I have been asked a few questions about Instagram lately so I thought I would share some basic info, a few interesting apps, and how to take a screen shot on your iPhone.

Screen Shot

First of all, if you would like to take a screen shot of the image on your phone, here’s how you do it.

Press the Home and the Sleep buttons at the same time. Your camera will take a picture and save it to the Pictures folder on your phone.

It’s wonderful for saving a funny text conversation or weather report.

Tilt Shift

Here’s the picture I took with my iPhone.

 
In order to achieve this effect, I opened up Instagram and chose the picture. Then I tried the different editing tools along the bottom.

I didn’t change anything drastic from those buttons…the exciting tool to use in this case is the Teardrop that is found along the top. This is a tilt-shift tool. It lets your select your focus. You can do a rectangle or a circle. You can move it around and enlarge it and make it very small. Do this by touching the screen and dragging the tool around.

The tilt-shift is especially sweet in cities where you can be above the action. You can take pictures from bridges or apartment buildings and make the things below look like model train cities.

 
Here’s another example of Tilt-shift.

 
For this one I used the circle tilt shift tool.

I also chose one of the editing choices from the bottom of the screen. They are are all very unique and if you want to play around more you can actually purchase apps that give you even more ways to edit.

(More on that in a sec.)

 
This image was edited with Instagram features.

It’s very dramatic. I clicked on the ‘Sun’ on the bottom left of the screen.

By playing with your phone, you can easily learn what the buttons do. I have found this button is harsh and I don’t like to edit people’s faces with it. But that’s just me. I found it worked very well for this subject matter.

 
See! There’s the tear drop and there’s the sun.

Hi Ginny.

Apps

Speaking of other apps, I have two that have been fun to tinker with:

One is called Slow Shutter and the other is called Fisheye4free.

I really am just beginning to play with these but when I’m sitting in the car waiting for Target to open, I amuse myself with my iPhone.

 
This picture was taken with Slow Shutter. It’s eerie. We were driving.

I can not give any advice on how to use this app. All I can say is it is fun to try to figure out.

So much with computers and phones is trial and error. I am learning to be okay with that method of learning. Manuals are so 1980′s.

 
I did a series on Target carts this winter. I tossed in a few Slow Motion pics for variety. For this one I moved the camera.

The other one…the car was moving.

 
Here’s one of my favorite Fisheye pictures. It’s not so hot, but you should see the others. haha.

I have seen wonderful images of New York made with a similar fisheye app and they were spectacular.

Good things can be done if you are creative.

I need to get to a city.

Imagine the fun at a carnival or state fair!

***

What I love most about Instagram is that it’s easy and portable and the tools they provide help you take something that is kinda, sorta pretty from time to time.

 
Oh! And as you all know….phone self portraits…they rock.

 
I hope this helps those of you who are just learning to use Instagram.
I have been inspired by the wonderful pictures Ree has posted here in the past.
It’s a remarkable little camera. Give it a try.

Encourage one another,
Miz Boo

I’ll never not love double negatives, either.

 
 
 
Los Angeles, when my sister Betsy and I landed there a few weeks ago.

It’s very sprawly.

 
 
 
Barbecue Chicken Quesadillas.

Burp.

 
 
 
I’ll never not love radishes.

They’re peppery.

 
 
 
This is a spray plane that had to make an emergency landing in our pasture after its engine blew.

The pilot is fine.

So are the cows, who were definitely wondering why that big yellow pterodactyl was making all that noise.

Never mind.

 
 
 
Long Live the Longhorn!

Moo.

 
 
 
This is the reason you should never speed down our road at night.

Moo. Again.

 
 
 
I’m going to call this photo “Corn. Interrupted.”

A certain ranch horse is definitely on a certain ranch wife’s bad side right now.

It’s going to take a long time before I can forgive.

Today I tried it in black-and-white.

 
 
I’m not very good at black-and-white conversions. This is a combination of “BW Beauty” and “Boost” from PW Action sets.

Eh.

 
 
This is a little better, as it’s a little more contrasty…and contrasty is what I tend to like in black-and-white photos. This is “Light B & W” from an old Itty Bitty Actions set I have (that I still use frequently!)

 
 
This is the same set, but the action is called “Dark B & W” and is obviously much more contrasty. I like it the best. More dramatic. More bada BING!

 
 
Here’s a photo I posted last week on Home and Garden. Same action. Dark B & W.

 
 
And my nephew gathering cattle.

I like this action, but overall I need to work on my black-and-white skills.

I think I tend to want black-and-whites to look like film. When they’re too smooth, I don’t like them as much.

What black-and-white actions or conversion methods are you using these days?

I’m in a black-and-white state of mind.

#1303 Jonna: “I’m headed to Italy for a few weeks to see family. Very excited!”
#3645 Toni B: “Work, work, work – with just a little time off to decompress at home!”
#4158 JoAnn: “I will be working in my garden, mostly on weekends and dreaming about our August vacation!”

Congrats, winners! Contact prizes@thepioneerwoman.com to claim your cameras.

Because it’s Tuesday…

Because it’s almost summer…

And because I love ya…

 
I’m giving away three of these Nikon COOLPIX S8200 cameras!

Great camera. High ratings. Easy to use. It’ll take you far in life and take great pics this summer when you’re running all over the place and you don’t want to mess with big, bulky lenses.

TO ENTER

To enter the giveaway, just answer the following question in the Comments section of this post:

“What are your summer plans?”

Are you taking a big vacation? Or are you staying close to home and keeping with the routine? Are you hosting a family reunion? Or are you selling your house and moving to the Arctic? Last summer when it was 118 at my house, that actually sounded tempting.

Just shout out your summer plans and you’re entered to win the camera!

THE RULES

One enter per person.

Winners will be announced Wednesday night!

Giveaway sponsored by Pioneer Woman.

The left side of a person’s face is more attractive than the right side of their face?

I had never thought of it before but since Kathie Lee and Hoda say it’s true, it. must. be. true.

Now here’s the thing, I shoot 90% of my portraits straight on. I do this to showcase the eyes and it eliminates shadows and makes noses look nice.

This is just my personal taste. What appeals to my eye.

But lets see if I can find examples.

 
 
Right side

 
 
Left side

For this, I prefer the left side picture. But not because of anything with her face shape.

 
 
Left.

 
 
Oh heavens. I had to go back to August to find a picture taken from Katie’s right side.

I guess I am a terrible person to be preforming this experiment.
Why don’t you look at pictures of yourself, your family, your dog….
And let me know if this is true?!

The pictures they showed of Hoda and Willie Geist (Kathie Lee was off for the day) really, really showed the left side looking more attractive.

 
 
In which I take one for the team.

I think it’s my left!

Let me know what you find?

Is your left side more photogenic?

Encourage one another,
Miz Boo

In the end, I buckled down and finally made the choice.

THE WINNER

The winner is…

 
SaraPSharp’s beautiful horses. There’s something about this photo that takes my breath away. It captures such a peaceful moment, and the mist makes it all so dreamy. And the composition of the photo is stunning: it really makes this almost a work of art rather than a quick snapshot of some horses grazing in a pasture. Fantastic job, Sara!

And congratulations again to all the finalists below. I was blown away by your beautiful photos.

Finalists and Winner: contact prizes@thepioneerwoman.com to claim your prize!

 
By Wild Wend.

 
 
 
By Steven Dempsey.

 
 
 
By angibelle.

 
 
 
By aimee3242.

 
 
 
By MVHDA.

 
 
 
By JustLeesha.

 
 
 
By Ksugarandspice.

 
 
 
By arkinee.

 
 
 
By Little Tadpole.

 
 
 
By JennM01.

 
 
 
By Urban Muser.

 
 
 
By jules1836.

 
 
 
By Karamello.

 
 
 
By CoriK.

 
 
 
By Paisley Tulip.

 
 
 
By Lindsey G.

 
 
 
By The Daily Wyatt.

 
 
 
By Rachel White2012.

 
 
 
By ArtByChrysti.

 
 
 
By ThoughtsFromTheFerrisWheel.

 
 
 
By chris_tifnym.

 
 
 
By jessarmstrong00.

Amazing work, everyone!

Without further ado, here are the finalists! All of these submitters will win a $50 gift card from Amazon.com.

Winner will be announced Wednesday THURSDAY MORNING! Feel free to shout out your favorites.

 
By Wild Wend.

 
 
 
By Steven Dempsey.

 
 
 
By angibelle.

 
 
 
By aimee3242.

 
 
 
By MVHDA.

 
 
 
By JustLeesha.

 
 
 
By Ksugarandspice.

 
 
 
By arkinee.

 
 
 
By Little Tadpole.

 
 
 
By JennM01.

 
 
 
By SaraPSharp.

 
 
 
By Urban Muser.

 
 
 
By jules1836.

 
 
 
By Karamello.

 
 
 
By CoriK.

 
 
 
By Paisley Tulip.

 
 
 
By Lindsey G.

 
 
 
By The Daily Wyatt.

 
 
 
By Rachel White2012.

 
 
 
By ArtByChrysti.

 
 
 
By ThoughtsFromTheFerrisWheel.

 
 
 
By chris_tifnym.

 
 
 
By jessarmstrong00.

Feel free to shout out your faves, everyone!

I’ll announce the winner tomorrow morning.

 
By callmeshmi. So, so sweet. Such a nice moment.

 
 
 
By crystal_miller. Outdoor book shop. So, so cool.

 
 
 
By shariannmarie. Very nice. Love the filter, too.

 
 
 
By heylucy. Beautiful!

 
 
 
By Three Kisses Studio. Stunner!

 
 
 
By cori notton. Cool composition! Love the colors.

 
 
 
By ThoughtsFromTheFerrisWheel. So, so lovely!

 
 
 
By lohayden2. Wheeee! How sweet.

 
 
 
By chris_tifnym. Goodness gracious. Drama!

 
 
 
By [abbybloom]. Awesome shot, awesome processing!

 
 
 
By photoangie. Just gorgeous.

 
 
 
By crosby_allison. Wow. Like a painting!

 
 
 
By jessarmstrong00. Fabulous balloon shot. Great composition!

I’ll end it there…and will start working on finalists!

Here’s Group 5! We’ll definitely have an additional group after this (still have many photos to review.)

 
By KTVee. Triumphant!

 
 
 
By paisley tulip. Incredible shot of just an every day, driving-down-the-road scene. Love it.

 
 
 
By Lindsey. Wow—another awesome one.

 
 
 
By tomdegroeve. Sweet!

 
 
 
By StephanieShier. Eerily beautiful!

 
 
 
By angibelle. Spin art! What a cool capture.

 
 
 
By megpabst. Great shot of NYC!

 
 
 
By Janine Graf. Ahh, this is wonderful.

 
 
 
By Steven Dempsey. Splendid.

 
 
 
By ederosier01. Cool scene!

 
 
 
By The Daily Wyatt. Everything about this is awesome. Great job!

 
 
 
By Canvas.Nicole.Day. I want one of these. In my living room. I’m weird. (Great shot!)

 
 
 
By ainscore. My goodness. I want to go there!

 
 
 
By sugarbuff. Beautiful girls. There’s something about this photo I really like.

 
 
 
By Rachel White2012. So sweet, so happy. The joys of childhood.

 
 
 
By HighBanksRanch. Very, very cool.

 
 
 
By the sofa warrior. Fantastic! Great composition, and I love the light black-and-white treatment.

 
 
 
By maryloveslucydog. Oh, man! Incredible execution. Almost looks like warp speed!

 
 
 
By shana.tomlinson. This is such a fun photo! The color, the gals, the flare from the sunshine. Love it all.

 
 
 
By tavly. Wonderful!

 
 
 
By ArtByChrysti. My goodness, this is amazing. I’d love to hear how you did this one.

 
 
 
By thymeonmyhands. Oh my. I love this.

Group 6 will be posted very soon!

Here’s Group 4–Group 5 will be posted ASAP!

 
By brooke.m. Lovely London photo!

 
 
 
By doolmom. Awesome cloud pic—great composition!

 
 
 
By JennM01. Oooh, so awesome. Artistic!

 
 
 
By *sweet potato pie*. Stunning!

 
 
 
By TexasAggieJenn. Wow!

 
 
 
By SaraPSharp. Beautiful. Just beautiful.

 
 
 
By Leigh Maynard. Interesting perspective!

 
 
 
By Jenny Modesitt. I adore this.

 
 
 
By Toby Tobs. Precious doggie shot!

 
 
 
By seasons of love [abbyblom]. Splendidly beautiful. I love this.

 
 
 
By robyn_brewer. Love the spectator watching the surfers. Cool shot.

 
 
 
By Urban Muser. This is so, so cool. Really great one!

 
 
 
By ohsbandnerd. Awesomely awesome sky!

 
 
 
By jules1836. Cherry blossoms complete me. Gorgeous!

 
 
 
By team.breeze. I’m loving the dandelion shots I’m seeing!

 
 
 
By ajdinin. Wow—how’d you do this? Great!

 
 
 
By Mrs.Stoked. I love the processing here—really transformed the photo!

 
 
 
By jasnlou. Ah, this is so cool. Love the colors, the kitty…everything.

 
 
 
By Karamello. Stunningly dramatic self-portrait. This is fantastic.

 
 
 
By CoriK. One of the prettiest airplane shots I’ve ever seen.

 
 
 
By SliceOfLifePhoto. Beautiful shot!

 
 
 
By C_Michener. Ahhh…beautiful sunset.

 
 
 
By bambibabe48. I love this. Sweet, happy, and fun.

 
 
 
By kgboxer. I love shots of dogs looking out the window (I always wonder what they’re thinking) and this one is really lovely.

I’ll try to get more featured by tonight!