All posts tagged Apps

5 Tips For Taking Great Looking Instagram Photos

With Facebook’s purchase of Instagram and an Android version of the app having been released in recent times, there’s a whole bunch of new users out there! Here’s a quick rundown of tips to make your photos standout above the rest…

Great Looking Instagram Photo of a Heart Tree

1) Don’t use the camera in Instagram

Instagram’s camera function is extremely limiting; instead, opt to use your handsets regular camera app. This will allow you to zoom, add a grid to ensure your photos are straight, and crop your pictures how you like.

2) Use other apps

Instagram’s filters are great, but sometimes they don’t quite provide enough control. That great effect that just slightly over exposed part of the photo can often be irritating; the answer: use a different app. Snapseed is a favourite of ours at Social Gadget. The app offers a great choice of filters that can be completely customised by simply sliding your finger from left to right. The ‘strength’ of the effect varies from 0%-100% depending upon how far you slide, it’s that simple. In addition, you can add multiple filters to your photos making for some outstanding combinations.

Aside from filters, other apps can provide more interest to your pictures. Colorsplash for example, allows your to add drama to a photo by converting it to black and white, leaving only your chosen details in colour. InFrame Cut [iTunes download link] allows you to create split screen, multi-photo images with customisable frames, and Pic Collage allows you to create great looking collages, using photos on your device or from Facebook and the web.

Great Instagram Photo using InFrame Cut of a park

InFrame Cut can really help your pictures describe your surroundings

3) Shoot with good light

In the UK this isn’t always the easiest I know, but it’s worth trying your best to take your shots in good, natural light if you really want them to look killer on Instagram. Smartphone cameras, by comparison to regular cameras, have pretty small sensors which only allow in so much light. Do you best to help them out by using natural light where possible. Also, using the HDR function (if you’re an iPhone user) will really  help your pictures pop when applying filters later.

Instagram photo of a well lit tree

4) Look at what other people are doing via Hashtags

There are some truly incredible photographers on Instagram; take inspiration from them by looking at what they’re up to. Hashtags are keywords on instagram; if you’re about to take a shot of something such as a ‘tree’, search for photos hashtagged #tree to see how others compose their pictures; you might just find a neat new perspective that makes your photo stand out.

5) Cheat, and use a high end DSLR and Photoshop

Ditch your phone altogether and take some great shots using Canon or Nikon’s latest offering; tweak it until perfection in Photoshop, then quickly upload it to Instagram like nothing ever happened…

Any other tips? Let us know in the comments below, and feel free to share your photos with us on Facebook and Twitter

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by TheJW on May 28, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Tips and Tricks
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Posted by TheJW on May 28, 2012

http://social-gadget.com/2012/05/28/5-tips-for-taking-great-looking-instagram-photos/

App Focus #2: Path

Following on from last weeks look at Flipboard, this week we’re turning our attention to Path; the personal social network.

Path logo

Credit: Path.com

Path is an iPhone/Android based social network with a difference; it’s about sharing your information only with those nearest and dearest. Resultantly, the cap on the number of friends a user may share with is a rather modest 50. While ultimately how privately you reveal your life on the more major social networks is up to you, on the whole users tend to share with more people than they would perhaps like – this is the root of Path’s appeal.

Path is presented as a series of “moments” where you can share photos, movies, thoughts, location, what song you’re listening to, and more. Each of these moments builds your life’s “Path”. If this all sounds very familiar that’s because it is. This is no bad thing however as Path isn’t about doing something new, it’s about doing what you would normally do, but not telling the whole world about it. What’s more, the presentation is truly beautiful.

Path Screen shot

A stunning interface based around what is dubbed the ‘Chooser’ makes navigating Path a joy. See the video to get a real feel for how the app works.

Path – Introducing Path 2 from Path on Vimeo.

As well as looking gorgeous, Path has some ace features. If you move town, Path will automatically update your new location (if you allow it) and it also boasts some great photo filters similar to those found on instagram.

Should you choose, you can share your updates to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Foursquare. Personally, I feel this defies the point behind Path, and whilst ultimately you could theoretically use it as a client for updating, it’s far too limited to become a replacement.

Path is a great app – the ethos behind it, it’s slick implementation and gorgeous looks are all definite perks, however I cannot help but feel that it would benefit strongly from having an online aspect also. If each user could have a unique URL which lead to an HTML version of their Path, it would allow it to be shared with those close who are unlikely to have a smart phone (Grandparents and such)

Is adopting a new personal social network something that appeals to you or would you rather just vet your currently existing sites? Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook page

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by TheJW on January 22, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in App Focus
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Posted by TheJW on January 22, 2012

http://social-gadget.com/2012/01/22/app-focus-2-path/

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