Sometimes I forget what a powerful creative tool my phone is. Sometimes it’s just there in my pocket as a gadget I use to go on the internet with, check Facebook and the news and the weather. But then at other times something just clicks, and I find an edit process that lasts me for weeks and lets me develop a series.

It was Christmas that triggered it this time. I really love the visual side of the holidays, Christmas tree bokeh, Christmas markets, the works, but at times it tips over even for me, and becomes cloying and too-sweet. Wanting an antidote to this, I worked out a editing routine in three simple steps to bring a bit of the seasonal darkness – and there is a lot of darkness, here up north – into my images.

(1) Shoot an image with the camera app on my phone (I never shoot in-app, preferring a gallery of images on my phone that I can edit with any of the apps I have).

(2) Bring into VSCO, crop to a square, and apply one of the lovely black and white X filters.

(3) Share the resulting image to Snapseed in order to apply the tilt-shift function and add a frame.

The result is a series of coherent images, which is always something I strive for. More importantly I am inspired to be on the lookout for additional subjects and scenes that suit this editing process, which is a huge thrill given the inspirational draught I have been experiencing lately.

Have you been shooting over Christmas? Tell us about it in the comments!

~ Jenny G.