Winners of a free copy of PicTapGo are....

Marianne/Skorpionen
Lise Lacroix
Xavier
Erica
Isabelledb
Tschang
Gracasacadura

Congrats to you all!! Please write to me on mariannehope@picturelyspoken.com and I'll get you the download code asap.

Cheers,

Marianne:)

Have you ever wanted to go "PicTapGo" ?

You may have heard about Totally Rad actions and Rad Lab for Adobe Photoshop? Those are photo editing tools well known amongst photographers. The makers of those popular editing tools, Totally Rad! Inc, have now developed a new app for iPhones, based on the same principle as the Rad Lab plug-in: 

PicTapGo! (check out the cool video on this link!)

I'm already using Rad Lab for editing most of my DSLR pictures in Photoshop, and I love it! I really appreciate how PicTapGo is using the same filters that I already know from Rad Lab and how it works in the same simple and time-effective way. In this tutorial I will show and tell you what you can expect from this new app and what makes it stand out from the rest of the many many photo editing apps out there.

Give away: If you leave a comment below, stating what feature you find most interesting, you are in with a chance to win a free copy of the app. I have 10 copies to give away, so let me hear it before the end of the weekend (I'll pick 10 winners on Monday May 13)

Here are my favorite features of this app:

1. The my style function, which records and memorizes the filters and recipes you use most
2. you can make and save your own recipes to use over and over
3. 55 filters to choose from
4. very, very easy to use
5. cool, but subtle vintage filters
6. filters are all 100% adjustable
7. very easy to undo and redo
8. live filter previews
9. Full-Frame Instagram option, which allows users to share full-frame (uncropped) images on Instagram

My favorite function in this app is the possibility of making recipes. I can combine the different filters to create a custom made filter that fits my style and pictures perfectly and use it over and over again. These are some of my own:

Here are some before and after examples of pictures I have edited in PicTapGo with my own recipes:

 Edited with a recipe based on the "High fives" filter

 Edited with a recipe based on the filters "Crispity", "Lights On" and "High fives"

 Edited with a recipe I called "BW cool" (see example above)

 Edited with a recipe based on the "Lux" vintage filter

 Edited with a recipe I call "Faded" (see example above), which gives it a matted effect

 Edited with a recipe based on the "Bleached" filter

   Here's an overview of all the filters you can choose from:

The interface of this app is a delight; simple and very easy to manage:

Conclusion: This is definitely an app worth adding to your app collection and I think it earns every one of the 5 stars it is rated at in the iTunes store! At only $ 1.99 there is no reason not to buy it in my opinion. It's suited for beginners as well as advanced mobile photographers. For me it's not a stand-alone app (at least not for all pictures) as it's missing some basic editing functions (like straightening and selective adjustments), but you can do a lot with it and end up with pretty amazing pictures with just a few taps. I think it's worth the purchase for the filters and the "Recipe" function alone:) The fact that it is so easy to use is a huge plus of course. For those of you who prefer a different format than square on Instagram, you will definitely like the "Full frame Instagram" function.

Now all there is left for me to say is: start making recipes and have fun!!!! Don't forget to leave me a comment for a chance to win a free copy!

Also, if you tag your pictures edited with PicTapGo with #pictapgo, #pictapgo_app and the hashtag for the used filter, ie. #montecito on Instagram, you're in for a chance to be featured on the PicTapGo blog and Instagram profile, which is not bad at all;) Good luck!!!

Addition on May 20th: One more chance to win a free copy! Leave a comment today and I will pick some winners tomorrow. Good luck!

A weekend in Berlin

This marks the end of a fun and educational project, the Life's a photo campaign by Samsung Camera. The photo contest was won by Berlin and our city, Amsterdam, ended on a strong second place:) Samsung arranged a party for the winning city, inviting bloggers from several cities in Europe including myself for a weekend of fun. And fun it was, in spite of very cold weather (- 11 degrees) and snow. It was great to meet the winning photographers, representing Berlin, some of who I knew through Instagram, but never met IRL; @thomas_k, @goldie77 and @jn. 

The weekend was filled with activities from morning to evening, sightseeing with photo challenges,  acrobatic show, the cube (projecting pictures from the campaign on four sides - amazing!!) and a party with a fantastic view and a HUGE vodka bottle. Although I got only 6 hours of sleep in 48 hours and ended up with the flu and had to take to the bed for two weeks after, it was still worth it, meeting lovely people like @jyazu and Emilie Bramly and the rest of the French team, seeing Berlin for the first time and dancing and having fun into the small hours. This is not something you (I) experience every day, so thank you to Samsung for inviting me and to everyone at Jam for arranging such a great weekend!

Thomas Kakareko in one of his favorite spots in Berlin; Museumsinsel

Brandenburg Gate reflected

 City life at Brandenburg Gate

 It was freezing cold......

New and old Berlin, the Bode museum and the TV tower in the horizon

 Berlin Dom, located on the Museumsinsel

The view from my hotel room at the Park Inn. You can see the Berlin Dom at the back:)

 The panoramic view of Berlin from the roof of the Park Inn hotell

 From the acrobatic show, arranged specially for us

 Jürg Nicht (@jn) in action in front of the Bode museum.

Life's a photo campaign - The End!!!

Very cool video and summary of the Life's a photo campaign. Also images from the party in Berlin. It was great fun to participate and be a part of the project!!!! Thanks to Samsung for having me!!

Blogger acting up....

Hi, just passing by to say I'm having issues with Blogger. Many, many, many of my pictures posted here through several years have just disappeared!!! I have no idea why this has happened and how to solve it. Even my header was gone and the side pics. I have uploaded some again, but there is no way I can go through all older posts and do that. If anyone know a solution to the problem or have heard of similar situations, I'm all ears...