Photography

Instagram responds: ‘your photos are your photos’

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 24, 2016

There has been a whole lot of hoopla surrounding Instagram's newly updated terms of services, with commenters warning the new rules might give the popular Facebook-owned photography service the right to share your data with third-parties and - worse - sell your Instagram photos without compensating you. Does Facebook really intend to turn Instagram into a stock photo service that doesn’t pay a dime to photographers?

Cowed by privacy outrage, hours after releasing the new terms the company's co-founder responded by shedding more light on the matter. In a blog post, he makes it clear that Instagram does not intend to sell its users photos while sharing interesting tidbits concerning Instagram's advertising strategy...

Camera+ finally gains full-res sharing

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 10, 2018

Camera+'s inability to share snaps at full resolution on Facebook has been ticking me off for some time. I prefer to share my images in full-res whenever possible, but the otherwise perfect Camera+ app stubbornly kept insisting on reducing my uploads to a paltry 1,024 pixels horizontally.

Thankfully, the annoying limitation is gone now. What's more, developer tap tap tap has also bumped up the quality a bit for Twitter, Message and web link sharing, meaning you’ll get higher quality shares even if you don’t change a thing.

The iPad version now does a better job handling atypical image formats and the team is already talking about the upcoming version 3.8, "which is right around the corner".

In addition to "a few other really cool things", this will be the update you've been waiting for, one that will finally converge the features in both iPhone and iPad version of the program...

Yahoo updates Flickr app with the obligatory Instagram-like filters

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 29, 2012

Following Instagram's update that added a new Willow filter and yesterday's big refresh of Twitter's iOS client that now lets you crop a photo and apply up to eight brand new filters before tweeting it out, Yahoo too has joined the fray by revamping its aging Flickr iOS client this morning. And guess what? The redesigned app also touts filters as Yahoo attempts to stay relevant in the social photography space. There are sixteen unique camera filters to choose from, twice as much as in Twitter's app (and also powered by Aviary). More features and screenies right after the break...

Twitter app update with Instagram-like filters now available for download

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 11, 2012

As I reported yesterday, Twitter has updated its Android app with the promised Instagram-competing photo filters, a first for the micro-blogging service seeking to supplant Instagram as your favorite photo sharing service. That, my friends, is a pretty tall order given Instagram's popularity, the Facebook backing and a growing number of new features Instagram's gaining. Be that as it may, Twitter has waited until this morning to roll out filters to its iOS client.

You're gonna love the ability to snap a scene, edit the photo with the filters supplied by Aviary and tweet out your work without jumping back and forth between Twitter and your go-to iPhoneography app. You can grab the free download right now from the App Store. More on other features right after the break...

Instagram gains enhanced camera, new Willow filter, nice little tweaks

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 20, 2017

iPhone photography fans, rejoice. Instagram today pushed an incremental update to its mobile app for iOS and Android, bringing a few improvements in the camera department, a brand new filter and more. The camera interface has been revamped with a nice Instagram-themed shutter button. The camera now displays a preview of the most recent photo on your camera roll and you can turn on an optional grid separately for the camera and the scale & crop screen.

You may also appreciate the enhanced Camera Roll picker as it now lets you quickly access the last photo taken, though that capability is inexplicably available only on the iPhone 5. More on other changes and the new Willow filter right after the break...

Snapseed goes free, gains new filters and Google+ sharing, hits Android

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 20, 2017

Lots of good news today for fans of the popular iPhone photography app Snapseed that Google acquired back in September. Snapseed 1.5 has just been released, featuring built-in sharing to the Google+ network, a huge boon for Google's Facebook killer. By the way, the search firm in today's blog post called Google+ "the fastest-growing network thingy ever". Snapseed, Apple's iPad App of the Year, also has gained an updated Frames filter with new photographic frames that can be colorized, in addition to a brand new Retrolux filter.

Basically a Hollywood style filter, Retrolux includes a bunch of different film styles souped up with a range of "different scratches and textures as well as light leaks to create a truly retro look for your photos". And if you happen to be on Android and have been yearning for Snapseed, you can go and download it straight from Google's Play Store right now...

Glif+ iPhone 5 tripod mount review

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Yesterday, I finally received my Glif tripod mount for the iPhone 5. For anyone who's ever tried to take respectable photos or videos using the iPhone, then you know how indispensable a good tripod mount can be.

For someone like myself who's constantly shooting video, a tripod mount is an absolute necessity if I ever desire to switch from a DSLR and shoot video with my iOS device. Perhaps you noticed a few videos in the past where I've incorporated video from my iPhone 5? Needless to say, it wasn't a very pretty sight.

Although other tripod mounting solutions exist, the Glif from Studio Neat was among the first to solve the problem. It's also one of the easiest to use. Take a look inside as I examine it on video...

Facebook starts rolling out Photo Sync for everyone

Oliver Haslam ∙ November 30, 2012

We told you a couple of weeks ago that Facebook had begun rolling out its new Photo Sync feature which, predictably, lets the Facebook app automatically upload your photos, ready for viewing on the Facebook website or inside any of the company's apps. Turns out Facebook was rolling it out to a select few, testing the feature with plans to roll it out to everyone at a later date. That date is today.

Announcing the move on its blog, Facebook today said that its Photo Sync feature will be available to all, with all the magic already built right into the existing Facebook app for iOS. The social giant needs to activate your account on their end, and voila, you've got a new feature.

Pretty nifty indeed...

The world’s first music video filmed entirely using only Instagram snaps

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 28, 2012

http://vimeo.com/53426724 If a picture is worth a thousand words and a video is worth a thousand pictures, this one's worth gold. Taking iPhone photography to a whole new level, director Arturo Perez Jr. edited together a total of 1905 photos of San Francisco for the song “Invasión” by Mexico City-based band The Plastics Revolution. It tells a tale of a young couple finding love amid an indie-pop backdrop. The snaps were taken mostly on an iPhone and ss you can see for yourself, the results are nothing short of amazing....

i.am+ launches December 6 to turbocharge iPhone photography with a 14MP sensor

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 28, 2012

Fans of iPhone photography have a field day with today's news of the brand new 500px for iPhone app and a significantly reimagined Vimeo iOS build. So, remember hip-hop artist and the Black Eyed Peas leader Will.i.am announcing a 14-megapixel iPhone camera attachment last week?

Today, we learn that the accessory bearing his name and dubbed the i.am+ is set to launch December 6. It's gonna be available in contemporary and vintage version for the iPhone 4/4S, with the flagship iPhone 5 unit arriving at some point next year and sporting a dedicated 14-megapixel camera sensor and flash...