Introduction

In the age of smartphones, everyone has the potential to become a skilled photographer. The right apps can elevate your photos from good to extraordinary. This applies to both photos you’re capturing of friends and family or photos for your marketing efforts. Today, I’m sharing my top three recommendations for the best apps for smartphone photography. These apps will help you maximize the potential of your phone’s camera, edit your photos like a pro, and even handle some unconventional tasks of a photographer. Let’s dive in!

Your phone’s camera app. 

The most useful app you can use is the one already installed on your device: your phone’s camera app. Yep, it’s that simple. The best apps for smartphone photography often start with what’s readily available. Get comfortable using it and explore its features. Check out your device’s settings and see what options you can tweak to upgrade functionality.

For even more detail into the best apps for smartphone photography, check out my simple and accessible online course.

Lightroom Mobile App

Sometimes conditions aren’t right or technology isn’t advanced enough to capture a perfect photo with your phone’s camera. Think low light settings or sunny days with bright, harsh light. In those situations, consider some basic editing adjustments in Lightroom, one of the best apps for smartphone photography.

The Lightroom Mobile app is free to download, and most functions of the app are free to use without a subscription. This serves as a nice option to improve photos with some simple tweaks.

You can also find Lightroom Mobile presets online that create the photo edits for you. My favorite presets are Dirt Road Presets by Nebraska photographer and farmer, Sara Hadenfeldt. The presets come with an editing guide and instructions on getting the presets added to your Lightroom Mobile App, making it one of the best apps for smartphone photography.

Cam Scanner

Wait, what? Why am I recommending a scanner app for photographers? In this day and age, a scanner is hard to come by! And if you do stumble upon one, chances are you’re going to run into a glitch and you won’t be able to scan your document anyway, making it one of the best apps for smartphone photography.

I use this app to send all of my signed photo releases to clients. I love the app’s retouch features that can take a wrinkled piece of paper and turn it into a sleek, professional document. My family and I have also used it to scan old photographs and create digital copies to share with other family members. Cam Scanner’s simplicity and versatility make it one of the best apps for smartphone photography.

Conclusion

Smartphone photography doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. With the built-in camera app on your phone, you can start capturing high quality photos right away. For those tricky lighting situations, Lightroom Mobile provides editing tools that can easily transform your images. And don’t underestimate the utility of a scanner app like Cam Scanner for managing your photography-related documents and preserving old photos. By incorporating these three apps into your routine, you’ll be well on your way to taking your smartphone photography to the next level. Happy shooting!

Hannah is an agricultural photographer capturing authentic lifestyle photos and videos of rural folks and agriculture brands. To learn more about photography services, check out her website!