Some of my favorite content to read these days is when bloggers or whoever shares phone photography tips. I think it’s so fun to see how people achieve a certain photography style or aesthetic with specific apps, editing tricks and/or filters. While I’m definitely no expert on this topic, I want to share my two favorite iPhone photo-editing apps because they’re quick, easy and yield great photo results!
Real quick, I want to offer up a couple tips. First being that even with phone photography, lighting is everything. Try to take photos outside or near a window so you get as much natural light as possible. That makes the editing process so much easier. Second, I recently discovered something that was equal parts ridiculous and a light-bulb moment. When editing phone pictures, MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE THE BRIGHTNESS TURNED ALL THE WAY UP! I’m sure some of you are thinking that’s such a duh statement, but it didn’t occur to me until recently. I’ve probably overexposed/over-edited a majority of my pictures because of this error. Oh well, such is life. But, you can bet that I won’t be making that mistake anymore!
Okay, onto the apps!
Snapseed | I’m obsessed with this app! I imagine it to be similar to Lightroom (and that’s what I’ve heard). I’ve even found myself sending photos from my computer to my phone so I can edit in this app. It’s pretty intuitive, so don’t get overwhelmed if you’re not an expert photo editor (hello, I’m definitely not). With any photo, I first go into Details to up the Structure and Sharpness. Then in Tune Image, I adjust the Brightness, Contrast and Saturation. I usually leave it at that since I’m not too familiar with anything else! From there, I save the image and open it in my other app …
Pic Tap Go | This is about as basic as it comes, but I truly love this app. It’s simple, straight-forward and easy to use. My favorite filter is Brightside – this is what I use on all my Instagram photos! I usually tone down the filter to 50% or so. There’s also the option to save favorite “recipes” in the app if there’s a combination of filters that you like to often use. If for some reason I don’t feel like editing a photo in Snapseed, I use a combination of Lights, Brightside and Crispity. Cool It Down or Air also are great filters if there’s too much warmth in a picture.
As far as storage/maintenance apps for photos, I use Google Photos to backup all my pictures. Not only do I adore this app because I easily can access the photos on my computer as well, but it’s a dream if you constantly run out of phone storage. I’m still operating on the 16GB iPhone 6, so storage is of the essence! Once I back up to the app, I can delete anything in the Photos app and get all that space back. I also use Planoly to plan and schedule Instagram posts, which makes managing that whole thing a piece of cake.
If you’re into phone photography and editing, just remember that it’s okay to keep it simple! It can be a little overwhelming to “keep up” these days, but obviously my two favorite iPhone photo-editing apps are nothing groundbreaking and I get by just fine. Keep it simple, keep it easy, and above all else, keep it fun!
What are your favorite photo-editing apps or filters?
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I use Planoly and love it too. I don’t use many apps to edit. I need to look into these.
Amy Ann
Straight A Style
Your pictures are SO good, I would argue you don’t need any editing! 🙂
I love snapseed! I use the selective feature to lighten or decrease the saturation in my backgrounds. I also LOVEEE ColorStory. It made a huge difference in helping me feel more cohesive. I haven’t heard of Pic Tap Go, I’ll have to check it out!
I’ve heard so many good things about Color Story but haven’t checked it out. I just might have to!
I love pic tap go and Afterlight for editing photos on my phone. I will have to try out Snapseed! Sounds like a great app! And now I’m off to try out Planoly! Great tips!
Love Snapsneed, it really helps fine-tune your images!
I am obsessed with pic tap go!! It’s the best!
I’m glad it’s not just me! Such an easy app to use.
I need to try Snapseed! I’m not sure why I haven’t yet!
Zelle | Southern Style
It’s definitely a good one!
I have recently gone back to Snapseed I really like the features on it!
Yeah, girl! There’s so much on it, but I still find it pretty easy to use.
A color Story is my go to app. I will check out snapseed though!
I’ve heard great things about A Color Story!
Your photos are always so bright and crisp! Thank you so much for the reminder about PicTapGo. I downloaded the app, and always forget to use it <3
Green Fashionista
Thanks, girl! And, you totally should give it a try – so easy and straight forward.
I really do need to get better about editing my pictures in general, but I really haven’t branched out to try anything. I love how you said that Snapseed was intuitive, and I’ll definitely check it out!
It is a great app! I guess it’s a little bit of a learning curve, but I’m horrible at editing so I figure if I can figure it out then so can others, lol. 🙂
Snapseed is my favorite too!! It does wonders for editing!
I’m glad I finally jumped into it – I think it has made such a difference with some of my photos!
I need to try Snapseed again because I could not figure it out. My go to is VSCO for everything now!
That’s funny because I couldn’t figure VSCO out so I gave up – ha! Your pictures always are so pretty.
Great info! You know I’m not the most savvy with pictures!
I think you could be if I showed you how!
LOVE Snapseed. I’ll have to check out the other one. Thanks!
~Samantha
http://goldcoastgirlblog.com
So good! Can’t believe I waited so long to give it a try.
I seriously have like 10 editing apps on my phone and never use any of them! I have Snapseed but I don’t think I’ve ever used it since downloading it but now I need to try! <3, Pamela Sequins & Sea Breezes
You definitely should! I was guilty of having a bunch on my phone, too so it was nice to get rid of the rest and only have these two.
I have so many editing apps on my phone LOL! The majority of the time I edit in Instagram itself…but I need to try snapseed!! xo, Biana-BlovedBoston
Instagram itself really has come a long way with their editing features! Your pictures are so good, I wouldn’t change a thing of what you’re doing!
Snapseed & PicTapGo are my go to apps on my phone for editing photos. Then i use vsco.
I really need to figure out VSCO – I thought it was so confusing!