Four iOS Apps To Level Up Your iPhone Photography

In our last post, we shared our top tips to help small business owners stay motivated in their Instagram hustle. This time, we’re taking a deep-dive into a few of our favorite iOS photography apps that turn your phone into an on-the-go editing studio. They’ll take your iPhone photos to the next level, and help you create engaging content that your followers will want to double-tap.

Before we head to the app store, let’s optimize your iPhone’s camera settings to help you get the best photos, every time. 

• From your settings menu, scroll down to camera and turn on ‘grid’. This will place a grid of lines over your camera screen to help you center, line up, and balance your shots. (Check out this helpful guide to step up your photography skills with the ‘rule of thirds’.) 
• Turn off live photos by tapping the ‘live’ icon in the top center of your camera screen. It’s on by default and records what happens 1.5 seconds before and after you tap the shutter button. Turning it off results in clearer/more focused images, especially in low light conditions. Bonus: it’ll save you storage space, too; live image files are about twice the size of standard photos.
• Finally, make it a habit to take a second to wipe off your phone’s camera lens before you use it; a clean, fingerprint-free lens makes a huge difference in image quality. 

Now that you’re taking better raw photos, on to the fun part: the edit. We rounded up four easy-to-use photography apps to help you streamline the process.

TouchRetouch

Ever take a photo and wish you could Photoshop something out? TouchRetouch lets you remove unwanted elements from an image with the swipe of a finger. Just highlight the object, tap ‘go’, and watch the app work its magic. It also has a line removal tool that makes it easy to get rid of linear objects, like power lines, that clutter up your shot. 

A Color Story

Color-loving filter junkies, rejoice! A Color Story is a virtual playground of editing tools, filters, presets and special effects to freshen up your images and make them pop. The app is free, but you can upgrade to purchase filter packs and unlock special features. It takes some practice to navigate the app’s functionality and find your style, but it’s time well spent. 

The best thing about A Color Story is the ‘recipe’ function, which allows you to save all your layers and adjustments to create custom presets for quick bulk editing.

Foodie

If you take a lot of food or product shots for your business, you’ll love Foodie. It’s preloaded with a variety of aesthetically-pleasing filters that you can apply in a quick tap. It’s super user-friendly, and perfect when you need to edit and upload in a hurry.

Canva

Want to add text to your images, make photo collages, or upgrade your Instagram stories with cool templates? Canva has you covered. This app has a great font library, lots of free graphic elements, and customizable templates for all your social content; it’s like a design studio in your pocket. 

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