Photo App Recipes

I’ve written before about my obsession with the photo apps on my iphone.  And now Dave, over at Clearer Reflections, is hosting an online project for those who have this addiction.  It is called Dave's Apps Recipe Book.  It’s a chance for phone photo editors to share their work and the “recipe” they used to get there.  Here are mine…

Having just returned from NYC, I’ve been playing around with those photos anyways. 

I enjoyed shooting the carousel in Central Park.  This is the original.
 
This is the edited version.
Horsey Recipe
Using the app 100 cameras in 1
- Photo was enlarged and cropped
- In the “madness” effects, “the light fell between the trees” was chosen – saved
- In the “zen” effects, “when I was dirty and you laughed” was chosen - saved
Using the app Pic Grunger
- Aged Effects was chosen (style – gig, strength - 60 percent, border – on)
- Saved

In Brooklyn, we passed by this amazing wall on the way to the Brooklyn Art Library.

This is the edited version.
The Graffiti Recipe
Using the app PS Express
- Image was cropped to remove shadows
- In effects, “vibrant” was chosen
Using the app Pixloromatic
- In effects (light bulb) “bocea” was chosen – saved
- In the effects (light bulb) “worn” was chosen
- In border “dirt” was chosen
- saved

Wow!  Now a good excuse to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday morning screwing around with photo apps.  Woot!  Woot!

Another Day (Or Two) Running Through NYC

After sleeping in, we got a little bit later start on the second day in New York.  We weren’t quite as manic as the first day, but we did venture into every corner of the city…
A quick ride into Manhattan

and then a walk to Central Park 
It was a beautiful day!

I especially enjoyed the carousel.

  I love beautiful skies… and to laugh!

Bethesda Terrace (1863 – that’s old for us!)
   
Fun!

After a quick bite of lunch, we took the subway into Brooklyn to visit the Brooklyn Art Library.  I’ve been wanting to visit this storefront for the last couple of years, since signing up to participate in the Sketchbook Project. 

Rows and rows of filled sketch books…I was in heaven.  We signed up for a library card and spent about 2 hours at the reading table checking out more and more books.
  They are all amazing!

 

We finally had to pull ourselves away and head towards Union Square for dinner at Max Brenner, …a chocolate restaurant!
My college roommate Rachel lives in New Jersey now.  She met us at the restaurant for a quick visit.

After dinner, Rach and I shared an ice cream sundae with chocolate and peanut butter sauce.
 

And Jill and Tracey ordered this chocolate fondue party!  Being a chocolate lover, Jill was in heaven!

We rolled out of Max Brenner and made our way to the PIT (Peoples Improv Theater) for a show.  Tracey has some friends who perform there regularly.
 

After the show we were off to more shopping in Time Square and then to bed.  It was another productive day!

On Sunday, both Jill and I had a later flight home, so had a few hours which we made the most of…
The Museum of the Moving Image currently has a Jim Henson exhibit.    

 

 

 

 

 

Sesame Street and the Muppets were such a big part of my childhood, seeing all of Henson’s hand drawn designs and reading stories about his creative process was so interesting.  The exhibit was very well done.

After playing around in the other exhibits, it was time for a late lunch and some last minute visiting before heading to the airport.

It was a whirlwind trip, but well worth it. 

The Big Apple

Some friends and I met up in New York City for the weekend.  New York has never been my favorite city to visit.  I’ve been a few other times to see friends who live there, and I find it rather claustrophobic and so crowded.  However, I had a plane ticket that needed to be rebooked in the next 6 months, some friends in the city, and another friend in Virginia who was willing to fly there as well…the weekend was booked and highly anticipated.

I made the mistake of not packing my real camera  because I didn’t want to carry it around.  The iPhone didn’t take any pictures that I would enlarge and put on the wall, but they did capture the highlights of an amazing time…

We stayed in Astoria which is a lovely neighborhood in Queens. I taught with Jill when she lived here in California before moving back to the East Coast.  Her sister Tracey, who also lived in LA for awhile, is an actor and photographer who lives in NYC.  Tracey took us on a wild, fun filled weekend!

After we all arrived Thursday night and Friday morning we were ready for our “running” tour.  The only time we stopped was when I yelled, “Wait, I’m taking a picture!” 
- The best part about being in a big city…taking the subway!

- A stop at TKTS to purchase Broadway tickets for later that night
- Lunch at South Street Seaport with views of the Brooklyn Bridge

  - Battery Park to see the World Trade Center Globe Memorial and the Statue of Liberty 


I had never made a point to see the Statue of Liberty when I was in New York before.  We didn’t have time to do the museum, but at least I got to see it.
Battery Park
- We passed through Zuccotti Park which is the home of the Occupy Wall Street protestors.
I think I understand what the protest is about, but I wondered as we walked by if, one, how many of the protestors actually knew what they were protesting, two, how many of them would be jobless even if we weren’t in a financial mess, and three, how long it had been since they had taken a shower.
- After fighting our way through the protestors, we found our way to Canal Street to buy purses, (which I guess is ironic to a point). - and then had dinner in Little Italy.

- Books of Wonder was next – Have you ever seen the movie “You’ve Got Mail?”.  The children’s bookstore that Meg Ryan runs in the movie was based on Books of Wonder.  Well-known children’s authors and illustrators visit on a regular basis and sign their books.  It is like a candy store for those of us who love children’s literature…
 
They had signed copies of The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.  It took every part of me not buy it.  It is such a wonderful book, but I already own it AND it weighs as much as a brick and I didn’t want to carry it home in my luggage.
- We wasted some time in Time Square before the show started.
Time Square is the epitome of what I don’t like about New York City.  It is SO crowded.  The lights and busyness are fun, but I don’t like being bumped into!
- It was then time for a Broadway Show!  We saw Billy Elliot, which was wonderful. 
  I do like that theatres on the East Coast are very, old, ornate, and usually smaller than their West Coast counterparts.  Our seats were half price, and they were great. 
- We headed back to Time Square for some shopping after the show, before making our way home for the night.

And that was just day 1!