Instagram has become an addictive social media tool, relied upon by users both for its FOMO-eliciting sharing capabilities and for its color filters that have the ability to make anyone appear more attractive than they really are. And while concerns persist about what the platform’s “selling out” to Facebook
could mean down the road, smartphone photographers remain compelled, for now, to experiment with some of the newer photo apps on the market.
VSCO Cam: VSCO Cam was born out of a premise that speaks directly to Gen Y’s propensity toward minimalism: “Less Is More.” Launched just a couple months ago, the
film emulation app has quickly become a favorite digital photo processing tool
among discerning creative types for whom Instagram’s filters have become too obvious. Unlike many of its photo enhancement app predecessors, VSCO distinguishes itself by capturing uncompressed JPEG files before applying effects, resulting in superior quality photos. The iOS app, which boasts 10 filters and options to adjust the grain, saturation and more, has been compared to
Lightroom, making it an important tool
even for those who prefer to take their photos with real cameras.
StillShot: Asking friends to pose for a photo and then
secretly video recording their awkward mugging is one of the meaner modern pranks to emerge in the smartphone age. It's a source of amusement, for sure, but failing to capture an important moment because you accidentally hit the video button instead of the camera one can be exceptionally disappointing. Enter
StillShot, an iOS app that allows users to extract video frames as photos. The tool, which was developed by the same team behind
GroupShot, also has implications beyond salvaging the mistakes of clumsy digits. Indeed, it can be used to capture action shots for which the iPhone’s camera isn’t fast enough.
Wood Camera: It’s unlikely that
the concept Instaglasses that went viral last week will go into production anytime soon. Those yearning to see the world through hipster-filtered glasses, however, may find a suitable substitute in
Wood Camera. The first release from development team
Bright Mango, the iOS app allows iPhone shutterbugs to apply any of its many special effects in real-time, enabling them to see an enhanced image through the viewfinder before taking the photo. The in-camera editing setup includes 22 lenses, 17 textures, 12 frames, and tilt-shift controls. Among its most significant features is the ability to modify changes made to the original image, even after exporting it.
