Mobile Photography & Art – My Top Five Apps by Alon Goldsmith from Los Angeles, California, USA

We are revitalising our Top Five Apps section to our Photo App Lounge column. This a section within TheAppWhisperer where we ask highly accomplished mobile photographers and artists to list their top five apps and to explain why they have selected them. Kicking us off today is highly accomplished mobile photographer, Alon Goldsmith from Los Angeles, California, United States.

“If you had asked me what my top five photo apps were a few years ago, I would have had a hard time narrowing it down. These days, I’m driven to create work with a more photorealistic feel, so I’m currently using apps less than in the past. That said, here are my top five”.

All images ©Alon Goldsmith

 

Snapseed

I do play with composition and dynamics a little, and in my opinion, there’s no better tool for that than Snapseed. Cropping and straightening; upping saturation and contrast; messing with shadows; changing to black and white; and other basic “manipulation.” On the odd occasion, I also enjoying pushing Snapseed’s tools a little further. Here’s an example of the kind of thing you can do.

 

Hipstamatic

I’ve been a Hipstaholic since the day it invaded the app world. Even though I don’t use it as much as I used to, I will always have love for this most generous of apps. This beautiful beast is directly responsible for helping me release my creative spirit. A shout out to my original photo muse and the good folk in San Francisco who make it all happen!

 

Facebook

Many might argue that Facebook is not a photo app. WRONG, I say! This is the app that gave me permission to express myself photographically and got me going. The photo groups and the fine people who roam them were indispensable in helping me grow as an artist and in allowing me to self promote and earn cash money dollars. That said, there is much that irritates me about this crazy app.

Instagram

Another two headed monster, Instagram has helped me learn about the process of selection and self-editing. It’s also facilitated the spread of my images to a wider audience. Not without frustration though. There seems to be something built into its algorithm that holds out on me and is determined to keep me relatively anonymous within the Instagram community. In spite of its stingy personality, I keep on posting.

Check out my Instagram accounts:

https://www.instagram.com/alon_goldsmith/

https://www.instagram.com/lonskiphotography/

https://www.instagram.com/3chordsphotography/

 

Touch Retouch

This powerful little app is oh-so useful for removing unwanted detritus from your images. Check out its power in helping extract a nugget from this busy scene. Not my usual workflow but it does show how working with a series of apps can help achieve something cool. For this image I used the native iPhone camera on my 7 Plus, Snapseed, Touch Retouch and Blender.

 

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