image credit: © istockphoto.com, Yuri Arcurs

Learn how you can improve your photography with handy apps

Among the thousands of new apps and programs we’ve seen in the last couple of years, there are many that are ideal for photographers, both amateur and professional. Whether you’re a professional looking for a way to edit and share your photos, or someone who simply wants to do more with photos with your phone or tablet, there are dozens, if not hundreds of apps and programs designed to help you out. What you choose to use will depend to some extent on how serious a photographer you are, but ultimately there is something for everyone.

Here is a look at how to improve your photo taking and editing through 5 simple apps and programs.

Photoshop Express

This is a fairly self-explanatory app – from the makers of Photoshop and Photoshop Elements which most photographers will be familiar with. This app is by no means as complete or effective as the full version program, but the interface is simple and easy to use, and for basic effects on the go it is a handy app. It is free in its basic form, but has additional features available for purchase.

Camera+

If you’re looking for an app that improves the quality of your photos without any complicated editing, this is the one for you. Basically, Camera+ is a better version of the basic camera in your smart phone, and has the ability to take clearer, more sharply focused photos. You can apply basic effects such as contrast, color schemes and retro effects as well as crop and rotate the photo to improve the quality of photos that your phone’s camera captures.

Dynamic Light

This is a great app for manipulating the lighting in your photos. The end result can look more artistic than natural, so if that’s something that interests you as a photographer, this is definitely an app for you. You can select a photo and an effect, then adjust the “dynamic light” dial to control how the effect is applied to the image or you can shoot the image using the app. It’s a great way to turn an ordinary image into a striking one.

Filterstorm

A great app for photo editing, Filterstorm essentially takes the best features of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and puts them in a simple app. It’s more about adjustments than filtering, but does allow you some simple effects for manipulating lighting, colour, and brightness among other things.

This is a guest post by Dylan Bailey. Dylan is a freelance writer and keen amateur photographer.

Helen Bradley