Prisma (I feel the need to explain, that although I'd LOVE it if they paid me cause I seriously advertise for them blatantly and frequently... I am NOT in fact being paid to endorse this app. It's just THAT great!)
It's the "filter" app I've been waiting for, hoping for... DREAMING of!
The fun doesn't stop, like, EVER!
A few quick tips I've discovered just by using it almost daily.
1. have a good internet connection. it doesn't run off preloaded memory like some game apps, so make sure you're in a good service area or are on some WiFi.
2. Test filters. You'll find that pictures with people/landscapes/still life/etc. do better with certain filters.
3. don't be afraid to click through every filter! See it ON your image first... THEN decide what you like.
4. also, don't be afraid to edit an image first. with iPhotos or whatever app you have for editing, make that image amazing BEFORE prisma... sometimes it can give you more spectacular results.
I'm a photographer, by my very soul, so I literally make images ALL day. Some on my phone, some on my Canon, some make it to the light of day raw, some are edited quickly, some are edited with specific photo apps, some are erased immediately. So having a way to add the artistic flair I've been missing from my darkroom days has been #PhotoFood for my soul. (Prisma has also opened the door for me to "illustrate" my children's books... if I can ever get to that!)
When I have an image I want to Prisma, I have a specific process. Yes, it's planned out. Yes, I'm a nerd.
1. prisma does square images like instagram. So take it in square format or compose it to account for the crop taking part of your image out. I forgot this ALOT when I first started using Prisma... it was frustrating to FINALLY get the 2 year old to cooperate for the perfect! picture... only to realize I forgot to make it square and now Prisma was cutting off her head. Remember! #SquareImages
2. I'm still learning and playing with Prisma, so I will tap thought EVERY filter! Unless I'm focusing on the colors of an image and then I'll skip the B&W filters.
3. As I tap through, there are some I just know I don't like. So I just move on. But then, I LOVE more than one filter. So I SAVE them, just tap save as you're tapping through the filters. I'll regularly have 8-10 images to pair down.
4. After I've saved all the ones I LOVE. I head to my photos. I start with the first 2, swipe back and forth till I decide (out of only those 2) which one I like best (this is a Montessori method for comparing things, yes, my preschool training is in my daily life :). Repeat till only 1 image remains. I'll find that though I LOVED a filter, as I look at it next to others, it doesn't capture my #PhotographicSubject as I had planned. The beauty of digital is deleting stuff. No wasted film. Yay!
5. #PhotographicSubject : Sometimes this is simply my daughters beautiful eyes, my sons hilarious faces, or a nice view. But sometimes (as I'm a small business owner), it's more specific. The color of a scene, a detail I want to emphasize, an angle I thought was interesting. As I delete from my photos I keep this subject in mind.
Ex: I wanted to show off the Moose... and still see the pattern of my #LLRNicoleDress. I wanted to show the fluffy-ness AND the colors of the dress not being distorted was important.
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| Original |
Ex: I wanted to show hiking with my Tula. There were SO many that I LOVED for artistic reasons that I had to pass up.
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| Original |
Loved the trail ahead of us, but the Tula is lost in blackness.
LOVED this purple foliage, So artsy! and the Tula is light enough to see the folds and whatnot. But it was for a hiking blog so the trail being more 'realistic' was a motivator.
Me, Tula, and #LunaScout look good, but the trail is too dark/distorted. Which I LOVE artistically, but not for the hiking blog post.
You can see the image I finally settled on here:
HWK changed my life.
What I LOVE most?? New filters. I regularly get on Prisma and see new filters have been added. I guess that's the benefit of being cloud based, you can add new stuff without requiring updates everyday.
Take my advice! Download this app and let it consume your creative picture making...
ING
!jen
