about iPhoneagraphy

Today, I thought I'd write about one of my more recent hobbies. (Or Aaron might call it an addiction.)

I love taking pictures with my iPhone.

Me with my iPhone 4s and it's 8 megapixel camera.

Now, you hand me a camera, and I'll hand it right back. I have no idea how to work a camera, let alone one of those fancy cameras that people have.

But, I have schooled myself in the art of taking pretty iPhone pictures in the past year or so.

One way I did this was participating in FATMUMSLIM's Photo a Day Challenge for a whole year. Chantelle, who is the author of the Photo a Day challenge, often writes blog posts on iPhoneagraphy. She is where I got a lot of my limited knowledge.

I also love photo editing apps.

Seriously, I'm no photographer. At all. But, with the right filter, any picture can look way better.

Some of my favorite photography apps, in no particular order, are:

1. VSCO Cam:

It was recently re-released as a free app. I was only a tiny bit sad that I had forked over the $.99 months ago. It's way better now. And I may or may not have splurged for the bundle of all of their cool filters...   Anyway. Here's a photo I took and then edited with VSCO Cam.

2. AfterLight:

What I like about AfterLight is they have a lot of cool frames and textures. Both of these pictures were edited and framed with AfterLight.

3. Camera+:

Camera+ is another editing app that has some cool pre-set effects that I like. I mainly use it for the "Toy Camera" and "HDR" effects. Here's what they do:

4. Over:

Over was recently one of the Starbuck's Apps of the Week. But, if you weren't lucky enough to pick that up, I think it's $.99 in the App Store. Over lets you add text to your photos. For example...

5. PicFrame:

PicFrame lets you put multiple photos into one collage. It lets you add up to nine or ten, I think. It also has some frames, and you can add text.

6. Whitagram:

Whitagram is basically only useful if you are posting to Instagram (we will get to Instagram in a minute). If you know Instagram, you know the photos you post must be square. Well, if you don't want to crop your pretty photo into a square, Whitagram is your ticket. 

7. A Beautiful Mess:

A Beautiful Mess might just be the most adorable photo app out there. I. Love. It. I try not to be annoying and use it all the time. Or else I totally would. It has the cutest borders, doodles, phrases, and fonts to add over your photos. It's $.99 in the App Store.

8. Instagram:

Obviously. Oh, Instagram. What do I say? Basically all of the photos I already posted were then shared, and perhaps even edited further, with Instagram. Instagram is the reason I got all of those other apps. It's the place to share your "masterpieces" (I use that term very loosely). I love, love, love Instagram. If I had to choose between Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, Instagram would win. Always.

I'll stop with eight. In case you're wondering, no, I don't use every app every time I'm editing a picture. I normally stick with one or two at a time! A lot of them do very similar things, so you can pick and choose. I'd be happy to answer any questions!

And, if you don't already, follow me on Instagram: @whitneylbauer. I'd love to follow you back!