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10 best photography apps for travelers
Sometimes, your basic camera just doesn't cut it. With all of the advancing technology we now have, the possibilities for travel photography are endless. Before your next trip, make sure to download these ten photography apps that will help you capture, edit, and share the perfect picture.Pro HDR
Pro HDR is perfect for people who want to take high dynamic range shots without investing in an expensive DSLR camera. It's also extremely helpful when the scene you're trying to snap contains a lot of contrast. What's really useful about the app is that it has a manual mode for you to choose where you want to adjust brightness and darkness in your shot, as well as an automatic mode. Final images are shown almost instantly, and you can save, edit further by adjusting the brightness, contrast, saturation, warmth, or tint, or discard your finished product. There is also an option to e-mail your photo to others.
Pro HDR is available for Android, iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. $1.99. A free version is also available that takes smaller shots.
Instagram
This free photo sharing application is extremely popular among travel photographers and those who just enjoy taking pictures. Instagram allows you take a photo with your device, choose a filter to manipulate the look and feel, and then instantly send to Facebook, Twitter, or Flickr. There are tons of mood-altering filters, like 1977, Earlybird, Kelvin, Rise, and Nashville, to name a few.
Available on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Free.
TiltShift
TiltShift is a photography app that mimics a tilt-shift lens, transforming photos into miniature worlds. Basically, your photos will appear like small-scale models by manipulating different effects and contrasts, like creating a focus and blurring the surrounding area (as shown right). You can also adjust brightness, color saturation, and contrast and even choose a shaped aperture, such as a dollar sign, heart, or hexagon.
Available on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. $1.99.
iSynth
iSynth brings Photosynth to the iPhone and allows users to not only take great photos but also allows viewers to immerse themselves in the photos as if they were actually there. The app transforms photographs into 3-dimensional worlds that people can virtually explore. There are also different "modes" you can use, such as the Orbit Mode, which allows users to circle around the synth as well as move in all different directions on the screen in order to get the desired shot.
Available on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Free.
CameraBag
CameraBag is a filter app that uses many different camera and video simulations. The app gives you the chance to choose from a range of different camera styles all in one application, some of which include:
Luminance
Luminance allows for powerful and professional photo-editing for those on the move. With this app, you can easily add special effects to your pictures as well as edit numerous photos at one time. Filters include white balance, exposure, brightness/contrast, hue/saturation, tone curve, split toning, vignette, colors, and sepia. The app also makes it easy to crop and rotate photos, as well as share them via social media, Camera Roll, e-mail, copy, or print.
Available on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. $0.99.
360 Panorama
360 Panorama is a must-have for anyone looking to take panoramic photos. While many cameras and apps with a panorama feature have users stitch multiple photos together, 360 Panorama allows you to simply pan the camera around the scene that you want included in the picture. Sharing your photos is simple, as well, and no app is necessary for viewing.
Available on Android, iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. $0.99.
ShakeIt
ShakeIt combines modern day technology with old-school photo developing methods as users can watch as their instant pictures are developed slowly. To speed up the process, simply shake the photo. It'll take you back to the days of dark rooms and photo labs.
Available on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. $0.99.
Camera+
Camera+ is one of the best apps there is for taking high quality photos as the shots appear to come from a SLR lens. With an array of features and editting capabilites, you can literally take the perfect photo. Another useful feature is the ability to set the focus and exposure separately by tapping the screen, allowing you to have the photo come out exactly how you want it. A photo flashlight to brighten photos, a stabalizer to fix blurry pictures, a grid to line up shots, a zoom feature, scene modes, and special effects make the possibilities limitless for your photos.
Available on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. On sale now for $0.99.
Camera Zoom 3
Camera Zoom 3 is perfect for those times when you see the perfect picture you'd love to take but are just too far to get a good shot. This app allows you to zoom in and out up to eight times by simply moving a slider. For clarity and focus, just tap the screen. There is also a useful anti-shake feature as well as an auto-adjust that sets the photo to its best quality.
Available on iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. $0.99. If you've got an Android, a similar app you can use is the Camera ZOOM FX, which is on sale right now for $2.99.
This free photo sharing application is extremely popular among travel photographers and those who just enjoy taking pictures. Instagram allows you take a photo with your device, choose a filter to manipulate the look and feel, and then instantly send to Facebook, Twitter, or Flickr. There are tons of mood-altering filters, like 1977, Earlybird, Kelvin, Rise, and Nashville, to name a few.
Available on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Free.
TiltShiftTiltShift is a photography app that mimics a tilt-shift lens, transforming photos into miniature worlds. Basically, your photos will appear like small-scale models by manipulating different effects and contrasts, like creating a focus and blurring the surrounding area (as shown right). You can also adjust brightness, color saturation, and contrast and even choose a shaped aperture, such as a dollar sign, heart, or hexagon.
Available on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. $1.99.
iSynth
iSynth brings Photosynth to the iPhone and allows users to not only take great photos but also allows viewers to immerse themselves in the photos as if they were actually there. The app transforms photographs into 3-dimensional worlds that people can virtually explore. There are also different "modes" you can use, such as the Orbit Mode, which allows users to circle around the synth as well as move in all different directions on the screen in order to get the desired shot.
Available on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Free.
CameraBag
CameraBag is a filter app that uses many different camera and video simulations. The app gives you the chance to choose from a range of different camera styles all in one application, some of which include:
- Helga- "Square-format toy camera with washed out highlights and old-school vignetting"
- Cinema- "Dramatic, moody coloring with a widescreen aspect ratio"
- 1962- "Dynamic, high-contrast black and white from the photojournalism of a bygone era"
LuminanceLuminance allows for powerful and professional photo-editing for those on the move. With this app, you can easily add special effects to your pictures as well as edit numerous photos at one time. Filters include white balance, exposure, brightness/contrast, hue/saturation, tone curve, split toning, vignette, colors, and sepia. The app also makes it easy to crop and rotate photos, as well as share them via social media, Camera Roll, e-mail, copy, or print.
Available on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. $0.99.
360 Panorama
360 Panorama is a must-have for anyone looking to take panoramic photos. While many cameras and apps with a panorama feature have users stitch multiple photos together, 360 Panorama allows you to simply pan the camera around the scene that you want included in the picture. Sharing your photos is simple, as well, and no app is necessary for viewing.
Available on Android, iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. $0.99.
ShakeIt
ShakeIt combines modern day technology with old-school photo developing methods as users can watch as their instant pictures are developed slowly. To speed up the process, simply shake the photo. It'll take you back to the days of dark rooms and photo labs.
Available on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. $0.99.
Camera+Camera+ is one of the best apps there is for taking high quality photos as the shots appear to come from a SLR lens. With an array of features and editting capabilites, you can literally take the perfect photo. Another useful feature is the ability to set the focus and exposure separately by tapping the screen, allowing you to have the photo come out exactly how you want it. A photo flashlight to brighten photos, a stabalizer to fix blurry pictures, a grid to line up shots, a zoom feature, scene modes, and special effects make the possibilities limitless for your photos.
Available on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. On sale now for $0.99.
Camera Zoom 3
Camera Zoom 3 is perfect for those times when you see the perfect picture you'd love to take but are just too far to get a good shot. This app allows you to zoom in and out up to eight times by simply moving a slider. For clarity and focus, just tap the screen. There is also a useful anti-shake feature as well as an auto-adjust that sets the photo to its best quality.
Available on iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. $0.99. If you've got an Android, a similar app you can use is the Camera ZOOM FX, which is on sale right now for $2.99.
Filed under: Gear, Budget Travel, Internet Tools, Women's Travel
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ralph Velasco Jan 20th 2012 11:34AM
One of my favorite travel apps, and I might be biased, is My Shot Lists for Travel.
I'm a travel photography instructor, author and international photo tour guide, and the reason I created it is to help users of any photography skill level to get inspired to bring back a more interesting and well-rounded set of images from any destination.
It's a check list that helps the user to organize and track the types of photos they're capturing while on the road, so that they come back with an overall cultural portrait of a place...not just the postcard shots of People, Landscapes and Architecture that everyone is getting, but also images in these categories: Establishing Shots, Everyday Life, Culture & Customs, Gastronomy, the Underbelly and more (I've come up with over 70, but 52 categories are included in the app).
These lesser known categories of a shot list can make the difference between a good portfolio and a great one, and so should make for more compelling slideshows, websites, books, however it is that the user is presenting their images to friends and family.
It's available on iTunes or by visiting http://www.MyShotLists.com
David Grogan Jan 10th 2012 2:37AM
Thanks for this list. I've been searching for a photography app to download/purchase for my iPhone and you gave me an idea which ones might work for me. I currently have a simple photography app in my device called Snap-A-Note. Downloaded it for free. Well, I must say that it's not as dynamic as the ones mentioned above, but the feature that I liked the most about it is that it allows me to immediately send the photos I took to my email or to others. You can check it out here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id473437307?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
By the way, I wonder why Instagram didn't make it on the cut? It's an excellent photography app, I think, with all the retro filters. Anyway, thanks again for posting this.