Please note that this is not a disordered list of apps, but rather an article about learning photography step by step.
From the principles of photography to the post, you will learn the core elements of taking good photos in this article.
I categorize these apps as follows:
- Aesthetics is the basis of taking good photos
- The basics of photography
- Light photography is painting with light
- Composition highlights subject
- Take high quality photos
- Retouching top level retouching software
- Adjust very useful gadgets
- Special effects Amazing special effects
aesthetic
Photography is essentially a representation of the world in your head through the apparatus, so your thoughts, your feelings, your aesthetic, are the decisive factors in taking good pictures.
For most of us, the best way to develop an aesthetic is to look at the best works of art. Get into the habit of looking at pictures every day and you’ll be amazed in no time.
My own sense of visual beauty comes from watching a lot of movies, more than 10,000 of them over the course of a decade. The best movies are not only good stories, but also mostly beautiful cinematography. You can learn about composition, light, color, and many other elements of photography.
Most of all, movies can teach you how to tell a story with pictures.
Top photography sites and cinematography can be read by clicking on the link below:
Must have top photography sites
basis
The Great Photo App
Many people are often confused by the aperture, shutter, toss for a long time did not figure it out.
With The Great Photo App, you can easily master this knowledge.
This is the most effective photography learning software I have ever seen, you can learn the basics of photography in a very intuitive and fun way, you can directly simulate various aperture size, shutter speed and so on on the phone.
The light
Rizon
Photography is the art of light, and the time just after sunrise and before sunset is known as the prime time for photography. The Angle of the light is low, which creates a fantastic light and shadow effect. It’s relatively easy to take stunning photos during these two hours.
Rizon is an App that reminds you to take photos during prime time.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t take great pictures the rest of the time, but only if you have better techniques.
The composition is
Impression InterPhoto
There are all kinds of composition tutorials on the Internet, such as the rule of thirds, S composition, Z composition, etc., but no matter what composition you use, remember the purpose of the composition: to highlight your subject.
Impressions InterPhoto is the App of impressions magazine. Contains many classic composition patterns, a good choice for learning composition.
shooting
If you want convenience and speed, the phone’s native camera works, but if you want more professional or special effects, you need a third-party camera.
Procam 4
Procam 4 is quite powerful, with manual mode and the ability to take RAW photos with your phone.
The RAW format maximizes the RAW information at the time of shooting, giving you more room to adjust later. The downside of RAW, of course, is sheer volume.
Camera+
Old App, very professional.
Shooting, post-production is very strong. All kinds of parameters can be adjusted when shooting, exposure and focus can be separated, there are different picture quality options.
Slow Shutter Cam
If you want to take slow shutter shots like an SLR, like fogging water, the trajectory of fireworks in the night sky, the lights of a city at night, it can do it for you.
The app works well, and you can do some creative things on your own. For example, when I took the landscape below, I shook my phone a few times and got a blurry image. After mixing colors in VSCO, it had an amazing effect.
The editor
VSCO
As anyone who loves mobile photography knows, the App’s filters are awesome.
VSCO has the most basic adjustment functions, and the latest update has added text under each function, which is clear and clear.
Basically, this App is the one I use the most. If you can master this App, it will meet your needs most of the time.
VSCO includes several basic filters, others need to be purchased, can be purchased according to personal needs. But I suggest you make sure you know the basics and don’t start with a filter.
When you use all the basic functions to bring up great photos, use filters to make you even better.
Snapseed
Very powerful and comprehensive photo editing tool, can edit RAW format, and curve adjustment function.
If you use the iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil, the experience is very good. I use this app a lot.
Pixelmator
It can be said that PS on iPhone, exquisite, good experience, full of functions.
Not only can you use it for photoshop, but you can also use it for design, which is definitely a productivity tool.
The Mac version of Pixelmator has been a great reputation, extremely refined interface, small size, almost adequate tools, a decent price, after porting to iOS still continue to this style.
It’s great when I need to do design on my phone or when I need to edit images in more detail.
Enlight
It’s so powerful. Curves, filters, masks, everything. When you need advanced functions, you will basically use this application to solve them.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for iPhone/Android
As the mobile version of the famous Lightroom, Lightroom is incredibly powerful for editing RAW formats, radial adjustments, and local photo manipulation, and it works seamlessly across platforms and devices with Adobe Creative Cloud.
Using advanced features like editing RAW photos requires an Adobe Creative Cloud membership, but it’s free for a 30-day trial to start.
The advantage of Lightroom is that it works in tandem with the rest of the Adobe family of software to greatly increase productivity.
Provocative modification
Domestic excellent software. It is really powerful, with many adjustment tools, beautiful design, rich filters, and a wide range of platforms, including mobile and PC versions.
MaxCurve
Super powerful curve function, omnipotent curve redrawing tool, App official often recommended. Extremely professional and powerful, can process RAW photos.
Union
Use powerful picture composition tools. Creative double exposure effects can be created.
Adjust the
TouchRetouch
Very useful photo repair tool. If you want to remove unwanted objects from a photo to make the subject stand out, TouchRetouch is a great option.
For example, when I shot this tree, the chain and the mop interfered with the picture. After removing it with TouchRetouch, the picture was cleaner and simpler.
SKRWT
Lens correction tool. SKRWT can be used to correct for situations where a building or other object is distorted or distorted due to lens or Angle problems.
But as more and more full-featured apps include correction functions, the future of these small apps should be more refined, such as using AI and automatic correction.
Waterlogue
Turn your photos into stunning watercolors with great results.
Once when I was shooting a short film, I needed a hand-painted landscape, so I used it to generate watercolor paintings. A friend saw it and asked me who I wanted to draw it. I showed it to her, and I still remember her surprised expression.
I was fascinated by the first time I used it and marveled at the progress of technology.
What’s fun about this App is that you can actually see the rendering process, which is really nice, whereas a lot of other apps are just showing progress bars.
Prisma
Very popular recently, you can transform your photos into various art styles, the results are amazing.
The App’s description states that it is using artificial intelligence and neural network technology to process the photos, and the bmai.com website is extremely interesting.
Artificial intelligence is developing faster and faster. Maybe one day, anyone’s creation will no longer be limited by skills and physical conditions. As long as you can think of something, AI will be able to create it.
VOUN
Favorite photo and frame app, can produce a lot of frame effects.
Elegant, realistic, excellent materials and textures.
The App itself is like a work of art.
Trigraphy
For a while I was obsessed with low-poly style images, but it was hard to make my own, so I went looking for an App that could generate this style.
Trigraphy was discovered. It can produce not only low-polymorph style pieces, but also a variety of other strange but very interesting effects.
Matter
If you use it right, you can create something very sci-fi. It has a variety of 3D models built into it, which can be rotated in a variety of angles, and with creativity and ideas, it can really create amazing pieces. And it generates video.
When I took this sunset, the light and water surface were particularly beautiful, so I added a cube with Matter, which immediately presented a sense of future and technology.
The criteria for choosing these apps are not only function, but also design, experience, etc. Although some apps have powerful functions, the design is really too ugly, and some charges are really some pits, so I don’t recommend them here.
App is really a great invention, in a way, it frees you from the office.
With the help of artificial intelligence, App will be more and more powerful, will overturn more and more fixed rules, it gives everyone more ability, so that everyone can use ideas to change themselves, change the world.