How I Instagram

I've mentioned on here before that I absolutely love Instagram (here is my shameless plug: follow me at @crumbsandcurls!), it is hands down my favorite form of social media.  I'm a very visual person so I love seeing everyone's photographs and being able to share my own so easily.  Since I love Instagram so much I take my posting pretty seriously (which might sound silly, but I have fun with it!).  I have several apps that I like to use to edit my photos and make them Insta ready.

Below are my favorite apps that I use regularly when I Instagram a picture.

Adobe Photoshop Express

I use PS Express as my first step to any picture I plan on putting up on Instagram.  This app is like a condensed mini version of the PhotoShop you can get on your computer.  You can do so many things with it from adding filters to cropping your pictures.  I always do any cropping or straighten out the picture first if that needs to be done.  Next, I use the Corrections option to edit the actual picture.  If you've seen my account before then you may have noticed I like my pictures to be very light and bright as if they were taken in the perfect lighting each time.  To get my pictures to look just right I first increase the Exposure (usually by a lot), next I increase the Shadows, which lightens any shadows and really brightens up the picture, and finally I will increase the Vibrance or Tint depending on the look I am going for.  A lot of the time I Instagram my pictures straight from the PS Express App if I am just doing a basic picture, depending on the coloring I want I may add a filter to it also or keep it #nofilter.  If you only use one app for pictures you post on Instagram this is the one you have to get, it is my absolute must have!

For all the apps below I use them only after I have done the editing I explained above in PS Express.

Whitagram

Whitagram is for those pictures that are too big for the Instagram dimensions, but you don't want to have to crop something out to fit it.  If you have a picture that is too tall or too wide you just put it into this app and it will make it so the whole image fits into the Instagram square.  If the picture is vertical (like the one in the example) it will leave space on either side of the image and if the picture is horizontal it will leave space on the top and bottom of the picture, the amount of space varies with the size of the picture and you can choose different colors for the space (I usually leave mine white though).

PhotoWonder

I use PhotoWonder when I want to focus on one part of a picture and blur out the rest.  To do this you choose Edit, pick the photo you want to edit, choose the Edit option again, and use the Vignette option.  Once you've chosen Vignette you can choose whether you want a linear or circular vignette (I usually choose to use the circular) and then adjust how much you want to blur.  I love the way this effect makes a picture look and think that it is a great way to draw attention to one part of the image or blur out a background that might not be the prettiest (like in the picture above).

Studio Design

I like to use this app when I'm feeling really creative.  There are so many different things that this app allows you to do to pictures, I honestly haven't even tried all of them and am constantly finding new things to do.  You can add filters, crop the picture into shapes or words, and add text, shapes, images, textures, and lines, just to name a few.  There are even pre made overlays under the Remix option that look awesome when put on different pictures.

Pic Collage

This is just my pick for a collage app.  I usually use this to commemorate something special like a birthday, a trip, or the end of the year.  I used to be more into making collages, but have gotten away from it lately unless there are a few pictures that I just have to post together.

I am always trying different editing apps and usually play around with an app for a while before I actually land up using it on Instagram.  Below are a few apps that I am currently testing out.

Photo Candy

I've been trying this one out a lot and I have to say it's a lot of fun to use; I can foresee this becoming one of my regularly used pre Instagram apps.  This app uses overlays to create really artsy images that play with colors, shapes, and textures.  There are premade Presets that look really cool when placed on images.  You can also make your own overlay using patterns, shapes, filters, and texts.  I really like the way these look on landscape images and in the image above I took a picture I took in Greece and made my own overlay.

Fused

Fused allows you to combine two images into one.  This app is pretty basic and is good if you only want to combine the two and adjust the opacity of the images.

Instant Blend

If you want something beyond what Fused offers this app is similar, but allows you to go a bit farther. I really like how you can move the images around and change their size once they've been blended together.  You can also adjust the opacity of the images, and add filters, borders, and text.

Perfect365

I have to confess that I downloaded this app because I read that Kendall Jenner uses it on her selfies before putting them up on Instagram.  It's basically an app that can do the kind of photoshopping that everyone hates - airbrushing skin, adding makeup, contouring, etcetera.  I think it's really fun to take a picture without makeup on and add it using the app, it's scary precise and looks like I was wearing makeup when I took the picture.  I'm all for embracing your flaws and natural beauty, but I also think if a little touching up makes you feel more confident then you should go for it.  Personally, I have dark circles under my eyes that I've always been self conscious about and while I'm pretty good at covering them up with makeup I really like how this app makes them disappear and makes my eyes seem brighter.  I also like how you can get rid of a blemish if you have one and just make your skin look a little nicer.  While I haven't used this on Instagram yet (I'm not really a big selfie person), I think that I will at some point and when I do it won't be to use any of the crazy features just to get rid of those circles and any other little skin issues I might be having at the time.

As you can see I seriously love Instagram!  It's so fun to use different apps and try new things to make cool pictures that I am excited to share and show to everyone.  Do you have any apps that you use before you Instagram a picture?  If you do, let me know - I always love trying new ones!  Also if you follow me on Instagram, @crumbsandcurls, leave a comment on a picture letting me know you're stopping by from the post and I will follow back!

  

                

Make sure to add me on Snapchat - @kthomp22!

Today I'm linking up with Random Wednesday, I Feel Pretty, WIWW, Wordless Wednesday, and MidWeek Muse.