Spring is in the air, and although remnants of winter are still present in Vermont, plenty of areas are experiencing warmer weather and the first blossoms and buds of the new year. Though all four seasons lend themselves to photography in different ways, spring presents a plethora of picturesque moments as foliage and flowers awaken from their winter slumbers and come into bloom. If you own an iPhone, 4th gen. iPod touch or iPad 2 there are plenty of photography apps to help you document this spring in style. Here are a few must-have apps for your iOS device.
Camera+
What many call the definitive iOS photography app, Camera+ has even replaced the default Camera app on some users’ iPhones. Boasting a slick interface and a seemingly limitless level of customization and control options, the app maintains a DSLR like air while offering non-intimidating, novice friendly controls. While the app offers several exclusive features, independent exposure and focus controls and flashlight on iPhone 4 especially stand out. Additionally Camera+ offers an onboard image stabilizer, viewfinder grid, and a high quality 6x zoom. In addition to features for capturing the perfect image, Camera+ offers more post production options than some exclusively editing based apps. Users can select from scene mode presets to enhance their photos, crop, apply effects and wrap their images with stylish borders.
Hipstamatic
Hipstamatic is a brilliantly designed app which lends drab iPhone photos a vintage toy camera flair. The app has a great analog feel which harkens back to the days of Holgas and Polaroids. If you’d like to time warp your friends back to the 70’s and 80’s, this is the app to do it with! Hipstamatic comes preloaded with several lenses, flashes, and film types. These three components can easily be mixed and matched to achieve transcendental levels of photography hipsterdom. Utilizing the integrated HipstaMart, users can acquire additional lenses, film, flash gels, and camera cases buy purchasing $0.99 HipstaPaks. Synthetic Corp—the folks behind the app—even offer a photo printing service. Simply upload photos from the app, and you’ll receive custom prints in the mail!
Pocketbooth
Emulating the aesthetic of photobooths from the 1950’s, Pocketbooth is a guaranteed good time. The perfect party app, Pocketbooth replicates the fun of cramming four-too-many friends into a confined space—at least as best as a 3.5” display can (check out the separate Pocketbooth HD for an iPad optimized version). With front and rear facing camera compatibility, the app functions across all camera equipped iOS devices. Users can customize their photo strips with several effects as well as select from pose options and paper stocks. Adding to the realism, the app has recently been updated with AirPrint support. Assuming you have an AirPrint compatible printer, you can print strips out as they’re taken—just like the real deal.
Purchase Pocketbooth HD – $1.99
8-Bit Pocket Camera
Though it won’t touch on the same levels of nostalgia for all iOS device owners, gen-Yers such as myself will instantly recognize this app as a lovingly crafted homage to the Game Boy Camera accessory introduced by Nintendo in 1998. 8-Bit Pocket Camera imitates the grainy 8-bit shots of its cartridge-based ancestor perfectly, and includes replicas of the original’s effects and borders. Though iOS device owners lacking exposure to the original device will likely stare at screenshots perplexed why someone would waste a buck on an exponentially worse camera experience than their device offers by default, those who remember the peripheral will get more than their money’s worth in nostalgia.
Less photo app, and more social network, Instagram is quickly emerging as the visual answer to Twitter. The photo sharing service allows users to upload images taken within the app or from their device’s camera roll. Users can then select from a series of retro-inspired filters to give their photos a unique look. Similar to other social networking platforms, Instagram users can hash and geo-tag their photos for maximum visibility. The app also integrates with other social networks for easy sharing.
Pano
While the App Store is saturated with post production and retro photo apps, one area in which it lacks is photo apps focused beyond the iPhone’s typical image capturing abilities. Pano addresses the lack of panorama abilities in many iOS apps in a package that while not perfect, is impressive for devices as multi-faceted as iPhone and iPad. With support for up to 16 photo panoramas, the app uses advanced stitching and alignment techniques to produce the most realistic and accurate images possible. With final resolutions up to 6800×800, finished panoramas look incredible, and are high enough quality to print and frame.