My Favorite Editing Apps
Whether you're using your iPhone, a GoPro, point and shoot camera, or DSLR, editing your pictures can really bring out certain elements that the camera just wasn't able to fully capture. I personally like editing my pictures on my phone better, but that is mainly because I am comfortable doing that, and I am not super familiar with computer editing programs. I use a variety of apps to edit my photos depending on what I am trying to emphasize or highlight.
Quick Editing Apps
These are apps that don't require you to do much besides throw a filter on your picture. Sometimes, in a pinch, I love this type of app- my personal favorite is Tezza. It's basically an app full of presets and this was what I was using for a while before discovering lightroom. Tezza offers about 6 free presets and then a bunch of paid presets. Below is a before and after using the "Vintage" preset (my favorite). VSCO is another app that has some pretty good presets, and once again they offer both free and paid presets. I typically use Tezza if I want to brighten up my pictures and make certain colors pop, and I use VSCO more if I want to tone down my colors and lessen the saturation.
Film Camera Apps
Two other apps I love using are Dispo and Huji Film. Both of these apps are supposed to be like disposable / film cameras but for your iPhone. Dispo is essentially a disposable camera (created by David Dobrik) and basically you take the pictures and then the next day at 9am they are "developed" and ready to be viewed. I do not recommend using this app for taking pictures in bright light as it can your pictures really dark, but it definitely does create some cool disposable camera looking pictures! I've noticed the best lighting to use this app in is either indoor lighting or the dark with the flash on. Huji film is another app that can create some really cool pictures. Huji adjusts the colors of your pictures and also puts a date stamp on your picture which gives it the old picture vibe.
(Dispo App) (Huji Film)
Quick Fixes
My go-to app for quick fixes is Facetune. While this app is not free, I have definitely gotten my use out of it!! Whether I need to give my teeth a quick whiten, fix a fly away hair, get rid of a blemish, whatever, Facetune literally can fix almost anything. I try to use this app pretty discreetly though because sometimes you can definitely tell when someone facetunes too much, but it is definitely handy to have for quick fixes!
More in Depth Editing
Recently, I have really been trying to focus on editing the elements of my pictures rather than just throwing a filter or a preset on them. I typically use two apps for this - Afterlight and Lightroom Mobile. For a while, afterlight was my go to for this type of editing, until I discovered Lightroom, but I still love afterlight! This app lets you basically adjust all of the elements of your photos: saturation, contrast, shadows, etc. I love the control this allows me to have over my photos. More recently, I have really been using Lightroom Mobile. This app essentially does the same thing as after light, but offers a little bit more, and I have grown to become most comfortable using this app. Lightroom also allows you to purchase, download, or create your own presets which I love. I LOVE the MyLifeAsEva basics preset pack ($10), and use them on several of my photos. Below is a before and after of a spider web I edited using Lightroom Mobile.
(A quick tip is to crop your photos instead of zooming in!! Cropping gives such a crisper image)
Obviously everybody is different in the apps they prefer to use to edit, and I'm sure there are so many other great apps out there that I haven't discovered yet, but for now, these are my personal favorite editing apps, and then ones that I use the most. Thanks for reading, and never forget, there's always more to be explored!
-nicole elizabeth
