almost everything. 

My friend shared something with me recently about celebrity's home screens, showing what apps they use the most frequently and why, and I thought it sounded like an interesting thing to touch on myself! 


I thought I'd share what's on my Home Screen with you guys, talk about why I love the apps that I do, and what I use the most! 

The picture behind my apps is one Jake took of me on our last trip to California. It was sunset on what had been an absolutely perfect day, and after splitting a bottle of wine on the deck at the Hotel Del Coronado, we took a romantic stroll down the beach. I like to keep it as my home screen because I associate it with being so blissfully happy. My Lock Screen is a shot of the two of us in the rain at the Trevi Fountain when we were in Rome in May. 

**The Frequents folder is my first folder for obvious reasons - the apps I use the most frequently. 

- Afterlight and PicFX: These are my two most frequently used photography apps, the ones I use to edit pretty much every photo I take on my phone. I can't recommend them highly enough. Afterlight is better for more technical editing elements, but the filters in PicFx are fantasticly fun!

- Heads Up!: This game, created by Ellen DeGenerous is SOO freaking fun and the perfect thing to do when you've got a little down time or are hanging out with friends.

- My Fitness Pal: I use this to track my calories and exercise when I'm trying to be healthy. Or when I'm debating eating something I can look it up and see if it's worth it or not. 

- BofA: Mobile Banking is basically the best thing ever and SO convenient!

- Voice Memos: I have to record music and harmonies a lot for my job, so I like to keep this app easily accessible. 

- Ukulele Tuner: It's a fact of life that every single time you grab your ukulele, it needs to be tuned. While I have an actual tuner for when I'm really gonna practice, this app is super handy.

- Fandango: I love movies and need to know when and where they're playing.

- Calendar & Google Maps: Gotta know what day it is and where I need to go. 

- Last Call: One of my big things is being safe about driving. I never have more than 2 drinks if I'm gonna drive, but this app allows me to get a solid idea of where I'm at with my Blood Alcohol Content and if I need to cal a cab. 

- Huff Post: My Go-To News Site

**My Social Media folder is filled with all the apps I need to stay up to date on the net. Most of these are pretty self-explanatory - Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Vine. 

- Bloglovin: This is where I follow all my blogs and this is a great mobile way to check in on things.

- HootSuite: I just found out about this networking gem that allows you to control posts (FB, tweets & more) and schedule them for time release. It's really handy.

- WhatsApp: This is a FREE text messaging app for international texting! I use it to keep in touch with all my friends who are traveling the world and it was incredibly handy when we were abroad, as was Skype which allowed us to call home for insanely low prices!

- Blogger & FB Pages: These two apps really help me manage the Blog when I'm away from my computer. 

**Because I take a million pictures all the time, my camera and photos need to be super easy to access! They are quickly followed up by my photography folder filled with loads of photo apps I use on a regular basis! (I have another folder for photo apps on my second screen! I'm obsessed! 

I've talked about most of these in previous posts, you can check them out below:

- iPhoneography Part 1

- iPhoneography Part 2

** I spend way too much time on YouTube, but I love it and like to keep it easily reachable. 

**Always having loads of Music immediately accessible is one of my favorite parts of having a smart phone. Here's what's in my music folder:

- Spotify, Music, Pandora, iTunes: Duh.

- Shazam: This is basically the coolest app ever. Hear a song in a store or elevator and you want to know what it is? Open Shazam and tap it, and it will process the song and tell you the name and artist. I use this constantly.

- TasteKid: This app generates suggestions for you for books, movies and music. You enter the band or album you like, and it will give you recommendations for other music you might like! 

*** The rest of my home screen is pretty self-explanitory. 

- I use the Notes app about 8 million times a day because I need to write down everything the second I think of it or hear about it. It's the most convenient thing ever. 

- I LOVE the Kindle app! It's synced up to my account so whenever I read further on my kindle, I can open the app while I'm waiting in line getting groceries or whatever, and instantly be in the spot I left off at. A. Mazing.

- And of course- Tarreyn Land!! You can make any website an app on your phone by opening it in Safari, then clicking the little arrow box and selecting add to homescreen.

That's pretty much it. What's on your guys' home screens?? Anything awesome I should know about?!

iPhoneography Part 2!

As you may have realized by now, I am obsessed with taking pictures. 
I love commemorating everything from morning coffee to monumental events. 
The ease of taking pictures has dramatically increased with my ownership of the iPhone. 
Last fall, I wrote this post on iPhoneography and all the apps I love to use. At this point I have 2 entire folders on my phone just for photo apps! Gah!
Since my last post, I've discovered so many fun new apps and things to use, and I'm here to share some more with you!

(A photo Jake took of me in London, edited with Afterlight)

• Afterlight: I use this app on almost every single shot I take. It allows you to entirely edit the image with exposure, contrast, enhancements, sharpness, saturation, cropping, color tone on shadows and highlights, add difference types of light splash, and so much more. AND it has a fantastic collection of filters, frames and other fun stuff. If you only buy one photo app, this should be it. 

Before Afterlight:                                                        After Afterlight:

• Split Pic Pro: This app I'm loving is a fun new one that allows you to create mirrored or split images, clone or ghost yourself! So many possibilities!

 

• A Beautiful Mess: I've talked about this one before, but the gals over at ABM have created this lovely app that allows you to embellish images in such a fun way! Add text or doodles, borders and more, all in a variety of ways and colors! It's also equipped with filters (I usually use the afterlight filters before editing in this app though), and you can also create images on neat backgrounds they provide you with as well! The app is only .99, but you can buy additional elements if you choose. 

 

• Camera Bag: This app has 16 (wow!) filters that you can apply to your shots, lots of them derivative of real camera lenses! at $1.99 it's a little more pricey and I'm not sure I'd say you need it, but it can be fun! Check it out!

Helga                                              1974                                            Instant

  Plastic                                       Italiano                                            Fisheye

• Phonto: Aside from ABM, phonto is another fun app to add text. It comes with LOADS of different fonts you can arrange and decide style, size, color and more. And if you buy the add-on package, you can also add shapes and doodles.    

 

• PS Express: This condensed version of photoshop is super handy to have around when you want to make significant changes in the composition of the photo such as exposure, color tinting, focus and more. Obviously it pales in comparison to actual photoshop, but for your phone and on the go it definitely does the trick!

Before PS Express                                  After PS Express

Annnnnnddd Accoutrements! 

I recently discovered the amazing site PhotoJojo, which is like one giant candy store of fun camera and phone add-ons. Perfect for both phoneographers and traditional photogs as well (and an amazzing resource for presents! Almost everything on here is on my wish list!). 
They also have whole sections on inspiration and project ideas, and a fabulous account on Pinterest. AND they have a whole program called Phoneography 101 where you can take lessons on phone photography! 

Here are some of my current favorite iPhone items:

• Holga iPhone Lens: This 9 lens rotating case allows you to create all the cool fun of Holga film cameras. Multi-Vision, Dreamy Vignettes, Bold Colors, Macro lens and more!

• The Kick - Portable Lighting Studio: This case is sooo neat! Slide it back when taking pictures, and have the power to control all kinds of awesome lighting effects!

• Lens Collection: This four-pack provides you with a whole cachet of lenses for your phone. It includes: Macro/Wide-Angle, Fisheye, and Telephoto, all easily attached to your phone so you are always prepared to catch the best version of the image you want!

 

Making the Most of your Images!

After you've got all these amazing photos, be sure to try and do something with them! Print them through Postal Pix or Shutterfly, and think about using some of the resources below for great photo projects and presents!

• PhotoJojo Project Archives
• Their Pin Boards: DIY Photo Projects, Photo Decor, Show & Tell
• A Beautiful Mess' Photography Section
• You can make Magnets with Sticky Gram
• Create Photo Books with Shutterfly or Blurb

Whew! Hope you guys found this helpful! Happy Picture Taking!

iPhoneography

I take pictures of everything. Always have, always will. 
I have a compulsion to document, a fascination with the captured image. 
My photographic world has been rocked by the iPhone. 
Not only do I now always have a camera on me, but it is AMAZING what these little things can do! 
And now you can do even more with your pictures with tons of cool photography apps!

Check these out!

• Instagram: One of the most popular apps, I'm sure you all know about this one. This is great because you can share them on the feed with friends. It's got some great filters and a couple nice effects! And it's free! I also love the square shape of them.

•  Picture Show: With a ton of filters, a lens kit, countless editing options and more, this is a fantastic app! It was voted the number one photo app by iPhoneography.com, and can do almost anything you'd want for only $1.99! If you only buy 1 photo app, this is the one - I'm obsessed.

• Camera+: This is a really great editing app. You can take pictures with it or just edit them in post after you've taken them with a regular camera which I love, and there are some really great options for lighting, effects, frames, filters and adjustments. It also allows you to control the intensity of your filters which is a really great feature!

• PicFrame: This app allows you to create photo collages in tons of different kinds of frames and styles. I love to use this one combined with instagram or other apps to share events and such with friends. It's a fabulous way to combine or condense images and experiences!

• Hipstamatic: This app is great because it looks a lot like a funky film cameras. You can pick your lenses and other camera elements which is great. Also, you can choose manually or shake it for a fun surprise combination which is a blast! One drawback is this is one of the few that you can't do post editing of shots you've taken, you've gotta take the pics using the app. 

• Incredibooth: If you're anything like me, you are a photobooth addict! I cannot walk past any kind of photobooth without jumping in! Now you can do it at home with this neat app! And you can also add fun effects like sparkles!

AND!

You can get LENSES for your PHONE! 

You can get this set of three Here on Amazon!

Check Out:
- http://www.iphoneography.com

Great Books:
- The Art of iPhoneography: A Guide to Mobile Creativity
- Create Great iPhone Photos: Apps, Tips, Tricks, and Effects
- iPhone Artistry 

Wanna Print??
- Check out the app PostalPix! They do square prints, which is great for instagram, but they also do 4x6, 5x7, 8x10, AND aluminum tin prints! ANNNDDD they ship them right to your front door! It's a fan-freaking-tastic way to get your pictures and display them!

I recently had a bunch of my instagrams printed and made this wall display:

The iPhone is so convenient, so versatile, and it allows me to have a camera with me at all times! I can take pictures and video, I can commemorate any moment, I can share with friends, and document all the tiny little beautiful things in every day life. I ADORE it. There are countless photo apps out there, but these are my personal favs. Check them out! Discover your own! And most importantly Get Creative!! Always keep your eyes peeled for new things to photograph and immortalize!