Top 5 Favourite Photography Apps
When my sister was headed overseas and asked for a crash course in what my favourite photography apps for iPhone were and why...I thought that might be fun to share with you too :) It will be interesting to see which ones are still my most-used in a year or so...who knows what the world of phone photography holds next?! Whatever the case...I am 100% addicted to playing with these apps pretty much every day!
Waterlogue: I don't know whether I was napping when the rest of the world fell in love with Waterlogue or whether it just didn't register on the feeds I follow BUT basically it turns your photos into watercolours. You wouldn't use it in every scenario...because not ever single photo looks amazing in watercolour...but I have three favourite uses
- It's great for turning neutral photos into pretty backgrounds that don't compete with text overlays ... i.e. if you love to post your favourite quotes and stuff like that
- I love taking photos of things that are beautifully styled in magazines to make patterns...it doesn't necessarily have to be obvious what you're looking at (above was a table with bowls on it) but simple repeating objects can look lovely in watercolour
- If you want to post a photo that would give away your location...but you like to protect your privacy...watercolours can give deliciously smudgy backgrounds that are blurred the perfect amount to do just that. Maybe something in your front yard with the streetscape in the background...a photo on your favourite walk near your house etc.
PicTapGo: Made by Totally Rad...I use their Photoshop Actions on almost every photo I take/post from my SLR...so when they condensed them into a phone app and included my favourites I couldn't resist it for phone photos too. If you're not into Photoshop it's a good way to get professional style actions onto your images...and is much more cost effective than the full blown version! I love their black and white actions, edge darkening (aka EZBurn) and contrast/sharpening tweaks. They've just added some of their gorgeous Replichrome actions as an in app purchase too...for the photography film addicts out there :)
Mextures: Just getting into this one...as it sounds, a good way to add textures and light leaks to your photos. Very tweakable with layers etc. I know it does MUCH more than what I have used it for so far but I like to explore my apps a little at a time, otherwise I'll never remember what everything does if I try to learn it all in one hit! The above photo was delicious and blowy in real life...that golden setting sun that we all love...and whilst I did get actual sunbeams coming down from the top of the photo...I added a few slight light leaks in a very thin overlay to get it how I remembered it looking in reality. If you love grungy/aged textures to your photos there's a tonne of those in there too :)
PicFrame: My favourite collage app...I use the Mac version for the blog as well. Just a lot of good collage combinations and tweaks without going overboard into a bazillion backgrounds and corner shapes. Sleek, quick, easy to learn...love.
A Beautiful Mess: From some of my all-time favourite bloggers...this is the photography app that I don't remember life without (Instagram life that is!). Cute, quirky, colourful...borders, text, doodles, filters...it's just very much Elsie and Emma's style and if you look at instagram under the hashtag #abeautifulmessapp you will find tonnes of gorgeous inspiration. I run all my photos through at least 2-3 apps...A Beautiful Mess is always the last one before hitting Instagram...you won't regret it :)
So what apps are in your can't-live-without-phone-photography collection? I'm willing to max out my app collection and am up for suggestions...there's no such thing as too many right?! :) Hit me up with ideas in the comments below or using the social media links...