Resources

Supplementary class materials

“Smartphone/Tablet Photography”

This web page provides additional information and resources for students of the "Smartphone/Tablet Photography" class, offered through the Arlington Adult Education program.  This page gives you some starting points, but is not intended to provide exhaustive listings.

Tutorials and More Info

• How to Clean Your Dirty Smartphone (Without Breaking Something)
• How To Safely Clean Your Tablet or Smartphone’s Touchscreen
• How HDR helps your iPhone or Android camera 'go pro'
• Phone camera uses you might not have thought of
• Make Sure Your Phone's Photos Aren't Revealing Your Location
• 7 Tips For Less Terrible Smartphone Photos
• David Molnar site — free tutorials plus useful book/class
• iPhone Photography Toolkit — (not sure how long this free link will work)
• iPhone Photography School — free tutorials
• 23 Free Photography E-Books
• 23 More eBooks For Photographers That Are Completely Free
• Take Control of Your Smartphone’s Automatic Photo Uploads
• A beginners guide to Android photography settings
• The best photo sync services for Android
• The best photo editors for Android
• A guide to lighting and Android photography —(most of the tips are equally applicable for iPhone/iPad)
• 5 tips for shooting videos on Android —  (most of the tips are equally applicable for iPhone/iPad)
• 10 Tips For Getting Perfect Focus In Your iPhone Photos — (most of the tips are equally applicable for Android)
• The 100 Best iPhone Photography Apps 2015 (many of these apps are also available for Android)
• The 10 Best Photo Editing Apps For iPhone (many also available for Android)
• 7 Advanced iPhone Camera Controls For DSLR Photographers
• VSCO Tutorial: How To Shoot & Edit Incredible iPhone Photos (also applicable to Android)
• The Complete Guide to Snapseed Photo Editing App (video tutorials)
• How to Use Snapseed: An In-Depth Tutorial Guide
• Complete Guide To Using Snapseed To Edit Your iPhone Photos
• If you're going to Instagram your food, you may as well do it right. Here's how. (Washington Post)
• Note that the "best of" articles above may well be outdated, since the various apps described are always in flux, so use Google to be sure you're getting current information.
• Take Control of Your Smartphone’s Automatic Photo Uploads
• Never Lose a Photo Again: The Complete Guide to Bulletproof Photo Backups
• 7 Advanced iPhone Camera Controls For DSLR Photographers (might be helpful for Android users also)
• Take Your Smartphone Photography to the Next Level
• How To Use iPhone Photo Albums To Organize Your Photos (might be helpful for Android users also)
• Snapseed: Everything you need to know about Google's photo editing powerhouse
• Best photography apps for Android
• How To Print iPhone Photos (And How Big You Can Print Them) (also helpful for Android users)
• Shoot This 52 Week Photo Challenge in 2017 to Improve Your Skills (should work in other years too!)
• Google PhotoScan (includes links to app)
• 6 Genius Photography Tips from an Instagram Superstar  [specifically food photography]
• What Can Google Photos Assistant Do for You? — powerful photo-album capabilities, for iOS and Android
• 12 Great Smartphone Photo-Editing Apps You Might Not Know
• 9 Apps That Help You Get More Out of Your Android Camera
• Compare The 5 Best Collage Apps — (article written for iOS, but all apps also available for Android)
• How To Print iPhone Photos (And How Big You Can Print Them) — (concepts are generally applicable to Android too)
• Best lighting accessories for Android photography (equally applicable for iOS)
• How to Use Google Photos for Easy Photo Fixes, Share Suggestions, and More
• 5 Apps and Guides for Taking Better Selfies
• 8 Fundamental Selfie Tips for Taking Better Pictures of Yourself
• Are Smartphone Camera Lenses Worth Buying?
• The 6 Best Android Gallery Apps Better Than Google Photos
• VSCO App Tutorial: How To Shoot & Edit Beautiful iPhone Photos (Applies to Android too)
• 52 Week Photography Challenge — develop and exercise yoiur skill!
• How to Use Snapseed: 10 Tips for Better Snapseed Photo Editing
• What Is VSCO and Why Do Smartphone Photographers Use It?
• Organizing Your Unwieldy Photo Collection Is Easier Than You Think (New York Times)
• How To Edit Photos On iPhone Using The Built-In Photos App
• 5 Excellent Free Lessons to Learn the Basics of Photography
• Seeing Through Photographs — offered by the Museum of Modern Art (audit the class for free)
• 18 Creative Photography Ideas for Beginners to Improve Their Skills
• Removing Objects From Your iPhone Photos: The Ultimate Guide — the techniques and apps work for Android also
• How to Use Amazon Photos: A Complete Guide
• How to Take a 3D Photo on Your Phone
• The Dos and Don’ts of Food Photography
• How to Take Food Photos - Best Tips to Stand Out on Google Maps [short video]
• Photographing the Northern Lights with Your Smartphone
• 7 Ways to Free Up Storage Space on Google Photos
• 6 Android Gallery Apps That Are Better Than Google Photos
• iPhone Photography School quick tips — "outside the box" composition suggestions. Although the instructions are iPhnoe specific, many of the techniques are readily transportable to Android.
• Quickly Remove Backgrounds From Your Pictures With This App  )fpr oPS_
• The 5 Best Photo Collage Apps for Android and iOS
• How To Convert Your iPhone Live Photos Into Long Exposure Photos
• The 7 Best Free Online AI Photo Editors
• 5 Online Software To Enhance Image Quality
• How to Turn Black-and-White Photos Into Color Using Palette.fm
• The 8 Best Free Apps to Turn Photos Into Art and Paintings
• The 7 Best iPhone Camera Settings to Record Better Videos
• The 9 Best Free Photo Editing Apps for Android and iPhone (April 2024)
• 5 fantastic forgotten Google Photos features (April 2024)
• Here's How to Fix Underexposed Images on iPhone and Android
• How to Take Your Photos From Okay to Great Using AI
• iPhone Storage Full? How to Create Free Space on iOS
• We’ve all looked lousy in photos. These tips can help.
• I Made a Short Film Using My Phone: Here's How I Did It
• My Top Fixes for Common Photo Editing Mistakes on Your Smartphone
• Use These Tips to Take Striking Black and White Photos on Your Smartphone
• I Turned Boring Photos Into Abstract Art Using AI
• You Need to Learn These 9 Awesome Mobile Photography Effects
• 5 Essential Settings You Need to Tweak Before Posting Your Smartphone Photos
• Here's How I Get Better Live Photos on My iPhone
• Here's How I Take Professional-Looking Headshots With My Smartphone
• Don’t Believe These 7 Myths About Smartphone Photography
• How to Use Available Light to Create Striking Photos With Your Smartphone

Highlighted Apps

• This is certainly not an exhaustive list, but these are some of the apps which were mentioned in class. I haven't tried all of them, so do your own evaluation. And there are many more options at the App Store or Play Store.  If your web browser is correctly configured, clicking a link should cause the app to open in the Google play store or iTunes;  otherwise, just do a search to find and download it. Unless indicated, apps listed are free.  Many are "lite" versions to give you a chance to try them out, before buying "pro" versions that might have more features or no advertising.  Many apps will work on both phones and tablets; read the descriptions to see what will meet your needs.
• Photography apps for Android: 
• Google Camera [comes with Android on many phones]
• Piktures - Beautiful Gallery
• Open Camera
• 360 (for panoramas)
• Camera360 Ultimate
• HDR Camera
• FXCamera
• BlackCam
• Manual Camera — manual exposure camera [$]
• VSCO camera
• Footej Camera
• Foodie - Delicious Camera — camera optimized for food pictures
• Snapseed
• Adobe Lightroom
• Adobe Photoshop Mix
• Pixlr Express
• PuddingCamera
• PicSay
• Instagram
• beeCam or LightMeter Free
• Smart Selfie
• Reduce Photo Size
• Resize Me!
• Focus photo manager
• Adobe Premiere Clip video editor
• Google Photos — albums and storage
• PowerDirector — Video Editor
• Send Anywhere (file transfer)
• SlideScan
• FilmBox Film Negatives Scanner

• Photography apps for iOS: 
• Camera [comes with iOS]
• Google Street View — create 360° panoramas
• Camera360
• HDR for Free
• VSCO Cam
• Manual — custom exposure camera [$]
• Foodie — camera optimized for food pictures
• Snapseed
• Adobe Lightroom
• Adobe Photoshop Mix
• Instagram
• Pixlr Express photo editor
• Pic Stitch
• Pocket Light Meter
• Splice video editor
• Adobe Premiere Clip video editor
• Google Photos — albums and storage
• Send Anywhere (file transfer)
• SlideScan
• FilmBox film negatives scanner