February 18th, 2012
Taking pictures with a phone camera
When I bought my first cell phone—an LG flip phone—in 2004, it had no camera. The G2 I use today has a 5-megapixel camera with an LED flash. Although it can’t compete with my Canon 40D, I find myself using it quite often when I want to play with vintage-style filters and for quick sharing on social media.
The G2′s camera has settings for the flash, white balance, exposure, focus, digital zoom, and location, and there are many free and inexpensive apps you can add to your arsenal for more control, including photo editing apps and apps that apply special effects and filters.
Here are some Android photo apps worth trying:
FxCamera for a handful of effects, such as fisheye and toy camera
Vignette for an endless selection of filters and effects, such as Holga, tinted monochrome, and infrared
Adobe Photoshop Express for quick editing of exposure, saturation, tint, contrast, brightness, and a few special effects
I’m not an iPhone user, though I certainly lust after some of the neat iPhone camera gadgets I’ve seen, and I wish Instagram would come out for Android already. Here are some iPhone photo apps I’ve heard great things about, but have no direct experience with: Camera+, Instagram, and Hipstamatic.
Do you have any tips for getting the most out of your mobile phone cameras? How about fun apps you’d recommend?
February 17th, 2012
Photo Friday: Board game marathon
Last weekend, we had a board game marathon. We had been planning it for a few weeks, with the unrealistic goal of playing each game once. Our stack of games included Settlers of Catan, Dominion, Domaine, Puerto Rico, Agricola, Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride, Power Grid, and Flux. We ended up playing Ticket to Ride three times, and Agricola, Carcassonne, Power Grid, and Flux once each. All in all, a very fun day—I even won a couple games!
Side note: If you’re unfamiliar with the games I mentioned, most of them are German-style board games focused heavily on resources and strategy rather than luck. They’re also usually a bit more expensive than traditional board games. If you’re interested, I recommend Settlers of Catan to get your feet wet. Don’t be intimidated if you think you’re no good at strategy games—I’m definitely no expert, and I still have a lot of fun!
February 14th, 2012
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Happy Valentine’s Day! I spent the weekend baking all manner of pink baked goods, including these mini strawberry cupcakes with buttercream frosting and sprinkles. I also made strawberry cookies with cream cheese frosting. There was so much frosting leftover that I used it on some of the cupcakes—it’s the white frosting on the center cupcake.
Have a good Valentine’s Day full of delicious treats! Here are some fun suggestions for a “DIY” Valentine’s Day, and here’s a funny Oatmeal comic about Valentine’s Day.
February 10th, 2012
Photo Friday: Super Bowl donuts
My husband’s Super Bowl tradition is to buy a dozen donuts to enjoy during the Super Bowl. (We certainly never finish them, though!) For the past few years, we’ve gone to Le Donut on Hilltop, and their donuts are delicious! Here’s another shot of their donuts, from my Project 365 in 2010.
February 4th, 2012
Chambers Bay sunset
It’s February, but it looks like spring out there. Yesterday at sunset, I went on a spontaneous photo outing with my friend Ingrid and her 5-month-old daughter. We ventured out to Chambers Bay and managed to get a pretty good workout, too!
Check out Ingrid’s beautiful images of the sunset at Chambers Bay here.
