Appotography – Page 22 – iPhone Photography Reviews and Tips

5 Useful iPhone Tools For Quick Enhancements Pt.1

Sometimes it takes just a few touches to turn a good shot into a stunning picture. Other times you just need to add a final detail or to make sure your photo has a certain standard size, ratio, and so on. This is intended as a selection of remarkably easy-to-use iPhone and iPad photography apps, both paid and free, that can help you fine-tune your photos in no time.

Pixlr-o-MaticChange the look of your photos with a single tap. Pixlr-o-Matic offers a collection of 25 photographic effects, 30 light overlays and 31 frames, for many combinations. Pixlr-o-Matic is also a web app. Try it for free here.Developer: Autodesk Inc.
Works on: iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. iOS 4.0 or later.
Price: free!
LensFlareLight can make a difference in photo enhancement. LensFlare comes with 42 professional looking flares, which can be placed in images loaded from Camera Roll or in photos taken with the built-in camera feature. Flares range from SRL camera lens to cinematic effects. Scale and rotate flares to adjust them to photos, create images of great visual impact with just a few touches.Developer: BrainFeverMedia
Works on: iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. iOS 3.2 or later.
Price: $0.99/€0.79/£0.69
PhontoAdd captions to photos with Phonto. More than 100 font styles are available. Phonto lets you customize your text by changing font face, size and color. Change opacity, tilt and add backgrounds for different effects. Use Phonto to add watermarks or to send personalized messages. Phonto is Instagram-friendly: it saves photos in a square format and lets you post directly to your favorite photo sharing app.Developer: youthhr
Works on: iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. iOS 4.1 or later.
Price: free!
SquareadySquaready is a great companion for regulars of the 1:1 aspect ratio. Instagram users will find it easier to adapt both their landscape and portrait oriented photos to the square format. Flip and rotate, shrink and enlarge, add a colored background and send to other photography apps (Instagram, Magic Hour, Camera+, Cameramatic, and more).Developer: FANG Inc.
Works on: iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. iOS 4.0 or later.
Price: free!
Image BlenderMerge two photos together to create unique images. Create unique effects and spice up photos by adding textures. Choose among 18 blending modes and adjust the opacity of each image for the desired result. Image Blender is as easy as layer blending can get.Developer: Johan Andersson
Works on: iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. iOS 4.0 or later.
Price: $1.99/€1.59/£1.49

Camera+ 2.3 On Sale!

Camera+ iPhone Camera+ 2.3 introduces a new feature: captions. Captions are a simple and fun way to add text to your photos.

Captions allow to add text to photos only when a border is enabled. From the edit panel, select the border tab; once the desired border is selected, you will see that after the update the Captions button appears on the bottom right: by tapping on it, you can access the caption editor. You can enter your own caption, add current date and time in various formats or your current location. It’s also possible to enter recently added captions: a useful option when you want to quickly add the same caption to more photos.
Camera+ iPhone As you can see from the images below, each border style comes with matching styled captions, varying in fonts and colors. Alignment, font, size and color of captions are not editable.

Camera+ is currently on sale: tap tap tap’s multi-purpose camera for iPhone is available in the App Store at the special price $0.99/€0.79/£0.69.

King Camera Weekend Sale!

Starting today and for the whole weekend, King Camera will be on sale in the App Store. Saycheezzz’s do-it-all photo application for iPhone will be available at the special price of $0.99/€0.79/£0.69 (50% off the regular price tag).

King Camera is a multi-purpose app coming with top-notch camera and post processing features, giving the user an overall balanced, comprehensive and easy to use tool for taking and editing photos on the iPhone. If you want to know more, you can read our full review for version 1.0 here.
King Camera on sale The launch of version 2.0 is approaching and developers revealed it will bring major changes to some of the core features of King Camera, plus new effects and other upgrades. In the meantime, there is more than enough within the current release to have fun with your photos: King Camera’s recent updates greatly improved both the app’s speed and general performance.

The current offer will be valid throughout the weekend.

Retrollect Review

Whoever has played with, seen or tried at least once a View-Master, raise your hand! The original View-Master was created in the late 30’s as an updated version of another popular optical device, the stereoscope. The initial intention of the creators was to produce a new postcard viewer, making use of recently introduced technologies (Eastman Kodak had recently released its Kodachrome color film on the market). Differently from the older stereoscope, the View-Master could hold several slides at once. The slides were mounted on paper discs containing seven pairs of slides – each pair composing a stereoscopic image. The View-Master was then marketed as a children’s toy, and many of us have probably known it as thus.

The idea behind Retrollect for the iPhone (the app is also available for Android) is to bring back the old View-Master disc, to give users a fancy new format to share digitally a visual account of their lives.

Main Features

Use media from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram;
In-app guide;
Share on Facebook, Twitter or send with email.

Appotography Opinion

Given that Retrollect is all about sharing, it’s not surprising that an account is needed to use the app. You can share media by creating discs, sort of visual mixes that can contain, other than photos, text, imported tweets, and status updates. To create a disc, you can choose a media source among several available. The media sources that Retrollect connects to are your Camera Roll and the built-in camera, plus Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Retrollect iPhone

Each disc can be titled and shared via the Retrollect community; in addition, links to Retrollect discs can be sent to email contacts, to Facebook and Twitter.

From the community section, you can explore discs shared by other users by their popularity or looking for entries in your nearby area. All discs are public once shared: everybody can share and send your discs and you can do the same with theirs. You can view your own discs or those by others by swiping on screen with your fingers to make them spin. Discs created can be edited and deleted.
Retrollect iPhone
Retrollect offers a different and ingenious way to arrange and share photos. For some, like myself, the old disc format has an undeniable charm and I find Retrollect has many good qualities as long as it is used for images. However, I do not find particularly attractive the idea of mixing photos with tweets and Facebook entries; the decision to include these elements takes something away from the overall appeal of the app.

Overall

Name: Retrollect
Developer: Border Stylo
Compatibility: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad. iOS 3.0 or later.
Price: free!
Vote: 3/5

Noir Photo Updated to 1.1

Red Giant’s Noir Photo 1.1 is out. Noir Photo is a simple and effective application working on all iDevices for conveying a mood through photos. Dramatic effects can be achieved just by playing with basic settings, like brightness, contrast and vignette. You can read our full review of Noir Photo here.

Noir Photo Red Giant The most notable feature added in version 1.1 is the fullscreen editing. By tapping on the uppermost right corner of the tool panel (on the dotted corner), it’s now possible to enlarge the work area. This is especially useful when better control on finer detail is required, as it allows more accurate placement of the ellipse affecting the vignette’s adjustment.

Fullscreen editing in Noir Photo Other enhancements in Noir Photo 1.1 include: higher editing resolution and preservation of photo metadata, so that original information is not lost upon saving.

HalfCamera Updated to 1.3

HalfCamera 1.3 is now available in the App Store. The latest release of iPhone’s split-frame camera by B1VISUALEFFECTS adds three new filters to HalfCamera’s collection, which now counts 15 effects in all. The newly added filters are Hottest, Bright and Vintage. Hottest is a vivid filter with strong yellow/orange toning; Bright mainly raises overall brightness of images; Vintage has a faded and opaque look, subtler than that of 70’s and Old Film, which were already included in version 1.0. Three additional frames also come with version 1.3.
HalfCamera iPhone To suggest different moods, try the new filters in combination with any of the other effects: in HalfCamera you can filter photos over and over.

HalfCamera iPhone — Mixing new and old filters in HalfCamera.

You will find our full review of HalfCamera and a brief overview on split frame format here.

GLMPS Review

GLMPS is a photo sharing application for iPhone that doesn’t strictly take photos or videos, but it records “glimpses”, which are a combination of the two. According to its creators, a glmps (the app’s form for glimpse) is a sort of “visual status” that can be shared among users to tell others something about themselves.

Main Features

480×480 pixels resolution (saved photos);
In-app guide;
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Tumblr.

Appotography Opinion

To use GLMPS, an account is needed. It’s possible to create the personal profile in GLMPS by connecting to Twitter or Facebook. To take a glmps, the user simply aims the device and taps on the shutter button. Together with the snapshot, a short video clip is also automatically recorded (the photo taken is actually the last frame of the clip). The user can add a title and turn on or off geolocation before posting each glmps in the app’s community. A glmps can be sent to other social networks such as Facebook and Twitter or it can be embedded as a video in any webpage. The original photo is normally saved to the Camera Roll (video clips, on the other hand, are not).

GLMPS for iPhone
Each glmps can be played over by tapping on it again and again. From within the app, GLMPS users can follow others, explore popular entries, comment and choose their favorites, not differently than in other photo sharing communities.

Although this is perhaps not too much of a relevant issue given GLMPS’s actual purpose, it must be said that the final resolution of saved photos is ridiculous: 480×480 pixels, definitely too small. Even if they are conveniently saved to the Cameral Roll, quite simply photos taken with the app don’t lend themselves to be used in many ways.

I admit I might be proved wrong, but I feel the scope of this app is a bit narrow: users don’t have any control over their final results; moreover, sharing something that is neither a photo nor a video has serious limitations — not to mention it could get stale after novelty wears off. However, the idea behind GLMPS is undoubtedly interesting and, since the app itself is free, it is worth a try.

Overall

Name: GLMPS
Developer: GLPMS LLC
Compatibility: iPhone (3GS, 4), iPod Touch, iPad. iOS 4.2 or later.
Price: free!
Vote: 3/5

BubbleScope: Shoot 360° Photos and Videos

BubbleScope — not to be confused with Bubble Scope — is a new optical accessory allowing capture of 360° stills and videos with your camera phone. The project, started on CrowdFunder by Tom Lawton and currently ongoing, arrives after funding on Kickstarter for other 360° add-ons for iPhone camera was successful. I am referring in particular to Kogeto’s Dot and EyeSee360’s GoPano micro. Differently from BubbleScope, these devices only record video.

BubbleScope is a capsule-like attachment that slides into a special rigid case. With a twist, the user will be able to bring up the optical bubble, which will remain safely locked when not in use. Case and optical device will be sold separately: while the optical bubble will be the same, different case models will be manufactured to fit most smartphones. The case for iPhone 4, in two colors (black and white) is the first scheduled for release.

BubbleScope will be usable both in lanscape and portrait orientation. With a click, it will be possible to take either photos or videos. The camera add-on will work in conjunction with BubblePix, an app able to instantly display the panoramic scenes in real time. This will allow accurate preview before capturing. BubblePix will feature an online community for sharing 360° bubbles created with BubbleScope.

The funding target of £3,000 was successfully reached, but there is still more than enough time, if you are interested, to go take a look at the project’s page on CrowdFunder and give your contribution. All funds raised will help to get the production started. It’s possible to invest from £20 to £70 in this project. Depending on the amount invested, funders will be either offered a discount on the purchase of BubbleScope when it will become available or they will be sent a BubbleScope as soon as production is completed — they will be given the opportunity to become beta testers as well.

BubbleScope will be out in Autumn 2011.

TtV Studio Pro Review

TtV stands for through the viewfinder, a photography technique which simply consists in taking photos through a surrogate viewfinder. The top and the bottom camera are connected through a contraption made of materials like cardboard, plumbing tubes, and so on. Standard choice for the top camera, the one that actually takes the photo, is a digital camera; the bottom camera is commonly a twin-lens reflex (TLR). The effects achieved vary a lot depending on the TLR used. Mostly, photographers employ this technique for its peculiar results: dust, scratches, vignetting and unexpected distortion create distinctive old-fashioned looking photos.

TtV Studio Pro by Taplayer definitely does better than ints predecessor, TtV Camera. Despite the valuable idea behind it, TtV Camera had serious flaws which prevented users to fully enjoy it. First of all the small resolution, justified by the real-time processing, but also a not well-refined enough interface and lack of features. In TtV Studio Pro, developers decided to drop the real-time processing in favor of higher resolution; they also opted to give users more to work with, for an overall better-rounded tool.

Main Features

Full resolution available;
30+ viewfinders;
Square format;
Adjust brightness, contrast;
Adjust viewfinder opacity;
Sepia, blue and black and white toning on/off;
Send via email or share on Twitter and Facebook.

Appotography Opinion

In TtV Studio Pro, both taking photos with the built-in camera or loading images from the Camera Roll is possible. Note that in the case of imported photos accurate framing is not possible, as the app automatically centers images and doesn’t allow further adjustments to framing. This is not a big deal, but it can be a bother in specific instances. The easiest workaround to incorrect framing when precision is necessary is cropping photos in another app before importing them.
More than 30 viewfinder effects are available by scrolling horizontally the menu at the bottom of the work area screen. For fine-tuning each effect to photos, users have at their disposal brightness, contrast and effect opacity adjustment sliders. It’s also possible to add sepia, blue and black and white toning. Photos are saved both to Camera Roll and to the app’s library, from which you can share and edit them again. Until photos are stored in the library, it’s possible to make changes to any previously chosen setting.

The viewfinder collection in TtV Studio Pro is rich and it features some of the most popular classic TLR cameras (Kodak Duaflex, Argus 75, Rolleiflex, Anscoflex, Super Ricohflex, Kodak Brownie, and more). All effects are very well done, they blend nicely with images and they give a believable analog look to photos. However, I encountered a problem with viewfinder #2, the Brownie Dark. When I try to apply it, the photo turns into a blank square. The issue doesn’t affect only the preview: the photo is not even saved correctly. This only happens with imported photos, not when using photos taken in-app.

TtV Studio Pro iPhone by Taplayer — Anscoflex Brown (left) and Brownie 5 Grids (right).

TtV Studio Pro is a nice addition to the app collection of any iPhone photographer, serious or casual, as it offers a way to easily recreate the beautiful look of old-time photos.

TtV Studio Pro is currently on sale and available in the App Store at the special price of $0.99/€0.79/£0.69.

Overall

Name: TtV Studio Pro
Developer: Taplayer
Compatibility: iPhone (3GS, 4), iPod Touch (3rd, 4th), iPad. iOS 4.0 or later.
Price: £1.19||$1.99||€1.59
Vote: 4/5

iObsessed iPad Companion

There isn’t such thing as the foolproof formula to perfect creation: don’t let anybody tell you any different. Visual arts, photography included, aren’t really about getting the best equipment; what matters in visual arts is whether the creation is capable to speak to the viewer, either by conveying a strong message or simply by tickling senses and imagination. iPhone photography is not an exception.

Of course, many professionals will affirm that it’s impossible to productively use an iPhone to take valuable photographs; to support their reasoning, these professionals will go through long and tedious lists of specs and technicalities. The creatives though will always think differently, as they know every tool has more than what specifications suggest. By exploring and experimenting, creative artists accept disadvantages and flaws in the medium and turn them into unique features.
iObsessed iPad Companion by Dan Marcolina iObsessed is the brainchild of Dan Marcolina, designer and photographer with a passion for iPhone image processing. The iPad Companion counts sixteen chapters. In every chapter, Marcolina analyzes techniques and recipes he has devised to produce peculiar effects to process photos on the iPhone. Commentary and links offer in-depth overview on how the given results can be accomplished; original shots are presented for comparison and all processed photos come with their app formula. By rotating the iPad from horizontal to vertical position, it’s possible to access the app compendium, which contains information on the apps used in each chapter. Extensive video materials (around 90 minutes in all) complete the book, guiding the reader to understanding the workflow from original shot to processed image. An appendix includes several extras, like links to iPhone camera add-ons, photo gallery, and a brief note on the author.
iObsessed iPad Companion by Dan Marcolina The iPad companion is actually an extension to the iPhone Obsessed book by the same author, published by Peachpit Press, which contains more examples and information on how to use the iPhone creatively. Dan Marcolina’s interactive book doesn’t claim to be the ultimate “how-to” manual to iPhone photography. iObsessed rather presents tips and ideas that uncover the hidden potential of images and go beyond limits inherent to the medium. As such, it can be a great source of inspiration and a reference guide to rewardingly learn to combine possibilities offered by different applications and also, occasionally, by external resources.

iObsessed is available from the App Store for $4.99/€3.99/£2.99.