Photo Tips: Android Photography Applications
We’ve researched applications available for Android that can help you enhance and improve your photographs. Here are a few apps for simple and quick image editing to get you started!
Photo Editing
For basic image editing, Adobe Photoshop Express is a great application! It gives you the ability to alter exposure, saturation, tint, contrast & brightness quickly for simple image edits.
Combining Multiple Photos
Everyone loves combining multiple photos into one! A simple and easy to use application, Diptic, allows you to combine up to four images into one single frame. Be sure to check out this Photo Tips blog on combining images for some great tips!
Content-Aware Retouching
Have you ever captured the perfect shot right when someone starts to walks through the frame? Or maybe you want to remove those unsightly wall plugs & switches in order to redirect focus to the decor. While happy accidents can create beautiful “right place, right time” photographs, the TouchRetouch application can help remove unwanted content from photos!
We want to know your favorite photo editing applications for Android! Send us a note through Tumblr to let us know which ones you love.
Getting Started on Instagram for Android
We at Instagram are thrilled to welcome Android users to our community!
We thought we’d take a moment on this happy occasion to provide a few resources for our new users (and, of course, a refresher for our existing users.)
The Instagram Help Center is a wealth of photo taking, editing and sharing resources. It’s also got answers to your frequently asked questions, and troubleshooting advice in case you run into any problems. Also, make sure not to miss the tips & tricks section.
Here are a few of the more popular items from our Help Center:
We also like to highlight tips and tricks right here on the Instagram blog:
We also encourage new members of the Instagram family to get involved with Instameets and photowalks happening in their area. It’s a fantastic way to meet other great photographers, and to get the most out of Instagram’s greatest feature: our users!
For more information, visit help.instagram.com, and follow @InstagramHelp on Twitter.
Photo Tips: Underwater Photography
Whether on a tropical vacation, a quick trip to the local beach, or someone’s backyard pool, summertime is quickly approaching along with the iPhone’s worst enemy — water. We’ve all heard, seen, or experienced what happens when the iPhone and water mix, but with a waterproof case you won’t have to abandon your iPhone on your beach towel anymore!
Cases
There are two types of waterproof cases for Apple devices: underwater housing or a waterproof bag. While the housing option is the more expensive choice, it not only provides a better sense of security for your iPhone, it often takes photos that are more clear than the bag case.
LifeProof iPhone Case ($79.99)
TAT7 iPhone ScubaCase ($84.95)
DiCAPac for iPhone ($24.95)
OverBoard Waterproof iPhone Case ($29.95)
Tips
- Focus on your subject: This can be tricky when your touch-screen device is inside of a bulky case while underwater. If you’re having trouble with focus or exposure, try to utilize the Auto Focus & Auto Exposure feature on the default camera while above the surface. If the touch screen isn’t responding in a case underwater, you can use an application with a timer, like Gorrilacam (free), which will allow you to start a timer above the surface as long as 90 seconds, as well as a time lapse of up to 10,000 shots.
- Utilize available light: Since the flash on your camera may not be usable as fill light while inside of a case, try to find a spot where the light hits objects best underwater, or even try shooting your subject from below in order to create beautiful silhouettes.
- Patience: That perfect shot will present itself if you’re willing to wait for it. When trying to photograph the moment someone enters the water, a wave right when it’s breaking, or even a school of fish, you’ll have to be patient and ready to capture at any moment.
- Before you go into the ocean, practice in a pool: This is the perfect place to observe and overcome common obstacles while attempting to take underwater photographs. Do you have a hard time focusing on a moving subject? Do you find yourself dropping your device often? Perhaps it’s difficult for you to utilize available light. Whatever your underwater weakness is, it’s best to focus all of your attention on perfecting your techniques in a controlled environment.
Photos by joelvodell, izzyl, chriscastanho, aquajunkie, colerise & marksurfsbig.
Instagram Tips: Using Sierra
Instagram Tips is a series that features Instagram-related pro-tips for both novice and expert users alike! Check out the Support Center, help.instagram.com, for more tips & help for Instagram.
The newest filter available in Instagram v2.1, Sierra, has been a wonderful addition to our filter family. With a subtle pink tone and a wonderful big border, this filter looks fantastic with most subjects — from landscapes, architecture and portraits (both pets and people) to nature macros and even #fromwhereistand photographs!
While Sierra can be applied to many different types of photographs, we’ve found that it can make scenes that lack contrast or an even exposure appear more desaturated or washed out. If that isn’t an intended photographic style, you can simply apply Lux, our newest photo editing tool, to bring back some of that pop to the scene!
Take a look at these beautiful photographs that have used this new filter, and be sure to tag any of your own Sierra photos with #sierra.
Photos by matescho, yashualangeman, elem, candykay, eithnesusan & meerkatwoman.
Photo Tips: Stick with A Theme
With almost 200 communities participating in the upcoming Worldwide InstaMeet, we wanted to provide some photography tips to help you make your city’s photowalk unique!
Subjects
Select a subject that is easily discoverable on your photowalk’s route. Can you plan the walk so you pass only tall buildings? Are you able to find multiple windows with hand-painted letters? Perhaps there’s a lot of street art in your city! Pre-planning your walk, picking up on common subjects, then providing that subject as a theme will challenge photowalk participants to see subjects that may otherwise go unnoticed!
Filters
Utilize only one filter on every shared photograph. While this can be a huge challenge, having a visually cohesive theme will result in a beautiful hashtag pool for your city’s photowalk, as well as your personal photo feed. Try asking participants to utilize only the new Sierra filter with a border, then share any obstacles you come across as a result while you walk along!
Props
Photograph the same prop interacting with multiple scenes. Ask participants to bring similarly themed props to the photowalk, like vinyl toys or fake moustaches, and provide them with unique situations that they should photograph their props in. Wouldn’t it be fantastic to see a photowalk hashtag filled with mini toy dinosaurs taking over a city?! The only way to answer that question is with an all caps “YES!”.
These ideas aren’t just great for creating a fun and interesting photowalk - they can also be applied to your own photography! Challenge yourself to stick to one (or several) of these themes for an entire month. Not only will your Instagram profile look beautiful, but you’ll likely learn a thing or two about photography in the process!
InstaMeet banner image provided by @lauralawson.
Instagram Tips: Using Hashtags
Instagram Tips is a series that features Instagram-related pro-tips for both novice and expert users alike! Check out the Support Center, help.instagram.com, for more tips & help for Instagram, including basic information on how to use #hashtags.
Adding tags to your photos is a great way to find new followers and share your photos with more people. But hashtags can be tricky. To get the most out of them, you’ll want to keep a few things in mind. We’ll use this photo of a beautiful 1966 Volkswagen van as an example!
Be Specific
Choosing specific tags will help you connect with other like-minded people on Instagram. For this photo, instead of using the tag #van, we could use #vwvan. The photo will be added to that highly targeted tag page, where other Volkswagen lovers will be able to find the photo more easily (without sifting through photos of Toyota Siennas and Chevy Astros).
Be Relevant
Make it easy for other like-minded Instagrammers to find you by making sure your tags describe your photo. Using very general tags like #photo might get you a few likes, but with over 700,000 photos tagged #photo, it isn’t the best way to make your photos stand out and connect with the people most like you. Relevant tags will help you attract new followers who will take a genuine interest in your photos and continue liking and commenting on your photos over time. For the photo above, in addition to #vwbus, we could use the tag #volkswagen.
Be Observant
Pay attention to the other hashtags used on photos that use the same tag as yours. You may discover a popular hashtag you hadn’t thought of on your own. For example, on photos tagged #volkswagen, we can see that many of those photos also use the tag #vw. When you do a search for those tags, you’ll find out that Instagrammers use #vw to describe their Volkswagen photos more than twice as often as they use #volkswagen!
After tagging the photo with relevant and specific tags, you may also find that people sharing photos similar to yours are using even more specialized tags that you hadn’t thought of originally. For our photo, we found that photos tagged #vw and #vwvan also use #vwbus.
Do you have any tips for tagging your photos? Reblog this and let us know in the comments!
The photo at the top of this post was taken by jameswagner.
Instagram Tips: Using Lux
Instagram Tips is a series that features Instagram-related pro-tips for both novice and expert users alike! Check out the Support Center, help.instagram.com, for more tips & help for Instagram.
If you missed the news, Instagram v2.1 is out and we’ve introduced a new feature called Lux. With a single tap, photos that are underexposed or lack contrast are instantly transformed. We’ve found that Lux is especially perfect for landscapes & cityscapes. Check out the example photos below to get a better idea of when Lux works best!
An underexposed iPhone photo of a building due to poor lighting from shade is transformed into a lovely detailed shot. Lux balances the exposure, provides much needed brightness, and the image really comes to life.
This already beautiful photo is significantly improved with Lux. The colors become brighter, details in the sign and tower are brought out, and the contrast in the sky makes the clouds pop.
The original image is your standard mobile phone photo - decent exposure, good color, and plenty of detail. But with the addition of Lux the colors become more vibrant and you begin to notice details that weren’t visible before. Lux truly transforms your photos …
… and with the addition of a filter, they can become even more beautiful!
Be sure to tag any of your photos that utilize this new feature with #lux in order to share your photos’ stunning enhancements!
Photo Tips: Auto Exposure/Auto Focus Lock
If you’re running iOS 5 on your device, you no longer have to worry about losing that perfect exposure or focus if you need to move your camera around. With the latest iOS, locking exposure and focus is easily done with a simple tap & hold!
Just follow these steps:
1. Launch the iPhone’s default Camera application.
2. Tap the screen to locate the best focus & exposure. Avoid tapping on a location that blows out the image, like the subject in the screenshot below.
4. Once you find the subject that provides the best exposure and focus, you should tap then hold that location on the screen. When blue focus box surges and blinks twice you can release your finger.
That’s it! Your exposure and focus are now locked, and you should see the text “AE/AF Locked” at the bottom of the screen. If you try moving your camera around, this focus and exposure will remain constant. To remove the AE/AF Lock, just give another quick tap anywhere on the screen.
This is a great way to photograph an object that is constantly moving around (perfect pet photos, anyone?) or for setting exposure when shooting in the bright noon sun!
Instagram Tips: Share Photos You’ve Already Uploaded
Instagram Tips is a series that features Instagram-related pro-tips for both novice and expert users alike! Check out the Support Center, help.instagram.com, for more tips & help for Instagram.
Have you ever hit “Done” after editing a beautiful photo and realized, as it was uploading, that you forgot to turn on your share settings? We’ve all been there, but don’t worry - you can share a photo after it’s been uploaded!
Start by navigating to the image you’ve uploaded, tapping on the “…” below the image, then selecting “Share post”.
From there you can select the network you’d like to share to, or edit share settings. If you select Twitter, the URL for your image will appear in the space where you can compose your Tweet, as well as a character count so you know when you’ve reached 140 characters.
Once you tap the check mark, your image will be sent to the social network of your choice!
Find information about sharing to Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and other social networks from our Support Center!
Photo Tips: Low Light
Capturing images in low light on an iPhone can be tricky, so we wanted to share a few tips & tricks in order to capture the best image possible in a dark scene!
Taking photos indoors without much light can often result in grainy, detail-less, and unfocused photos. While fill-light will help, the iPhone flash has a long way to go before it provides even and natural looking light, and it can often leave images looking like a scene from a horror film.
Applications
The 4S performs amazingly well in low light situations, especially for a phone, but for those of you who don’t have the latest Apple gadget, or do and you simply want to achieve even better low light results, there are a few applications that may be able to help.
Night Cam ($0.99) is a great application if you don’t always have a steady hand. It provides an accelerometer-assisted mode so that the shutter will only fire when the camera is stable, ensuring your photo is focused.
Slow Shutter Cam ($0.99) is the best application if you have a flat surface to rest your iPhone on. When you open the app, the scene is noticeably brighter and the settings are simple to understand. It is especially great for taking long exposures in very dark scenes since it’s equipped with a bulb function.
Additional Tips
- Tapping your screen after you’ve perfectly balanced your iPhone can ruin the focus of your scene, and may leave your precious phone shattered on the floor. But, if you’ve upgraded to iOS 5, you can use your headphones as a cable release in order to take photos without having to touch the screen! Just plug in your Apple headphones, hit the volume up button while in the Camera application and voila! you have a great low light photo without camera shake.
- Get rid of low light image noise with photo editing applications such as Adobe Photoshop Express (free) or Filterstorm ($3.99).
- Buy a tripod for your phone. This iPhone tripod is sturdy, adjustable, transportable and only $5.99.
- When all else fails, put a filter on it! Inkwell can make a dark image feel moody (just make sure it isn’t too dark), and Amaro & Valencia can lighten up the scene to bring out some lost details.
