iPhoneographer John Derby contributes a few of his favorite iPhone images to iPhone Diva. To create The Green Bar, he used these Apps: Snapseed, Pro HDR, Simply HDR, Grungetastic HD.

 About Iris #4, John says:  "I used only Pro HDR, and Snapseed (get the joke?) on this flower's pic." Love the selective focus here.

 My favorite: One Suspicious Bull was created with Camera + for clarity. Snapseed for straightening, cropping, and detail. Pro HDR, Simply HDR, and Pic Grunger.This photo "was taken at my Granddaughter's house when we stopped to drop off some milk after our ubiquitous trip to Walmart. We live in the tiny town of Chadwick, Missouri, where the only two businesses are Kay's Country Store and the little one-woman post office. Euba is the name of the Post Mistress, and she is the closest thing we have to a mayor, leading the parade as she does each June for "Railroad Days". The old School Bus serves as the bull's shelter in bad weather."

Photo Sync is The #1 Transfer App

Okay iPhoneographers, yesterday I posted about 2 of my favorite transfer apps. I closed the post with that's my story and I'm stickin' to it. However today is a new day, and I am changing my story, after hearing from the PhotoSync folks that their app also works via Bluetooth. So I tried it and I'm now happy to report that PhotoSync rocks over bluetooth! It is blazing fast and is now my only go-to transfer app. (Sorry, Photo Transfer. It was lovely while it lasted.)

Transferring Photos From iPhone to iPad to Computer

One of the questions I am most often asked is "What's the best app for transferring photos back and forth?" Working on the iPhone itself can be a fast track to eyestrain especially if you are using a painting app, such as my fave Pixel Blend. Ideally, we'd rather "app" our photos on our iPad or optimize them on our computer. So we need a reliable and quick way to transfer our art.

Of all the apps I've tried, (and as an appaholic, I've tried a bunch), the one that gets my overall vote is PhotoSync. For $1.99, you can install it on both your iPhone and iPad. The computer version is free (of course, you have to have it installed on one of your other devices for it to work.)

It is unbelievably fast - I've never had it crash or had any problems with it. I use it everyday. There is only one caveat: you must have wifi access.

And, traveling around to photograph, there may be times - gulp - when there is no access (eg. in the Galapagos, or Yosemite or camping.)

For those situations, I depend on my previous favorite transfer app:  Photo Transfer. ($2.99 in the app store.) Because (drumroll please), it also works with bluetooth. Just turn on bluetooth on both devices, open Photo Transfer on both, and voila, you are on your way. Go have a cup of coffee or chimp on your big boy/big girl camera for a bit, because bluetooth is a lot slower than wifi. But it's still magic.

The above image was transferred to my iPad or I'd never have been able to process it - the iPhone, much as I love it, is just too tiny for accurate brush strokes. This heliconia blossom was "painted" in Ghostbird Software's Photoforge app using the smudge tool, (way harder than Pixel Blend, but it wasn't available when I worked this) then combined with a sketch of the same image from Jixi Pix Artista Sketch app. The combining and blend mode was done using IRIS Photo Suite app.

So iphoneographers, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it. The two best and most versatile transfer apps for less than the cost of a latte. You can't afford not to have them!

No iPhone Yet But You Have an iPad? No Problem!

Photographer Carol Robinson has begun the foray into "apping" by bringing her big girl camera pix into her new iPad and the rest, as they say, is history. I predict an iPhone in her future as well - after all, the best camera is..wait for it... the one you have with you!

Apps she has been using so far include Picture Suite for the Star Magnolia,  PhotoArtista Haiku and Blender. Me thinks I see a little pic grunger too.  So no iPhone, only an iPad? No problem.

As Carol says: "Addicted is the word for sure..I feel a lot more free to play with these images.
I like the Artista Haiku [the middle photo] the best of the three.   There are so many Apps , like so many colored pens. Hard to figure out what to do first."

Amen. Creativity to the max!

iPhone Art Around The World: Guest Gallery

Favorite contributor Rik Cooke shares a unique iPhone view of Rodeo Drive during the holidays. Leave it to a National Geographic photographer to put the "best camera" to photojournalistic use.  He used Pro HDR app and cleaned up the images in Lightroom and Snapseed.

And a new artist has offered her fresh and inspiring iPhone artwork: Vye Young.  Like so many of us, she can't remember the apps that she worked on her phone and iPad. We just get carried away sometimes.

Photo 1 is a detail of the George Hotel - Lviv, Ukraine

 About Photo 2, Vye shares: "Here is another app laden photo that turned from drab to pow with iPad apps.  This photo taken at a Park near us on Vancouver Island.  ps that is not snow!"

iPhone Diva's Fave App for Today: Pro HDR

OK, I'm fickle. I admit it. My favorite app is most usually the one I've just finished playing with. And today my favorite is ProHDR, with a little Snapseed on the side. Without them, this shot at sunset on Papohaku Beach here on Moloka`i would have either a blacked out foreground or a blown out sky. Or with some HDR apps, a completely fake looking, super crunchy, overcooked HDR photograph.  Instead, I get a result that approximates what I actually saw.! (Hint: I use the manual setting for Pro HDR so I get to pick the light and dark exposures that I want.)

Fabulous App Pixel Blend Pro for the iPhone

Hallelujah! Pixel Blend app is now available for the iPhone! (Drumroll, please!) (Here's the review of the iPad version for those who missed it.) I know that many of you have been waiting patiently - I'm delighted to report that your wait is over. For fans of the SX70 - Polaroid Time Zero emulsion manipulation process, this is a must-have app! If you love impressionist painted-look photos, you'll also want to download it ASAP.

I manipulated this photo on the iPhone - and voila, it does look just like SX70 work I have done. The app contains temperature controls (mimics the heating pad we used to control liquidity and softness of emulsion), all the cool tools like crochet hook and knitting needles. The dental tool even mimics the scratches we used to get - you can choose white or black for these.

As much SX70 as I did in those bygone days, I did not realize that some artists put sandpaper or other textures under the photo when "mushing" it, giving a cool textural appearance. Textures are available here too, and I am thrilled with using them. I used the cracked paint texture for this photo. Yummy.

The iPad app, which has been out for awhile, has been updated - called Pixel Blend HD. I have to say that while I CAN do this manipulation on my phone, I prefer the iPad version - because I can see it better. (Yes, that's an aging thing, and no, I'm not going to mention how old I am.)

For a true, blue Polaroid look, I framed it in King Camera.

Ok, photo pals, start mushing. I can't wait to see what you all create!