Who doesn’t love tinkering around on the myriad of photo apps available on the App Store? I sure do! From apps that turn you into old geezers to those whose sole purpose is to add more cats to your pictures (look it up!), if you can think of it then there’s probably already a photo app for it!
But let’s not get into the bizarro side of iPhone photography today; that’s a conversation for another day. Instead, I have for you, among my wares and potions, four great iPhone photography apps that will turn all your—let’s face it—mediocre shots into a classy Rembrandt.
1. VSCO
VSCO is one of my personal favourites. Its filters are what draws most people in, and I can’t get enough of them! They’re understated and beautiful, unlike most other gaudy filter apps. I love that they’re all organized into neat little categories like Cool, Vibrant, and Warm, plus the fact that it allows me to change the look and feel of my photos with a single tap. You can even increase and tone down the filter effects, fine-tune your colours, or play with the exposure and saturation to get the look you want. It also comes with an in-built manual camera app (which is pretty great) and its own photo-sharing platform.
2. Afterlight
I’ve been using Afterlight from when it was still called ‘Afterglow’, and it keeps getting better with each update. The app really checks all the boxes for me. It’s super intuitive, and the editing tools go beyond what a lot of the popular mobile editing apps have to offer. You can add typography and custom art layers to your photos, make curve adjustments, fine-tune colours, and even blend two images to get a unique multi-exposure photo. What I like the most about Afterlight is that I can create my own filters, which helps me maintain a uniform aesthetic and theme on my Instagram page without having to go through too much effort.
3. TouchRetouch
The name pretty much says it all. When you want to remove something from your photo, be it a pimple, random litter, a tree, or even a person, TouchRetouch is the app you turn to. You can remove the bigger objects using the Brush or Lasso tools, and the smaller imperfections by simply tapping them away. TouchRetouch has a first-of-its-kind single-touch line removal feature. Random power line messing up your très aesthetic photo of the countryside? Mark a section of it with the line removal tool—you don’t even have to be precise—and voila! The entire line will be gone. The best part? It literally takes you seconds to do this. I personally find it super useful to remove my brother’s annoying photo-bombs.
4. ProCamera
For all of Apple’s tremendous advances, the iPhone camera still remains heavily automated. The app doesn’t give users any degree of fine control and the Photos app has just a few light editing options. ProCamera is an incredible alternative if you want a camera app with DSLR-like controls. Its advanced white balance settings allow you to fine-tune your colours, and the simple user interface makes adjusting the ISO and shutter speed incredibly easy. The app has an on-screen histogram, a handy tool that gives you the perfect level of exposure in all your shots. It also features a fantastic anti-shake feature and a low-light mode, which means you can say goodbye to the dim or blurry shots that plague most iPhone users.
That’s all I have for you today. Give them a go and tell me what you think! Did they help you improve your Instagram game or are you content with your basic Mayfair aesthetic?
