tip: iphone-ography.

There are tons of tips and tutorials on the web regarding taking better pictures with your phone. In fact, I know of one photographer who offers an online workshops to help; you can find more info about Ashley Campbell’s SnapShops here.
For today’s tip, I’ll take you through the editing process that I go through for the majority of my iPhone photos.
First, find your subject, and a properly exposed photo will make ALL of the difference here. I love this board painted with an American flag that hangs in our dining room. There’s a ponytail palm that lives on a bar right under it, and this particular area of our home receives spectacular light most mornings and afternoons.
I opened the camera app on my iPhone and selected “square,” so I wouldn’t have to worry about cropping for Instagram, and I snapped the shot.
From there, I opened up my favorite iPhone editing app, PicTapGo, by Totally Rad! and pulled in my flag picture.
The sun coming in from the left made a really cool light leak effect, but it also janked the color a little. This is where editing gets fun.
PicTapGo has tons of filters from which to choose. The company also has a Photoshop filter that I use sometimes with professional shoots while editing, so I’m pretty familiar with different looks that I can achieve. My favorites are the film filters (an additional purchase) and a filter called “High Fives”. Each filter’s strength can be adjusted (and I highly recommend adjusting them. Very rarely should you ever use any filter at full strength…), and they can be layered as well.
The navigator will give you a sneak peek of what your photo will look like with each filter applied.
My steps are these:
- Adjust exposure
- Adjust color and/or contrast
- Apply creative filter
- Adjust warmth
- Adjust haze (if I’m feeling crazy…)
First, I applied Auto Color and adjusted the strength (I didn’t need to adjust my exposure for this one, but I found it too blah orange, which means wonky white balance).
Next, contrast.
Then I applied High Fives (the creative filter).
Next, a haze called “Fade to Grey”.
Then, a little tweak on warmth.
That’s it. A quick send to Instagram, which also posts to Facebook and Twitter for me, and I think that most of my social media bases are covered.
And as a bonus, I’ll throw in my other favorite editing apps (not all available on droids; check your stores).
Have fun with your photos!