I took a ton of photos with my iPhone and I’m still struggling as to how to organize the photos to put into a vacation book.  I did some looking for an app that could put my photos into frames to save me from creating my own framed photos and found Insta Booth.  My trial is almost over but I really like the possibilities with this app so I’m considering buying it for $5.99 when my trial is over.  It’s only available for iPhones but I’m sure android phones have similar apps.  I also like using VSCO Cam to edit my photos.  It’s free.  I edited the photos half with VSCO cam and half with Insta Booth and have noted in the photo descriptions.  VSCO cam is more flexible in that the filters can be adjusted so their’s room for creativity.  Insta Booth has lots of set filters, including, HDR, but they can’t be adjusted.  Okay…there’s my mini review I slipped in there.  Wasn’t planning for that but I really enjoy using these two apps so thought I’d share it just in case anyone hasn’t heard of them.

The family vacation was fun.  My 12-year-old had national dance competition in Seaside, OR, so the family decided to make it a one week road trip vacation.  This trip was one of those where we weren’t exactly sure where else we were heading after the competition so we brought our passports along just in case.  The competition was one full week but daughter’s dance group only competed one day.  The thing was if they ranked high enough they would then have to compete three days later at the finally event.  It turned that daughter’s dance group didn’t make it into the finally so that meant we had the rest of the week to kill.  With the extra time we decided to take a ferry up to Victoria, British Columbia (Canada).

On the road trip, we rested in Twin Falls, Idaho.  It was July 4th, Independence Day, when we arrived in Twin Falls and got to watch fireworks from the hotel parking lot.  We arrived in Astoria, Oregon the next day and stayed at a hotel right under the Astoria bridge.  I was surprised at how quiet it was in our hotel. [Photos edited and framed in Insta Booth]

Astoria bridge at sunset, dance daughter’s silhouette, and other daughter getting dirty in the sand.  [Photos edited in VSCO Cam and framed in Insta Booth]

Another silhouette and Canon Beach. [Photos edited in VSCO Cam and framed in Insta Booth]

We drove up to Washington State, left our car, and took the ferry to Victoria.  The ferry ride was about 90 minutes but it felt so much shorter…like maybe 30 minutes.  Victoria was gorgeous but extremely touristy.  When we first arrived, there was a Starbucks staring at us, so we headed there for drinks.  We stayed two nights and two days, walking the city, and riding a carriage horse, in which the tour guide provided us with some really interesting history about the city.  [Photos framed in Insta Booth – no editing]

The carriage tour guide recommended we try Roger’s chocolate so we went there after the ride.  [Photos edited in VSCO Cam and framed in Insta Booth]

The family walked the streets a couple of times.  Everything was pretty close so and the historical buildings made the walks enjoyable.  It was fun spending Canadian money.  I didn’t know they don’t use pennies or one dollar bills. [Photos edited and framed in Insta Booth]

As mentioned in an earlier post, I didn’t bring the DSLR but did bring the waterproof point and shoot.  Didn’t use it much though.  I think we only took five photos with it and then resorted to the camera phones.  They worked out pretty good.