Like many of you, since getting my iPhone a couple of months ago, I have been loving the camera functionality, not to mention the amazing number of photo apps. There are a lot of reviews out there for different apps for both cameras and post-processing. While going through all of the “practical” apps, I found quite few that are just fun so I thought I’d share 5 awesome iPhone photography apps that have become my favorites.
[UPDATE]: More Awesome iPhone Photography Apps
Pocketbooth
Cost: $0.99
Now you can carry around a photo booth in your pocket. This app gives you the choice of 3 or 4 different poses at a time and can be taken in color, black and white, antique, or sepia. You can print straight from the app as well as sharing via email, Facebook, or Twitter. This would be a great app to have at parties, on vacation, at family reunions, or just hanging out with friends.
Options
- 3 or 4 poses
- antique, b&w, color, sepia
- glossy or matte paper
- black or white border
- between one and five seconds between shots
- front or rear camera
- auto flash or on/off
- 246 × 1304 pixels when emailed
Note: Pocketbooth images are natively vertical, not horizontal as shown below.
Cost: Free
This is by far one of the more popular apps with a whole social community surrounding it. You can share your photos instantly with any of the usual social media sites (Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, etc.) or you can choose to just have it go straight to Instagram. Just like Twitter or Facebook you can have followers and you can follow others. It’s a great way to stay inspired with what you can do with your iPhone camera. There is only one thing I have been a bit frustrated with; you have to go through the filter process and upload your photo somewhere in order for it to be saved. I made the mistake just recently of taking a photo, thinking I would get back to it later, then accidentally closed out the app. My photo disappeared. This also means you can’t shoot several shots in a row and come back to filter them later.
Optoins
612×612 pixels1,936×1,936 on iPhone 4, 2048×2048 on the iPhone 4s+ (square format)1520 filters (including normal)BasicImproved tilt-shift operation- Sharing options: Twitter, FB, email, flickr, tumblr, foursquare, posterous
- Auto saves to Camera Roll
Hipstamatic
Cost: $1.99
I just recently bought the Hipstamatic app. It’s a little more complicated than Instagram and takes a little bit to figure out. This app was made to have the look and feel of the plastic toy cameras made in the early 80′s, which does limit it’s use a bit (for instance, no front/rear facing camera option). I do like the options it does have, though, of being able to choose different films, flashes, and lenses and the mixing and matching to get different looks. If you want to see an impressive use of this app check out the award-winning series photojournalist Damon Winter just did of soldiers in Afghanistan.
Options
600×600Up to 2,448×2,448 pixels (square format)- 3 free film types: Kodak XGrizzled, Ina’s 1969, Blanko
- 3 flash types: standard, Dreampop, Cherry Shine
- 3 lens types: Jimmy, Kaimal Mark II, John S
- If you like a particular look you can set your camera easily to the same settings
- Sharing options: FB, flickr, tumblr, email
- Auto saves to Camera Roll (which you have to watch because even if you delete from the app it will still be in your Camera Roll)
Note: Another fantastic app, Diptic, was used to create the single composite below from two Hipstamatic photos.
Tiltshift
Cost: $1.99
Tiltshift is a lot of fun. Attempting to mimic a tilt-shift lens, it takes your photos and changes them into miniature scenes. You can also use the app to add depth of field to draw attention to a certain feature in your photo. There are several adjustment tools and it makes use of the multi-touch screen, being able to pinch in or pinch out to make the blur smaller or larger.
Options
- 1195×1600 pixels (full size)
- Blur: adjustable size, angle, linear, elliptical, opacity, bloom effect
- Types of blur: Gaussian or Lens
- Color Saturation
- Contrast
- Brightness
- Six different aperture shapes
- 24 practice shots
- Once saved all photos go to Camera Roll
- No in-app sharing
Pano
Cost: $1.99
If you like landscape shots, but the lens on your camera isn’t wide enough to get everything you want in the shot, then Pano is perfect for you. It will seemingly lets you take an infinite number of shots (I took fifteen at one point and would have gone on from there had I decided to keep shooting), which it then “stitches together”. This is a very simple app that really doesn’t take any figuring out. You snap the photos and click the check box when you’re done. It stitches the photos together and saves it to your Camera Roll. The most difficult part is lining up one shot to the next and even that is made simple with the transparent guide it gives you after each shot.
Options
- 3512 × 1235 pixels (This was the photo I took with 8 photos stitched together. I took one with 4 photos and it was 2959 × 1248 pixels and one with 15 photos which was 9955 × 1110 pixels)
- Unlimited shots but the quality deteriorates a little bit the more photos you add
- Once saved all photos go to Camera Roll (no in-app sharing)
- Transparent guide to help line up shots
This is by no means a complete list of photography related iOS apps, no is it meant to be a “best of” list. It is simply a collection of apps that allow me to pursue my passion in a new way. Will the iPhone replace my DSLR? In some situations yes, and with spectacular results. The bottom line is that these apps are tools to get you seeing and, in some cases, seeing differently…and isn’t that the point?
What did we miss? Are there apps that you love and use? Let us know!
[UPDATE]: More Awesome iPhone Photography Apps
