#unitedbyedit

An interview with @nellypop

Tell us a little about who you are, what would you like the world to know about you?

Well let’s see… My name is Nelson I’m 39 years old and my friends call me Nelly Pop (don’t ask) I have a wonderful wife and son living in Orange, CT. Way to many pets, but they keep me warm HeHe. I’m in management, so not much artistic release. Well thanks to IG that’s changed.

What are your favorite apps to use when editing?

Well with 20 apps and counting I would have to say that some of my top apps are Camera+ Snapseed, Photo FX, iCameraHDR, Blender, PhotoStudio, PhotoWizard, Filterstorm. Let me stop there. I usually use 3 to 5 apps per edit. Depends on what look I’m going for. I don’t have a style per say, so I like to try different things.

What’s your favorite subject to shoot/edit?

I shoot anything as long as it has great color. I like to keep a lot of different images in my roll, so there is always plenty to pic from for both personal and challenge edits. Oh and my son. He loves it when I edit pictures with him. He always ask “dad how many likes did I get” LOL he’s great.

How has Instagram changed you?

Definitely gave me a way of letting my artistic side out on a daily bases. It’s great to have that ability in the palm of your hand. Also all the great iPhoneographers I have gotten to meet. Not only from the U.S. but around the world. It’s really is amazing. Thanks to their wonderful talents I have learned so much. Thank you guys 👽💙🙏✨

What advice can you give to someone who wants to “Explore” with editing their photo/art?

This is an amazing community and many are more than happy to help. Don’t be afraid to ask for tips or if you have any questions on techniques your trying to learn. There are no limits on what you can do. There is no right or wrong way. It’s all about what you like. Just let loose and enjoy. Also like and comment. It’s how you’ll grow relationship, don’t be a ghost. Don’t forget it’s not about the numbers.

An interview with @shibz2311

1. Tell us a little about who you are, what would you like the world to know about you?

Who I am?! Still trying to figure that one myself. Name is Leslie and I live in Melbourne Australia. Born and raised here. Only child but not spoil and I do live life to the fullest. Sounds corny but I’m not a person who likes to think about the “what ifs” - I tend to go with the flow and what I would like the world to know is that I’m real person who has their ups and downs but gets through it. Don’t be scared of the unknown.

2. What are your favorite apps to use when editing? Why?
My favourite app of all time (other than IG) has to be filterstorm. I use that app no matter what kind of photo of doing. Perhaps not the easiest app but once you get the hang of it, you can create anything. Also tend to either use snapseed or camera+ … Both simple to use and give the photos more of that WOW factor. If I’m doing B&W, I will use noir or hipstamatic which give photos contrast, depth and dramatic shadows & light which I like.

3. what is your favorite subject to shoot/edit?
My favourite subject… Depends on my mood. Sometimes I like streetphotography but I also love doing beach shots or micro flower shots. If I could truly capture the stars like NASA does, would be my fav subject 100%

4. How has Instagram changed you?
Where do I begin! I’ve always liked taking photos and my outlet was twitter or Facebook back in the day but no one really cares. When I discovered IG, the doors… My eyes opened to a new community who are truly passionate, supportive and creative about photography. IG has changed my life as its given me so many opportunities that I can’t even begin to list but I feel truly blessed and the people who I do follow are my family

5. What advice can you give to someone who wants to “Explore” with editing their photos/art?

GO FOR IT! Experiment, play around with apps, even the free ones. Just like learning how to walk, you gotta take those few steps. Don’t let anyone stop you or discourage you because IG is based upon how you create your world. If you go back through my IG stream, its a variety of everything because I’m always exploring myself, no one stops learning!

An interview with @rebelsoul

1. Tell us a little about who you are, what would you like the world to know about you?

Hey peeps 👋 my name is Llanet - pronounced (Janet) 😂 and I live in sunny Miami, Florida. I’m an attorney (hold the jokes) but hope to pursue my PhD and become a Law Professor one day. Give me some Starbucks and an iPad/iPhone and I’m a happy girl 👊 Simplicity is key in my life, love to travel, go to rock concerts, and lounge in the beautiful beaches of Miami. Photography has always been a passion that I never pursued until I was introduced to IG.

2. What are your favorite apps to use when editing?

I’m an app junky but my go-to apps are - Snapseed, Juxtaposer, PhotoFx, Noir and Blender. There are some special ninja ones but you have to kill me for those - lol (jk)

3. what is your favorite subject to shoot/edit?

I love shooting anything out of the norm, taking something from ordinary to extraordinary and enjoy putting a spin on everyday subjects. If I had to choose top faves, it would be sky, ocean and road shots.

4. How has Instagram changed you?

I’ve evolved incredibly, both in photography and personally. I see things in a whole new light, iphoneography has taught me to see the average as not so average, I learned how simple things like angles and lighting can really change the look of a shot. Moreso, I learned about unity, friendships and a great supporting community all within my pocket’s reach.

5. What advice can you give to someone who wants to “Explore” with editing their photos/art?

Your feed is an extension of yourself, make it personal with your own touches. Even something as simple as a favorite color can be used to create your own unique style. Participating in challenges is a great tool to learn more editing techniques and even push you to explore new apps and subjects. I encourage you to peel the layers, go to the core within, and seek your creativity.

An interview with @theeandrew

1. Tell us a little about who you are, what would you like the world to know about you?

I live in Austin, Texas, with my wife and four-year-old son. In my day job, I’m an information architect.

Since college, I’ve usually had one creative outlet or another, whether it was painting, photography, collage, or screenprinting. However, I really hit my creative stride when I discovered iPhoneography. I’m better with software than with other creative tools.

2. What are your favorite apps to use when editing? Why?

I like different apps for different jobs. Filterstorm is my favorite for cropping and adjusting brightness, contrast, and color. For filters, I like FX Photo Studio, Snapseed, qbro, and Iris. For making pictures look weird, I like Decim8, Percolator, Phototropedelic, and DXP. For grunge and texture, I like Grungetastic and ScratchCam. There are many other apps I use frequently, but these are my current favorites.

3. What is your favorite subject to shoot/edit?

My very favorite subject is my boy. He is incredibly imaginative. He loves to wear costumes. He usually goes through 4 or 5 costume changes in a day. When I take him to the grocery store, he’ll be dressed as a dragon or a three-eyed monster. We get a lot of smiles. I’m doing a series of him in his costumes. It’s hard to get him to stand still, so I have to work around the blurry shots. I app them quite a bit, usually with Perc, Phototropedelic, and Grungetastic.

My other favorite subject is street art. I spend a lot of time on weekends driving around looking for new stuff to shoot.

4. How has Instagram changed you?

Instagram has connected me with some wonderful, supportive, amazingly creative people. I’m a social person, so this has been great for me. Some people refer to their IG friends as their “pocket posse” or “pocket pals.” I totally get that. It’s cool how an app has connected me to people all over the world, different cultures, and time zones, people I’d never get to meet otherwise. I get to see all this crazy, great street art from all over the world, masterpieces that might only be up on a wall for a few days.

Instagram has also given me confidence to experiment. Sometimes I’ll edit something and I’ll think, “No, that’s too weird. If I post that, people will think I’m crazy.” Then I’ll post it, and it will get more positive feedback than anything else I’ve posted. A good example is my “speak no evil” self portrait. I was hesitant to post it, but when I did, it ended up getting more likes than any of my other other pictures. And I took that picture to a portfolio review and the reviewer liked it more than any of the other pictures.

5. What advice can you give to someone who wants to “Explore” with editing their photos/art?

Be curious. Get apps and experiment with them. Take a picture you like and just start trying different effects and filters. If you get a result you like, run with it and see how many great variations you can get from the combination of filters. It’s like being a scientist in a lab. You mix chemicals every day. Some days nothing happens. Other days you discover a miracle drug.

Don’t get discouraged if your experiments don’t work out. A wise person once said, “The surest way to increase your success rate is to double your failure rate.” Really, there are no failures. If you try something and it doesn’t work, that’s OK because you’ve ruled out that combination and you can move on to the next one. It took me a long time to learn this. At first, when an experiment failed I’d feel like I’d never make a good picture again. But sooner or later something cool always happens.

Another good way to encourage your creativity is to enter contests. It’s motivating to have a goal and a deadline for your work.

Also, if someone has an editing technique that you really like, try to figure out how they did it. Ultimately you want to develop your own style, but it’s also good to see what other people are doing so you know what’s possible

An interview with @tat2ralfy_ru

1. Tell us a little about who you are, what would you like the world to know about you?

I’m a professional Tattooist with over 25yrs experience, I run a modest studio with my wife Alicia, in the medieval market town of Melton Mowbray, in the heart of rural England
I love my job, and also enjoy hand make vintage style Tattoo Machines, and use and restore vintage and antique straight razors
I also have had a live of vehicles since childhood, and we currently have a 1989 mk2 VW Golf, a 1969 type1 VW Beetle, and a 2001 Yamaha XJR1300
I used to build custom motorcycles for a living, and rode full custom builds exclusively for over 20yrs, nowadays I have neither the resources or time to build anymore, but would love a chance too 😊

2. What are your favorite apps to use when editing?

My go to apps for editing are Photoforge 2, iCamera HDR, Pixlromatic, Snapseed, Camera+, Photo FX, Filterstorm, Iris Photo Suite, Lensflare/Lenslight, Psexpress, Dynamiclight, Prohdr, Simplyhdr and,qbro

Quite a list I know! I also use others but these favourites work in various combinations for my 2 favourite HDR styled edits

I also wouldn’t want to be without Hipstamatic, I live some of the effects that it gives, and if it weren’t for Hipstamatic getting me into iphoneography I wouldn’t have found IG

3. what is your favorite subject to shoot/edit?

That’s not an easy one! I enjoy so many different things, people, places and buildings get me going a bit, but I also like to shoot things that are slightly more personal to me, and that I feel many others would not be able to see for themselves such as my daily shaving setups and shots taken inside our Tattoo studio, to me those things are cool, and from the feedback I receive I know that others find them unusual and fascinating as well

And I really enjoy editing other people’s pictures, such as my IG friend jvdt’s applified forum, there’s no way I could ever travel enough to capture such shots, and editing them is always a great joy.

4. How has Instagram changed you?

It has opened up a whole world of creativity, sharing, and friendship
Honestly before starting on IG Ididnt even know that iphoneography existed let alone what it is was, Now I have a way of expressing myself artistically, and get the greatest of pleasure in sharing others works too, it’s amazing if not a little compulsive and in-wife friendly at times lol

5. What advice can you give to someone who wants to “Explore” with editing their photos/art?

I would say just go for it, don’t aim at pleasing others, and don’t be afraid to think outside the box, there’s no rules
Also don’t be afraid to ask for help, if it were not for the help and support I have received my hdr edits would have taken me a lot longer to get where they are now
And remember, the more things you try, the more you will grow as an artist, before too long a whole new way of seeing the world will open up to you, but the most important advice I can give is simply enjoy what you are doing, if you have fun this will show in your work, and that a beautiful thing indeed

An interview with @lady_sleeman

1. Tell us a little about who you are, what would you like the world to know about you?

Blah. Haha have I mentioned I hate questions about myself, I usually get nervous, don’t know what to say and ramble (kinda like this 😜) But ok, I was born in Colombia, raised in Canada, I like long walks on the beach….jk, well not really but you know. Anyways, I am spontaneous and I love to portray that in my edits. I absolutely love photography and the sense of calmness and happiness that just being outside and exploring gives me. I am completely OCD, hence why I can’t mix my darker edits with my lighter side and keep them in separate accounts 😜 I also love meeting new people on Ig and seeing how different they see the world and portray it in their edits. Finally, I love the word awesome, trust me, if I follow you you’ve probably noticed this by now, and no it’s not just on here…it’s a staple of my everyday language 😜😂

2. What are your favorite apps to use when editing? Why?

Oh man, this one is a toughie because since I got my iPhone 4 and the world of editing was opened up to me that much more I’ve gone through stages. I’m pretty OCD in that area as well I’m afraid. I love changing it up and exploring my limits. Currently though, Im in love with grunge, therefore in most of my recent edits the staple apps are; camera+, iris, than photoforge2, than finish back up in iris. Depending on if it won’t darken the photo to the point of undistinguishable, I’ll also add cameraawesome or pic grunger to the mix. I find these apps allow you to add a variety of spins to your work, they create works of art.

3. What is your favorite subject to shoot/edit?

Landscapes and train tracks would have to be my first answer, but really anything that peaks my interest or I feel I can add my spin to. Even when I’m driving my eyes are constantly roving to see if anything catches my eye, if something intrigues me I automatically snap a shot, yes, I even turn around and go back if I see an tree that just screams character or a rundown barn that holds memories of the past etc. It usually drives my hubby to shake his head because I’m always the one begging him to slow down the car or lagging behind on nature walks because I just ‘had to’ get different angles of one shot. 😂😂

4. How has Instagram changed you?

I think of utmost importance is that its allowed me to realize who I am in terms of what touches me in art and photography and where I can go with my creativity. It’s also changed the way I see the world, I notice the beauty in my surroundings a lot more. Before I was too busy in other things that I didn’t take the time to see how a run down barn or trees or even powerlines could create a great backdrop for incredible photos. I also discovered a semi talent for something that soothes me and keeps me balanced when life gets overwhelming.

5. What advice can you give to someone who wants to “Explore” with editing their photos/art?

You decide. By that I mean, you decide where to go with your creativity, you decide what you like and you decide what to post. Its what moves you that should motivate you, not what the ‘popular page’ wants or what you feel others want. Thats why i love unitedbyedit and also editfromtheheart because thats exactly what those pages allow you to do, be yourself. Also if your just starting out don’t ever give up or judge yourself based on others thinking ‘I’ll never be that good or that creative’. By doing that your just creating barriers for yourself and holding yourself back from doing what IS possible. I think if you truly find joy in something than by exploring you’ll be able to find exactly how to make it work for you! Plus, there will always be someone better than you in your eyes and in others, it’s life, we all have different tastes and expectations but to another person you may be the best or the one to inspire them. It’s a great circle!

An interview with @alteregoz

1. Tell us a little about who you are, what would you like the world to know about you?

My name is CJ Wickham. I am a 34 year old graphic artist living in sunny northern California. I am a hardcore nerd gangster. My style has been compared to bright pop art icons like Peter max and Andy Warhol. I created a business (Alter Egoz) out of my love for iphonography and editing. I design everything from album covers to custom shoes. Oh yah I almost forgot. I LOVE COLOR. I refuse using muted or dull colors. Only the brightest and best for me.

2. What are your favorite apps to use when editing? Why?

That’s a loaded question really. I use a combination of 22 apps at any given time. If I had to choose 3? Toonpaint for cel shaded look, camera+ for general pic fixing, and blender for layering. What keeps my designing fresh is that I am constantly buying or trying new apps, then integrating them into my skillset. My new favorites are flowpaper and kyoobic.

3. what is your favorite subject to shoot/edit?

Without a doubt, people. My main focus with editing is to use the emotions evoked in the original pic to drive where the edit goes. I never have a preset plan. Sure I might start in the comfort of toonpaint, my go-to app, but from there it’s really a pandoras box. My portraits tend to take on a comic book-esque look to them, hence the name Alter Egoz

4. How has Instagram changed you?

Immensely. Before I found instagram, I was hated on for refusing to accept the norm and use photoshop. Then I found this great community of iphonographers (never heard of that word until IG) to network with. Friendly people interested in my scope of work? CHECK. Freely telling me what apps they use, and the process of their edits? YUP. I quickly got hooked.

5. What advice can you give to someone who wants to “Explore” with editing their photos/art?

I would say just that. Explore. Take unique angles that you normally wouldn’t. Play with shadows and textures. Stray from your usual process. For example, Instead of seeing what toonpaint would do to your pic, and quitting there, take that pic into other apps. Keep mixing and matching apps. Even if you mess up the pic, every step of the way has saved progress!! Also, save all of your work somewhere. A year from now when you have evolved and changed your style, re-edit an old piece to take it over the edge!!

If you are interested in checking out my work in a non square format (haha) feel free to network with me on Facebook. My link is www.facebook.com/altegoz
See you on the editing battlefield! Alter Egoz out.

An interview with @schicksah

1. Tell us a little about who you are, what would you like the world to know about you?
At an everyday level I would consider myself more than fortunate. I have a beautiful wife, Sarah (@schickadee) and a very cool seven month old son, Finnegan. I’m proud to be Canadian and I love my home province of Saskatchewan. I love sports, especially golf and disc golf in the summer and hockey and snowboarding in the winter. I never had much of an artistic background. My career is the antithesis of artistic. I design things only for function, form doesn’t matter at all. So Instagram gives me a much needed creative outlet.

2. What are your favorite apps to use when editing?
I always use Camera+ to take pictures. I generally stick to just a few editing apps, but I have well over twenty on my phone that I use sporadically. Usually I run the raw image through PerfectlyClr. Then if I like the result I edit that image in Snapseed. Finally, if necessary, I open up Camera+ for some final tweaks. I use Squaready regularly if I want to post a non-square formatted picture so that I don’t have those annoying black bars framing my image. I used to use the IG filters quite a bit, but I’ve been scaling back lately so that I’m not over-editing my pics, however, I still love a nice earlybird shot.

3. what is your favorite subject to shoot/edit?
Favourite subject? Tough one. I shoot what I see would be the simple answer. But I look for patterns, lines, geometry, striking colours, perspectives, decay, symmetry etc. I wish I had the talent to take shots of people more often, so I’m a bit envious of IGers out there who can do that successfully.

4. How has Instagram changed you?
Instagram has made me way more aware of my surroundings. I look at things a bit differently and I find myself contorting in all sorts of awkward positions to get better angles on shots. Lately my inspiration has left me; I’d like to know what folks out there do to get their creative juices flowing.

5. What advice can you give to someone who wants to “Explore” with editing their photos/art?
Advice? I’d say take lots of pictures. Lots of the same subject from different distances, angles, change the exposure, change the focus. You can always delete them later. I find it’s easier to make a cool pic cooler with editing, but tough to make a shite photo good with editing. Garbage in = garbage out. Take advantage of the square format of IG. I crop all the time to make sure the shot is perfectly centered or nicely framed. Use Snapseed to straighten images; sometimes a twist of a half a degree or so makes all the difference. Symmetry is nice, but sometimes the imperfections are just as nice. Have fun and don’t take it too seriously.

An interview with @jkysh

1. Hi i’m Jay, 21 years old from Connecticut. Ive always been into photography, music and ski racing. Im a real laid back guy, I like good music, tasty food, and genuine people. I get along with most people I meet and hold no bias. I have studied business in College and will be graduating in May with big aspirations for myself. One love.

2. I only use a few apps for editing. I use Pro HDR for HDR photos, it is simple to use and offers a lot of features to change aspects of pictures. I also use Snapseed for the majority of my edits as it offers tons of altercations to any pictures. I have used ColorSplash for some photos and would like to use it more in the future. Fast Camera and Slow Shutter are also good for capturing fast objects or many pictures at once.

3. I like to shoot the sky when I see cool cloud formations with Pro HDR. I also like winter scenery with lots of snow. I spend a lot of time on the water around boats making them a prime subject for me to shoot. Also any object or figure that catches my eye is fair game. I guess you could say a little bit of everything I encounter.

4. Instagram has given me the ability to take, edit and share pictures wherever I am. Prior to Instagram I took a lot of pictures with my Olympus DSLR and shared via the internet after uploading and editing. The all in one access has been a breath of fresh air for me.

5. Don’t be afraid to experiment and take a bunch of pictures, thats why there is a delete button! Download lots of apps (free or paid) and learn how to use their features. Follow people with common interests and remember the golden rule: “Quality > Quantity”

An interview with @odtc

1. Tell us a little about who you are, what would you like the world to know about you?

My name is Oscar David Torres, I´m 28 and I´m a Human Resources professional…looking forward to start my degree in Graphics Design later this year. I love any kind of art like music, paint, movies and of course photography. Since I was a kid I had an special love for drawing and was always sketching something, but then music began to fill all the spaces and end becoming my only interest/hobbie, my main instrument are the drums, but also play guitar, bass, keyboards and sing, lately i’m using the iPad a lot to play music, so I have to include it on the list. I’ve always loved photography, but it was only after I bought my first digital camera (1 year ago) that I began to explore this different approach to express feeling and emotions. Later in september 2011 I bought the iPhone and the rest is history!!… Kidding, tell you about it in my answer to the 4th question…

2. What are your favorite apps to use when editing? Why?

Since I like everything from no filter simple pics to elaborate edits, I use a lot of apps depending on the direction I want for a picture, but my main app that I use almost on every edit is Photowizard, I like all it’s effects and filters and also used it for layers, blending, etc. Other apps that I like a lot are Dynamic Light, iCameraHDR, Picfx, Big Lens, qbro and Pixlromatic. For abstracts I’ve been using PXL. a lot, Decim8 of course, fluidFX, Tiny Planets, Percolator, LensLight, among others.

3. what is your favorite subject to shoot/edit?

I shot everything that catch my eye, but most of all I like to shot objects in a creative way, taking it out of context and present it as something extraordinary, hopefully.

4. How has Instagram changed you?

Ohhh it has change me in a lot of ways…I feel that my photographic vision has improve since I’m using my iphone to shot anything everywhere…I now see everything as a potential photographic subject!…so I can tell that the iphone revolutionized photography because it has revolutionize my way of shooting…that’s why i say in my bio that art is everywhere, is just hidden…Instagram has motivated me to look for it, and the iPhone is like a magical magnifying glass that allow me to look closely instead of just see what is around me…I almost feel like I was blind before and now my eyes are wide open to a whole new world!!!

5. What advice can you give to someone who wants to “Explore” with editing their photos/art?

Just go wild with your instincts..there is nothing to lose and a lot to gain, there is an app for almost anything that your mind can conceive, so don’t get stock in your comfort zone for too long, experiment once in a while …don’t use your favorite app for one week, try new things and you will be suprise…something that I found magical is that using the apps for editing you don’t always know what’s going to be the final result, sometimes the result is something totally different from what you expected but is still good or better!!! so allow yourself to be surprise and don’t let anyone tell you what to do, if a simple person like what you did, that’s a success, even if that person is you!!