Spring break time is here, and many readers will be heading to points south for a family vacation. These days many of those people will be using their smartphone’s cameras to capture all the fun and beauty of their trip. Lucky for them there are several exciting apps that will help enhance and improve their snapshots.
One of the most popular apps today is Instagram. Instagram allows you to apply one of more than a dozen filters to your shots, replicating the look of an old camera, B&W and many more. The app allows you to apply these filters when you take the picture and after the shot is taken. It also has direct links to all of the popular social sites, so you can instantly post to Facebook and others. The app is free and currently available for iPhones, and is due to roll out for Droids this year.
FXCamera is a Droid-only app that has many of the filters one would expect, along with other exciting treatments including Polandroid, Fisheye and Warhol effects. Like Instagram, you can add these filters to existing shots, but they can not be removed if you apply them during the shooting. The app is free.
Want to play it old-school with your high-tech device? Postagram can help you do just that. It doesn’t take photos, it sends them. You take a shot of you on the beach, on a cruise or at Disney and send an actual postcard to your jealous friends. The app is free, but sending the Postcards costs 99 cents each. Postagram is available for both iOS and Droid operating systems.
If you’re faced with a sweeping view that you just can’t capture in one shot, “360” can make it work. The program allows you to simply pan across the scene, capturing one end of the beach to another, and then stitches the shots together. Once created, the images can be shared via Facebook or Twitter. There are several apps with the number 360 in them, so make sure you have the right one before downloading. The app is Droid-only and is free.
Is your inner James Cameron screaming to be released? Timelapse can help you make a time-lapse video of almost anything. It takes a series of pictures in a specified time, and stitches them together into a video. Put it on the picnic table before you setup camp, and watch the family pitch the tent and start the fire in a matter of seconds as the app compresses the time for you just like the videos of the blooming flowers we’ve all seen. There is a free version and a Pro version that adds more choices, available for both the iPhone and Droids.
So enjoy your spring break, and take a ton of pictures. Just remember to share them with those of us still with the nose to the grindstone!
