Photography

Get more out of your iPhone photos with the Imvio Camera Lens Kit

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

Folks in the market for an iPhone lens accessory should consider adding the Imvio Camera Lens Kit to their list of prospects. The kit includes an iPhone case, a Fisheye and Wide Angle lens, a protective carrying case, and it's available for every late-model iPhone starting with the 5s.

I've been using Imvio lenses on my iPhone 6s for the past week, and I have to say that overall, it's a solid product. The case fits well and the lenses attach and detach easily. It's not perfect though, and I did find a few things I didn't like during my testing. Read on for my full review.

How to share Live Photos

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated March 22, 2017

Apple won't describe them as such, but Live Photos are just short video files, and like any files, they can quickly be shared with friends and family. But unlike video files, Live Photos need to be shared in very specific ways in order to preserve the live aspect of the photo.

For instance, if you email a Live Photo to someone, the file will be stripped of the video component and will be attached and sent as a jpeg. So how do you send a Live Photo while making sure the "live" part of the photo remains?

How to turn a Live Photo into a still photo

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated March 22, 2017

Live Photos was one of the main features introduced with iOS 9 and iPhone 6s. Some might see it as a gimmicky feature, others like me might see it as a great way to inject a little more life into photos.

The process of taking a Live Photo is pretty simple. It's on by default, and you have nothing to do. Simply shoot a photo like you would normally do, and you're done. Your device will capture an extra 1.5 second of video before and after the photo was taken, stitching it together and turning a frozen moment into a lively one.

But what if you want to turn a Live Photo into a still one? As with most things iOS, it's actually pretty simple.

Square Jellyfish metal tripod mount makes iPhone photography hands-free

Lory Gil ∙ September 16, 2015

Sure, your iPhone 6 has a fantastic camera that allows you to take some incredible photos and videos. As long as you have a steady hand, you can take some breathtaking panoramas of a beach sunset.

Square Jellyfish has a metal, spring-loaded tripod mount that makes photography on your iPhone 6 even better. Attach it to any tripod for quick and easy steady shots. It's small enough to fit in your pocket, but strong enough to fit the largest of smartphones.

This 3-in-1 lens kit for iPhone 6 is a low-cost beginner’s kit for iPhone photographers

Lory Gil ∙ September 12, 2015

You've probably contemplated getting a special wide-angle, fisheye, or macro lens for your iPhone 6, but don't want to spend a bunch of money, only to be disappointed with the results. What if you could invest in a lens kit for the same price as a fast food lunch?

The VicTsing 3-in-1 lens kit comes with a 180 degree fisheye lens, a 0.65x wide-angle lens, and a macro lens so you can experiment with your iPhone photography hobby. The price is so low that you can invest in something new without breaking the bank.

Mpow 3 in 1 Clip-On is a low-priced iPhone photographer’s tool kit

Lory Gil ∙ August 1, 2015

If you fancy yourself an iPhone photographer, you've probably got an arsenal of apps to make your images stand out. You can add even more dimensions to your raw photos using special smartphone lenses.

Mpow's 3 in 1 Clip-On lens kit features three styles of mobile lenses and a specially designed clip that keeps your screen clear and works with a variety of devices with or without a case.

This smartphone adapter mount lets you use any tripod you want

Lory Gil ∙ July 31, 2015

Photography hobbyist and professionals alike have their favorite tripod for taking steady shots. Even the most amateur iPhone photographer might enjoy a selfie stick every once in a while. Why limit yourself to just one tripod?

DaVoice makes a basic smartphone tripod adapter mount that stretches wide enough to be used with such devices as the iPhone 6 Plus, and is universally adaptable to both mini stands and standard tripods.

Deep Dreamer for Mac lets anyone soup up photos using Google’s amazing Deepdream engine

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 17, 2016

Right after Google announced its fascinating research into neural networks and highly advanced image processing with so-called “deep dream“ code, developer Realmac Software immediately set out to make an app out of it.

The Internet giant did open-source the code, but you must have the technical chops in order to make use of it because setting up a server to process images for yourself isn't really a trivial endeavor for average people.

Launching today as a public beta, Deep Dreamer for Mac simplifies the process of processing your own photos with Google's deep dream algorithm, and the results are both fantastic and eerily disturbing.

Instagram bringing place, people and hashtag search to the web

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 20, 2015

Following an update last month that added expanded search options to its mobile app, Facebook-owned Instagram has now started rolling out place search and other search-related enhancements for its web version, the company announced Monday.

The new search features are currently rolling out to a subset of Instagram's installed base before going live for everyone so they may not be available to you just yet.

Pixelmator for iPhone and iPad discounted to just 99 cents

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 15, 2015

Pixelmator, a powerful image editing software for the Mac, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch has received a substantial price cut in the App Store in a limited-time promotion following yesterday's update which brought out the new Dynamic Touch feature, a much improved and 5x faster Repair tool and more.

Going from $4.99 to just 99 cents, Pixelmator for iPhone and iPad is now a steal.

Keep in mind that's 99 cents to download the universal Pixelmator app to all your iOS devices. I wholeheartedly recommend you pick up this awesome app right now, especially if you've been holding out for a sale. By the way, this is the first Pixelmator's iOS edition has received such a deep price cut following its October 2014 App Store debut.

Pixelmator for iOS updated with 5x faster Repair tool, new Dynamic Touch feature and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 14, 2015

Pixelmator for iOS, which almost two months ago became a universal app with native iPhone support, was refreshed in the App Store this morning with a few new features and dozens of improvements, performance improvements and stability fixes.

The Repair tool, which debuted on Pixelmator for Mac, is now up to five times faster on iPhone and iPad, and even more precise.

And the all-new Dynamic Touch tool intelligently changes the stroke size of all Retouch tools based on your finger input: use the tip of your finger and you'll create thin strokes; press harder, or use a larger surface area of your finger, and you'll produce thicker lines.

Moreover, Pixelmator's Photo Editing extension has been improved to make it easier to apply Pixelmator's effects within the context of iOS's stock Photos app.

At long last, Instagram is increasing photo resolution to a sharper 1,080-by-1,080 pixels

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 18, 2016

I love Instagram but have always had a first-world problem with its paltry photo resolution. In today's age of ultra-crisp mobile screens, 640-by-640 pixel images just don't cut it anymore. Well, it took only a couple of years but Instagram just announced that it is rolling out support for bigger, crisper images on both iOS and Android.

“We're rolling out 1080x1080 uploads (and higher-quality viewing) for Instagram on iOS and Android,” Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger wrote in a tweet today.

The company's iPhone application wasn't updated today with support for uploading and viewing crisper photos so it's likely a silent update on Instagram's servers. The official company blog did not share details about the sharper photography experience at post time.