click click

Some of these probably look familiar to you. They're the most popular photos of me or taken by me over the last three months. But they have something else in common: they were all shot with a Fujifilm x-t10. 

Right before we left for Germany, Fujifilm reached out and offered me a bloggers dream for a European trip - a new camera to document the whole thing with. There's plenty of reviews for it all over the internet from people who understand the inner workings of a camera better than I do, but here's the lowdown on things I think are important.

I've never been a fancy operation, and honestly we shoot a lot on an iPhone, so this was a serious upgrade. The Fujifilm x-t10 is a little more sophisticated than I'm used to working with, and I was definitely a little skeptical of all its bells and whistles but man oh man have I fallen in love with this camera. It has the ease of use of my point-and-shoot cameras but the quality of image is beyond. I also found that it was really simple to adjust to whatever we were shooting. People? Done. Massive historical landmarks? Simple. Really low light? Covered. It's also wi-fi equipped which was perfect for when we're traveling, and is the one feature that truly kept my Instagram ALIVE. Jordan would also like it noted that it's not as bulky and heavy as most DSLRs, and is a lot easier to carry around all day than bigger cameras. (It's like I made him carry the backpack all month or something. heh.)

Overally, the x-t10 was the PERFECT camera for what we do: shoot fun photos of our adventures, overalls, and occasionally, our friends. It made everything look fantastic, and caught details I swear I can barely see with my eyes.

Overall score: 10/10 Justina Points.

(If I could go higher I would, 
but I don't make the rules around here)

x Justina

follow A Bent Piece Of Wire on twitter|facebook|bloglovin

all I want for christmas is you

photos taken with instax mini 70

I really love Christmas. The trees, the lights, finding the perfect gift for someone you love. It's this gloriously long process that I always stretch out until the verrrrrry last moment. On purpose.  But that's okay, because that's what makes it fun. That, and watching my dad staple a million trillion strings of lights to our tiny little house. Seriously, you can probably see us from space. There's loads and loads of themed budget rom-coms, and everyone is just that little bit friendlier (although the woman you had to fight for a parking spot in the mall may have not gotten the memo).  There's so many special traditions, and new moments waiting to happen. 

Speaking of moments: you all know my favorite way to capture mine are through photo, preferably polaroid. To commemorate one of my favorite holidays, I'm giving one of you a chance to win a brand new Instax Mini 70 from Fujifilm (IT HAS A SELFIE MIRROR). All you have to do is:

1. Make sure you're following me here  + on Instagram

2. Comment with your favorite holiday song lyric, where you're from and your instagram handle!

Then you'll know if your DM's jingle, that could only mean one thing.

MERRY CHRISTMAS GUYS

x J







follow A Bent Piece Of Wire on twitter|facebook|bloglovin

instant summer with fujifilm

all photos taken with an instax mini 8 on instax film, courtesy of fujifilm

wow that's a lot of photos, 

and this is just a summer-y summary 

hahaha a summer-y summary 

see what I did there

At the beginning of summer,

 I decided to consciously document the months in Instax photos. 

So I packed up my little camera and took it on all of my adventures.  

You'd be surprised how heavy that thing gets after a couple hour. 

 These are just a few of the hundreds of photos I took, each a special little moment that I get to keep forever. I keep them all up on my wall and love that by looking at them, I can automatically remember exactly who I was with, what we were talking about, 

and what I was eating.

From the top:

a. The California State Fair.

 I ate way too many Bavarian Almonds, talked about 4-H to every human who walked by me, learned how to properly program a robot to walk the thin line, and then conquered my fear of Poppy The Bear (State Fair Mascot) and HUGGED him.

b. Paul Smith. 

I can't get over this building. It's so pink. The walls are so massive. Sallie took this photo of me taking photos of it.

c. The Tower Theatre. 

You know the story behind this one. My mum and I got yelled at for taking it but 500% worth it.

d. Alfreds Coffee.  

I love this place so much and it was made even better by the company of my main bae Sallie. My drink order hasn't changed.

e. Portos' Cafe, 

with the aforementioned bae. 

GET THE PINA COLADA SMOOTHIE. Just do it. Thank me later. 

Also saw, selfied, and had a lovely conversation regarding overalls 

and red carpets with Greer Grammer.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

f. The Santa Cruz Boardwalk. 

People pile on the sidewalk with my favorites at the 2014 California 4-H State Leadership conference at approx. 11pm. We're the best dressed hobos in town.

g. Beverly Hills.

 (duh) With all my trips to LA, I had never seen this iconic sign. It was everything I wanted it to be, and I met two of the most glammed out humans I have ever see, who were wonderfully French.

h. The Griffiths Observatory. 

Not really the best place to take chances with gravity, but what a beautiful view. This is the very best place in LA to explore European languages, because there are more Europeans there than in Europe.

i. Beverly Hills. 

Again. PALM TREES. PALM TREES EVERYWHERE.

 j.  Santa Cruz Boardwalk.  

Believe it or not, this was my first time ever, and I decided to do everything. I got on the sketchiest rollercoaster I saw (cried off my eyeliner - totally worth it), ate bavarian almonds again (still freakishly good, still not a great idea), nearly lost a Doc on the chair lift, 

and laser tagged the people I love.

Summer is nearly done

and winter is coming

(or whatever version of it we get in california)

but thankfully, Instax photos aren't limited to sunshine.

How do you capture your moments?

x Justina

ps. speaking of capturing moments:

 I'M GOING TO INSTAGRAM TODAY TO SEE THE GREAT AND WONDERFUL LIZ.

Today as in Monday.

If it is not Monday, 

you are late. 

Follow along on (what else) instagram (abentpieceofwire) to keep up with my adventure!

follow A Bent Piece Of Wire on twitter|facebook|bloglovin

snap that // fourth sunday of christmas

 

photo taken with fujifilm instax mini 8 c.o. fujifilm

forget clever rhymes, CHRISTMAS IS IN TWO DAYS

and yet, IT IS STILL SUNNY

I have resigned myself to the fact that I will not ever have a white Christmas

 and am making up for it by taking a large amount of polaroids of palm trees.

you might have snow but you haven't got weird trees

My Instax Mini 8 is my baby,

 and in the holiday spirit...

I am giving you a baby.

That's right.

The final Sunday Of Christmas present is....

A brand new Instax Mini 8 Camera + film!

I can already hear you itching to take lots of gloriously artsy little snaps, 
so here's how this is going to go down.

 1. Make sure you're following me on GFC or Bloglovin'

2. Follow Instax on Twitter and Facebook.

3. Leave a comment with your name, email, the country you live in, and what you want for christmas!
 for extra entries through out the week, 
make sure you're following and watching my instagram + twitter!

You have until next Sunday (12/29) to enter, so get cracking!

'tis the season to be Justina fa la la la la la la la la

xx,
Justina

ps. Check out Fujifilms' awesome giveaway here! 

pps.
only two days left to vote for your faves in the ABPOW awardssss

follow A Bent Piece Of Wire on twitter|facebook|bloglovin