Lately, I’ve become smitten with photography. Amateur photography, that is. My photography bug began when I was in Ireland this past August where there were some incredible opportunities to capture beautiful landscapes. You can check out my Ireland photos here. I didn’t take any expensive equipment with me, but only an iPhone 3G I bought for $25 when I switched to AT&T in 2009. I am NOT a professional photographer, but I do enjoy snapping pictures from my various observations. So, what I am about to say is advice for the casual user to have some fun capturing everyday photos with a few handy iPhone apps.
Again, you will need an iPhone and the ability to download apps from the Apple store. After you have that under control, here are a few of the apps I use to make my photos fun.
Hipstamatic ($1.99) – this is the exclusive app I used in Ireland. Although it costs $1.99, it is totally worth it. This app is “an application that brings back the look, feel, unpredictable beauty, and fun of plastic toy cameras from the past.” Don’t let the plastic toy camera phrase deter you because it really creates vintage looking photos. There is a ton of customization and options in this app. I highly recommend it. Check out this brief review from Appmodo.
There are two other apps similar to Hipstamatic and they are free. Instagram and Phototreats are worth the download. They both offer similar features and are very user friendly.
Diptic is a cool little app which “lets you quickly and easily combine multiple photos to create a new image.” Even though it is $1.99, it is very easy to use and allows you to customize several photos into one. Pictured left is one I put together in 60 seconds using flower photos I took in Ireland.
Editing photos on the go is a must, especially if you like the instant gratification of uploading your polished pics to Facebook or Twitter. PS Express (PhotoShop) is my recommendation and best of all, it is free.
I upload many of my photos to Facebook and there is a cool little app that allows you to upload multiple pics at one time. iLoader came in very handy when I was in Ireland by giving me the flexibility to upload tons of photos at once. It does cost $1.99, but if you upload batches of photos, it is worth your money.
Although this has been a brief look into taking iPhone photos for fun, I hope it will give you some good ideas. You can check out my other photos on Flickr.
Do you have anything to add?
