I love my iPhone. Yes, I'm one of those...an Apple devotee, an iPhone aficionado, a fangirl if you will. And while my addiction began slowly, just over 4 years ago, I can tell you that owning an iPhone 3G taught me how important it is to carry a camera with you 24/7 (even if it's only 2 megapixels), and how owning an iPhone 4S has reinforced the beauty of having an 8MP pocket camera at arm's length.
Know what makes me happier still? The numerous social networking outlets available to feed an iPhoneographer's addiction (think hot sites like Instagram, Twitter, Flickr, Facebook and Google+, among others). But what if you want to jazz up your straight-out-of-camera iPhone shots and give them a little more feel, a little more mood, a little more oomph before sharing your works of art with the world? Perhaps you want to add some grunge and texture, or some color, saturation and brightening. Perhaps you you need to straighten or crop, or turn a color image black & white. What then?
iPhone photo apps to the rescue!
This is the part where I confess that Apple's App store is my second addiction, specifically, the Photo & Video section. In this online paradise, I can browse and shop and review and buy until my heart is content (or my pocket is empty). And what I've discovered is this: there are some awesome photo apps out there, created specifically for iPhones; most are reasonably (if not value) priced and many are free!
And because I could talk about iPhoneography and iPhone photo apps through the wee hours of night, I've decided instead to share some of my favorite apps here---so you can preview of what's out there, how they work, and find out if a fellow iPhoneographer would recommend them as being worth the purchase price & drive space. I know not every app will fit or mesh with every iPhoneographer, but at least you'll be better informed when you go shopping in the App Store.
If adding color, borders, grunge & vintage texture to your iPhone snaps appeals to you, you'll want to check out today's featured app: ScratchCam FX, version 2.0.
In a photographer's world, words aren't everything, so instead of lip service I'm sharing a peek of what it's like to edit an iPhone image inside the ScratchCam FX app.
First, let's check out an original iPhone photo, straight from the camera...
Although this app offers presets, I want you to ignore those for a minute by selecting ScratchCam FX's edit tab (as seen on the lower right in the photo below). ScratchCam makes it easy to select and edit various color, border, texture and/or scratch options, also known as layers.
Working with customizable layers, you can combine them in any, unique way you choose, even turning a layer off (depicted as "on" by the green light in the screenshot above)---a feature that allows you to experiment between the various looks of individual layers without forcing you to begin editing an image from scratch each time you make a change. No need to start over...simply toggle a layer on or off (to enable or disable) before moving to the next layer.
But what if you're picky like me, and want even more customization options? ScratchCam FX gives you that too.
Once you're working on a specific layer, it's important to note the sliding bar located in the upper, right-hand corners of the screenshots featured above & below. See the red-buttoned sliding bar? That bar is magic, and allows you to control the amount (or intensity) of processing for each layer you're editing. For instance, let's say you're adding scratches to your image, but don't want the end result to look like an angry cat got ahold of your photo and shredded it. Simply slide the intensity bar to the left to lessen the effect on that layer without disabling it completely. This intensity feature gives you complete opacity control over any layer you're working in.
Let's see how this works on an actual image.
Here's an example with more scratches...
...and now with slightly fewer scratches, just by sliding the intensity/opacity bar a bit further left.
Once you've tweaked and edited your image to your heart's content, ScratchCam FX offers a myriad of in-app options for photo sharing or saving. I typically save the newly edited image back to my photo album, in case I decide to edit it further using another app for different effects.
With a simple click, you're done---and have created a second, fully-edited image of your original iPhone photo without destroying or altering the first.
Here's the final version of my iPhone image, edited entirely with ScratchCam FX. The scratches may or may not suit your personal preferences, but they certainly affect the mood & tone of the image, and that's where artistic differences come into play.
Now, remember at the beginning of this review/tutorial when I told you to forget about ScratchCam's presets for a minute? Here's an example of just one preset in action, but there are many more to choose from.
Note: ScratchCam FX offers an array of downloadable effects packs that allow you to edit, tweak and customize your images in even more, unique ways!
ScratchCam FX for iPhone is one of my most used, and most often asked about, photo apps. Although I tend use it in conjunction with other photo apps, combining 2 or more to achieve a magic potion capable of transforming even the most mundane shots into intriguing, memorable images, I know when fellow Instagrammers ask, "How'd you get that look?" they're often referring to ScratchCam effects. In my opinion? This app (version 2.0) performs well, is fun to play with, offers a lot of scratch for your buck, and is definitely a good value.
Own an iPhone? Interested in adding ScratchCam FX to your arsenal? Find it in the App Store, currently available for $1.99 USD. Current version compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.
