My 3 Fave iPhone Apps -Photography

I am by no means a photographer, but I constantly have to take pictures of just about everything so that I have them in my arsenal for travel writing, food blogging, making people jealous on Facebook and all sorts of things. Given my track record with cameras, I am simply not to be trusted with one. Therefore, my iPhone is my little camera buddy, so I need to learn how to use it to it’s full potential. These apps allows me to take interesting and eye-catching pictures for my writing. And no, I’m not doing Instagram, cause I’m sick of it. We get it, sepia is cool.

360 Panorama by Occipital $.99

360 Panorama $.99 -It’s witchcraft I say! That’s the only explanation for how great this app works, and at only $.99, you can’t beat it.

As you’ve probably gathered from the title, you can take a complete 360 degree picture, taking panoramic apps to a whole new level. It’s extremely user friendly, and there are no more blurry lines! It takes a few tries, but if you get your technique down (match the lines) you can get a seamless panoramic shot. It even performs well in low-light.

You can email, tweet and Facebook your shots right from the app, and your panoramas go straight to your camera roll.

Tiltshift Generator by Art & Mobile Free

TiltShift Generator Free– I’ve been a big fan of this one for quite some time. TiltShift Generator adds a great hue and blur effect that creates colorful and unusual pictures. You can control saturation, blur, contrast and brightness. This app is my favorite for turning a so, so picture, into a rad shot.

I like to take the boring, straight forward shots of food, hotels and such, and transform them into artsy unique pics with TiltShift Generator.

Again, sharing via social media is very simple. Get creative and use this app on a panoramic from 360 Panorma.

Darkroom by Stepcase Free

Darkroom Free– This app helps with the two main problems I have with my iPhone camera. I’m workin’ with a 3GS, so low light is a big problem. Darkroom helps with this, but it obviously only does so much. It doesn’t replace flash by any means but it does help with picture clarity.

My favorite part of this app though, is that the shutter won’t go off until the camera is stable, thus reducing shaky hand blur. This is very useful when you’re taking pictures of yourself. You can click the shutter button and stabilize your camera, and then your phone will take the picture once it’s focused.

iPhone Screen Shot

Betchya didn’t know you could take a screen shot with your iPhone! It’s simple, just hold down the power button and the home button at the same time. Your phone will even make a little picture sound and the pic goes straight to your photo album. Cool little trick yeah, but what practical uses are there for this tech tidbit?

It has come in handy a few times. I travel frequently and I can’t always use my data plan. I like to Google map my locations while I have a wifi connection and take screen shots of the mapping. That way, when I need to find my way, I can simply look through my pictures instead of paying astronomical roaming charges. Secondly, my boyfriend somehow acquired Zach Morris’ cell phone. He doesn’t have internet access, so I’m able to send him info off the net via screenshot MMS. And finally, I was able to take dozens of screenshots of porn and text them one after another to my friend while he was on his date. I’m sure you’ll find tons more uses for this tech tidbit!