5 Must-Have Photography Apps for Travelers

Take your vacation photos from drab to fab

We’ve been pulled into a technological tornado by virtue of human intelligence, and social media has taken over as one of our main sources of travel inspiration. The phone in your pocket can produce and broadcast aesthetically pleasing and FOMO-inducing travel photography for your followers. But how can you capture the essence of these picturesque moments without breaking the bank trying to roll with the professionals? Here are some Android and iPhone photo-editing apps guaranteed to make you an expert fauxtographer.

Facetune 2

At this point, most of us have heard of this handy app. Facetune 2 is commonly used for getting rid of that pesky pimple ruining your headshot or for contouring your facial features into oblivion. What most people don’t know is that you can also use Facetune to enhance the quality of your wide-shot photos. Take the quality of your travel photos up a couple of notches by using features such as “patch” to get rid of that one object that ruined a great photo or the “details” button to adjust the sharpness.

VSCO

The VSCO photography app takes a little more work than the simple swipes of the finger needed for its competitor Facetune, but we promise it’s worth it. VSCO comes with 10 preset filters that you can choose from. If you’re not feeling experimental, just apply your filter and upload it to your social platforms. Or, if you’d like to expand the audience who views your newly edited photo, you can also upload your photo to VSCO’s feed, where your photo will be visible to other app users around the world.

Adobe Premiere Rush CC

This app takes your vacay videos from plain to professional. But, as with all things good, there’s a price. Although the app is free, you must sign up for the $9.99 monthly fee to access unlimited exports. The app simplifies the video-editing and audio-mixing of Adobe’s pro software like Premiere Pro and Audition. You can process video clips quickly and post them on your social media. The simplified editing process means it’s beginner friendly.

Adobe Lightroom CC

Looking for a photo-editing app to manipulate and enhance individual colors in photos without compromising the quality? Adobe Lightroom is your solution. This app can be a fast and easy way to edit your photos. Want to become more tech-savvy and guarantee a unique shot? Create your own look by combining filters to achieve the perfect picture every time.

Afterlight 2

With an intuitive and easy-to-use interface, Afterlight 2 allows users to adjust white balance, shutter speed, and focal length. Aside from taking photos, Afterlight has color-control gauges to alter the intensity of colors and basic crop, brightness, and grain features.


Discover more tips to improve your travel photography skills.