Apps and Programs to Get Better Photos

Some of you have noticed that my photo content took a really big leap recently. Like many things, photography is a skill that I’ve actively worked on improving, and the leaps are not unintentional. Over the years, the equipment, apps, and programs that I use have changed. I’ve posted apps like this before in another blog post, but like I said, updating all the time.

Equipment

All of the photos that you see on the blog are taken with either my iPhone 11 (not pro), or my Nikon D5100 with either a macro or zoom lens, depending on if it’s a closeup or flat lay photo, or a larger landscape. In terms of operators, they are either taken by me or by my husband. If they’re photos of me….you can guess whodunnit.

Adobe Coming On In

Lightroom

All of my photos (all, no exceptions) first go through lightroom. I love the Lightroom app as well if you’re mostly editing on the go. Bonus — unlike the desktop version, it’s free. It is not good for handling very large photos, or a lot of them, so when we have taken a lot of photos, such as on a trip, I use the desktop version. I use a preset that gives my photos that higher-exposure bright white look that is so popular right now. If you’re interested in my presets, you can take a look at them here.

Photoshop…a Breakdown

There are a ton of official photoshop apps on the iOS store. Let’s talk about them. First things first — the desktop app is phenomenal. I use it a lot and I love it. I use this mostly to remove people or extra things in the background of travel photos. It makes everything look a little more professional. Also, that’s the secret to getting those “totally alone” travel photos…just photoshop out the people.

Next, there are three iPhone apps that I’ve used from PS. They are Express, Mix, and Fix. I hate Express. It is a sad shadow of the others and a disgrace to regular Photoshop. I don’t like to use it and it’s not user-friendly. If you are looking to do Photoshop Wizard-type things, like adding parts of one photo to another, you can do that with Photoshop Mix (also an app). It works really nicely, but I don’t do that kind of thing often enough to keep it on my phone.

The last one is Fix, which is a diabolical kind of magic. It is also free. Okay, I’m not going to debate the ethics of using or not using face or makeup altering apps. If you want to, cool, if you don’t whatever. What I will say is that every once in awhile, I look at a picture of myself and say “This would be perfect if I was smiling just a little more (or less).” Fix does this. It can map a human face with shocking accuracy. Slim jawlines, noses, enlarge eyes…and never look artificial or uncanny valley. This is the best-kept secret. I have played around with this so much, and at no point do I not look like me…it’s just like me with the best photo I’ve ever taken.

Filters

Canva

Everyone knows about Canva. It’s the worst kept secret now. If you are making photo collages or need to add text and graphics to photos, as you see for my blog thumbnails, this is the best on the market. The iPhone app is fantastic and extremely user-friendly. I use this every day.

Snapseed

This has some powerful filters, but it’s not what I use it for. If you need to do a quickie retouch, the healing tool in Snapseed (also free) is fantastic. It leaves a much more natural look than Facetune (not into that life) and is (again) free! Also, the filters if you want a vintage camera effect. Sometimes that’s nice. Also, and this is crazy, Snapseed makes it easy to change the perspective of a photo. If you have a straight-ahead photo and you really wish that your face was angled down a little more…you can do that. It’s not a miracle or magic, but it can help with a few minor touchups.

That’s all that I use! It’s been a great transition over the past six months or so to get a photo editing system that I really love in place. Are you interested in seeing how I edit an individual photo? How do you edit your photos?