I flew back to Austin by myself yesterday, leaving my sister in DC to attend a conference. I had a lot of time to think on that flight back. While I had a fabulous time with my sister (how could I not – she amazes me with her spirit and energy), I felt an overwhelming sadness being there. I found myself shrinking and pulling back emotionally as we walked through the city. I experienced so much pain and difficulty there. So much disillusionment. I thought I was over that. But apparently not.

As a result, I didn’t really feel like whipping out my camera that often. Instead, I found myself taking shot after shot with my iPhone. I just received The Art of iPhoneography in the mail a couple of weeks ago and was amazed by the photos and tips. I’ve been kind of obsessed with Miksang lately, so this gave me a chance to break out of my obsession for a little bit and get a little app crazy.

I love Hipstamatic and Instagram, but the app that I used the most during this trip was Infinicam. Oh how I love you Infinicam… I can take a picture with the built in camera and apply a filter to it later. I love this, since moments are fleeting and my main goal is to capture the moment no matter what. That’s hard to do when you’re waiting for a filter to load or trying to decide which one will look best.

Despite my initial hesitation, I did manage to get a couple of decent shots with my camera on our last day. In a way, being back in DC and remembering the hardships I faced there had a cathartic effect. I couldn’t help but feel grateful and giddy as my plane touched down in Austin, Texas… HOME.