This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
iPhoneography: Traveling Husband’s favorite photo apps
Hey it’s NON-traveling husband today. I’m dog-sitting and guest-blogging while Tricia is on the road to a family gathering in Atlanta.
As I’ve mentioned before I’m really becoming a fan of iPhoneography. I thought this week we could take a quick look at some of my go-to apps which you might find useful and fun.
I’ve got about 3 dozen photo apps on my iPhone. The two I find myself using most frequently are Photoshop Express and PerfectPhoto. Often I just want to crop, sharpen slightly and add a border before uploading to Facebook. So I keep all three close to each other on my home screen to speed things up.
You can edit photos without additional apps, by using the software that comes with the phone. The disadvantage is that the editing software that comes with your phone changes the master photo file. Apps do “non-destructive editing” meaning that the original files are not altered. This is the same as Lightroom and other major processing software for full-sized computers and is important insurance to have. Like most types of insurance, you never really how valuable it is until you need it.
I use Photoshop Express more frequently just because–since I use it more often—I’m more comfortable with it and can edit quicker. I also like it’s border selections a little bit better but PerfectPhoto has a few more options on the menu. (below)
For what it’s worth, my workflow is usually to save to the main photo album, also known as Camera Roll, so that I can more easily access the image later. Also, I often edit while flying and work with the phone in airplane mode which disables the ability to upload.
Having the final image in the Camera Roll makes it easier to send photos via messaging. You know–text messages with no text.
Tricia and I do a lot of image-only communicating.
This photo means “hey, you know that plan that’s supposed to be landing about now, with me on it? Yeah well….not so much. I’m still sitting at the gate in Wherever.” A lot less wear and tear on the texting finger.
This shot means “I went grocery shopping. Peeps were on sale and jumped into my cart.”
It’s also a reference to an old joke we’ve been passing back and forth for years about a conversation between two peeps:
“My butt hurts! What?!?!?” Yeah, OK, I know…..pretty lame.
I went out to the garden today and found a ladybug hard at work, keeping us bad bug free.
You GO girl!!
This is the unedited photo.
Here it is loaded into Photoshop Express
Here’s what I ended up with after cropping, dropping the exposure just a bit and adding a border. Nothing fancy…but I think this has more impact because as the saying goes “less is more.”
Getting rid of all the extraneous background mush boils this down to the key design elements. A long green thing and a small red thing. OK, maybe that’s not the most profound artsy-babble critique…but it will do for now.
Two more favorite apps are iQuikDOF, which is on my home screen, and Big Lens.
Both allow you to create an effect that appears to change your existing depth of field. But remember, true depth of field is measured going forward—meaning, front to back. How deeply what’s in front of your camera is in focus.
These apps actually just allow you to selectively blur parts of a photo to create a similar effect. The fact that you are not reeeeely changing the DOF is irrelevant. What matters is that selective focus can be a cool look. I just want you to understand the difference.
Another favorite app is PhotoToaster. I used it on a shot of Abby from today’s garden walk. PhotoToaster has a number of “pre-sets” to choose from to give your shot a certain look.
Here’s the original
And here she is getting PhotoToast-ed.
I was able to do most of the cropping and tweaking by choosing one of the presets….
And used iQuikDOF to blur the back corner just a bit more to get to this final image.
Ultimately, iPhoneography–or really any kind of photography–is not about taking photos its about seeing photos. And by seeing photos……seeing LIFE.
Having a camera always with you, ready to shoot, causes us to see the world in different ways. You can see possibilities and see art in unexpected places and we just seem to pay more attention to whats around us. All of a sudden we’re noticing textures and shapes and patterns and iconic images.
Our creativity is expanded, in all areas of life—including cooking, taking pictures of your food…and food blogging. And to me…..that sounds pretty good.
—–
As Tricia always says, thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend!! Let us hear from you.
Ed
Nana says
and come September I will have an iPhone! I have a granddaughter, walks in the park, 5 teens and twenty somethings, life to travel as i get closer and closer to being an empty nester. I love photography and how creative it all has become. Anyone can learn! Old dogs new tricks and all of that ;)<br /><br />Thank you so much for the info…saving for future reference. <br />I have an HTC Evo –
Blond Duck says
I've started playing with picasa for pictures…it's really fun!
Angie's Recipes says
Love that cropped dog click…thanks for sharing some fun stuff with us again.<br />Have fun with dog-sitting!
Jessica | Cajunlicious says
Great info and very cute pics!
Traveling Husband says
Mary: I think there are Droid versions for most of the apps. Don't be hatin your beloved! :)<br /><br />Lea Ann: happy to do it. Thank YOU<br /><br />Tanna: It's a lot easier than you think! Just start playing with a program or two and before you know it you'll be cranking out some amazing stuff!
Mary says
You are killing me with all of the iPhone info! I have NEVER even wanted an iPhone and now my beloved droid seems inferior. These are some awesome photos and the thought of doing all that editing on the phone? That is beyond cool.
Lea Ann says
This is great information Ed. Thanks so much for taking the time to write it all up for us. I'll be putting these on my i-phone pronto.
Tanna at The Brick Street Bungalow says
Dear TH, I have an iPhone, but I've never created anything like your photos!!! LOL! apparently there is much to learn!! Thanks for another great lesson and give Tricia my best. blessings ~ Tanna