It's all about photo apps.

Review: Mono Phix: A Monochrome Masterpiece?

What does it do?

Monophix from UIC Phoenxsoftware allows users to create high-quality monochrome images with an atmospheric, vintage feel. The thing that really stands out about this app is that users are given complete control of how their photos look with the help of handy and precise intensity sliders, an addition every photo app developer should be looking to implement in the future…

Pros

• There are a lot of detailed settings and effects on offer in Mono Phix that you don’t normally come across with other standard photo applications, such as colour levels, noise intensity, posterization, exposure, light and dark shade intensity and much much more.

• The user has complete control over all of these settings with little intensity sliders that can easily be swiped back and forth.
• The Settings tab gives users a choice of different films, allows them to select the transparency of overlays and has an option to enable retina preview for certain devices, which are all welcome additions.
• The app is easy to use with a very simple UI, yet at the same time seems more serious than a lot of other photo apps, which are more about convenience and less about control.
• The final results are of an exceptionally high quality, which is to be expected from an app that puts precision at its core.

Cons

• There are no social sharing options available after you’ve created a final image using Mono Phix, just the option to save it to the camera roll. Having said that, this certainly isn’t the kind of app you’d quickly use to edit a photo, it’s more about taking the time to get it just right. So although in many ways the lack of sharing options is a negative, it is fitting with the overall aims of the app.
• It does take time for the photo to be saved to you camera roll, but with the quality you get at the end, it’s easy to overlook that minor detail.

Do you need it?

This is certainly a good option for those that love monochrome images and want to have control over exactly how their final results will look.

It’s not a convenient, quick-fix app that you can apply a filter to in a hurry, but certainly delivers when it comes to unique, high-quality, vintage images.

Sample photos

REVIEW: DYNAMIC LIGHT

What does it do?

 Dynamic Light from Mediachance is an optimized tool for creating  HDR-like effects on the iPhone. This app enriches the details,  colours, and shadows of a picture, giving it more punch.

Pros

• What I like most about this app is its simplicity and flexibility.
• The level of HDR can be altered simply by rotating the “Dynamic Light” dial.
• It’s flexible because you can toggle between the before and after shots by tapping the screen. You can also see the image divided into two halves to show the contrast clearly.
  
         

• Many apps with a similar function tend to use heavy sharpening and over-saturate pictures, making them look unrealistic. Dynamic Light actually improves the look of the initial picture without overdoing it.
• Even if you are not a big fan of HDR effects, you can choose to rotate the dial only slightly so to bring out the shadows and details of your picture, instantly making it appear of higher quality.
• For extras, not only can you control the HDR settings, but filters are also offered for additional effects. 

                  

Cons

• There is quite a delay in saving shots.
• Final results can only be saved to the camera roll. Additional sharing options to social networks would make it much more convenient to use.

Do you need it?

I’m personally not a huge fan of HDR, but if you are, then I’d strongly recommend Dynamic Light to you. This app is also good for those who enjoy taking outdoors and landscape photos. And if like me, you are simply looking to improve the look of your shots with a simple swipe of a dial, then this app for $0.99 is a good bargain.

Sample photos

Composition: How To Apply The Rule of Thirds With Your Mobile

The rule of thirds is a compositional rule that’s not only prevalent in photography, but also painting, design and any other visual art.

It’s based upon the idea that an image looks better if a grid of nine squares, three by three, is placed over it and used to determine where certain subjects or focal points sit.

In this way, instead of putting your subject in the centre of the image, which is a common pitfall of many beginners, you should put it along the lines themselves and if possible at the points where the lines meet. 

There are many ideas as to why following this rule of thumb makes for better final results. It certainly makes photos look generally more balanced and following the rule when taking photos of landscapes means you don’t cut the view in half with the horizon. It’s also been suggested that our eyes don’t naturally look into the centre of a photograph first, which is why it could look messy and a little out of place.

For whatever reason, it’s a popular rule, one of the first things taught to photography students and wheeled out by many amateurs who claim to know what they’re talking about!

But how can you apply it using your mobile device?

As you improve and start ‘thinking in thirds’ when you take photographs, you’ll be able to visualise the lines and their intersections yourself. However, until then, you’ll need the aid of an app to be able to see them clearly and get the best possible results.

A lot of normal photo applications with filters and effects have grids already integrated into their camera functions, here’s a list of some of our favourites:

• Magic Hour
• 100 Cameras in One - this app let’s you apply a rule of thirds grid and a golden ratio grid.
• Camera+

There are also some applications designed to help you visualise all kinds of different grids and get the best composition for your photographs. These include:

• GCamera - Multi Grid Finder
• Camera Pro - Live Histogram
• Composition Essentials from QuickPro - a little too pricey.

There are obviously many options for you to edit photographs later in order to ‘force’ them onto a grid, so you can use your favourite editing app to crop, move, rotate and flip until you get it right, we recommend Adobe Photoshop Express for quick and easy on-the-go editing. 

The thing to remember when learning about composition and particularly the popular rule of thirds is that rules are made to be broken, so don’t be put off if a great shot doesn’t quite fit the mould!

App Shoot-Out: Panorama Autostitch VS Pano

 vs 

What do they do?

Both AutoStitch and Pano stitches multiple photos together to create panorama images. The effect of the resulting images produced by both apps are similar, but their approaches are slightly different.

Autostitch

User-Interface

Winner: AutoStitch

Both apps are very simple to navigate. There is no built-in camera in AutoStitch, instead, you can directly access your iPhone’s camera roll in order to choose the images you wish to stitch together. The bottom panel displays the selected photos. Press “stitch”, and voila! Incredibly simple and straightforward.

Pano displays a camera shutter with concise instructions on the top, and a “ghostly” guide in between shots to help you with the overlaps. Although this helps you align shots, it can be quite tough to use. Like AutoStitch, there are minimal buttons and instructions. Final images are automatically saved to your camera roll.

   

Autostitch
 

Flexibility

Winner: AutoStitch

With Autostitch, you can take multiple rows of images, which means you can produce panoramic images in terms of both length and height. As it uses photos from the iPhone’s camera roll, you have the freedom to take photos now and process them later. This also means that your images can be edited by another app before being stitched together.

In contrast, Pano is restricted to taking photos in one straight line, which means you can’t add more height to them. 

Speed

Winner: Autostitch

Both apps take several seconds to stitch images together, but Pano requires relatively more time. This is because AutoStitch has no photo-taking function but Pano does. There is quite a delay in between taking and saving images with Pano’s camera. Moreover, the lining up of images between each shot with the guiding tool can be tough, and this too will delay the process.

Quality of finished image

Winner: Pano

AutoStitch uses photos from the camera roll and automatically recognizes matching images. This is fast, but quick snaps taken with the iPhone camera might be blurry,and AutoStitch’s blending ability is not always perfect. The resulting image is acceptable, but sometimes requires improvement.

On the other hand, although Pano requires more time and is trickier to use, it seems to produce panorama images of higher quality. Each picture is taken and processed slowly, the lining up of the guide lines are done with precision, and this shows in the end result.

Pano

Sharing

Winner: AutoStitch

AutoStitch gives you the options to post your photos onto Facebook, Twitter, or email. Pano only saves your images to your camera roll. 

Verdict

If you are looking for something that is simple and flexible, then AutoStitch is the obvious winner. I had a lot of fun playing around with this app and experimenting with different landscapes. The resulting images are satisfying but are sometimes blurry. However, if you are looking to create more professional looking images, Pano might be limited but produces beautiful results. Personally, I have been using AutoStitch more often as it’s simply faster and easier to use, but when I have the time, I’m looking forward to work more with Pano.

Sample photos

Autostitch

Pano

                             
  - AutoStitch

  - Pano

Review: PhotoBoost

What does it do?

Photo Boost from Carrafix is a fun and easy-to-use application that allows users to do a range of things with their photos, including applying selective colour, adding blur, changing the focus and stretching parts of the image. It’s marketed as a fun app and certainly delivers in that respect, whilst also providing the user with some good quality effects that rival other popular apps on the market.

Pros

• There are four main effects, including Stretch, Colorize, Focus or Twirl & Bump that are all introduced with a little guide that explain buttons and finger strokes.
• One thing I love the most about the app is just how easy it is to apply the effects, there’s something particularly intuitive about the way it works, the buttons that are included and even where the buttons are placed.

• There’s an undo option, which allows you to take as many steps back as you need. 
• Users can share their final results to Twitter, Facebook or send via email and although we’re increasingly seeing more sharing options than this in other apps, it’s good that PhotoBoost does have the basics covered off.
• All of the effects are good, but admittedly some are just their to be fun and novel additions. My personal favourite has to be Focus to add depth of field to your images, as it allows you to quickly and easily create blur effects and pan and zoom around the image itself. I particularly like the glowing edges effect that you can create with this option if you don’t stay strictly to the outside edges.

• The app feels quirky and unusual with little additions, such as the fact the effects move from side to side if you move your phone when you’re on the main home screen.
• There’s the option to select between a Small, Medium or Large size photo at the end, which is necessary when there are options to save to social networks and larger images may not upload properly or look a little messy.

Cons

• PhotoBoost isn’t a serious app, which to some people may seem like a negative. However, it certainly isn’t branded as one and the Focus and Colorize effects are pretty handy and rival other apps that are created to just add selective colour, or just allow you to play around with blurring.

• The four different effects are more than enough in my eyes as I admire the simplicity of PhotoBoost, but I imagine the app would be more invaluable to other users if there was a wider choice available.

Do you need it?

Both Focus and Colorize are two great tools which allow users to make changes to their favourite photos and save them as high quality images. The other two options seem much more like novelty effects and although I’m usually not attracted to those kinds of apps, the simple UI and easy to follow instructions actually made distorting my face very fun! 

The app itself isn’t groundbreaking or the best application for making edits to photos, but no matter how seriously you take photography, there’s always room for an app like PhotoBoost.

Sample photos

REVIEW: KALEIDACAM

What does it do?

KaleidaCam is a pattern app from Dapper Owl which turns your   iPhone into an electronic kaleidoscope. By splitting images into   reflected  wedges, this minimalist app creates infinite beautiful patterns with  even the plainest looking objects.

Pros

• Straightforward and easy to use. The only setting it lets you alter is the number of sides of the pattern.

                      

• Makes high quality pictures which are good enough to share.
• You can do so conveniently via the app’s library, to Facebook, Twitter, or various other social media.
• Just watching KaleidaCam at work can be pretty fascinating as you see new patterns and shapes emerge with the slightest movement of your iPhone.
• Overall, a fun app that gives you an abstract view of everyday things.

Cons

• The patterns are beautiful, but it’s hard to tell what it is that you are actually capturing. 
• Not everyone will like the abstract effects KaleidaCam creates.
• There is a slight delay when saving photos.

Do you need it?

If you are the artistic kind who appreciates a different and unique perspective, then KaleidaCam is a fun “toy camera” to play with. Personally, I like how simple this app is, and how it only does one thing, and does it well.

Sample photos

Review: Bleach Bypass

What does it do?

Bleach Bypass is the first photo application from Fotosyn, which promises to deliver high quality image processing and a range of cinematic effects. The app itself is named after the development process of colour film, which skips bleaching and removes the silver in the emulsion. The resulting effects are desaturated colours, the option of heavy vignetting and plenty of lovely contrast. 

Pros

• One of the main focuses of this app is the high quality image processing and it really does deliver, giving users the option to select output image size as well. In this way Bleach Bypass strikes me as an app that could be used by actual photographers, as apposed to some other photo editing applications that are just fun, novel and aimed solely at beginners. 

• There are eight different effects available at the moment, including Cinematic, Extreme and Nostalgia. All of these effects mimic the bleach bypassing process, but do bring distinct differences to the table, which doesn’t make the fact there isn’t a wide choice seem too limiting.
• There’s a settings tab which includes an image size selection as well as the option to add vignetting and a choice of borders.
• The UI is perfect, unbelievably clean and easy to use and the effect selection menu reminds me of Lo-Mob.

Cons

• I’m pleased with my final results from this application, but in future it might be handy to see more control over the effects, maybe with a slider to control intensity or an option to add blurring. 
• Final photos can only be saved to the camera roll or shared via email, which seems like a shame to the avid social networker.
• I suppose the fact processing takes much longer than with other applications could be a con, but it’s worth it when you see the quality of the images at the end.

Do you need it?

Bleach Bypass really stands out due to the high quality of the final images, the effects and the simple UI. 

There seems to be a general misconception that you need to cram new photo applications with hundreds of effects, but if you deliver just a few that are varied and of a high quality that really doesn’t have to be the case and Bleach Bypass proves that.

It’s not free, but it’s not expensive either, so I’d definitely recommend this application for beginners who want something clean and simple, or more advanced photographers who are looking for a photo application that offers something a bit different and puts high quality final results at the forefront of its offering.

Sample photos

REVIEW: GORILLACAM

What does it do?

Gorillacam gives you some useful functions that your iPhone is missing.This no-fuss application from Joby aims to give you more control and ease when taking snapshots with functions such as a self-timer, time-lapse, 3-shot burst, and more.

Pros

• It’s easy to use. The application uses the original UI of the iPhone’s camera with the addition of a few buttons, so no new learning is required.
• It’s Fast. Have you ever missed a in-the-moment shot because you had to wait for one photo to save before you could take another? This is where the auto-save feature works wonders - by saving photos in the background you can take shot after shot, uninterrupted.
• Helps to align your shots. For on-the-move users like myself, I find that functions such as the Time-lapse, Bubble-Level and Grid-overlay are helpful in creating more crisp and aligned photos.

        

• Self Portraits made simple for people without iPhone 4. If you enjoy snapping self-portraits but find it a hassle to locate the shutter button with your arm oustretched, you’ll appreciate the Press Anywhere feature which turns the whole screen into a shutter button.
• Automatic Shots. The Self-timer feature which sets your iPhone to automatically take timed photos, means that no one has to be left out in a group shot!

Cons

• If you are looking to create fancy artistic pictures, this isn’t the best app for you. All it does is provide features that a rudimentary camera should have.
• There are no sharing options other than through email, which makes it quite inconvenient if you enjoy sharing your work via social media or networks.

Do you need it?

I would say, why not? It is a free application, which has functions that will come in handy. I certainly found it helpful for group shots, self-portraits, and for pictures taken with my iPhone on a tripod.

Gorillacam isn’t looking to do anything too showy, only to satisfy the basic needs of any mobile photographer to take clearer and crisper photos.

Photo Recipe: Tasty Sky Shots

First of a new series of how to’s. Recipe provided by Bob Severns. Click on the image to see it in full size. 

If you use this recipe, please tag your photo with #Tastyskyshots

There is nothing like a bold colorful sky shot to fill your appetite for natural beauty. Here is a quick recipe for creating Tasty Sky Shots to share with friends and family.

Ingredients: 

• Pretty or Interesting Sky
• Foreground object such as a tree or hill
• Visible horizon line
• Large mixing bowl (the iCamera HDR application)
• FX Photo Studio for adding bold flavor 
• iDarkroom to tie all these wonderful flavors together
• Lensflare to make your dish sparkle

Preparation:

Begin with your sky. Here, I took two shots of a dramatic sky with the HDR setting turned on on my iPhone 4.

 

Cooking:

1. For one of the shots, I tapped the street so that the iPhone would bring out the details in the street. For the other shot, I tapped the sky area close to the sun so that the iPhone would bring out the dramatic detail of the clouds. *Note: For the beginner chef, I suggest preparing your first Tasty Sky Shot standing still. 

2. Next, place two sky shots into your large mixing bowl. iCamera HDR will align the photos and begin its magic. How long you mix is up to you. You will notice that my mixing created some hard little chunks on the edge of the bowl. It is okay, as we will discard these later when we add spice. The image is saved from iCamera HDR to the Camera Roll.

3. Next, remove the unwanted hard bits by cropping with FX Photo Studio.

4. Now is the time to add spice (to taste). I often find great spices in the Color Fantasy section of FX Photo Studio. Here, you can see different moods created with this application. Play with different presets and settings. Here is my decided effect

5. I often add more spice with the Cross Process filter and slim black Vignette within iDarkroom.

6. Finally, garnish your plate with a lens flare from the Lensflare app.

7. Serve your dish warm to your friends and family using Steply. This application is my serving dish of choice since it allows me to share my creations with the wonderful Steply community and also many other popular Social Networking sites. Don’t forget to tag it #tastyskyshots

Bon Appetit!

If you want to try this recipe, please hashtag it #tastyskyshots. If you have your own photo recipe, you can let us know using the contact form.

Review: Camera FX

What does it do?

The Camera FX mobile application from SEB allows users to toggle between photo and video functionality and then apply live grunge effects, pop art effects or filter effects before saving them to the dedicated in-app gallery.

Pros

• You can toggle between single shot and video mode really easily.

• There’s a dedicated photo gallery within the app itself, which I think is a great addition because sometimes I want to save photos but don’t like lots of them to clutter up my Camera Roll.
• There doesn’t seem to be an option to specify the resolution of your final image, even though  but the samples I’ve saved so far are of a pretty high quality - even when sent by email and viewed on a larger screen.
• Some of the pop art filters are pretty garish but quite fun all the same! The grunge effects have the usual distressed edges you’d expect from most apps and although some of them are a little over the top, one or two are pretty good and produce pleasing final results. The general filters section has a decent range as well, with the usual sepia, B&W, saturated style effects. 

• One of my cons below is the ‘camera effect’ interface, but there’s an information section that overlays the screen with notes, which makes the various little buttons and switches easier to understand.

Cons

• The UI is a little confusing at first, created to look like you’re using a ‘proper’ digital camera. I can see why some people may find this appealing and cute because it’s a feature of many other applications, but to be honest we all know we’re using a phone to take photos, so why pretend we’re not…
• The fact it’s set out like a camera means the buttons are a little fiddly and it took me one or two tries to select what I wanted. Of course this could well be a problem with my chubby fingers! 
• Some of the filters are really great but as none of them are named and you can’t save your favourites, it might take a bit of getting used to in order to find the ones you’re after each time you take a new photo.
• There are no sharing options other than saving to the in-app gallery, camera roll or sending by email. 

Do you need it?

Like iSimpleEffect earlier this week, this is another application that doesn’t feel quite right yet, but does have a few redeeming features.

If you like the set-up of apps like Hipstamatic that make it feel like you’re using an older camera, then this is a fun addition to your app collection. However, simplicity is key for me so it won’t be joining my favourites list.

There are plenty of filters available within Camera FX and although you’re not going to create a prize winning photo with them, they are very fun and a little different. If you’re not phased by the UI, then I’d definitely recommend taking the time to work through the different filters and figure out which work for you and which are just novelty effects.

Sample photos