[SNAP] Awesome Apps for Photographers

The Best Photography Apps

Your smartphone comes with a camera app that lets you take pictures and do some basic editing. In many cases, a quick crop, rotate, or contrast adjustment will do the job. But when you want to add some extra pizazz or pro-level touches to your photos, a variety of apps are available to make it easy. Here are some of the top-rated apps to help you fine tune your snaps, with a focus on outdoor photgraphy.

VSCO has a unique processing algorithm that quickly produces film-like results when adjusting images. VSCO (developed by Visual Supply Company) can handle photos and short videos (animated GIFs are supported on iOS). Users can adjust photos using a wide variety of preset filters, or use the toolkit to tweak fade, clarity, skin tone, tint, sharpen, saturation, contrast, temperature, exposure, and other properties. Users can export images to their own VSCO profiles, which are like Facebook pages without the clutter and drama of likes and comments. Images can also be shared to other social media profiles and saved back to the camera roll of one’s Google account. Users can follow each other like on Twitter, search for images or creators, and compile searchable collections of images from the VSCO network. Free for Android or iOS.

Google’s own Snapseed app is one of the most powerful photo-editing apps available. It includes 29 tools and filters; opens JPG and RAW files; and saves “looks” that you create to be applied to other images in the future. All of the styles can be tweaked with precise control. The “tune image” tool adjusts color and exposure automatically or manually. The “Details” tool brings out surface textures sharply. “Perspective” perfects the geometry of horizons or buildings. “Control Point” lets you select up to 8 points on an image and enhance them all with one click. These are just a few of the features in Snapseed. Free for Android or iOS.

Open Camera does the basics of image editing and then some. You can snap photos by voice command or touch, for instance; nice for “hands-free” selfies. Controls can be optimized for left- or right-handed users. The app can be locked in portrait or landscape orientation. Open Camera has multiple focus modes, color effects, white balance, stabilization, exposure compensation, and more. The overlay grid helps you compose the perfect picture. Free for Android.

PhotoPills is widely considered the best app for landscape, night sky, and travel photography. It’s the first photo app to include a 2D Map-Centric Milky Way Planner, which helps photographers plan the best times to photograph the Sun, Moon, and Milky Way at any given point on Earth. An Augmented Reality Viewer helps you envision exactly how celestial bodies and terrestrial features such as hills will interact over time, so you can be there with your camera at exactly the right moment. PhotoPills has an Awards program in which you can share your photos and be rewarded in cash. $9.99 for Android or iOS.

Tides Near Me is useful to seascape photographers. It draws data from nearby tide stations to tell you current tidal conditions, next and last high and low tides, when the Sun and Moon rise or set. Free for Web, Android or iOS.

Maps.me is an elegantly simple offline maps app that does not use up expensive international data service. Just download the map sets for the countries you will visit before you go, Then restaurants, ATMs, landmarks, cultural sites, WiFi hotspots, and other points of interest to travelers will be at your fingertips as long as you have GPS service. Free for Android or iOS .

Light Pollution Map lets you easily locate the darkest ground, where light pollution will least interfere with stargazing and celestial photography. Includes Moon phases, rising and setting times and positions. Free version is low resolution/accuracy and contains ads. For Android or iOS.

Peak Finder locates named peaks in mountain ranges using augmented reality tech. A 360-degree panoramic view shows mountains within 300 km (186 miles) of your location. Just open the app, point your phone in the direction you’re facing, and Peak Finder identifies mountains in front of you. Works with GPS so it does not burn data service. Free for Web (Free) or $4.99 for Android or iOS.

Do you use any of these photography apps, or have a favorite of your own? Your thoughts on this topic are welcome. Post your comment or question below...