I’ve just posted some new photographs on Flickr.com. These are a little different; they’re pictures I took with my iPhone. There are two new sets.

iPhone Pics Originals is a set of original pictures  from the phone. iPhone Pics with Effects is a set containing many of the same pictures, but I’ve run them through various photo processing softwares designed for the iPhone and available at Apple’s App Store.

I love laying in bed before going to sleep, selecting a picture from my phone, and running these filters. It doesn’t take a special skill to use them, you just open the software, select a photo (or take a new one), then flip through the options. You’ll see your photo change with each swipe of your finger. Below, I’ve listed the apps I use and enjoy. None of them are perfect, and resolution is an issue (so is it for the iPhone!), but for just lots of creative fun, they’re great!

Photo Transfer App is an app I just found and I love it. It doesn’t edit your photos, but it makes working with photos so much easier. It’s a utility for transferring your iPhone photos to your computer and moving photos from your computer to your iPhone. In my opinion, this is something the iPhone should have always been able to do, particularly as it’s equipped with bluetooth. (I could transfer files back and forth wirelessly on my lowly PocketPC years ago.) This app makes up for the iPhone’s deficiency in a straightforward and simple way. Your computer and phone both need be on the same WiFi network. From there, it’s easy-peasy.

100 Cameras in 1 is nothing more than overlays that do different things to your pictures. I used different effects from this app to change the appearance of the original sunrise Jesus rays picture. I’ve included the three versions I created.

iPhone Pics Originals

iPhone Pics with Effects

FX Photo Studio does essentially the same thing that 100 Cameras in 1 does, but uses different effects. I like them both. They’re not enough alike for me to be disappointed with either purchase. I’m happy to have both of them as part of my “fun” arsenal.  This photo is of a sock from the pattern on my pajamas. I used several effects to create this piece that’s pretty colorful.

imikimi frames & fx is a cool framing and effects software for the iPhone. I need to do more research to find out exactly how one uses all the frames that are available. I will add more information when I have it. All I know is that I’ve had a lot of fun playing with this, too. You can see videos of how this app can be used at imikimi‘s website.  This picture is one of me that I ran through 100 Cameras in 1 and then placed in a frame using the imikimi frames & fx software.

Perfect Photo is a pretty cool piece of programming for the pictures on the iPhone. Among other things, you can use it to crop; straighten; adjust levels, brightness and contrast, shadows, highlights, etc.; rotate; sharpen; and reduce red eye. I haven’t used all the features, but what I have used, I find really handy for a photo from the phone.

Adobe Photoshop Express is a free app that you can use to crop, straighten, and rotate, do some color editing, run filters and effects, and add borders. I wish it had more, but I think what it has is pretty nice, as you’d expect an Adobe product to be.  This picture of the Craig power plant in early morning January 2010, is tinted in Photoshop Express.

PhotoForge is another app like Photoshop Express, Perfect Photo, and FX Photo Studio. It has the usual tools, filters, adjustments to color, exposure, sharpness, etc. It also allows for painting from a blank canvas.

Many of the apps I cart around and use are very similar, but each one does something different, and that is the spice of my photo app collection—variety.