Photography - A Wise Use of Filter Apps

Hi there,

In previous posts I've mentioned that the whole filter apps trend is overused. Many times even the most beautiful filter cannot save the picture from being boring. As I mentioned before, we must maintain the basic photography rules, and the most important : the composition.

When we know for sure that we have a well composed photo, we can use the filters in order to add more ambiance. Remember, we will only use a filter if it would give an added value to our photo, otherwise it might even ruin it.

Here are some photos that I took yesterday, before and after the filter app. I use Pixlr-o-Matic, it's a great app! (What about Instagram? nothing, I just hate the buzz around it :P)

The Original - Black and White

The original photo was shot in black and white. The pose on the couple, their eyes and the hug are creating a good composition. If you isolate them from the rest of the room, you can really see a 'moment' there. After I adjusted a little bit the original photo in Photoshop, The result was this:

Photoshopped - Cropped and Sharpened 

Better already! Wasn't too hard. To complete the atmosphere, I decided to add a metallic filter, just to make the picture more special.

Filtered 

It was just like adding a little bit of pepper to a dish.

Most of the pictures yesterday were shot in Black and White, I especially wanted to create a 70s atmosphere in the next picture. In this one and several other that I took, I was going back to my childhood in the 70s. I was trying to reproduce the happiness, the carefree reality and the innocence in a 2012 child.
Take a look:

The Original - Black and White

This picture says it all. The child's eyes, the smiles and the general atmosphere were perfect for me. No Photoshop was needed there. I decided to run some filters, to find out if I can add more 70s/vintage atmosphere. Take a look:

Filtered

I really love the result. The picture is definitely more special, and unforgettable.

Last one was kind of a joke, I used a wide angle to shoot my jeans and the All Star sneakers. It was silly, I know, but I liked it anyway.   

Original

The perspective on this picture was cool, and of course you already know (or not) that I like the classic Converse All Star . So... in the 70s atmosphere roll, I filtered this one too. Here is the result:

Filtered

Kept it simple and silly in this photo :)

Well, that's it for now. I hope that you enjoyed the post (please share it if you like it:)).

Use the filters apps cleverly!

Feel free to send me comments with links to your filtered pictures, I will be happy to see them :)

And as always, you are welcome to visit my online store or my Facebook fan page for more original Photography and Digital Art.

Thank you for visiting, have a lovely day!