There’s nothing worst then seeing the perfect opportunity for a picture and having no camera. This happens a lot in life, it’s not a big problem in the world, but it’s definitely a huge annoyance.
Well, since we all carry our smartphones with us, many people have been using their phones as their cameras. They can capture sites they are visiting, fun moments with friends, or even cute pictures of kids.
Because of how often people are using their phones as cameras, phone designers have been updating their cameras. It makes sense that companies want to up their game with the competition from other cell phone designers.
A particular favorite is the iPhone X. Photography from this phone’s camera is actually competing with professional cameras.
Why People Use iPhones for Photography?
Well, the most obvious reason is because we always carry our phones. But the iPhone X has a lens of good quality and is easy to use. Many people can take amazing photos with a tap of their finger.
Compare that to the tiny adjustments you’d have to make on a regular camera to make sure that you got the right shot. Many people have to spend years learning to master how to work these cameras. An iPhone X only takes a few minutes, an hour at most.
You can also install apps to make even more stunning photos with little to no effort. Plus, you won’t have to carry all the heavy equipment.
It’s also easier share your photos on social media like Facebook and Twitter. A couple of buttons to push and you’re done.
Why the iPhone X is the Best Yet
This phone lets more light in which is helpful in darker places, it also reduces motion blur. It’s frustrating when trying to capture a moment and it comes out blurry without any time to try again.
The iPhone X is equipped with the Optical Image Stabilization. This is a fancy way of saying there is less shaking and better low light performance. This makes it much easier to get good shots. People who have hands that shake will appreciate this feature especially.
The rear and front facing cameras use two different technologies meaning better photos from both sides.
When trying to take a selfie before, the lighting might have been off or maybe you looked washed out. The front facing camera of the iPhone X uses TrueDepth to create its depth map. It uses its own infrared (invisible) light to map out the depth of your face. This means it needs little light to take a good selfie.
It will also blur things in the background so that your focal point is crystal clear.
You can even edit your own photos on your phone. All you have to do is pick a photo, press edit, choose a lighting effect, and you’re done. This great if you want to change your social media profile photo quickly.
If you ever want to learn more, you should check out Apple’s How Tos. They are a series of short videos that show you how to do things on your phone.
The Best Apps to Create the Best iPhone X Photography
If you want some extra help to take good photos, there are a lot of apps you can download. You can find any these apps in the iTunes store and can download them right to your phone.
Pro Camera
It was originally launched when the iOS 8 launched, but they adapted it to the iPhone X. It has a minimalist style of use—meaning straight to the point, no fancy bells and whistles. But it still has a lot of helpful features, like being able to set exposure time, tint, ISO sensitivity, and more.
It even has a night camera and 70 different filters and effects. Best of all, it only costs 5 dollars.
Darkroom
While there is no analog aesthetics of an old darkroom in app, it does take a rather literal approach with its blacked out interface.
It’s similar to the app Lightroom, in the fact that you can control everything from hue, saturation, and luminosity (HSL) sliders to curves. But it also has integrated filter collections.
Maybe the best part… it’s free.
Halide
This is the perfect app for beginners. This is because you can start with automatic and slowly can take control in manual mode.
Automatic mode makes taking good photos simple. It has tools like focus peaking, RAW capture, and gives more creative control.
This app includes portrait effects, and all of this for 5 dollars.
Pro HDR X
This is one of the more fully featured apps that is still easy for anyone to use. You have more control over exposure adjustments, tone mapping settings, and the ability to transport your images (up to 24 megapixels) to the app’s built in library.
For 2 dollars you get all that, and preset filters and options for digital zooming, cropping, caption, and setting a timer.
Adobe Photoshop Express
Is there any better photo editing software than Adobe? Well, now you can have this awesome software on your phone.
You get popular Photoshop features like having layers, selection tools, and adjustments. You can also add text, effects, or even blend images.
Some features are locked behind in app purchases, but if you are willing to spend some extra money, you can create some great art.
Adobe Lightroom
This may be one of the most feature rich of all the apps listed. This is a great app for photographers who want to edit their work while on the move. This is particularly helpful for travel photographers.
The app automatically syncs images with its desktop counterpart. This means whether you are using images that you took on your phone or raw images from your computer, you can edit, enhance, and share photos using this app.
That’s right, the most popular way to get some flattering filters is listed here. Even though there are a lot of apps that share the same features, it’s the community that makes this app valuable.
You still get the classic filters, along with being able to comment, like, share, and send photos to friends.
Pixlr
Pixlr is web based image editor that is a favorite among photographers. Now, there is a mobile version that is just as good as the original.
The app lets you choose from 4 predefined dimensions when resizing photos. You also get options for cropping, rotating, stylizing, and sharing photos. Lighting and overlay effects let you adjust the mood, and one click adjustment allows for quick and automatic control.
Facetune 2
There are some days when you are just not as photogenic as you’d like to be. With this app, you can turn any boring photo into a perfect headshot.
This app lets you perform specific touch ups like teeth whitening, blemish removal, and color correction, to get the perfect look. You can use this app to get the perfect profile pic.
Photo Editor by Aviary
This is a good after effects app that doesn’t cost anything up front. It’s now part of the Adobe family, so it has a lot of advanced features with an easy interface.
You can edit your photos with some purchasable filters and content. But the app includes without having to buy anything, tools to get rid of redeye and whitening teeth, options to add text, replace color, and sharing.
Fair warning, this app hasn’t been updated in more than a year, so it may not support the functionality of newer devices. It doesn’t seem like there will be any updates in the future.
Horizon Camera
While most people don’t record videos vertically on iPhones, there are some people that do. These people may send these videos to you.
This is where this app comes in, it forces your phone to record in landscape mode, keeping the feed horizontal even while you tilt the phone. It will also play all videos in horizontal view.
It also includes slow-mo support at 60 and 120 fps, frames per second, and allows you to record at a resolution that you like.
Lifecake
This is an app that will bring scrapbooks into the 21st century. It’s owned by Canon, and is built to record life, one photo at a time.
Users can look through phases of their kid’s life by selecting and comparing different dates, and decide who can see the album. You can even annotate the photos as well.
PixelWakker
For just $3 you can bring the art of pointillism into the digital world. If you aren’t sure what pointillism is, it’s when images are created by a series of small dots.
The app breaks down photographs into pixels, then turns those pixels into art. There are 4 filters to pick from, there’s pixel image, dots, lines, and color rain. It’s also compatible with Instagram, so you can share your art easily.
Sktchy
This app blends photos and the art of sketching. It allows users to post pictures of themselves for artists to draw or paint. You can even follow your favorite artists or get feedback on your own art.
This is a great app for everyday artistic inspiration.
VSCO
This is a stills only app created with composition and editing in mind. You can set focus and exposure independently as well as make subtle changes to temperature, contrast, brightness, saturation, and more.
Prisma
If you like classic art, you’ll like this app. It can turn your photos into pieces of art in the style of Van Gogh, Picasso, Leviton, and so much more.
It does this by warping your photos until they look like a painteresque image.
Filmborn
This was created with film photography in mind. It features a powerful camera that can shoot RAW photos with compatible devices. Once you take the picture, there are 9 incredibly accurate film simulation presets.
RNI
Like Filmborn, this app is inspired by the analogue aesthetic. It gives you a few collections of film simulations to edit your image with.
The interface is easy to navigate and the presets are more impressive than in many other apps. You can get more options by purchasing the in app collections.
Polarr
This app is a photo editing suite that can basically do whatever you want to an image. It has basic exposure tools and curve adjustments, along with the typical filters. The full version will cost you around 20 dollars in in app purchases, but the free version has plenty to play with as well.
Pricing
An iPhone X on average costs around 1,000 dollars, and any apps that enhance your photography is around 5 dollars.
A professional camera can cost anywhere between 500 to 3,000 dollars.
iPhone X is more practical for the average person because not only is it cheaper, but you can take the same quality photos as a professional camera. Plus, you get to make calls, text, surf the internet, and use a variety of apps.
Best of all, it fits in the palm of your hand and you won’t have to lug around a camera and a variety of equipment either.
What We Think
We think that Apple, as always, is constantly innovating. Between the capabilities that the phone comes with and the quality of images that come from iPhone X photography, that it’s definitely worth the hype.
Photographers of all levels love to use this phone for taking pictures. Beginners like it because it’s easy to use and they can create works of art. Professionals are impressed with how well it can zoom, take pictures in the dark, and the technology involved with snapping portraits.
We think that it wouldn’t be surprising to see photos taken with the iPhone X in galleries and magazines. It could easily become an art trend that anyone could be part of.
When it comes to price, you can’t beat the deal that the iPhone X provides in addition to taking pictures.
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