Think You Need A Professional Camera To Take A Worthwhile Photo? Think Again!

Kari Crawford
Mar 16, 2017
3 min read

Like the photo above? It has been purchased more than most of my other photos on multiple occasions. It was taken a few years ago at one of my many trips to explore Nelson Kennedy Ledges State Park in Nelson Township, Ohio. Oh yeah, and it was taken with my iPhone!

Every time I see the price of a new smartphone, my mouth drops to the ground. $700 and up to talk and text always seems ridiculous to me, but I then have to remind myself of everything that can actually be done on that versus even a high quality laptop computer. The apps you can download are endless, which makes playing around with the umpteen ways to take the same photo an exhilarating time, at least for me anyhow.

In switching from a Samsung Galaxy to an iPhone, I can safely say that my favorite camera app is the Hipstamatic. The option to make it look like an old, rickety phone/camera is cool all in of itself, but then the different flashes, lenses and films it comes with as well as purchased for a small amount are what do me in. it is like having the real deal but with more of a flare for exploration! If you're not sure which flash to use with which film, the app will do it for you. All you have to do is shake your phone any time you want to change it and voila, a new look for the image is created!

You can also use what is called the multiple exposure shoot to snap as many photos as you want to have the pictures form into one artistic looking image (seen below). Like many other apps, you can also take previously taken photos and play around with them to suit the look you are after with the different options. The only downfall to this app is that it is only available to iPhones - wah wah!

My other favorite photo app is the Camera 360. It's available to more than just an iPhone and has a multitude of fun options to use while taking or editing a photo. I personally prefer to use this app to edit my photos rather than take them with the app unlike the Hipstamatic. To me, it is easier to play with the filters after the fact because it's not like the Hipsta where you can simply shake and change the settings. There are many different filters to play around with in altering the photos colors to reflect more of what you are after. You can turn it into more of a cartoon, add a "stormy" looking background and even only have a certain color be the star of the photo like the one of the American flag seen below. It's also nice to have on a personal level because it has options to take a "beauty selfie" changing the softness of the image to produce "magic skin", not to mention silly add in's on the picture like seen on Snapchat images.

Those are the two photo apps that meet my photography approvals above and beyond! I hate to say it, but sometimes when taking an image with both my cell phone and my real camera, the phone image wins! It's certainly amazing the types of photos you can produce in simply using a phone. So when you're in a pickle and can't use your professional camera or you just want to play around with something different, pick up your phone - you may be even more pleased with the image it produces vs. your go to device.

What is your favorite camera app?