Travel Photo Challenge

Summer is in full swing and we're excited to celebrate with another Aviary Challenge! 

Whether you're camping in the wilderness, city-hopping in Europe, or just chilling by the pool, we want to see what you're up to this summer! Share your best pics for a chance to win these awesome prizes:

• $100 Gift certificate to Hotels.com for your next vacation
• Instax mini + film for capturing all your adventures on the go
• Waterproof camera case 
• Camera tote
• The Photojojo book
• Aviary swag 
• Ultimate bragging rights

Enter in 3 easy steps:

1. Take a photo of your summer adventure
2. Edit with Aviary
3. Post to Instagram or Twitter with #aviarychallenge

Need some inspiration? Check out these summer-inspired packs in the Supply Shop: 

Summer Stickers, Wanderlust Effects, Summer Effects, Sizzle Frames, Ombre Effects, Roadtrip Frames, Flare Pro Effects, Travel Stickers, Glow Pro Effect, Beach Effects, Nautical Sticker, Cabana Stickers, Santa Fe Stickers, Miami Frames, Soleil Effects, Drift Frames, Splash Frames, Fireworks Effects.

We'll be sharing some of our favorite submissions on Instagram throughout the week and announcing the winner on Tuesday, 8/4. 

We can't wait to see all your amazing summer snaps - good luck!

The Making Of Santa Fe

Olivia Schafer is an artist living in Brooklyn, NY. She’s also a member of Aviary’s Product Team and the creative mastermind behind our new sticker pack Santa Fe, which (you guessed it) is inspired by its namesake. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how Olivia designed this collection of desert-themed stickers. 

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The idea for Santa Fe came from my childhood growing up in a small town outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Even though I moved away 10 years ago to pursue my BFA in San Francisco, the desert resonated with me so profoundly that it continues to inspire my work.

Saying that New Mexico is inspiring simply because it is beautiful doesn't do it justice. It’s inspiring because the ground undulates when the sun beats down in the summer. The smell of sagebrush and drying chilies perfume autumn skies. Adobe houses sit quietly in the dead of winter like cozy refuges, smoke rising from their chimneys. You can see the passing of seasons in the dying tumbleweed that started its life as an unassuming young plant. There’s beauty in the everyday, like the texture of saddle blankets, kiva ladders and pottery, and the understated green of a cactus. And when you stare out into the expansive night, it makes you feel so very, very small.

Those quintessentially New Mexican scenes stir up a weighty feeling of nostalgia for me. I wanted to share a piece of those idiosyncrasies in the stickers. Here’s how I created the Santa Fe pack with that in mind:

1. INSPIRATION

My first step before starting any project is to collect references. These can come from anywhere and everywhere - photos I’ve taken myself, the internet, history books and even encyclopedias.

I tried to capture the earthy tones of the desert soil and use dynamic cacti textures to create embellishments that would complement a wide variety of photos.

2. SKETCHES

Every sticker in the Santa Fe pack started as a hand drawing. I made rough pencil sketches, which I then drew over with a thin micron pen. The final step was using Adobe’s Shape app to convert my sketch into a vector, making it really easy to pull into Photoshop.

3. COLOR

I applied the same technique I use for oil paintings when adding color to these stickers: adding layers upon layers of brushstrokes. I began by applying layers of shadows and midtones, then added areas of light, and finally finished up with highlights and accent strokes. I tried to focus on creating beautiful colors and textures, keeping everything loose, and embracing imperfections.

Voilà, that’s my Santa Fe pack and you can download it now in Aviary! I hope you have as much fun using these stickers on your photos as I did making them. 

Photographing The Desert Sky

Alessandro Crugnola is Aviary's lead Android developer and a long time photography aficionado. He recently traveled to Utah to attend a night photography workshop and returned with a series of spectacular images. He shares his experience under the Utahn sky.

My passion for photography started out as just a hobby. It wasn't until I moved to New York that my interest became serious and I started to get into night photography.  But what I really wanted to shoot it was impossible to find in the city: the Milky Way. 

Utah, unlike New York, has no light pollution and it is home to some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world, like the Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon and Monument Valley. They are not only breathtaking in daylight but also perfect for astrophotography because the scenery becomes the perfect foreground. 

When I discovered that one of my favorite photographers, Mike Taylor, was hosting a workshop in Moab, Utah, it was the perfect hook. I’ve never taken photography classes before, so I didn’t know what to expect. Mike was an amazing instructor! He covered all the aspects of night photography from planning to camera settings, post production and even SEO tips.

Here are the results of the workshop. The stars give me a sense of peace and emptiness. It's hard to describe in words, so I wanted to capture these moments and feelings in photographs.

One of the greatest advantages of a group workshop is that you get so many points of view. Even though we were all in the same location, each of us chose different positions, angles and foreground objects and created entirely unique photos. It helped to open my mind and my eyes. 

The biggest lesson I learned from this trip is that you should be prepared to anything. One day I decided to drive to the North Window to photograph the sunset. But once I got there, a thunderstorm hit and I decided to shoot lightning instead. I quickly switched out my lens, mounted the camera on a tripod and took almost 400 pictures (at 3” exposure) using the intervalometer. 

The whole experience in Utah was simply amazing. I learned so much from Mike and the group and I'm happy to have finally captured the Milky Way. I will definitely return next year!

You can see more of Ale's photos on his Instagram.

Celebrate Mother's Day with Aviary

We love moms and we couldn't be more thankful for all they do. So we're celebrating the strong, loving, hard-working mothers in our lives in the best way we know how: with handcrafted photos! We've got all the tools you need to create the perfect, personalized card that will make mom smile. 

To thank her for everything she does: 

1. Fade Effects
2. Dotty Frames
3. Gratitude Overlays

For capturing your favorite memories:

1. Spring Effects
2. Vignette Tool
3. Whimsy Frames

For sending a light-hearted love note:

1. Subtle Effects
2. Love Stickers
3. Alphabet Stickers

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms around the world!

Spring Aviary Challenge Winner

A big thank you to everyone who submitted photos to our Spring Photo Contest! We received over 700 beautiful photographs and each and every one made us excited and appreciative of spring. 

Picking just one winner from all the great photos was no easy task! Here's the winning photo we chose by Ben Palmer, a 15 year old photographer based in Philadelphia:

We chose Ben's submission because we loved the feeling it evoked - the sun shining through the leaves giving a sense beginning and ending of seasons, and the renewal that the spring brings.

We can't wait to do another Aviary Challenge soon! 

Aviary Spring Photo Challenge

Spring is in full bloom and we're celebrating with a seasonal #AviaryChallenge. Share your favorite spring snaps for a chance to win the ultimate photo kit! 

Here's how:

1. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter

2. Snap a spring-inspired photo

3. Edit with Aviary

4. Share your masterpiece and tag #aviarychallenge on Twitter or Instagram

We'll feature out favorite spring pics throughout the week and announce the winner on Monday, May 4th, 2015. Our curated prize pack includes everything you need to up your phoneography game!

• Inspiration book by A Beautiful Mess 
• Lens set for your phone
• Wireless Instax printer and film 
• Herschel Supply Co. pouch
• Aviary T-shirt (Because you have to look cool while taking pictures, obviously.)

Check out our spring-centric Overlays, Frames, Stickers and Effects in the Supply Shop: 

We can't wait to see what you create! Good luck and happy editing!

Introducing Aviary Essentials

We've crafted the perfect starter pack with our most popular Effects, Stickers, Frames and Overlays. Whether it's adding a warm glow to your selfie or embellishing your food pics, we've got you covered with Aviary Essentials. And the best part? It's totally free with your Adobe ID!

Sign in through the pop-up promo, or if you missed it, visit the Supply Shop.

Aviary Essentials includes:

Get the latest version of Aviary to unlock Aviary Essentials!

Create Beautiful Valentines With Aviary

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and we have everything you need to turn your pics into delightful, sharable cards for everyone you love. 

If you're on iOS, you can download the Valentine's bundle to get all of our love-themed packs in one go. If you're on Android, look for: Heart and Adore Overlays, Love Stickers, Flourish Frames and Romance Effects. Mix and match to create the perfect Valentine. 

Remember you can get all of this (and everything else in the Aviary store) for free when you log in with your Adobe ID! 

Now that you have everything you need, here's how you can make a sweet digital Valentine for your special someone in 3 easy steps: 

1. Romance Effects
2. Heart Overlays
3. Love Stickers

Don't forget to send love to your family! Take any baby picture and turn it into a Valentine's card for your fam. 

1. Vignette Tool
2. Flourish Frames
3. Love Stickers

Valentine's Day isn't just for romance. Craft a card and send it to your Palentine:  

1. Romance Effects
2. Heart Overlays
3. Love Stickers 

Looking for something a little more classic? Add custom greetings with the Text Tool.

1. Brightness & Saturation
2. Romance Effects
3. Text Tool

We can't wait to see what you'll create! Tag your pics with #aviary and we'll share our favorites. 

Feast for the Eyes: Food Photography Tips & Tricks

Camera phones have become the standby tech-weapon-du-jour for many of us. Like little documentarians we wander about recording our daily lives. We steal photos of our environments, pets, plants and people. A critical component to many of our lives is a habit that hardly escapes our scrutiny or our trigger finger, our meals.

Photo: Eunsan Huh

Do you enjoy the aesthetics of a well prepared spread? Have you sought to record the radiance of a seasonal bouquet of produce? Maybe you’ve tried to nab a shot of your crispy chicken and sweet stamped waffle at brunch only to find that the image is anything but appetizing. Do not be foiled.

Consider this your first foray into the glamourous world of culinary creativity via your mobile phone. In the following weeks be on the look out for additional installments to this food photo compendium.

Each installment of this series will focus on both a behind the lens photography skill (so you get the perfect shot) and an Aviary editing tip (to help you enhance your image).

Behind the lens: Start by electing to take shots of vibrant, colorful, bright foods and meals. It doesn’t matter if your dinner is divine, if the color is monochrome and the texture is mushy, it’s hard to make the food look appealing. If dishes are covered in heaps of brown sauce (like Poutine), it will probably fall flat on your screen too. The more fresh and new the ingredients you select in cooking are, the better they will translate for your audience. Same with meals, do your best to edit yourself. Beautiful foods = beautiful photos.

Edit with Aviary:  Once you have pushed the “button” and taken your shots, you have another opportunity to spice up your masterpiece with the Aviary Food enhancement. Simply open “Enhance” once you’ve selected  your photo from the camera roll. Next, go to the Food tool. The sweet secret about this enhancement is that it boosts the vibrancy (not the saturation) of your provisions while increasing the contrast between smaller details, adds greater sharpness, and creates a vignette to draw the viewer’s eye toward the fetching fare.

Photo: Eunsan Huh

Give these simple techniques your best shot and surely the quality of your images will improve. Practice with different light angles, surfaces, and amounts of food to see what works best for you. Remember to have fun and find your Food Photography Signature Shot (see hyperlink to my last blog post). Bon Apetit!

Chow down with Aviary's New Foodie Stickers

Looking for a way to spice up your food photography? Check out the latest addition to the Aviary shop - Foodie stickers! Beautiful and fun word art graphics to add to photos of your favorites meals and culinary experiences. 

Use them together with our Foodie Effects pack to create mouthwatering shots and give all your friends a serious case of food envy. Bon appétit!