Nowadays, everybody has a camera on their phone. And that's good because it means that if you're having an amazing time with your friends and all of you want to keep the memories alive; no problem, just hit the camera icon on your screen and take some pictures!
But wait… what photo app should you choose? What are the best photography apps for you? Well, fear not fam. Here's a list of what we consider to be the best photography apps around so you can make the process even easier.
The most convenient photo app: Snapsheed
First up, we have Snapsheed. It was introduced in 2012 and it is by far one of the easiest apps to use. You download it for free on your iPhone, iPod or iPad so you won't have to pay anything if you don't want to! What makes this app stand out from the rest is that it gives you really high-resolution pictures.
Another great feature? The number of filters they have available is just amazing! There are about 100 different filters divided into 6 categories: vintage, retro, grunge, colored, black & white, and analog.
Want more good news? They keep adding new features all the time which means that this app will never get boring or outdated… also helping with #staying-relevant.
This photography app is one of our favorites because, although it offers high-resolution pictures, you can choose how high you want your photos to be with the vintage camera look which makes them go all blurry in some parts giving them that special retro feeling we all love!
VSCO Cam
This is one of the most popular photography apps around and it's free! You can also choose to upgrade your app for $1.99 if you want more filters and editing capabilities.
As mentioned above, this app gives great quality pictures with its high-resolution photos… but wait there's more good news ahead. VSCO cam only takes up about 40MB of space on your phone which is way less than other photography apps take up! It definitely gets an A+ for that since it'll leave room for all those selfies you're going to be taking with your friends.
And don't worry, even though the storage is low it still offers a lot of different tools like exposure, contrast, shadows, warmth, etc. which will help you improve the quality of your pictures.
There's also a nice feature that allows you to edit videos and add filters in just one tap so if you want to cut costs and not pay for expensive editing apps, this photo app is great!
Camera +
Here we have Camera +. This app has almost everything you would expect from a photography app: lots of different tools, high-resolution pictures and it's free!
You won't be paying anything but what makes it really special and unique is the ability to use multiple exposure shots (which means super cool lighting effects like these ones: picture #1 picture #2 ).
The only downside we found about this photo app was that photo editing capabilities weren't as great as some of the other apps we tested but overall, it was a really good experience and the high-resolution pictures definitely make up for it.
Dark skies
Next up, we have Dark Skies. This photography app only costs 99 cents but it's definitely worth the price! The first noticeable feature about this app is that it has a really cool slow shutter speed effect which adds a nice touch to your pictures and makes them look all vintage… just like Instagram does!
You can also change the aperture of your photos so even though you're taking HDR shots, this app will help you improve the quality by allowing you to choose how large or small you want the aperture to be.
If you don't want to take multiple exposures for those lighting effects there's no need! Dark skies also gives you an option for double tap to lighten shadows so if one picture doesn't turn out as good as you expected, this one will definitely save the day!
EyeEm
This is another high-resolution photography app that allows you to take all the pictures you want for free. After each shot your picture gets sent to an online database where other people can download them and vote on them; if your photo gets voted at least 3 stars you get points which make it possible for you to upgrade your account (to remove ads or unlock cool features like more editing tools).
This photo app also has lots of filters available but what really makes this stand out from the rest is that it has a really cool feature called "themes". If you don't have time to edit & crop your pictures before uploading them online, EyeEm will choose a theme for a photo and give it a nice look before sending it to the database.
This photography app also has a really good editing panel where you can edit the quality of your pictures, adjust their dimensions, add filters, etc. so if you don't have time for all that but still want good quality pictures this is definitely the one for you!
Magic hour
The fifth photography app we tried is called Magic hour! Just like the name says, this app has lots of different filters that will make your pictures all magical. It also has a lot of tools to change the aspect of your picture by adjusting its dimensions (which can be useful if you want to fit more people in one shot for example).
And finally, what makes magic hour stand out from other apps is that it enables users to create their own filter presets which can then be downloaded by other users! This simply means that with the magic hour you'll never run out of filters for your photos and on top of that, you can create a filter that hasn't been made yet so there's really no limit to how creative you can get!
Sun position
This photography app is a little different from the others because it doesn't have all the features that the other apps have. However, what it does have is an extremely useful feature called "sun position". This app tells you where the sun is positioned in the sky at any given time and date so you can plan your shoots accordingly!
You don't even need to take pictures with this app, you can use it to plan your shots for videos as well! The app itself is very intuitive and easy to use so if you want your pictures to turn out bright & sunny, this is the perfect photo app for you!
Photography app with best filters: iDarkroom
One more app for you is iDarkroom.
What makes this photo app stand out from all the others is that it has some really cool filters that can be used with live photos. It also lets users choose various presets based on different lighting conditions (from minimal light to extreme darkness) which can then be used by editing any of your pictures.
Another great thing about iDarkroom is that it allows image ratio control so if there's a problem cropping a picture, this tool helps correct it easily. And last but not least, it has a really good noise reduction filter which can be used to clean up pictures that are a bit too noisy.
Hyperfocal DOF
This photography app is a little different from the others because it doesn't have all the features that the other apps have.
What it does have, however, is a Depth of Field calculator which can be used to calculate hyperfocal distances for different aperture and focal lengths! This simply means that if you want to take pictures with a blurry background, this app will help you do just that!
It also has a really good and easy-to-use user interface so if you're looking for an app that does one specific thing (and does it well), this is the perfect app for you!
My Tide Times
What's really cool about this photography app is that it not only tells you the tide times for your location but also the moon phases and sun rise & set times! This can be really useful if you want to take pictures of landscapes with the perfect lighting or even if you just want to plan a day out at the beach!
Yr.No
Another app that we really liked is called Yr.No. What makes this photo app so unique is that it combines weather data with astronomical data to give you the most accurate information possible about the weather conditions for your location!
This app can be used for a lot of different purposes, from planning outdoor activities to simply getting an idea of what the weather will be like in the next few days. And if that's not enough, Yr.No also has a blog where you can find interesting articles about weather and astronomy!
Pocket Light Meter
One more app that really stood out from the crowd is called Pocket Light Meter. What makes this app stand out from all the others is that it has a large variety of measuring modes! In other words, you can use it to figure out how bright your picture will be before taking it and adjust your settings accordingly!
It also has a good user interface and we liked the fact that all of its features can be used for free (even though there are in-app purchases). And last but not least, we like the fact that users can calibrate their screen's brightness since different screens display light differently and this feature lets users achieve consistent results every time!
Best Photo app with vintage styles: Gorilla Cam
If you're looking for an app that will let you take pictures with a really cool vintage look, Gorilla Cam is the perfect app for you! This photo app has a wide range of filters and editing tools that can be used to give your pictures that retro feel.
One thing to note, however, is that not all of the filters are free so if you want to use them all, you'll have to purchase the full version of the app. But even without the paid filters, Gorilla Cam is still a lot of fun to use and can produce some really great results!
Sylights
This photography app will let you play with light in every possible way; it has tons of different filters (all for free), many different editing tools, and even some effects like flares, bokeh, swirlies,F and more!
The only downside to this app is that not all of the filters are perfect so don't expect them all to look great on your pictures. But another thing that we really liked about this photo app is that it's ad-supported which means that if you install this app, you'll have access to a lot of cool features without spending anything at all!
Bottom line
Generally speaking, photo apps usually do one thing or another but there are some exceptions. The apps that we've listed here are all great because they offer something different and can be really useful for photographers of all levels! So if you're looking for a new photography app to try out, we suggest giving one of these a go!