An Introduction to iPhoneography

Hello!

My name is Kate, you may know me from chatroom during creativeLIVE workshops. Along with being a part of the team at creativeLIVE I am also a photographer and avid iPhoneographer.

What is iPhoneography? Well, iPhoneography is the art of creating images with your iPhone! Since acquiring my first iPhone in 2009, I have created over 10,000 images, successfully completed my first iPhone 365 project in 2010 and I'm more than 300 days towards the completion of my second iPhone365 project. Along with the challenge of creating images daily, I have embraced the use of iPhone Apps to shoot and edit all of the images.

Those who know me in the photography community will often ask "What app did you do that with?" or "What are you favourite apps?". As a result of these questions, I decided to create this post! 

There are thousands of iPhone apps in the App store, over 9,000 photo related apps. Not all of those are for editing, but that is a LOT of apps. I have over 100 photo related apps on my iPhone. Why so many you might ask? Well, I like to experiment, play and create.

I often stack apps like you might apply layers in Photoshop. I start with a more basic image, then look to a specific app to add/remove, adjust or manipulate the color or add texture, or just go crazy and transform the image into something completely opposite of how it started.

(Edited via TiltShiftGen, PlasticBullet & PicGrunger)

(Edited via Hipstamatic, BlurFX & Iris Photo Suite)

(Edited via VintageScene)

With SO many apps to look at and to choose from, it was definitely challenging to narrow my list of favorites to just a few. But I did it and here they are!

Hipstamatic

Hipstamatic was an instant fave when I first purchased it. Yep, it's $1.99, but it offers multiple film, flash and lens options that you can mix and match to have some fun. It shoots in a square format, which I am personally quite fond of.

The developers of this app occasionally release additional Paks, which can be a lens and a new film, or lens, film and flash or some other combination. These additions can easily be bought within the app. This could be considered a camera replacement app, as you can only capture images within the app, however it doesn't offer any real controls over the images, white balance, etc… But, it is a LOT of fun to play with!

Instagram 

Instagram is kind of like if Flickr and Hipstamatic got together and had a kid. It's a social photo networking app which includes a dozen filters you can apply to your images, an option to do fake tilt shift, and include borders or not. You can easily follow users who are also on Facebook or Twitter. This is another app which outputs images in the square format, but you can either pull existing images from your iPhone to the app or you can shoot with the app. It's versatile like that.

Lomora2

I am a long time film shooter who has been known to dabble in alternative techniques like cross processing your film. Lomora2 kinda does that. Offering a selection of 12 or so films, which can be rather extreme in the color spectrum, you can have some fun, be unique and even do some double exposures. This app also shoots in a square format.

Iris Photo Suite

I hear great things about many major editing apps like Filterstorm, PhotoForge2, Snapseed just to name a few. I have several of these and I use them on occasion; however for me, my go to for overall edits is Iris Photo Suite.

Why you may ask? Well it runs the gamut to fit my needs for my style. I can crop, rotate, color correct, fix white balance, convert to black and white, sharpen, blur, work in masks, and beyond. This app also has some presets for color boosting, monochromatic conversions, arty filters and even some grungy textures. While I have so many other options, I still go to this one the most. p.s. you can add a copyright to your image too!

Those are my top 4, most used. I also wanted to share a few other apps if you're looking for different kinds of effects… please note these are just a sampling of the many options out there in the App store.

Black & White: MonoPhix or NoirPhoto

Blur/TiltShift: BlurFX, FocalLab or TiltShiftGen

Collages/Diptychs: PhotoDesk or PicFrame

Copyright/Logo: PhotoMarkr

Film Effects: Best Camera, Film Lab, PlasticBullet, ShakeItPhoto, Swankolab, TtV Photo Studio

General Editing: Filterstorm, PictureShow

Lightpainting: SlowShutterCam

Panorama: Autostitch

Photobooth: Incredibooth

Texture: Grungetastic, PicGrunger, VintageScene

If you're interested in more information on iPhoneography, check out these two blogs: iPhoneography & Life in Lofi. They offer App reviews, highlight iPhoneographers and also can be a great resource to check for Apps being on sale. And for some amazing iPhone art, take a look at iPhoneArt, the site is filled with truly artistic creations. 

Thanks for tuning in and if you are also an iPhoneographer (or an Androidtographer?) please let us know your fave apps and why you like them in the comments below!

  - Kate Hailey