app happy

Today I'm going to talk to y'all about apps.  I get a ton of questions asking about what I use for my photos and posting via iPhone so I figured it would be easiest just to share it all with you fabulous people.

First, you should know my journey to being an app person has been a long one.  I'm pretty sure I was the last person on the planet using a blackberry until June.  Finally, I got caught up with the times and got an iPhone.  My dental hygienist made fun of me, my students were convinced I was the lamest person on the planet, and it took 45-minutes to do anything web related.  Life was tough.  Having an iPhone is a life changer for my photography.  And Facebook stalking habits.  And cool factor.

So, here are my must have apps:

1.  Instagram
A lot of you are probably already on Instagram but aren't using it to the fullest potential.  I follow about a hundred amazing photographers who serve as inspiration for my photography, but the best two groups that I follow are Clickin' Moms and My_365.  Both of these pages share a lot of great work and also come out with a weekly photo prompts which guide my 365 project that I'm a month into.  Every photo I post on Instagram is taken with my iPhone, no big camera work.  It's purely a place that I go to get creative and look for amazing things in my everyday life. (you can follow me @ashamariepics!)

2. VSCOcam
This is the app I use to edit.  They have presets but I like to use the manual tools that give me a lot of play with the photos I take.  I always bump up the exposure (I'm a sucker for overexposed images) and increase the fade.  Taken with an iPhone but the feel of a blackberry :)

3.  Collect
This is the app I use to put all of my photos in that awesome calendar format.  It's fabulous.

4. Chatbooks
This app automatically (if you set it to do so) grabs your instagram photos (and captions) and sets them up in a book for you to order.  Are you guilty of having your photos sit on your phone and nothing happens to them?  I know, me too.  For only $10/book, it's a great way to get a copy of those photos!

5.  Dropbox
I deliver all photos to clients using dropbox but I also have the app on my phone so I can share any big camera edited photos via email, text or Facebook.  It also works in the opposite way: I was able to add all of these photos to my blog from my iPhone because it syncs up with my computer. Perfecto!

That's it! 5 apps that will make you happy and improve your photography. And seriously, if you aren't using your fancy phone to document your life, you should.  You might not realize it, but your life is so amazing, you should share it.  Tell your story people, it's a good one :)