2017 was such an incredible year for me! I visited Asia for the first time, getting a chance to be up close and personal with the elephants and walk the ruins of Angkor Wat. I went to THE beach from “The Beach”, went bamboo rafting through caves in Northern Thailand, and attended the insane Full Moon Party in Koh Phangan. I explored my home state of Florida more than I ever have in my life, visiting springs, beaches, theme parks, and and barrier reefs. I made my way to New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, Big Sur, and did my first, solo, multi-day road trip! I traveled by plane, train, boat, bus, car, and tuk-tuk and tried to capture every moment of it to share with you!
Instagram is my go-to for sharing what the heck I’m up to and here were my top 9 Instagram photos from 2017:
1. My view looking down from my plane window on my way to California.
657 Likes, 18 Comments - Jessica Beck (@beckwhattheheck) on Instagram: "When you know you're not in Florida anymore..."
2. The crystal clear waters of Rainbow River
608 Likes, 26 Comments - Jessica Beck (@beckwhattheheck) on Instagram: "Florida is so famous for its beaches that the springs are often overlooked. If you get the chance,..."
3. The beach looking out from the balcony of Blanco Beach Bar and Hostel my first morning waking up in Koh Phi Phi
581 Likes, 14 Comments - Jessica Beck (@beckwhattheheck) on Instagram: "It's #TravelTuesday and I wish I was here..."
4. Me hangin' with my baby elephant bestie at Elephant Jungle Sanctuaray in Chiang Mai
563 Likes, 15 Comments - Jessica Beck (@beckwhattheheck) on Instagram: "The elephants were angels!!!!!"
5. Looking out the front of my canoe on the Rainbow River
537 Likes, 7 Comments - Jessica Beck (@beckwhattheheck) on Instagram: "It's Summer of Fun Sunday! Today we went canoeing and exploring down the rainbow river and rainbow..."
6. Boats passing by as we cruised through the Andaman Sea to find paradise at Maya Bay
537 Likes, 12 Comments - Jessica Beck (@beckwhattheheck) on Instagram: "Phi Phi Islands in Thailand! This was taken during the cruise to Maya Bay 🌊⛵️"
7. A photo of me being obnoxious at a sunflower maze that somehow ended up actually looking good.
543 Likes, 28 Comments - Jessica Beck (@beckwhattheheck) on Instagram: "Me showing up out of the blue and uninvited"
8. The Cypress Swamp trail at Highland Hammock State Park in Florida
511 Likes, 13 Comments - Jessica Beck (@beckwhattheheck) on Instagram: "As many of you know, I ended 2016's travels with a camping trip in Florida with some friends! Today..."
9. Elephant meet and greet at the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary
492 Likes, 15 Comments - Jessica Beck (@beckwhattheheck) on Instagram: "Today was kind of a big deal..."
Now here are some of my most used photo editing hacks, and no, this is not a sponsored post, this is just legitimately what I do and apps that I use.
I use the built in photo editing abilities on my iphone for straightening out my horizon or cropping photos when needed. When my photo already has really great natural lighting I will sometimes just enhance the color with the built in color enhancer.
I use an app called A Color Story for their filters and light editing tools. You can save your favorite filters to a favorites tab to access them quickly which is nice because there are so many. This is not a free app and they have filter packages for purchase, I have only bought one package but they offer a lot of different ones.
I use the vibrancy tool on A Color Story pretty often because I like my photos to be bright and colorful, and will toggle with brightness, contrast, and clarity when I need to.
My 4 favorite and most used filters are Pop, Time Travel, Lite Brite, and Chroma. Sometimes I combine them, and you can adjust how strong you want your filter to be.
Well there you have it, my go to photo editing tips and my top instagram posts after another amazing, travel filled year! What are your most used photo editing methods? Leave a comment here or on my instagram and let me know!