My top iPhone photo apps

There have been several post recently on various blogs listing peoples top iPhone apps, so I've decided chuck my hat in to the ring and post my current crop of favourite photo apps, so here goes.

1. CameraBag
CameraBag [AppStore Link] lets me enhance my iPhone photos with 10 different effects filters, and whilst this app needs a much needed update for iPhone 3GS users, it still delivers what I am looking for on my iPhone 3G.

2. iFlashReady
iFlashReady [AppStore Link] lets me enhance/lighten the poorly exposed photos that I sometimes get from my iPhone.

3. ShakeItPhoto
ShakeItPhoto [AppStore Link] gives me that instant photo experience, and is currently my favourite iPolaroid app.

4. Spica - Super Monochrome
I love high contrast and grainy/gritty black and white photos, and Spica - Super Monochrome [AppStore Link] give me that.

5. AutoStitch
For me AutoStitch [AppStore Link] is the easiest app for creating panoramic photos on you iPhone.

6. EffectsLab
Originally I did not like this app when it was first released, but after spending time playing with it, EffectsLab [AppStore Link] has become my pocket Photoshop of choice, allowing me to manipulate almost all aspects on my photos.

7. Polarize
Polarize [AppStore Link] is another instant photo app, but has the added bonus of letting me add market pen notes to my iPolaroids.

8. HiCon Pro
If I need to add some extra contrast and saturation to a photo quickly and easily, then HiCon Pro [AppStore Link] is the first app I turn to, and on most occasions delivers what I am looking for.

9. Photo fx
Photo fx [AppStore Link] and Cool fx have slipped down my list of used apps, but they both still remain in my top 10, but I now tend to use them in combination with other apps like Spica Super Monochrome to add that extra dimension to my photos.

10. Cool fx
Like Photo fx, Cool fx [AppStore Link] has slipped down my list of used apps, but they both still remain in my top 10, but I now tend to use them in combination with other apps like Spica Super Monochrome to add that extra dimension to my photos.

In addition to these editing/effects apps I also use Mobile Fotos [AppStore Link] for uploading my photos to Flickr, Tumblr [AppStore Link] for uploading to my Tumblr blogs and occasionally PicPosterous [AppStore Link] for my new Posterous blogs, although I do prefer to email my photos to Posterous rather than use their iPhone app.

Ah, and there's one last thing. There is an app that would have made it in to my top 5, but it is currently only available to a select group of beta testers (of which I am one), and so can't be listed just yet.

You may or may not agree with my list, or even the order they are in, so please feel free to post your favourite apps in the comments section below.

iPhone App Review: HiCon Pro

If you read my review of "Light Leak", then you will know that I used HiCon Pro to increase the contrast of the sample photo before processing it in "Light Leak".

HiCon Pro is from the same developer as Light Leak, Weburban, and does nothing more than increase the contrast of your iPhone photos, but it does do it in a very quick and easy way.

HiCon Pro, the developers description

A multi-threaded application for processing images into both high contrast color and black & white. The images can be taken from the iPhone camera or from either the iPod Touch Photo Album or iPhone Photo Album. Pressing the Color+ or Gray+ will increase contrast repeatedly, allowing for very contrasty images. Images can be selectively saved directly to the Photo Album.

Photos will resemble a film-style image pushed to 1600 ISO. Color images may blow out, producing very graphic style pictures. Black and white images can be pushed to produce monochromatic flat pictures.

The App

Above: The various screen of HiCon Pro.The interface looks and works exactly the same as that of Light Leak, with the Capture, Edit and Save icons across the bottom of the screen, which when touched reveal Camera and Album, Color+ and Gray+, and finally Save across the top. Again as will Light Leak you can choose to apply a high contrast effect to your colour photos, or convert them to black and white and then apply contrast. Just like Light Leak, with each touch of Color+ or Gray+ the contrast increases, and when finished just tap saved and you're done, but again this app suffers from having no undo option, which is really annoying.

So what did I think of the App?

Just like Light Leak I found the best results were achieved by combining the results from HiCon Pro with other apps, and for the sample shot below it was the turn of CameraBag to have the HiCon Pro treatment.

Above: This photo had its contrast dramatically increased using HiCon Pro before being processed with CameraBag's Lolo effect.Overall this is app is simple to use for an albeit basic task, but due to the speed and easy of apply a high contrast effect, and the fact that I seem to be in to my high contrast images at present, this app will be remaining on my iPhone. Again this app will not win any awards, but due to its ease of use I will give it 3 out of 5 stars, so if like me you are into producing high contrast shots and want to do these quickly and easily, then check out this app.

AppStore Link: HiCon Pro - Price £0.59/$.99

New iPhone Photo Apps

STICKi PICi Lite Purikura プリクラ - Price FREE

STICKi PICi (Stick-ee-pick-ee) is an iPhone application for creating the pictures you might be familiar with from sticker picture photo booths. These popular asian photobooths are also known as purikura プリクラ (from Japanese pop culture lingo purinto kurabu プリント倶楽部, meaning print club).

LightSource - Price £0.59 ($.99)

Turn your iPhone or iPod Touch into a convenient, customizable light panel. Perfect for still-life and low light photo shoots! Throw accent or fill light wherever you want, or hold your phone above your lens to produce an attractive catch light in your subject's eyes.

Pixel Perfect Lite - Price FREE

Putting iPhone/iPod photos on Facebook can be a complicated process. With Pixel Perfect it's easy! You can choose to manually upload only the photos you want, write descriptions for them, choose which albums they go in, and even create new albums all from within Pixel Perfect!

Pixel Perfect uses a unique easy to use interface for applying effects to your photos. It comes stocked with essential image effects to help you correct your photos without going to another app.

Pixel Perfect - Price £0.59 ($.99)

Putting iPhone/iPod photos on Facebook can be a complicated process. With Pixel Perfect it's easy! You can choose to manually upload only the photos you want, write descriptions for them, choose which albums they go in, and even create new albums all from within Pixel Perfect!

Pixel Perfect uses a unique easy to use interface for applying effects to your photos. It comes stocked with essential image effects to help you correct your photos without going to another app.

PictureVault - Price £2.99 ($4.99)

PictureVault keeps your private or sensitive photos securely stored on your iPhone or iPod touch.

Light Leak - Price £0.59 ($.99)

A light leak is what happens to the edge of film when a camera's seal is not shut properly. Photos will resemble images produced by plastic cameras popular in the 1960s. Since the edges are randomly generated, you can process your image several times without producing the same result.

HiCon Pro - Price £0.59 ($.99)

Photos will resemble a film-style image pushed to 1600 ISO. Color images may blow out, producing very graphic style pictures. Black and white images can be pushed to produce monochromatic flat pictures.

HiCon Lite - Price FREE

Photos will resemble a black and white film-style image pushed to 1600 ISO, complete with slight grain in the gray areas. This application is a free introduction to HiCon Pro, which includes Color and Black & White High Contrast functions, plus the ability to use the Photo Roll, and selectively save your images.

America at Home for iEnvision - Price £0.59 ($.99)

"A glorious album of photos that captures Americans in the most important place in their lives: their home." That's how Time Magazine referred to "America at Home" by Rick Smolan and Jennifer Erwitt. Our "America at Home for iEnvision" app puts this groundbreaking coffee table book into your pocket!

Photo Rotator - Price £0.59 ($.99)

If you are looking for a quick way to rotate a photo on your iPhone, Photo Rotator is the iPhone app for you. Photo Rotator can rotate photos left or right and is the easy way to fix "sideways" photos fast.