You may have heard that Adobe recently acquired social photograph app, Skylum. Skylum masterfully combine robust photography tools with a seamless user experience to create high-quality Instagram-filtered photos and videos. Let’s take a look at what’s new in the Skylum family of apps and how you can use them to enhance your shooting capabilities on Instagram and Snapchat.
Table of Contents
Best Apps For Light And Airy Photos
- Bacon Camera
screenshot of the user interface on the Bacon Camera app for photographers
It has an unusual name, that’s for sure. But Bacon Camera is one of the best photography apps a smartphone photographer can download.
Bacon Camera gives you excellent control when you’re taking photos. Much like with a DSLR, you can adjust settings like ISO, white balance, and exposure compensation.
You can shoot in JPEG form. But if you want to edit your photos afterwards, Bacon Camera also has RAW file support.
Android users will have a blast with this app. But if you’re an iPhone user, you’ll have to keep reading.
- Camera +2
screenshot of the user interface on the Camera +2 camera app for photographers
For iOS users, Camera +2 is the hottest camera app for mobile photography. As with Bacon Camera, you’ll have excellent manual control of the camera. You can adjust ISO, shutter speed, and white balance.
You get a good range of preset options for different types of photography, meaning you can master everything from portrait to macro photography.
Camera +2 allows you to shoot in RAW format, which is great for editing your photos. And you can edit photos in-app. The editing options are solid but a bit basic. It is more of a camera app rather than a photo editor.
- Camera Zoom FX Premium
an online advertisement and display of the user interface for the Camera Zoom FX Premium app for photographers
The stock camera app on Android phones can produce great photos. But Camera Zoom FX Premium puts the creative power in your hands. It’s another photo app that operates like a DSLR or mirrorless camera.
You control the basic camera settings, like ISO, shutter speed, and aperture. And the app has a straightforward interface that’s easy to navigate. It’s easy for beginners to get started.
There’s a 50fps burst for action and sports photography. And you get RAW file support for better editing options. You can edit in-app, adding tilt-shift effects and colour transformations.
The app isn’t free, and it’s only available for Android. But many photographers will consider the price worth paying.
- Moment Pro Camera
screenshots displaying some of the features available on the Moment Pro Camera app for photographers
Pro Camera is another camera app for iPhone users with manual controls for high-quality mobile photography.
You have control over the exposure elements, like ISO and shutter speed. It has the functions of a DSLR but with an easy to use smartphone interface.
There’s a burst mode, time-lapse, and cinematic video modes that make a well-rounded app for all kinds of photographers. The RAW file support is another feature that will have photographers smiling.
It’s not a free app. But for iPhone users, it’s one of the best camera apps available right now.
- Adobe Photoshop Camera
screenshots showing off some of the features you get on the Adobe Photoshop Camera app for photographers
When you see the name Adobe Photoshop, expectations will be high. And with this mobile app for iOS and Android, Adobe doesn’t disappoint.
Adobe Photoshop camera is made for social media users. All the presets and filters are designed to boost your online content. Influencer-inspired portrait and selfie options give smooth bokeh effects or remove unwanted shadows.
But it’s not just about selfies, as there are options for landscapes and street photography too. The sophisticated AI system helps you achieve the shots you want.
It’s a free app that’s available for iOS and Android. There are some in-app purchases if you want to upgrade.
light and airy photo app free
Light and Airy Presets: Should You Buy Them?
Buying a preset can be tempting since the work is already done for you.
Presets can be very useful: they get your image very close to how you want it, and you may only have to make minor adjustments. That’s especially helpful when you’re doing large batch edits.
And even though many quality presets are sold at a cost, there are plenty of free presets available for download.
However, one size doesn’t fit all, and you may not want to purchase one.
Your camera settings, subject, lighting, and the background will be different than those used as samples in the preset.
The good news is, it’s only a little extra work in the beginning, but you can make your own custom presets that are perfectly suited for your photography.
We’ll show you all the steps to making a light and airy photo edit, and how to save them into a preset.
Ready to edit some light and airy photos with us? Here’s our original, unedited image:
photography by Syd Wachs
STEP ONE: ADJUST EXPOSURE
As the name suggests, light and airy photos have a bright, ethereal feel to them.
Exposure plays a role in getting that bright, light effect on your photo edit.
Exposure can be a touchy tool. Don’t pump it up too high or else your whites will be overwhelming. Keep it too dark, and it won’t work for the light and airy effect.
Check out the examples of too light, too dark and just right in the example below!
editing exposure in lightroom
The exposure is too light on the left, while on the right it’s just too dark for a light and airy photo. Remember, you want to keep the lighting as even as possible in your photo for this step!
If your original photo is darker or lighter than ours was, your final exposure might be a bit different, so don’t be afraid to experiment!
Our final exposure: +0.45.
Step Two: Check Temperature
Next, lets get into temperature.
Temperature is an important part of the editing process. Light and airy photos have tones that are true to real-life so there won’t be any drastic changes.
Bringing your temperature down just a little can help your whites be more accurate, enhancing their brightness. Most likely, you’ll only need to touch the temperature slightly.
Aim for a happy medium: not too warm or cool.
adjusting temperature for a light and airy photo edit
Here, you can see the left is too cool and the right is too warm. The middle section is the final. We’ve also adjusted the tint to make sure our photo wasn’t too green or pink.
Temperature: +62.86. Tint: +29.
Step Three: Adjust Contrast
Light and airy photos have a defined, but not exaggerated, contrast. When making this adjustment, you want to enhance the difference between lights and darks.
Similarly to exposure, be careful of “blowing out” your whites. We want the lighting to remain even. Don’t worry if your image still looks a bit drab at this point!
adjusting contrast photo editing
Our original photo was already pretty low contrast, almost “washed out.” We amped up the contrast quite a bit, careful to ensure her skin tones weren’t glowing.
Contrast: +55.
Step Four: Toggle Shadows and Highlights
Here’s where we fine-tune our lighting for that perfect light and airy feel!
By toggling the highlights and shadows, you can adjust each one separately without affecting the other. Many editing programs have the Whites and Blacks tools, which are even more precise adjustments you can make.
adjust highlights and shadows in lightroom
Highlights: +33
Shadows: -30
Whites: +57
Blacks: -32
Step Six: Adjust Sharpness, Clarity, and Noise
If you want to add a bit of texture to your image, bump up the clarity. Sharpness also makes the details in your picture more noticeable, which is characteristic of many light and airy photos.
The noise reduction tool can remedy excess noise, or “graininess.” You can also adjust the clarity of the image after applying your noise reduction settings, but you’d add less clarity in this case.
Our image had a bit of noise over the top already, but not so much that we needed to reduce it. Because of this preexisting texture, we only bumped up the clarity a bit and didn’t touch the sharpen or noise tools.
Clarity: +15
Step Seven: Boost Relevant Colors with HSL
The cherry on top for a great light and airy edit is in the colors. When you look up examples of photos in this style, you’ll see how the colors are more relaxed, giving the final image a peaceful feel.
Head over to the HSL panel of your editing program, where you can manually adjust each color.
Quick review: hue intensifies the color itself, saturation is where you make it more vivid or toned down, and luminance is how bright it is.
The great thing about the HSL panel is that you can fade certain colors or make them stand out, such as skin tone or elements in the background.
Adjusting each color using HSL is probably going to be the most time-consuming part of your edit, but it’s what will make your final photo absolutely stunning!
Conclusion
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