5 of my favourite photo editing apps

It’s no secret I love taking photos. What you see on social media is a mere glimpse at my photo collection (read: obsession). I enjoy the creative side of photography and I love taking photos of my kids. And I happen to have an adorable 10-month-old subject who is mighty photogenic. I am often asked which photo editing apps I use on my phone (iPhone). So, today I’d like to introduce you to my favourite photo editing apps.

While I do love taking photos with my Digital Camera (I use an Olympus PEN-5) most photos you see on social media are photos I have taken with my iPhone. If you want some photography tips I suggest you read this post on how to take better photos of your kids. The beauty of using your phone is you can snap away and improve the quality of your photos with the help of some apps. Here are five photo editing apps every mum needs. 

5 photo editing apps every mum needs

1. Picmonkey – Free (in-app purchases) 

   

   Baby Bloomers with Picmonkey text overlay

Picmonkey was the first editing app I experimented with and it’s still one I use frequently. Mostly I use it to resize and touch up images for my blog, but you can use it for all sorts of things. The reason I’ve listed this as number one is because it’s free, intuitive and has a ton of useful features. You can easily crop for Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest with pre-made sizes. You can add text in a vairty of colours, fonts and styles. You can add graphics and overlays…and it has a wrinkle remover and teeth whitener function if you feel so inclined. 

2. Snapseed – Free

   

   Snapseed Selfie

Snapseed is another intuitive app with about 30 tools and filters. All styles can be tweaked with precise control and it saves your personal looks and applies them to new photos later. You can easily add text to images and it has useful functions such as Lens Blur (Bokeh background softening) ideal for portraits and Glamour Glow (which adds a fine glow to images, great for when you’re sleep deprived like I am in this pic). It includes all the other features too like resizing, framing, ability to change exposure/saturation etc.

3. Little Moments App – Free (in-app purchase)

   

   Fun photos with Little Moments App

Well this app is just the sweetest and the lady behind the app is the lovely Chantelle from lifestyle blog Fat Mum Slim. Chantelle is blogging royalty and one of the most creative and talented people I know. Trust me, you’ll fall in love with this popular app. It is playful, intuitive & inspirational. In a few easy steps you can transform any photo, from any moment into something really special. Apply a fancy filter, or add a quote, design or cute wording over the top so it’s more fun to share on Facebook or Instagram. Getting creative with your photos has never been more fun & easy.

4. VSCO – Free (filters for purchase)

   

   Processed with VSCO with f2 preset

VSCO is hugely popular amongst photographers and stylists. VSCO originally launched (under the name VSCO Cam) as an image editing app, but has since grown into both a place to edit images and a platform to share and discover photos, video, and other content. It provides a huge selection of filters for purchase and high-quality adjustment tools. Adjustments you’d expect — like brightness, contrast, and saturation — as well as more advanced controls over perspective, split tinting of highlights and shadows, and faux film grain.

You need to play around with VSCO more than the others.  I don’t find it quite as intuitive. But the (paid) filters are lovely and can adjust the strength of when you apply them, too, and you may find that you get better results with a lighter touch. I often use VSCO when I want a moody effect. 

5. Camera + – $2.99

   

   Photo edited with Camera + app

Whether you’re a seasoned photographer or someone who’s barely touched a camera, Camera+ will make you love taking photos. I probably use this app more than any others, especially when I need to make my photos instagram-worthy!

Camera + has a slew of stunningly beautiful effects and filters.  So whether you’re taking a photo of your children, your breakfast or a beachscape it has you covered. You can use take your photos using the camera app, or grab from your camera roll and edit later. All the pics you take in Camera+ go in the Lightbox where you can quickly and easily skim through them and get rid of bad shots. You save only the photos you’re satisfied with so that your camera roll stays neat and clean. I LOVE this app and it’s worth every cent

* Honourable mentions go to Canva, Wordswag and Lightroom.

Do you take loads of photos with your phone? Which apps do you use?