Before and After: Why I Love Instagram

I've had my iPhone about a year now, and to say I love it is a massive understatement. How in the world did I function before I had my email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, a GPS map system, Google, YouTube, a metronome, and Angry Birds all at my fingertips?!

I hardly know.

Of course, I've started doing my weekly Instagram posts here at the LPB, because I enjoy sharing the various pictures I take of my day-to-day life, or the cool places I visit in my various adventures.

Of course, Instagram has filters and editing features, so it's fun to play with my photos, and they are rarely exactly the same as the original picture I snapped with my iPhone.

For example:

Here's one from a Week in Instagram post from a few weeks
ago, of the Delta King in Old Sacramento.

Instagram automatically crops photos down to fit their square format; however, I often  use filters, or the blur features, and, in the case of this photo, the zoom/crop feature. Here's the original of the above photo:

Still a pretty photo--love those clouds! But I wanted
the focus to be more on the Delta King and the bridge
behind it.

Another example--a photo from a long walk I took in my neighborhood last week:

The colors are much richer in this one--I used a filter to make
it happen.

The original--not a bad pic, but notice my shadow didn't
make it into the final cut!

To make things even more fun, I've recently discovered PicLab, where I can take my photos and make them all tricked-out, like this:

The time-wasting possibilities are endless. And, should I have to go to Placer County Courthouse next week for jury duty (ugh), I'll have all kinds of entertainment at my fingertips.