Posts Tagged
photos
This week’s weekly sponsor is ProShow Web Slideshow Creator, an app that lets you import photos and videos and create personalized videos and your own slideshow.
I have kids — well technically, one kid at the moment, the other is just about four weeks away. Needless to say, I take a lot of pictures of my son and soon I’ll have even more shots of my daughter. When it comes to showing them off, I usually pull out my iPad and show them in the Photos app, but I’ve wanted a way to do things a bit more professionally. Something with flair that incorporates custom music and so on. ProShow is that app.
You start by picking your images from either the shots you have on your iPad, or via various social networks including Flickr, Instagram, 500px or SmugMug. Then you pick the music you want to use (either from your iPad or from one of hundreds of tracks included with the app) and finish it off by picking one of dozens of themes, adding titles or custom effects. When you’re done, you create the video right there on your device and you can watch it, or send it off to your favorite social network including Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest and Smug Mug, or via email or AirPlay to your AppleTV.
The app does require you to establish an account, but it’s free, so that’s no big deal. If you want HD output, custom branding or longer videos, that will take a subscription fee that’s described in their pricing guidelines online. That said, the free option is still quite excellent, it’s just that if you want pro features, you’ll have to pay a bit more.
Go Get It!
If you’re looking for a custom slideshow app like I was, pick up ProShow Web Slideshow Creator today. I know it’s already done worlds of good for me and my family so far, and I can’t wait to see how it does in the future.
There are many cloud storage services available these days (SkyDrive, Google Drive, SugarSync, Box and even Apple’s iCloud), but in my mind, Dropbox reigns supreme. I love the file management system, the ease of syncing content between devices, and the manner in which I can share files with others. Simply put, I’m a Dropbox fanboy.
Just before the holidays version 2.0 of Dropbox was released, bringing with it a brand spanking new design and new features geared towards uploading and managing photos. Having put away my ugly sweaters and wiping the eggnog from my chin, I’m ready to let you know if version 2.0 is a winner. All you have to do is hit the jump. (more…)
I’ve been a fan of Keri Smith’s illustration work for quite some time now and so was delighted to discover that This Is Not A Book had recently been released as an iOS application, under the similarly brilliant name of This Is Not An App.
For the uninitiated, This Is Not An App and its paper counterpart are an exercise in creativity, containing a treasure trove of activities designed to free your imagination and inspire even the most artistically challenged of folk. But the question is, just how well does this popular Penguin book translate to the iOS format? Let’s find out after the jump. (more…)
Every so often I’ll be out at an event, or maybe just watching TV, and I’ll see someone using their iPad either to take video or a still shot. And I think to myself, “Why are they doing that?” To me, it looks like you’re holding a clipboard in front of your face, and it’s just not quite as svelte or nice as it would be with your iPhone or dedicated camera.
But maybe that’s just me. What do you think? Do you use your iPad to take pictures or shoot videos? Let us know in the comments to the right!
Guardian Eyewitness debuted in 2010 and is still tremendously popular on iPads. Not unlike The Wider Image, the app is a way to get news via visuals instead of blocks of text. Once a day, the app is updated with a photo hand picked by The Guardian’s editors. There’s a little info bubble that displays information about the photo and a pro photographer tip to help you capture similar moments with your own camera.
That pro tip is what really separates Guardian Eyewitness from other like-minded apps. The focus here is primarily on photography; news is a secondary function. This is an app meant for photographers, and probably designed by photographers too, which is definitely a good thing. (more…)
The Wider Image, from Reuters, is one of the most interesting iPad apps to come from the news category in quite some time. Initially, I wrote it off as “just another” photography app like The Guardian Eyewitness (which is also brilliant, in case anybody is wondering), but after spending some serious time with the app, I can say that The Wider Image is an entirely different beast.
The Wider Image presents news stories from around the world using mostly images, but occasionally presents audio and video as well. What separates the app from other like-minded photography news apps is the level of interaction it offers you with the media. Instead of bringing up-to-the-minute news updates, The Wider Image wants to bring you carefully-chosen articles designed to take full advantage of your iPad’s touch-centric capabilities. (more…)
The iPad currently has three major social networking apps available on it: Facebook, Twitter and Google+, the last of which is rarely used. Most people use Facebook so they use that app, but there are some who still enjoy Twitter’s much declined (it now looks like a large version of the iPhone edition) official app. Then there are the rare few who prefer Google’s solution to online social networking.
But one service has not been mentioned because it was originally exclusive to the iPhone. This micro social network, as some would call it, is Path. It’s been around since March 2011 and, while it received a lot of praise at first, was recently criticized for an issue found in many iOS apps (accessing contacts without the user’s approval). An independent developer released a Mac app named Journey that allowed users to browse their Path news feeds, but other than that, an iPad app has been needed for some time. It finally released on November 1, but can it match the greatness of the iPhone app? (more…)
Showboat is an inexpensive scrapbooking app, with some good basic features for throwing together collections of photos quickly. This app will provide a way to showcase your photo collections of app screenshots, real estate summaries, art portfolios, items for sale, etc. It’s an ideal app for when you know you’re Internet access will be absent or patchy.
Although it’s still undergoing development, this is an app to watch. Lets take a look at what it offers out of the box right now. (more…)
The level to which people are willing to go to get their photos touched up never ceases to amaze me. Even before Instagram, it wasn’t like there was any dearth of image touch-up apps.
Mashing up multiple images without drastically changing the moment captured for posterity is something that most people love to do. Instead of just clicking through a folder full of pictures, it is so much fun to look at collages or mashups instead. After the break, let’s take Diptic for a spin and see if it can add some spice to our images. (more…)
Journaling has, to some, become a relic; an item of the past which is no longer relevant. With children of the Facebook age growing farther apart from textile books, writing a diary has become a lost art. People now prefer to use Facebook (or Twitter) as their journal of everything that takes place in their life. It’s understandable since you can share all of the activity there with your friends, but what about all those private things and thoughts you’ve had throughout the day? What, are you going to Tweet them or something? No, I have a better idea.
iPads are great for almost anything and, if you’re comfortable with typing on one, why not use it for journaling as well? Bloom Built’s Day One is by far the best solution to this. Our own Nathaniel Mott reviewed this app last November, giving it a 9/10 for outstanding design and the many handy features. Now, nearly a year later, the developer has added some great new key features like photos, geotagging, weather and Foursquare check-ins. I’m going to take a look at the new features after the break, so why don’t you join me? (more…)
