My Favorite Editing Apps

Hi all,

One of the questions I get asked often is not only how I edit my photos but what programs / apps I like to use to make my Instagram stories and photos more appealing. If a photo is taken with my DSLR I import them into Lightroom to do some culling. I can take a million photos but maybe only like 5 of them. I edit using my own presets and then I will open up my photos into Photoshop to do more detailed editing such as skin retouching, removing of flyaway hairs,  and use my own photoshop actions (which is pretty much presets) etc., to top off the finishing touches. Otherwise, a lot of my photos on my instagram feed is edited using certain apps to keep my feed looking consistent.

I don't have one single way to edit my photos because with lighting, location, and colors, it makes it so I have to cater to each individual image to match my feed. I tend to lean towards rich, moody, and earthy tones but occasionally love a pop of color or vintage look. Most of the apps are free but there are filters and options in which you would have to pay but I find it to be worth it as I enjoy playing around with all of them. Do keep in mind that I have only used these apps on an iOS device so I am not entirely sure how well they work for android but I did check on Adam's (aka my husband) phone and it seems you should be able to download and use the apps just fine.

Here is a list of my favorite apps: 

+ Afterlight 2  - I like the filter "Juniper" but love to custom make my own and add a flare of "dust" to give my photos a vintage vibe. I must say I use this app and A Color Story the most when it comes to editing photos on my phone. It is $2.99.

+ A Color Story  - I love using this app to plan out my posts and my favorite filters are under "Fawn" but I love how you can custom make your own for what works for you. You can also add filters to videos as well which is a plus.

+ VSCO - I like the filter "M5" at +7.0. I don't use VSCO as much but I love to mess with it.

My favorite apps for Insta Stories / Videos:

+ Unfold - This was the first app I used for templates and it remains a favorite to this day. I love that you can preview how your stories will look as well.

+ StoryArt - If you want a ton of variety when it comes to templates for your photos / insta stories, this one has that and animated ones!

+ Storyluxe -  As you can tell I like my templates because you can never have too many, right?
+ 8mm - If you're into vintage styled videos, this one's it.
+ KiraKira - If you want your videos to have a bit of sparkle in them then KiraKira is a fun one to apply. It is $0.99.

Anyway I hope that was somewhat helpful as I always found the editing process to be super fun! Seeing before and after's are also nice so I wanted to end this blog post with a few examples. Scroll on down and also let me know what your favorite editing apps are! 

I used A Color Story app for my ocean shot. 

Golden Filters: Jadeite 58

Picnic Filters: Tiramisu 50

Sharpness: 9 

Temp: 26

Contrast: 9

Clarity: 5 

Story Art App for Collage - Film Pro 2 

A Color Story App - 

Tool: Curves  

Clarity: 6

Tool: Bright - 45

Tool: Vibrance 13

Tool: Temp 18 

Tool: Sharpen 18

Tool: Exposure 8

Tool: Highlight 79

Tool: Shadow 7

Fawn Filter: Corduory 52

Tool: Saturation 10

Unfold App for Collage: CS1 

My Dumbo photo is more subtle with editing as the photo was taken slightly underexposed but knowing me I love my warmer tones and wanted to bump it up a bit. 

Afterlight App - 

Fable Filter 61

Faroe Filter 44

Dust3 100

Chroma 22

Selective Saturation

Vibrance 31

Contrast 21

Saturation 6

Temperature 12

Sharpening 13

Then I used A Color Story app - 

Tool: Color+

Tool: Curves

Tool: Contrast 11

Tool: Bright 12

Tool: Vibrance 17

Tool: Temp 18

Tool: Sharpen 7

I used Unfold for the collage CS2.

Thank you for taking the time to read and I hope you have a very happy Friday and first day of Summer!!

XOXO

Anny