iPhone Photogrophy
Intro
In the period since I got my iPhone, last November, until circa a month or so, I almost exclusively shot photos with the iPhone, and have barely been thinking about my beloved Sony a6000, let alone talk about my Contessa LK, two cameras I've otherwise loved to shoot with. Neither did I think about using my computer for post processing, and here's why.
Short story; I used my iPhone for the entire work-flow of photography, from shooting, post processing all the way to publishing. And with AirPrint, I only need to bring a printer into the work-flow, if I desire to get my images physical. This is simply because, bringing nothing but my keys and phone, is just so convenient, and the iPhone XS is just so fun to shoot with!
Step one: Image Capture
My app of choice for image capturing is Halide, an amazing photography app exclusive to iOS devices. I've had good luck with Moment's app, which offers the same control, and is also available for Android.
The reason I prefer Halide over Moment, is because of Halide's simple UI.
Halide has everything in auto mode by default, but with quick and easy gestures, you can manually set most if not all settings related to the photo at hand.
Most of the time I don't need to dial any manual settings, as I'm mostly satisfied with what Halide brings in auto-mode. White Balance also leaves a lot to be wished for, but luckily Halide shoots raw (as do Moment). Halide also gives me depth mode, Halide's alternative to portrait, for my faux bokeh needs. More on this later.
Step 2: Post Processing
When doing post processing, I use two excellent, albeit iOS exclusive, apps: Darkroom, an alternative to Lightroom, and Slør. For my Android friends I can recommend VSCO and Snapseed, the latter being owned by Google and both being cross platform.
Darkroom
The purpose of Darkroom is to do some RAW processing of your photos. This article has a comprehensive explenation of RAW, but in short it's about control.
I prefer Darkroom over Lightroom for two simple reasons:
- Darkroom uses the iOS photo library, instead of its own.
- Darkroom is a one time payment, whereas Lightroom requires an Adobe CC subscription, Darkroom even manages to be cheaper than a month the cheapest Adobe CC subscription with Lightroom.
Darkroom doesn't lack anything I used from Lightroom, but it's not a complete replacement for everyone.
Slør
Slør, Danish for blur or bokeh, is like the blur tool from the photos app on steroids! This is the second and last app in my iOS photography work-flow, as Darkroom overwrites the settings I've burned in from Slør.
As mentioned Slør allows to make some very convincing faux bokeh, unfortunately not perfect, but for social media is a perfect tool! It's the best tool to add this fake bokeh, I've had my hands on, and has even convinced some of my friends and family. It has a huge library of settings, which allows the user to get the perfect blur on their photos.
I can generally recommend Slør on its own, with the caveat that it works best with dual lens iPhones, as they records the depth data into the metada. The team behind Slør recently released a new app which looks promising. Piculet takes the depth data, like Slør, but instead of adding blur, it adds fun effects to the photo, like double exposure, and milky effects.
Step 3: Publishing
Us at Inuk Entertainment are rather privacy conscious, so fewest apps possible have access to my photos library. Amongst these apps, instagram is absent, but how do I then publish to my various social media? Luckily the apps I care about, is supported by the action sheet, so apps only have access to the images I give explicit permission to view.