Coming soon, Photogene² for the iPhone

Photogene², the successor to the popular Photogene iPhone app is about to hit the App Store, and for those interested, here's a sneak peak of what to expect.

For those of you wondering, Photogene² is NOT an update to Photogene, so existing users will sadly have to pay again if they want this new version. Photogene² is due to hit the App Store this Thursday, the 10th November, and will be priced at £0.69/$0.99/€0.79 for the first week of release.

Update on Tuesday, November 8, 2011 at 8:16PM by Glyn Evans

To soften the blow, if you're an existing user/owner of the original Photogene, then when you install and run Photogene² for the first time, you will have the option of getting 1 of 3 in-app purchase options for FREE.

"When you launch Photogene² for the first time you'll see a popup message asking you to choose one of 3 gifts.

This message will only be shown if the old version of Photogene is installed on your device."

iPhoneography meets iCreate Magazine

Issue 87 of iCreate magazine which is published here in the UK by Image Publishing has a nice article all about iPhone photography called "iPhone 4 Photography: Tips, Tricks & Apps".  The article is pretty good, covering some top apps with readers photos, as well as a small section from me, called "My top iPhone photo apps".

Now due to space limitation, not all of my top apps were published, so for those interested, here is my article in full.

My top iPhone photo apps by Glyn Evans, editor of iPhoneography.com

The iPhone 4 is not just any old smartphone. With its 5 megapixel camera and wide range of photo manipulation app, its a camera and darkroom in your pocket.

With so many photo apps in Apple's App Store, you may be wondering which ones are the best, so here are my top apps.

1. PictureShow: If you only buy one photo app for your iPhone, then I recommend PictureShow [App Store Link].  PictureShow offers 28 different filters/photo style effects, 20 frames, 10 different light and 11 different noise effects, which you can choose from, or let the apps "Shuffle button" do for you.  In addition to these predefined looks, you can manualy adjust the brightness, contrast or colour, as well as being able to add text, before saving and/or sharing via Twitter, FaceBook, Flickr, Blogger or via email.

2. AutoStitch: Create sweeping panoramic photos with AutoStitch [App Store Link]. Simply take a series of photos with your iPhone from a single viewpoint, panning as you take them.  Then once saved, simply open AutoStitch, select the images and let AutoStitch go to work. When complete simply crop and save, and there you have a panoramic photo. It really is that easy.

3. Photogene: Photogene [App Store Link] is like having a desktop photo editor in your pocket, giving you the ability to truly edit your photos on the go, letting you crop, sharpen, straighten, rotate and add frames to your photos, as well as manually or automatically adjust histogram levels, gamma correction, RGB balance, the colour temperature and saturation.

4. Pro HDR: Pro HDR [App Store Link] lets you create tone mapped HDR images by taking one under exposed photo, one over exposed photo and merging them together, right on the iPhone.

5. TiltShift Generator: Available for both the iPhone and iPad, TiltShift Generator [App Store Link] lets you create photos with a limited depth of field or selective focus, creating that fake miniature look, reminisant of Tilt-shift photography.

6. Black & White apps: If you like shooting Black & White, then there are 3 apps that I would recommend.

• Vint B&W [App Store Link] is a camera replacement app that offers the best tonal range of any Black & White app currently available for the iPhone.
• Spica [App Store Link] is a one trick poney Black & White app that lets you create high contrast, grainy and gritty photos.
• Monochromia [App Store Link] is a Black & White editor, letting you adjust the contrast and brightness, as well as add vignette and film grain to you photos.

These are some of my top apps, which you can use singly, or why not mix together to create soemthing extra special!

App Update: Photogene update and price drop

Photogene for the iPhone has just had a much needed update that will please many, and so now you "no longer need to enable location-services to view and edit photos", and in addition, the app is now half price.

App Store Link: Photogene; Price: £0.59/$0.99/€0.79

App Update: Photogene

Photogene, the must have photo editor for the iPhone has just had a major update that will please many, yet upset a lot, and why?

Well today, Photogene became an iOS 4 ONLY app, leaving all non iOS 4 users out in the cold with no future updates!!

So what is new in Photogene version 2.6?

1. Support for fast-app switching.
2. Long tasks such as saving and uploading photos can be performed in the background, so you can do something else while this happens.
3. Support for iPhone 4 retina display.
4. Support for iPhone 4 5 MP camera and also for using the front-facing camera.
5. Can share photos while preserving geo-tag information (EXIF).
6. New share options: Flickr and FTP. Also, can choose destination album in Facebook. Now using latest security protocol for Twitter.
7. Support for adding IPTC metadata for shared photos.
8. Can now resize photos to custom resolution.

WARNING: If you are not running iOS 4 on your iPhone, then ensure you have a backup copy of the app, and do not update this app via iTunes on your PC or Mac.

App Store Link: Photogene; Price: £1.19/$1.99/€1.59

How to: Multi Exposures, by Doug McNamee

Doug McNamee is a professional photographer based in California who I met at PMA, and who we have showcased here on the iPhoneography blog.

Doug recently emailed me with details on how he created the following photo, giving me permission to post it here on the iPhoneography blog.

"A few people asked about this image, so I’ll run down the basic steps. Apps used: Tiltshift generator, Montage, and PhotoGene.

I was feeling particularly inspired  after purchasing a James Fee coffee table book and wanted to do something with that Fee look. I knew I wanted  sharp and soft edges layered together, so I started with a contrasty scene, a tree just outside our building. Here are the original and final versions.

From the set of four below:

1. Used Tiltshift Generator to desaturate and adjust contrast
2. Used Tiltshift Generator to blur one side of the image. Saved as “layer 1″
3. Created another version, blurring the other side. Saved as “layer 2″
4. Flipped that image In the Montage app, so tree branches are coming from opposite sides.

Next:

1. Imported layers 1 and 2 into Montage. There, you can flip images and adjust  layer order and opacity.
2. Exported to Camera Roll
3. Opened in Photogene, adjust contrast, cropped, toned, and saved.

Here are some alternate versions."

Source: Tilt N Shift

PMA Day 3: The presentations continue

Following on from day 2 of the PMA event (which was actually day 1 of the official trade show), the Best Camera app demonstration attracted a nice crowd (this was possibly due to the misleading wording for the presentation, as I heard a number of people say "look Chase Jarvis is going to be here").  Anyway the presentation started, I showed a short video of Chase promoting his app (Chase and his people gave me permission to do this), and then made a short joke about Chase not being here and that they had drawn the short straw and it was me doing the demo.  Thankfully, and despite the technical issues we were have with WiFi connectivity at the event, the demo went without any hickups.

Next up it was the turn of TiltShift Generator, and then it was lunch time.

After lunch it was Sion's turn to give his second presentation about his iPhoneography, and this was to an almost full house.

Above: Sion presenting to an almost full house at the 'PMA Photo App Pavilion'Following on from Sion, it was the turn of John Martin from Reallusion Inc., who was the first of our guest speakers for the day.  John enthusiastically demonstrated his 2 apps, Photo Makeover and 10x Camera Tools (PRO)

Above: John Martin from Reallusion Inc. demonstrating Photo Makeover and 10x Camera Tools (PRO

John has very kindly given me 3x promo codes for each of his 2 apps to give away here on the iPhoneography blog, so if you would like the chance of getting one, then post your request  specifying which app you would prefer, or any, if you have no preference in the comments section.  Note: As with all promo codes you will need a US iTunes account to redeem them.

After John had completed his presentation it was time for me to take the hot seat again, giving an overview and comparing Adobe's PS Mobile app with Photogene.

For our final session of the day, we had Hal Denton and Ross Pirtle from Tunaverse Media Inc., who talked about their photo syncing app Cinq.

Above: Hal Denton from Tunaverse Media Inc. kicking off their demonstration of CinqAbove: Ross Pirtle from Tunaverse Media Inc. doing a live demo of their Cinq appWell that was day 3 out of the way, and thankfully I had only had the one presentation that afternoon, as my voice was fading fast.

Photogene gets update and limited time price drop

The excellent photo editing app Photogene has just been updated to version 2.5, and now includes the following new features:

• New filters & effects: blur, posterize, b&w.
• Upload to twitter & facebook and our new "Hall of fame".
• New localizations: Chinese and Hebrew.
• New cropping aspect ratios.
• New resize resolutions.
• Option to remove signature from e-mails.

In addition to these new features the app has been reduced for a limited period to £1.19/$1.99

AppStore Link: Photogene - Price £1.19/$1.99

Weekend special: Photogene on offer again

For this week only Photogene is on offer for a bargain price of £0.59/$0.99, so if you don't already have this great app then now could not be a better time to grab yourself a copy.

AppStore Link: Photogene - Offer price £0.59/$0.99

WEEKEND SALE: Photogene

For this weekend only, Photogene is £0.59/$0.99 instead of the regular £1.79/$2.99, so grab it while you can.

AppStore Link: Photogene

Photogene weekend special

If you don't already own Photogene then this weekend could not be a better time to grab yourself a copy, as developer Omer Shoor has just reduced the price from £1.79/$2.99 to the bargain price of £0.59/$.99.

AppStore Link: Photogene - Price £0.59/$.99