What Apps Are We Using This Month? with Rosie Karel
Welcome to TheAppWhisperer’s new section, “What apps are we using this month” series, where we discover which apps you are particularly enjoying. Kicking us off today is none other than Award Winning Mobile Artist Rosie Karel.
First, I would like to thank Joanne Carter and TheAppWhisperer for this opportunity. My name is Rosie Karel @rosiekimages and I will be turning 70 next year. I am originally from Chicago but have lived for the last 39 years in North County San Diego in the beach towns of Cardiff by the Sea and Encinitas, where I receive much of my inspiration. I have a daughter and now a grandson who brings me endless joy.
I spent most of my life in the accounting field working with my then-husband in our printing and graphic design business. I have always been creative, although photography was not my main creative expression of choice before getting my first iPhone.
I shoot mainly in the native camera of my 14 Pro Max and edit mostly on my iPhone, but sometimes on my iPad Pro. I will use Camera+ for macro shots and have been experimenting with Slow Shutter Cam recently.
For many years, I took portrait and figure drawing classes using chalk pastels as my preferred medium. I think that is one reason why I always feel the need to have a human element in my images. As I became more interested in photography, I wanted to reflect this layering of colour and texture in my photography, so I enrolled in several online mobile photography courses, which exposed me to the different genres, techniques and ever-expanding apps available.
I am somewhat of an app junkie. I have dozens, but there are some favourites that I use on the majority of my images. One app that I use in almost all of my images is SnapSeed. Besides overall tuning, I use the Selective & Brush Tuning features quite often to enhance a particular part of the image. I sometimes use the Glamour Glow & Perspective features. I also love how you can view and edit your workflow.
My main go-to filter app is Hipstamatic. Since my goal is to evoke a sense of mood and mystery in my images, to go beyond the capture, I always add a filter of some kind, and Hipstamatic offers an endless combination of lenses, film and flash combos that you can fine-tune and many other adjustment features to personalise the effects.
iColorama is an amazingly powerful app that I will use for blending images, toning, adding textures, painterly effects and element overlays.
Distressed FX is also one of the main apps I use for textures and adding sky, bird and tree elements.
I have recently discovered the Humans App, which I will use to add that human element or sky element when the real thing is not available.
Other apps I will use from time to time are Lens Distortions for adding fog & light elements, Carbon for B&W conversion and Reflect for adding a water/reflection feature.
The main advice I would give when using any of these apps is to experiment and play with all the different features and adjustment sliders to fine-tune the filters and overlays until you have the right level applied. I am constantly being pleasantly surprised. The main advice I would give when using any of these apps is to experiment and play with all the different features and adjustment sliders to fine-tune the filters and overlays until you have the right level applied. I am constantly being pleasantly surprised.
To read our other interviews in this series, please go here.
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Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter is a British photography journalist, editor, curator, and the founder of *TheAppWhisperer.com*, one of the world’s leading platforms dedicated to mobile photography and art. Since its launch in 2009, TheAppWhisperer has become an international hub for artists of all levels to discover, learn, exhibit, and engage with contemporary photographic practice.Built on principles of inclusivity, accessibility, and artistic excellence, Joanne has spent almost two decades championing mobile photography as a serious artistic medium. Through interviews, critical essays, exhibitions, competitions, and education, she has helped shape and document the evolution of mobile art on a global scale.Her work has taken her internationally, lecturing on photography and mobile art at institutions and events including the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, alongside appearances in the UK and Europe. She has served as a juror for international photography and mobile art awards across Portugal, Canada, the United States, South Korea, Italy, and the UK.Joanne is also the founder of *TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com*, one of the first online galleries dedicated exclusively to collectible mobile art, connecting artists with collectors across Europe, the United States, and Asia.Before founding TheAppWhisperer, Joanne worked extensively in print journalism and photographic publishing, including roles at a paparazzi photo agency and as deputy editor of a leading photography magazine. Her freelance journalism, criticism, and commentary have been published widely in both the UK and the US, with bylines in *The Times*, *The Sunday Times*, *The Guardian*, *Popular Photography*, *NikonPro*, *DPReview*, *Which?*, *Vogue Italia*, *LensCulture*, the *BBC*, and more recently, the *Financial Times*, where her published letters on photography continue to contribute to wider conversations around the medium.Alongside her editorial and curatorial work, Joanne’s own photographic practice has been exhibited internationally across the UK, Europe, South Korea, and the United States. Her work increasingly explores themes of grief, loss, death, memory, and the body.Her current research interests centre on grief, death, and poverty, with forthcoming postgraduate study leading towards doctoral research in these areas.Joanne is currently developing new long-form writing and photographic projects and is available for commissions, editorial projects, speaking engagements, and collaborations.Contact: joannetheappwhisperer@gmail.com)
