Traveling as a photographic enthusiast means that yes, you can never have enough gear to take with you, being ready for any occasion.
Often this also means you need to carry a laptop. Things start getting cumbersome.
I’ve seen more and more people scaling down on what they carry with them; with tablets and phones having such powerful processing capabilities, we are able to run far more advanced tools to aid us in our day to day needs, optimising our time as well as what we carry with us.
I’m going to take you through a couple of my favourite on-the-go editing apps to help you get the most of not only your mobile device but also the images you produce…
The beauty about these apps is they are all capable of editing RAW images; they are also available for free on iOS and Android.
VSCO:
VSCO has a great selection of different filters to choose from with different feels to them; this is a quick way to have a uniform look to all your images, tweaking them as you need to when it comes to exposure.
The app has a minimalistic feel to it, I find the interface easy to use, however it will take some time finding your way around the app.
VSCO doubles up as a social media platform, where you can set up a profile and share your images right after editing, you do however have the option not to share to your profile and use the app for editing only. VSCO also has in-app purchases, as not all filters and functions will be available.
Presets are pre-adjustments to suite a certain style or look to a photograph.
Basic adjustments like exposure, contrast and highlights are easy to use within VSCO.
Snapseed:
Snapseed has a clean and user-friendly look to it.
This is one of the better editing apps out there, I’ve used it for years myself and find it quite comprehensive too; it meets all my needs and does well with not compressing image files after export.
Snapseed, like VSCO, also has filters to choose from, making it easy to find a look that you like, or either a starting point which you can adjust, it also has additional tools like cloning and spot removal as well as double exposures and adding text, I highly recommend this app to anyone that enjoys a simple interface.
Adobe Lightroom:
The apps mentioned above are great for anyone to use, but I feel like Lightroom trumps the lot; this is probably because I use it on a daily basis on my desktop, which makes it perfect for me to use on my mobile device as the layout and functions feel like home.
The functionality and tools within Lightroom are slightly more intricate and can be confusing to some that are not familiar with the app or program, but once you have spent enough time using it, you won’t look back, Lightroom Mobile is also included in your Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, so to those of you that do have an Adobe account you have full access to all the functions Lightroom has to offer, as well as cloud storage.
The Lightroom Mobile app is almost exactly the same interface as Lightroom CC on desktop, this makes it familiar to those who already make use of Lightroom CC.
These apps make it easy to travel without having to lug a laptop around, giving you the best editing whilst traveling, especially if you are able to download the RAW images straight from your camera to your mobile device.
Image editing has never been more convenient!
Great editing tips. I use Adobe CC Lightroom classic and have the Lightroom app on my phone. I like the features and it’s so easy to use.
Once you have used it, you can never go back to anything else, its a winner!
Matt, great review of Lightroom!
Glad you enjoyed it Joan!
Matt, Thanks for your guidance once again. We agree with you on the Lightroom app and have used SnapSeed too! We are now able to add an external hard drive with the newest new iPad Pro – something we have been waiting for so we could edit the huge amount of images in Lightroom when we travel – on the tablet. It means we don’t have to use a laptop for our travels any more! Thanks for the great tips on our last trip to Londolozi, we always recommend to anyone headed to Londolozi, that they get to the Photo Studio with you as early in the trip as possible! Happy New Year!
Dear Michael and Terri,
Thats great, it makes traveling light easy and less of a risk of carrying a laptop around.
Im looking forward to your next visit, was great spending time with you and working on your photographs, some amazing shots!
Compliments of the season, may 2020 be great, see you soon!