Suburban Valkyrie

Oh, Mayfair. We may have a problem.

I know, I know. We've been BFFs since Instagram introduced you in December 2012. Sure, Amaro and X-Pro II can hang, too, and Willow and Earlybird are reliable companions, but you're the one I could always count on to perk things up. However, there's a new girl in town, now, and her name is Crema.

She's creamy and dreamy and ethereal and serene and I am smitten.

In December 2014, Instagram introduced five new filters: Slumber, Crema, Ludwig, Aden and Perpetua. They were the first new filters introduced for the platform since Willow and Mayfair debuted two years earlier.

After a couple weeks of playing around with them, I have fully embraced a couple for regular use but have yet to find the perfect photo to use with others.

Here is what each of the five new filters look like on the same photo.

Original photo, no filter:



1. Slumber

From Instagram: "Achieves a retro look of subtle desaturation and hazing. It does something especially retro to blacks and blues."

My take: Nice for architecture and landscape shots. I felt it gave unattractive shadows to most of the portraits I tried it on, especially around the eyes.





2. Crema

From Instagram: "Achieves a creamy, smooth look. We named it Crema because it achieves exactly that - both a warming and a cooling effect."

My take: Both a warming and a cooling? Huh? Confusing word choices aside, this is my favorite of the new filters. It smooths out textures, adds a creamy highlight and is especially flattering to skin tone.




3. Ludwig

From Instagram: "Achieves a minimalist look of taking away most of the colors and then enhancing light. We named it Ludwig after architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe who coined the famous minimalist mantra 'less is more.' It works especially nicely with portraits, architecture, and geometric shapes."

My take: Versatile and useful, it offers the color punch of X-Pro II without the darkened vignette edges.




4. Aden

From Instagram: "Achieves a unique pastel-y look. It works great with portraits, even when there is harsh light."

My take: Meh. I have yet to find a photo that looks better with Aden than with, say, Crema. They may exist - I just haven't found one yet.





5. Perpetua

From Instagram: "Achieves an earthy look with lots of greens and blues. We named it Perpetua because we took inspiration from the Cape Perpetua national forest in Oregon."

My take: Looks great on nature shots.




For this particular photo, I liked the look of both Crema and Ludwig, for opposite reasons. Crema toned down the color and smoothed out the skin tones. Ludwig boosted the color, but the bright red almost hurt to look at.

So let's say I wanted a bit more color in Crema, or a bit less color in Ludwig. No problem. Instagram enables users to adjust the intensity of each filter. Simply tap the filter you want to apply to your photo, then tap the filter again and a slider screen will appear. Adjust the degree of intensity to your liking.

More than just filters

Instagram's update also gave users additional tools to personalize the app. To help users keep their favorite filters at their fingertips, Instagram added a "manage" button that will allow you to hide the filters you don't use. The manage button can be found in the filter tray at the end of the list.