iPhone editing 101

I am so excited to share this post with you today. It was one of the highest response rates I have received on an Instagram poll and honestly it has been something I have been thinking of sharing for some time. I believe in community over competition, I get asked often what apps or tricks I use in personal DM's or emails so I want to open up and share with everyone! I will be giving away many of my editing secrets that I use for my blog photography. As many of you know I am also a wedding photographer over at Stesha Jordan Photography, a company I founded 7 years ago. I have spent years getting that editing and branding down to a science so those secrets I am going to hold tight BUT all my blog editing recently has changed and I have been getting so man questions on it. Those are the tips I will share with you today!

I have broken this photography series into three part series. A lot of my editing gets intertwined from my DSLR to iPhone from laptop editing to phone editing and of course my blog photos to instagram photos. 

PART 1: iPhone editing - favorite apps 

PART 2: DSLR + presets

PART 3: presets with iPhone photos

The reason I broke it up this way is because I find going from simplest to most complex makes the tutorials easier to follow. Like I mentioned before, it has taken me years to figure out these tips and tricks. Photography is my favorite thing and I am constantly learning more about it each day. Literally, each day!

iPhone Editing 101: Favorite 5 Apps

Afterlight:

I have been using Afterlight since day one! It is by far my favorite app I could not get the look of my photos without it. Those bright, clean, crips photos you always see? Afterlight is essential in receiving that look.  *this is always the first app I use when starting my editing process.

steps:

one: I upload the image I am looking to edit and I brighten it (usually) one full time and sometimes two depending on how dark the original image was. 

two: after the image is lightened I take the contract and move that up, just eying the photo to see what is best, I try not to do the contrast too much as it pulls the darker tones in.
three: If I find there is too much warmth or the original is too cool I will adjust the temperature here.

four: I do all my cropping in Afterlight. If I want to make it a perfect square or if I want to make it more of a portrait size for instagram. This is a process to get just right so don't beat yourself up if it takes a few tries.

VSCO:

This is a very popular iPhone editing app, and honestly it is amazing! I have only bought a few additional 'packs' but for the most part the free ones are my favorite. A6 to be exact! I also like HB2 + Q4. Honestly its all about personal preference here. I don't usually allow the full option, most of the times I will dull it down just depending on the colors of the image I am working with. The preset I selected in the photo below is A6 *second app in my editing process.

FaceTune:

I recently started using FaceTune just a few months ago. I saw a picture on @cmcovings instagram and then the same photo on her moms account... the backgrounds looked so different. After doing some googling and research I found FaceTune and discovered the 'detail' tool. I am not sure if this is the same tool Caitlyn uses to get the effects in her photos but I find it works for the style I am going for. I typically use the 'detail' tool on the background or flooring to give my subject just a little more pop. I also used the detail tool on the flowers and a tiny bit on my hair to make my highlights stand out. *third app in my editing process.

That is it, super easy and simple while allowing for me to edit on the go. Once you get the hang of these three apps it is almost second nature! Below is the finished before and after image.

My last two favorite apps don't edit photos but they make iPhone (or phone, all these apps dont have to be fore iPhone) photography so much easier!

Photo Timer+

I have been queen of self timer photos since before Instagram! I would always do it the hard way or I even got a remote for my phone which would connect via bluetooth. One day I was reading through Happy Grey Lucky's blog and in a post she talks about Photo Timer+. Well, it is life changing. You can set the amount of photos (1 - 10) and the amount of time between each snap. Seriously, life changing. I typically do 5 photos with 10 sec increments. Most of the time I only need one go around and I have captured the perfect shot. (ps. if you are like me and your husband hates stopping to take photos this app is awesome. He sits through one set and then we move on!)

Diptic

This is the app I used when wanting to create any collages (like the photos above) for Instagram or social media in general. It is super user friendly and allows you to chose from many different sizes and shapes for the collage. I always click on the border tab and make the white borders thinner. There isn't much more to it, pretty straight forward but definitely a must have app.

Below is a screen shot of my actual instagram feed, every single photo in that feed is taken and edited with the steps listed above!

That about wraps up part one of my photography series. I hope it helped give you some tips to take with you. In a  couple weeks I am going to cover DSLR + presets so keep an eye out for that! Coming up on Monday (yes, I'll post on time!) will be the cutest little Easter decor + some amazing Easter + Spring printables!