Photography Apps : 5 Top iPhone Apps

Did you know there’s over 10,000 photography related apps in the Apple App store? WOW, that’s a lot. So how do you choose what you should use? It can be a daunting task. Guest Blogger and iPhoneography enthusiast, Kate Hailey helps us sort through these apps to get to the best of the best.
In 2009, i got my first iPhone and with that I began a journey of exploration in imagery and apps. Between 2010, 2011 and 2012, I completed three, 365 iPhone Photo a Day projects and this year I’m doing it again! Throughout these projects I’ve experimented with a variety of apps and tools on the iPhone.
Over the past 5 years, I’ve settled on these apps as my absolute “go-to” apps.
1. Hipstamatic – $1.99 in App store + In-App purchase options
My love of photography started at an early age and included lots of film. I never lost my love of film and alternative processes. One of my early finds as an iPhoneographer was Hipstamatic, it’s a fun, analogue styled camera replacement app. The initial version includes a few types of “film” and “lenses” plus at least one flash option. You can mix and match, create fave combos and have lots of fun. They also offer additional packs, sometimes these are free sometimes they are $0.99.

2. Snapseed  – Free in the iTunes App Store
An all round fabulous editor that allows you to control the overall scene or selected points within an image. Along with that there are vintage filters, grunge filters, a tilt-shift option and even borders. Be sure to really explore this app, as there is more to meets the eye! It packs a powerful punch!

 
3. VSCOcam  – Free + in-app purchase options
VSCO is becoming more and more popular currently. They offer a full toolset of presets that can plug into Apple Aperture, Adobe Lightroom or Adobe Photoshop. Their iPhone app offers a sampling of what these bigger programs can do, giving you an analogue feel. You can adjust the amount of the filter presets, as well make other edits to images like controlling: contrast, brightness, tints, etc… I believe to get “all” of the current presets there’s an in-app purchase price of $5.99, but the base app is free to download, and there are a couple of freebie in app upgrades as well.

 
 
4.Mextures – $1.99 in the app store
Mextures has different filter options, some colour gradients, textures and event a little grit and grain. Want to get a little dirt on your iPhone images and make it appear as if the image was created years ago, this is a fun option to play with. Like Picfx you can stack effects on top of one another. You can also use different blending modes, like “Overlay, Screen, Multiply… ” sounds like Photoshop doesn’t it?!

 
5. Picfx  – $1.99 in the App Store
If you love the analogue look and feel you’ll dig this app, with at least 80 filter options, textures, light leaks, and frames, it’s a lot of fun. You can stack effects on top of one another, as well control the amount of the effect.

 
One last tip, when you share these images, via Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc… I’d suggest tagging them either by their handle or a hashtag, most of these folks are good at sharing work out by folks who are using their tools.
 
Have fun, experiment and enjoy!