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- Note that the "best of" articles above may well be outdated, since the various apps described are always in flux, so use Google to be sure you're getting current information.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
- I Tried 4 Night Photography Apps: This One Gave Me the Best Results
- How I Capture Good Smartphone Photos in Low-Light Conditions
- 7 Ways I Critique My Smartphone Photos for Constant Improvement
- 7 Common Mistakes That Make Your iPhone Photos Look Worse (many are also applicable to Android phones)
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 [$]
- VSCO camera
- Footej Camera
- Foodie - Delicious Camera — camera optimized for food pictures
- Snapseed
- Adobe Lightroom
- Adobe Photoshop Mix
- Pixlr Express
- PuddingCamera
- PicSay
- beeCam or LightMeter Free
- Smart Selfie
- Reduce Photo Size
- Resize Me!
- Focus photo manager
- Adobe Premiere Clip video editor
- Google Photos — albums and storage
- PowerDirector — Video Editor
- Send Anywhere (file transfer)
- SlideScan
- FilmBox Film Negatives Scanner
- Photography apps for iOS:
- Camera [comes with iOS]
- Google Street View — create 360° panoramas
- Camera360
- HDR for Free
- VSCO Cam
- Manual — custom exposure camera [$]
- Foodie — camera optimized for food pictures
- Snapseed
- Adobe Lightroom
- Adobe Photoshop Mix
- 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