another super fun iPhone photography app: a beautiful mess.

i've been having a ton of fun with the new app released just this week by the sisters at A Beautiful Mess. 

the app is full of all kinds of borders, doodles & words to let you do things like this... 

and this...

and this...

and this...

it's $.99 for the basic app #abeautifulmess and then you can "unlock" additional features for more moola. 

 happy photo editing! 

see ya on the gram @teribockting & @dancendan

hint: a fantastic iPhoto photo editing app.

it's currently my favorite iPhone toy.
lots & lots of filters. 
shapes + letters for framing & cropping. 
nifty film exposures to add & rotate. 
instant sharing to social channels.

the possibilities are endless. 

i got the "lite" version.
& it's worth all 99 pennies.
click the logo to check out the website & download the app --->

instagram snaps now streaming on le blog.

Psssstt…. I’m sure you’ve noticed by now, but my Instagram feed is now streaming to the blog.

Your Insta-what?? Huh? Well, Mom, Dad, Vicky, Meme… I take pictures on my iPhone for this social media thing called Instagram. My friends can see my pictures and comments – and now you can, too!

Most of these pictures don’t make it to the blog, so consider them and their corresponding captions a little bonus. Just clicky clicky those lil square pictures on the right-hand side of the blog and voila.

And if you're on the gram and wanna follow along there, my snaps are at @teribockting and Ting is @dancendan

Instagram cheat sheet.

was cruising Pinterest and bumped into this fun Instagram cheat sheet by aussie blogger Fat Mum Slim. if you're a regular Instagram user, you probably know most of these but i found a few to be new & useful. enjoy! 

follow The Tings on Instagram via @teribockting // @dancendan 

all i wanted for christmas (i got!)

say hello to my new camera!

the Panasonic G3 micro four-thirds camera with 14-42mm lens plus the 20mm/f1.7 pancake lens

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkkkk

dontchya love it? i do.

after completing my photography course i was in the market for a new lens for my Nikon D40 DSLR. but after talking through it with danny, we decided that a different type of camera all together may better suit me.

you see, we're always on the go around town, at concerts, traveling and i didn't like having to carry a bulky camera and different lens' in huge camera bag on top of my purse/luggage. all you DSLR kids know what i'm talking about. can you imagine me lugging that giant camera to a concert and trying to bounce up and down with it strapped on to me? um, no. because of that, my point-and-shoot reigned king and i'd often have to forego getting the shots i wanted. bummer.

so after a ton of research, watching online videos, reading reviews and playing with different options, we a decided that a micro-four thirds camera was the perfect blend for me. a micro-four thirds camera is basically a mix between a "big" DSLR and point-and-shoot camera - you have the functionality, manual control and interchangeable lens of a standard level DSLR (which now that i know how to use, i love & need) in a much smaller size (slightly bigger than a point-and-shoot).

a few months ago we went on a hunt to determine which micro-four thirds was for me and the decision came down to the Olympus EP3 (which looks really cool) and the new Panasonic G3. for a bunch of reasons - the movable touch screen, the view finder (crucial in daylight), pop-up flash, etc. - i went with the Panasonic G3 and put "the pancake lens" on my ultimate wish list.

well, both my wishes came true on christmas! love ya, ting. you rule. now say cheeeeeese! 

we're both having SO much fun with this camera.

and a major bonus? danny sold my Nikon D40 for more than we paid for it! he'd originally purchased it from craigslist so i could spend time with the camera and determine if learning how to use a DSLR out of "auto mode" was something i was actually interested in doing before spending a ton of money on something new. smart. if you're contemplating an DSLR, it's a great idea. lots of entry level used gear out there.

if you have questions about any of the cameras, i'm happy to answer them. we've done a lot of research!

insta-art.

about a month ago i decided to turn art inspiration into a reality. remember this post? well, i loved the personal photo collage piece so much that i did a little research and found prinstagram, a company that turns your iPhone Instagram prints into a poster for you. all you have to do is log-in, select which of your photos (50 - 400 depending on how big/small you want the photos), and they do the rest - to the tune of only $25.

i went with 200 images and got my awesome 20"x40" poster within a week. and thennnn, i went to have it framed. newsflash: 20x40 is not a standard poster frame size. therefore, my $25 print turned into a $155 piece of art when i had to pay $130 (with a 60% off coupon) to get a custom frame made. and i went with the most inexpensive metal frame and glass combo i could. whoops. but, i do love it.

if you're considering making one, an idea for you - perhaps get two posters with different photos and have them laid side-by-side and framed to create one big 40"x80" piece of art or one really tall & skinny floor frame (of course the custom frame will be spendy).  

here's the finished product. i do love how each photo is something personal just to us. 

a bookshelf of memories.

growing up we had bookshelves of family photo albums in our living room. you know, the big brown binder kind with the pull away sleeves and sticky backs. i often wonder how much of my childhood i actually remember and what i just think i remember because i've looked through these albums so many times.

either way, i'll take it. i love that i have books full of photos of my parents, my brothers and the hundreds of vacations we've taken together. of birthday parties and sporting events, getting my ears pierced, the day my braces came off (and what i looked like in headgear), talent shows, milestone moments, helping mom bake and our awkward fashion choices over the years. i guess i always took for granted how awesome it was to have these photos all organized in one place. because of them, danny's had the chance to dive into my history and get a visual feel for who i am and where i came from. it's really fun.

for years now, i've struggled with photo organization. i take thousands of photos but between the shoe boxes of unlabeled and unorganized photos from college to the handful of external hardrives filled with folders of .jpeg files, i've always had an unsettling feeling about where these would all end up one day.

of course photos are fun to look at now, but in the future they'll be more important than ever.

i've decided that a new goal for our life is to mock my dad's system and have one album a year. i dream of a bookshelf of hardback coffee table books each labeled by a single year on their spine. reasons why...
a. it's more fun to look through printed photos, and even more so books of photos.
b. inevitably we (especially my husband) will forget who, what, where and why we were taking these pictures.
c. technology can't be trusted. hardrives eventually will crash.
d. because i'm a little old fashioned when it comes to this stuff.
e. i secretly dream of us (and our kids) being able to look back on our history one day. i want them to know exactly who their parents are.

so, ehhh i'm a few years behind but had to start somewhere (currently the goal is to go back to 2008 - the year we got engaged but ideally i'd love to go back and make one book for college and then each year since graduation). with my recent day off, i managed to get 2011 current and am 90% done with 2010. most of the photos are there and i'm finalizing the brief event descriptions. it helps that i'm pretty good about organization on my computer and can just drop each event into the project (extra-large 100-page books... i love my macbook pro).

now that i'm motivated and have the template, moving forward i'm hoping to build the book gradually throughout each year so it's not such a cumbersome process come december.

not gonna lie, i'm really excited. and as my dad said, now all i have to worry about for the books is a fire

(which given my history with household disasters, isn't that unrealistic of a thought).

i'm really excited for my time off around the holidays to knock out a couple more years.

lover of light.

this past week's photography class focused on light and that magical golden hour - about an hour after the sun rises and the hour before the sun sets. you know, the time when everything just glows and looks so pretty. it was my favorite homework assignment yet. 

snapshots.

It's no secret that I love taking photos. I find it fascinating that with a push of a button you can magically freeze a single moment in time. A moment that someone hundreds of years later can pick up and be a part of.

About a year ago Danny bought me a Digital SLR camera, a Nikon D40. I love it. The photo quality is great but I admit that I've primarily been shooting in "auto" mode this whole time. And when I wasn't, I was faking my way through the other settings.

A couple of months ago, we sat at AZ88 for a long lunch and chatted about things we both wanted to do - for ourselves, for each other and for the community. On the top of my list was learning how to use my camera and take the photos I want to take. The ones I can see in my head, but can't get to translate to film.

So based on a friend's recommendation that I had filed away months ago, I was just in time to sign-up for an eight-week photography course to learn all about the Digital SLR. The class is small, only about 10 of us, it's once a week for 2.5 hours after work and each week we have homework assignments to hone our new skills.

It's been a month now. Tonight was my fourth class and I'm happy to report I'm braving non-automode photography. I'm not full manual yet, but I think I'll get there. So, if you wanna talk ISO, Aperture, Shutter Speed, etc. I'm your gal. Eh, maybe not quite yet. Ha.

Here are a couple shots from my past homework assignments. Pretty obvious who my main subjects are...

on the road again...

Remember a few months back when Danny bought a car in San Diego so we flew out on a Saturday morning and drove it back on Sunday (post here)? Well, we're doing the exact same thing this weekend.

Yup. Apparently we have a thing for San Diego cars (Silvia was also from SD). I've been driving D's Mini Cooper for a couple weeks so we're both excited to be back in our own cars (and I'm not gonna lie - I'm really excited for a new car!). This will be my third car ever. Pretty normal if you ask me, but insane for Danny to comprehend. The man loves to buy and sell cars.

So we're back in San Diego this weekend, escaping the heat and staying far far away from Carmageddon.

happy weekend to you.

images via this etsy shop. 



have a happy fourth of july.

happy fourth of july. 

love, the tings

{image from scribd.com}

{image pottery barn}

{image grin and bake it}

{image from flickr}

{image from weheartit}

{image from matchbookmag.net}

{image from nicolehill blog}

{image from marthastewart.com}

{image from pinterest}

{image via pinterest}

{image via pinterest}

fourth of july memories here.

back to the future.

I recently bumped into this photography project and I'm obsessed. Photographer Irina Werning is inviting people to reenact their childhood photos for her "Back to the Future" collection. How fun are these?