Before and after.

OK.  I download the Instagram App three days ago and I simply can't stop converting all my photos.  I'm addicted.  Every time I take a photo, I am dying to know how it will look using all the fun Instagram filters.  It's just irresistible.  

So I thought I'd show some "before and after" photos, using some pics I've taken while we've been staying with Peter's parents.

This morning, watching Polar Express.

Happening upon horses on this morning's dog walk.

It's not that I don't like the originals; I do.  They are great mementos of the fabulous time we are having.  It was a gorgeous day with lots of sun and no wind and the walk we took was wonderful.  I am so happy we came up here and I am glad I took my camera out on the walk.  

But.

There is something, something about the Instagram versions of these photos.  Yes, they evoke a nostalgic emotion in me, but it's more than that.  The array of cameras available today with all their bells and whistles allow anyone with even a smidgen of creativity to create some pretty fantastic images without really thinking about it.  But years and years ago, it was really only people with high-end cameras and more than a passing knowledge of photography who created lasting, artistic images.  

Well in fact, some of my favourite photos from my childhood (and other peoples' childhoods) are often blurry, ill-composed (heads and feet cut-off by the edge of the frame) and ill-lit.  And the things that make these otherwise terrible photographs appealing are the texture and colouring of the images, qualities usually attributed to the type of film used when the photo was taken and the paper used to print the image.  There were just so many types of film and paper available and the Instagram App really captures the qualities of several of these films and the unique ways in which the printed photos aged.  

And just as the fore-metioned attributes forgave a sub-par photo taken decades ago, Instagram will now take any and all of your out-of-focus, ill-composed photos and convert them into an image you will keep forever, instead of deleting from your hard drive.  Instagram is saving your photographs from the trash bin, one image at a time.  And it's just so darned fun.

So in honour of the baby photo used as the header of this blog, here are some "before and after" photos of Sonja and Haven on the days they were born.

I'm not sure how long this little Instagram love affair will last, but bear with me...