8. Photography Apps That Enhance Your Picture-Taking Capabilities

As you know, the Camera app comes preinstalled with iOS 7 and can be used to control the front- or rear-facing cameras that are built in to your iPhone or iPad.

In Chapter 2, “Snap Photos Using the Camera App,” you learned all about how to use the Camera app and its various features. However, available from the App Store are a wide range of third-party apps that offer feature-packed alternatives to the Camera app when it comes to taking pictures with your iOS mobile device.

Many of these third-party apps can be used with the optional clip-on lenses, tripods, external lights, and other accessories that you’ll learn more about in Chapter 10, “Use Optional Accessories to Improve Your Pictures.” For example, if you want to use the Camera! Awesome app’s Interval Timer, or if you want to capture a clear, 360-degree panoramic photo using the Cycloramic app, using an optional tripod to hold your iPhone or iPad still and level would be extremely beneficial.

As you’re about to discover, using a third-party picture-taking app often gives you access to extremely useful and powerful photography features, like a self-timer, a larger selection of filters that can be applied in real time to images while you’re shooting, different ways to capture light, or the ability to utilize the camera lenses that are built in to your iPhone or iPad a bit differently. All of these additional tools can be used to enhance the professional quality or visual appeal of the photos you take using your iOS mobile device.

Using the Lumy feature that’s built in to the app and continuously displayed in the viewfinder as you’re taking pictures, it’s possible to make an image brighter using a controllable slider (see Figure 8-1). This is particularly useful when shooting in low-light situations. To quickly reset the brightness setting, double-tap on the slider.

Like the Camera app, the Flash controls for the iPhone appear in the top-left corner of the screen, whereas the Camera Selection icon is found at the top-right corner of the screen. As you’re preparing to take a photo and looking through the viewfinder (your iPhone or iPad’s screen), it’s possible to tap on the Grid icon to superimpose a tic-tac-toe-like grid over the viewfinder to utilize the Rule of Thirds. (This grid does not appear in your actual photos.)

From the viewfinder screen of the Camera Plus app, tap on the Menu icon that’s displayed to the right of the Shutter button to turn on and utilize additional picture-taking features, such as image stabilization, a Burst shooting mode, and/or a self-timer (see Figure 8-2).

Another useful feature that’s available as you’re taking pictures using the Camera Plus app is the Level Gauge. Tap on the icon for this. You’ll see it near the top center of the viewfinder screen, and an onscreen Level Gauge is superimposed in the center of the viewfinder (see Figure 8-3). This feature helps to ensure you’re holding your iPhone or iPad level as you’re taking pictures.

Also available from the app’s menu screen is the Geotag feature. It’s used to add the location where the picture was shot to the image’s metadata. Plus, you can manually adjust the resolution of the image as you’re shooting (which impacts its file size).

In general, you always want to shoot photos at the highest resolution possible. You can always make a copy of the image later and, while working with the copy, reduce its resolution, shrink its file size, or make other edits.

After you’ve taken some photos, Camera Plus has several built-in editing and enhancement features that go beyond what’s possible using the Photos app’s Enhance feature.

Like the Camera app, Camera Plus immediately displays a tiny thumbnail of the last image you’ve shot. It’s displayed near the bottom-right corner of the screen. Tapping on this thumbnail icon enables you to view and work with images stored in your device’s Camera Roll folder. As you’re viewing photos, use the Pix’d feature to quickly enhance an image. This feature works just like the Camera app’s Enhance feature to automatically adjust things like contrast, brightness, and color saturation within the image to improve its appearance. Beyond using the one-tap Pix’d feature, however, you can tap the Edit icon to access an additional selection of image editing and cropping tools.

From directly within the Camera Plus app, images taken using the app or that are stored in your iOS mobile device can be shared via Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Instagram, the Messages app, or email (using the Mail app).

In addition to offering a handful of useful picture-taking and image enhancement features that are not available from the Camera and Photos apps, Camera Plus is surprisingly easy to use, and it offers an intuitive interface that you’ll have no trouble getting used to, especially if you’re already familiar with the Camera app. For less than $1.00, this app is an excellent investment if you’re interested in expanding your iPhone or iPad’s picture-taking capabilities.

Near the top-left corner of the screen is the gear-shaped Settings icon. Tap on it to reveal the app’s Settings menu. From here, you can turn on or off various options that relate directly to picture-taking features, such as the ability to automatically add a geotag (location information) to each picture taken. It’s also possible to decide whether a pinch finger gesture will activate the app’s zoom feature.

Also displayed along the top of the screen are the Grid and fx (special effect filter) icons. When you tap on the Grid icon, it’s possible to superimpose a tic-tac-toe-like grid over your viewfinder, which is useful when composing your shots. However, the app also offers other composition tools that can be displayed in your viewfinder instead of a basic grid.

When you tap on the fx icon, a menu that offers nine special effect filters is displayed along the top of the screen. As you’re taking pictures, select a filter to incorporate into your image in real time (see Figure 8-5).

Located in the top-right corner of the viewfinder screen is a Level Gauge icon. When you tap on this, a level gauge graphic is displayed in the center of the viewfinder. Use this to determine whether you’re holding the iPhone or iPad level as you’re taking pictures.

Displayed below the level gauge on the viewfinder screen is the Camera Selection icon. Tap on this to switch between activating the front- and rear-facing cameras on your iPhone or iPad.

Along the bottom of the viewfinder screen are four additional icons. Look to the bottom-left corner of the screen for a thumbnail preview window, which shows the last image taken using the app. To the right of this is a Menu icon (shaped like an upward-facing arrow). It offers access to several additional picture-taking features, including an Image Stabilization, Big Button, Slow Burst mode, Fast Burst mode, Self-Timer, and Interval Timer feature.

Use Image Stabilization to avoid blurs when you’re taking pictures and can’t hold your iPhone or iPad perfectly still. The Big Button feature superimposes a large Shutter Button icon on the screen, making it easier to tap when you’re taking pictures. Slow Burst mode enables you to hold down the Shutter button and take multiple photos in quick succession.

The Self-Timer feature is adjustable. Set up the iPhone or iPad to snap a photo between 5 and 60 seconds after you press the Shutter button. Another feature not found in too many other picture-taking apps is the Interval Timer. This enables you to set up the iPhone or iPad to have it continuously snap a photo automatically at a user-selected interval (between 5 and 60 seconds). This continues until you press the Shutter button again to stop the process.

Like the majority of other apps that serve as an alternative to the Camera app, the Camera! Awesome app enables you to shoot HD video. To switch to Video mode, tap on the Camera/Video selection switch displayed at the bottom-right corner of the screen.

In addition to offering a nice selection of features that enable you to take better pictures using your iPhone or iPad, once you’ve taken the photos, the Camera! Awesome app offers an equally impressive selection of photo editing, enhancement, and sharing tools. To access them, tap on the Image Preview thumbnail that’s displayed in the viewfinder screen.

Instead of an Enhance feature, the Camera! Awesome app includes the Awesomize features. Tap on this icon as you’re viewing an image to reveal a menu of editing and enhancement tools, many of which have adjustable sliders associated with them, allowing you to select the intensity of a specific effect, texture, or filter. Built in to the app are also a selection of frames and borders you can add to images before sharing them.

Whereas the Photos app enables you to back up your images to your iCloud-based My Photo Stream automatically, the Camera! Awesome app enables you to select which cloud-based service you want to use and then takes advantage of your iPhone or iPad’s Wi-Fi or cellular data connection to maintain an archive of the images taken using this app. From within Settings, be sure to turn on the Archive Over Wi-Fi Only feature if you want to conserve your cellular data usage.

Overall, the Camera! Awesome app offers many welcome enhancements and features over the Camera app, and makes available a nice collection of tools for taking, editing, and sharing photos in ways not offered by most other photography apps. It’s definitely one of the most feature-packed Camera app alternatives available from the App Store.

More than 10 million copies of this app have been sold worldwide, making it one of the most popular Camera app alternatives available, and with good reason. The Camera+ app’s primary goal is to help anyone take better photos. This is done in several different ways.

For example, instead of providing a single Auto Focus and Auto Exposure option, the Camera+ app makes this two separate, but related, settings. This gives you, the photographer, more control over your picture-taking capabilities. Also built in to the app are an Image Stabilizer, Self-Timer, and Burst shooting mode as well as a 6x digital zoom. The onscreen viewfinder includes an optional level gauge.

As a photographer, you’ll often be taking photos in a wide range of situations. To help you consistently capture well-lit and in-focus images, the Camera+ app enables you to select a Scene mode after a photo is taken. Based on the scene you select (there are more than a dozen to choose from), the app automatically adjusts and enhances the image accordingly (see Figure 8-7).

In addition, many editing and enhancement tools are available within the app. For example, instead of just being able to rotate an image, the Camera+ app enables images to be flipped horizontally and/or vertically, as well as manually cropped. The Aspect Ratio tool enables images to be resized with ease, while the FX Effects tools include image filters and lighting effects that can be added to photos.

For taking pictures with the iPhone or iPad, and then editing, enhancing, and ultimately sharing them, the Camera+ app is powerful and replicates many of the features you’d find in a standalone point-and-shoot camera.

The free Cycloramic Studio 360 Panorama app not only offers a different tool for capturing panoramic shots using an iPhone, but it also makes this capability available to iPad users. Taking this concept a step further, however, this app enables you to capture 360-degree panoramic shots with your iOS mobile device, which can then be viewed using this app. Later, if you want to share your 360-degree panoramic shots with others or publish them online, the app enables you to export the images into a short movie clip, which can easily be viewed on services like Facebook, or in a website or blog, for example.

In addition to the entertainment-oriented uses of this app, many realtors, for example, are using it to capture the inside of houses they’re selling as they create detailed listings that will be posted online.

After you take a 360-degree panoramic shot, it’s possible to preview it on your iPhone or iPad’s screen, and then tap on the Instagram, Facebook, or Mail button to share the image. It’s also possible to access the app’s Photo Editor to enhance the image and/or add special effects.

Along the bottom of the Photo Editor screen, shown in Figure 8-9, you’ll find a series of menu icons, labeled Enhance, Effects, Frames, Stickers, Focus, Orientation, Crop, Adjust, Sharpness, Splash, Draw, Text, Red-Eye, Whiten, Blemish, and Meme (used for incorporating text into an image). Each reveals a separate set of tools for editing or enhancing the panoramic or 360-degree panoramic photos taken using the app.

Once you discover how easy it is to capture panoramic shots and 360-degree panoramic images with your iOS mobile device, and then enhance and share the images, you’ll love using this app. It can also be used for taking traditional photos while holding the iPhone or iPad in Portrait or Landscape mode. This enables you to use the app’s extensive editing and image enhancement tools on these regular images as well.

The company that developed the Hipstamatic app, shown in Figure 8-10, also has its own photo lab. Thus, from within the app, it’s possible to order traditional prints and have them shipped to your door. An extra fee applies for this service.

As soon as you launch the Hipstamatic app, you’ll discover that the viewfinder screen looks like an old, film-based camera. The actual viewfinder is a small window displayed near the center of the app’s screen.

After you’ve framed your image in the viewfinder, tap on the Shutter button to snap a photo. In this app, the Shutter button looks like a yellow circle, and it’s displayed near the top-right corner of the screen.

Displayed along the bottom of the viewfinder screen are several command icons. Tap on the icon in the bottom-left corner to access Hipstamatic’s photo editing, management, and sharing tools. Tap on the Favorite icon (shaped like a star) to choose a camera/film/flash combination that you want the app to simulate, and save it as a quickly accessible favorite.

To switch to a front-facing view of the camera (see Figure 8-11), tap on the curved arrow-shaped icon that’s displayed in the bottom-right corner of the screen. This same icon can be used to switch from the front- to rear-facing view.

To switch between different types of simulated films, tap on the Film icon that’s displayed in the bottom-left corner of the screen (when looking at the front view of the app). To change virtual flash types, tap on the Flash icon. To switch camera types, tap on the Camera Selection icon that’s displayed near the bottom center of the screen. Additional “Camera Gear” (also known as in-app purchases) can be acquired by tapping on the Shopping Cart icon.

Images taken using the Hipstamatic app are stored in the app but can be exported to your Camera Roll folder from within the app. This enables you to view, edit, print, and share the images from the Photos app or another photography app that’s running on your iPhone or iPad.

Hipstamatic is a well-designed app for creative photographers who want to use digital photography “gear” that realistically replicates traditional film-based cameras, 35mm film effects, and various flash types. One interesting feature is that you can mix and match virtual camera gear that would not otherwise have been compatible if you were using actual film-based cameras. The ability to order prints in four different sizes from within the app is also a convenient feature.

If you find yourself wanting or needing to take photos in low-light situations, but don’t want to use your iPhone’s flash (or you’re shooting with the cameras built in to the iPad), the Pro HDR app ($1.99) dramatically expands your picture-taking capabilities. The main viewfinder screen of the app is shown in Figure 8-12. The app also offers a handful of user-adjustable image editing and enhancement tools you can use immediately after photos are taken in order to improve them.

What’s great about this app is that it blends areas of an image that have too much or too little light, ensuring that all of the natural colors within an image are as clear and vibrant as possible, without compromising clarity. Using the image enhancement programming that’s built in to the HDR shooting mode of this app, the resolution of images is automatically improved.

In fact, the photos you wind up taking, based on your iPhone or iPad model, can be equivalent to 12MP resolution. Typically, when taking photos using the rear-facing camera of the iPhone 5s, for example, achieving a maximum of 8MP resolution is possible.

As you’re taking pictures using the Pro HDR app, it’s possible to take advantage of the built-in Zoom feature, Grid, or Self-Timer, for example, to give yourself additional tools and further customize how your photos turn out. After images are taken, the app has a built-in Crop tool, allows for text-based captions to be added to photos, and offers a nice selection of optional filters and frames.

When it comes to editing photos, there are manually adjustable sliders for Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, Warmth, and Tint, which give you extra creative control (see Figure 8-13). To increase or decrease the intensity of these effects, simply drag your finger left or right on the appropriate slider.

When you’re finished editing your image(s), tap on the Save button to save your changes. Then, tap on the Share button if you want to share your images with others via email, text message, Facebook, or Twitter. From the Share menu, tap on the More option to turn on integration with additional online-based services, such as Evernote, Tumblr, Flickr, or Instagram.

Edited images can also be exported from the Pro HDR app and used with any other digital photography app that’s installed on your iOS mobile device or used in an app that enables you to import photos, such as Pages, Numbers, or Keynote. If you have an AirPrint-compatible printer linked with your iPhone or iPad, creating prints from within the Pro HDR app is as easy as tapping on the Print button.

Pro HDR is a versatile photography app for taking, editing, printing, and sharing photos, but the primary reason to use this app is to take full advantage of its greatly enhanced HDR shooting mode, which is ideal for taking photos in low-light situations (without using a flash), and for accurately capturing the ambient light that surrounds your intended subject(s) in daylight.

For example, ProCam 2 includes more than 25 “live filters.” Choose your favorite (see Figure 8-15), and it can be incorporated into your photos as they’re being taken. Other useful app picture-taking features include the Night mode with a Timer option, an adjustable Anti-Shake mode, a Self-Timer, a Burst shooting mode, an Interval shooting mode that’s also adjustable, a Face Detection feature, 6x digital zoom, as well as full focus and exposure control.

Also as you’re taking photos, ProCam 2 records the time, date, and location where all photos are shot, allows you to add an optional Copyright stamp, and enables you to superimpose a grid onto the viewfinder. You can also manually adjust the aspect ratio and resolution of photos being taken and on the iPhone, control the flash from within the app.

Even with all of the features and functions built in to the app that give you added control over your picture taking, the app is surprisingly easy to use. As you’re using the app’s viewfinder screen to take pictures, along the top and bottom of the screen you’ll discover a handful of command icons that can be used to quickly adjust the camera’s settings.

In addition to turning on or off certain features, when using ProCam 2, many options are adjustable using onscreen sliders (see Figure 8-16). For example, displayed to the right of the Shutter button is a Menu icon that displays sliders for a handful of customizable functions that can be used while shooting, such as contrast control, white balance adjustments, color saturation, and filter options.

Tap on the Menu icon that’s displayed to the left of the Shutter button to access another menu that offers a handful of adjustable options when taking pictures (shown in Figure 8-17).

ProCam 2 is best suited for serious iPhone/iPad photographers who want maximum control over the front- and rear-facing cameras that are built in to their mobile devices as they’re taking pictures.

Adding a Burst shooting mode enables you to more effectively take pictures when your subject is in motion, and ensures that you can capture that perfectly timed shot. It’s especially well suited for taking pictures during sporting events, for example.

As you’re taking photos using SnappyCam Pro, it’s possible to take full advantage of the app’s manual-focus mode, or double-tap on the viewfinder screen to activate the app’s autofocus feature. To create two separate autofocus sensors on the screen simultaneously, use a reverse-pinch finger gesture, and then double-tap on each of two separate subjects to activate each sensor, one at a time.

To activate the Burst shooting mode, simply hold down the Shutter button, which is located near the bottom center of the screen.

As you’re taking pictures, tap on the Menu icon that’s displayed to the right of the Shutter button to adjust a variety of picture-taking features and functions that are built in to the app, such as the virtual Camera Lens, Shutter Mode, Aspect Ratio, Grid Type, Image Quality, and Geo-Tagging. The menu screen is shown in Figure 8-19.

SnappyCam Pro is primarily a picture-taking app and is not designed for after-the-fact photo editing. Images taken using this app are stored in a separate folder in your iPhone or iPad but can easily be exported into the Camera Roll folder, where they can be imported into other apps for editing and sharing. The Export feature also enables you to send photos via email or upload them to Instagram.

Although this app doesn’t offer the vast selection of picture-taking features and functions offered by some photography apps, it is a good alternative to the Camera app if you’re interested in utilizing a Burst shooting mode and maximizing the capabilities of this feature to take pictures of moving subjects or other time-sensitive actions.

In the next chapter, you’ll read about apps that can be used to help you view, organize, edit, enhance, print, and share your images after they’ve been taken. However, there are two other categories of photography apps you should be aware of. The first are apps that can replace the Camera app for taking pictures, enable you to quickly edit or enhance the pictures, and then upload those images to a specific online service so they can be shared.

The Instagram app is the perfect example of this. Using the Instagram app, you can snap photos; automatically crop them into a square shape; add a filter and/or border as well as your location, caption, and/or keywords; and then upload one image at a time to the Instagram service to share it. The whole process takes just seconds.

Another type of photography app transforms your iPhone or iPad into a tool that can remotely control your digital SLR camera (and its settings while you’re taking pictures), when the camera is linked to your iOS mobile device wirelessly or via a special cable. In essence, the iPhone or iPad becomes a camera accessory for your high-end, standalone Nikon or Canon digital SLR camera. If you’re interested in this type of application, be sure to read Chapter 10.