The Five Best Photo Apps...

in my opinion, right now.

I use my iPhone as a camera at least as much as I use it as a phone.  There are some photography apps that I consider a necessity, that if I restore the phone, they immediately go back on.  This list is the first five of those.

1.  This might not count because it comes with the phone, but I have to mention the stock Photo app.  It is fast and simple and takes most of my pictures.  I have tried a number of camera replacement apps, and they all seemed like good ideas, but I always end up using this more.

2. Hipstamatic.  See my other posts about this app.  It is fun and does exactly what you want, if you want to use it that way.  If you don't you can use the random feature and let it surprise you.  I wouldn't use it for taking my most important pics because it doesn't save an original, unfiltered version.  For fun random shots though, it can't be beat.

3. Camera+ This could make the list just for the Clarity filter.  It looks bad on some photos here and there, but is works on most.  The ones it works on, it drastically improves the photo.  Not in a spent a bunch of time in Photoshop way, but the best one button improvement I know of.  I also use this app for my cropping and the occasional border.

4. Camera TimerDC.  Not so much because I need a timer for 1 photo very often, but because I can set it to take a photo every 1 second for 100 photos.  You can change that to less photos or to more time if need be.  I use this a lot with a little pocket tripod when I am doing something like skateboarding with my girlfriend and want us both in the picture.  Or when some friends and I are watching the sunset and I want us all in the photos instead of someone being excluded.  The 100 shots means the photos aren't so posed and hit or miss.  The app shoots a bunch of us having fun and later I pick out the best couple.

5. Instagram.  I debated putting this in and in the end I had to.  It is just too good at what it does.  I don't ever use the filters, but to share photos and see photos it is perfect.  I probably spend too much time on Instagram, but it is just a really cool platform.

That is five.  I use them constantly.  There are plenty of other photo apps on my phone of course, some of them that do really cool things.  In a later post maybe I will highlight some of the apps that I don't want to use too often, but still don't want to be without.