5 awesome photography apps for smartphone photographers

You might not be able to buy yourself a great DSLR that takes stunning shots with those blurred backgrounds but you do possess a decent smartphone that supports a decent camera to take decent photos and trust me, that is probably all you need to get started.

First off, to understand whether your phone comes with a good camera or not, you need to understand one basic rule of thumb (and unfortunately I have to break the myth) – MORE megapixel does NOT mean BETTER camera quality. It is all about the lens that your phone’s camera has and the camera software that the maker has installed on the phone that really counts when it comes to good camera quality on a smartphone.

To give you an example, the iPhone 5S and HTC’s M8 come with an 8 megapixel and 4 megapixel camera respectively. However, these phones have been known to take some of the most stunning photos that a phone can ever take. In fact, the M8’s camera software takes it a step further by providing some great post processing tricks but sometimes you might find that that is just not enough.

Thankfully, smartphone technology is advancing at a great pace and R&D of various companies is yielding great products. To add to that, 3rd party developers have come up with clever solutions that unleash the true potential of the phone’s camera and its capabilities by giving complete control to the user.

VSCO Cam

If you believe you’ve taken a great photo, VSCO Cam is a great app that has heaps of presets that can provide for the perfect post processing effect on the photo of your choice. The app has a minimalist view which is in accordance with what seems to be the latest fad in the appearance of any smartphone’s OS.

Power users who are familiar with terminologies like f-numbers, ISO, white balance, etc. will also find this app useful as it allows you to access the RAW data attached to an image. More importantly, the app maintains the resolution of an image while performing imports/exports to make sure the quality of any image is not compromised.

The app is available for free at the iTunes app store (click here) and Google Play Store (click here) but does offer some in-app purchases.

Rookie - Photo Editor

This is another great post processing app that has literally tons of presets to choose from. Much like the Fonta App that I reviewed few months back, this app allows you to add your own text, graphics and frames that can help you convey messages in an image in a beautiful way.

For photographers who wish to go to the advanced level of this app, you can crop, rotate, straighten and also edit the brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, vibrancy, colour temperature, tint, fade, highlight, shadow, sharpen, double exposure and clarity.

The app is available for free at the iTunes app store (click here) and much like VSCO Cam; Rookie also offers some in-app purchases.

ProCamera 7

While VSCO Cam and Rookie offer post-processing solutions, ProCamera 7 stays true to its word and offers real time features while taking a photo. You can change the exposure, choose between wide varieties of capturing formats (widescreen, square, etc.), aspect ratio while cropping an image, night mode, and of course, a plethora of presets to choose from when you’ve taken that perfect image!

What’s even better, the app also features an in-built QR code scanner that can make your task easy for finding concerts and events to capture. What do you do when you’ve taken a great photo? You share it with the world! ProCamera 7 allows you to share the image to Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Vimeo and even Microsoft’s dropbox.

The app is available on the iTunes app store (click here) for $4.99*. Even though the app is paid, it is worth the investment and you certainly won’t be disappointed.

ProCam 2

Much like ProCamera 7, ProCam 2 is an app that lets you do a lot of things while taking a photo but what stands out is the fact that this app gives you RAW image data much like a standard DSLR does.

The app features 12 different shooting modes and a host of settings like WB (white balance) lock and compensation, lossless TIFF Format, spot focus, spot metering, live filters, aspect ratios, resolutions, and a bunch of other stuff that you would love to play around with.

For professional photographers who are concerned with their images having the correct credits, the app offers copyright stamps, date/time stamp and a location stamp.

ProCam 2 is currently available on the iTunes App store (click here) at a 50% discounted price of $1.99. This is another great app that you won’t regret investing in.

Facetune

If you like to take selfies or people photography is your area of interest, Facetune is the app for you. 

The app features include red-eye reduction, rotate or flip a photo and filters to tweak your image. However, what stands out in this app is the ability to retouch specific areas of your images.

Facetune is a must have tool for the selfie lovers and photographers who’s area of interest is people. The app is available at the iTunes app store (click here) and Google Play Store (click here) for $3.79.

With little to no investment, if you add these apps to your arsenal, you will become a pro smartphone photographer in no time. If you know of any other app that you think might be worthy enough to make the this list, feel free to share your views and experience in the comments.

BONUS

645 PRO Mk II

If you've always wanted to own a professional camera but could never afford it, this is the app you want.

To suggest some statistics, the app features 9 shooting modes, 21 filters for post processing, and a 54 page comprehensive user manual. Which app in the world comes with a 54 pages user manual?

The app features a histogram, self-timer (if you can find a decent stand for the iPhone), independent focus, white balance and exposure locks, spot and matrix metering and night mode exposures combined with high ISO support from extremely poor lit subjects. The app also has the ability to store images in TIFF format which is always a bonus for pro photographers.

The 645 PRO Mk II is available at the iTunes app store (click here) for $4.99 and makes for the most sound investment when it comes to photography apps.

*All prices are in Australian Dollars. Prices may vary depending on the region the app store and play store are accessed from.

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