Hopping on Board the Instagram Train

For anyone who isn't quite sure what this is, it's an apple-made app for your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. It allows you to take photos, which are always in square format, edit them with some filter options, and post them on a page you develop. Best part? It's free. It also includes a touch of social networking - similar to tumblr, you can follow other photographers, and they can follow you. You can also tag your photos with the typical hashtags (#winter, #cute, etc) so people can come across you work in searches.

As far as I can see, this little program is fantastic for many, but a touchy subject for others. Real photographers get a bit pissy over it because there are tons of teenagers with iPhones who claim they are great photographers because they use Instagram. Of course, by no means is this little thing a substitute for a nice DSLR or film camera.

However, I think it's a step up for phone cameras. Frankly, my phone takes pretty shitty photos. When I was gifted the iPod touch for Christmas, my natural inclination was to turn this music device into yet another camera. What can I say, I am me. After downloading all my music, I got this free app, and went crazy. I've enjoyed taking holiday photos, and family photos, and this device will quickly replace my phone for taking quick shots in public. Since I don't always carry my big DLSR with me, this gives me the opportunity to take shots when I'm out with friends. Instagram also makes life easy when emailing pictures to myself or friends, so I can have them on my computer.

As far as I can see it, it's a win win. Just don't use it to inflate your ego!

If anyone else out there has one, you can find me under Carolyn M, or my screen name MizRolyns. Lots of my photos were recently tagged under "Winter" and "LakePlacid," so there's always that too. Cheers!

(PS - I promise to be better about this blog. I've been neglecting it, and haven't shown any of my work. More entries to come!)

LookBook in a Nutshell

It's ok, I can make fun of it. I'm on it.

The DIY Short

Lately the whole DIY studded and dyed shorts have been really in, although I've noticed that most pairs cost anywhere from sixty to ninety dollars. Since this is rather outrageous, I thought I'd give my own pair a try.

First, I went about cutting some old skinnies into shorts, since I never seemed to wear them anyways. The best part about the pants however, was the zipper detail at the bottom. I decided to save those for ideas later. When I'd cut them up, I borrowed a friend's switchblade and began to distress them - though I proved not to be very good at this. What was supposed to be exposed white threads (which would color when dyed) just turned into frayed holes. Thankfully, they still look ok.

I then took them into the art studio at my school, where I sewed on the zippers to the sides of the shorts, and cut out the fabric between them. This makes them a bit scandalous when wearing... but I need to figure out a lace short or something I can wear underneath. After this, I dunked them in a yellowy dye, which was a mixture of a golden color and an ochre yellow. Expecting them to be a bit more brown, I was a little surprised when they came out more green than ochre, but I didn't bleach them at all, and the light blue on the jeans must have turned the yellow a bit green.

After letting them dry and putting them through the wash one more time, I bought some studs on Etsy, and studded them up, like everyone else. Good news is, I think they're pretty cool!

:/

So many people in my country want to or already look like this. Given this image is an exaggeration for most, for some... clearly it's not, and that's scary. The media represents people that look like this every day on TV and in magazines. There's every kind of way to get a fake tan, or put implants in various places in your body to make them "look better."

And yet, there are those of us who think the kissy-face fake girls are delusional. Why are those who have sleeves or look like the girl on the right trashy or scary to many? Why is having a fake tan, poorly done highlights/bleach jobs, and potentially plastic surgery better than having tattoos and interestingly dyed hair?

Why does the majority of my country aspire to be fake in every way?