POCKET PALS

A color shot converted in the app Alt-Photo, using its simulated red filter for super-contrasty monochrome.

By MICHAEL PERKINS

QUICK, DO YOU KNOW WHO MADE THE HAMMER IN YOUR KITCHEN DRAWER? Let’s assume that it’s not a Sears Craftsman, but something you bought on the spot when you just needed, like, a hammer. Yeah, I’ll wait.

Follow-up question: does your off-brand Thor-wacker drive nails any less efficiently than a Sears? Or is it really all in the wrist?

In photography, sometimes tools is just tools. Cellphone apps comprise one of the the most glutted product markets ever, and, while some products do rise to the top and/or international prominence, there are gobs of different players out there to help us solve the same old problems, i.e., composition, exposure, color range, special effects. Those are the basics, and you need not be loyal to any predominant type-A app when, by the time I type the rest of this sentence, forty more guys will have served up their own solution for the exact same need. Go with what works. Add, subtract, adopt, dump, delete, and adore as needed.

Most cel camera apps, toolwise, are closer to a Swiss Army knife than a scalpel, blunt instruments that either apply an effect all-on or all-off. Single click, caveman-level stuff. Still, even the casual cel photog will pack a few of them along to do fundamental fixes on the go, and I recently noticed that I had acquired a decent, basic utility belt of bat-remedies, including, in no particular order:

Negative Me. Just what it says. Converts positive images to negative. Not something you’ll use a lot, but..

Simple DOF. A quick calculator that measures near, far and infinite sharpness based on distance, aperture and lens.

Fused. Instant double exposures, with about ten different blending formulas.

Soft Focus. Sliders for sharpness, brightness, color saturation. Instant glamor for portraits.

Timer Cam. Get in the photo.

Instants. Genuine fake Polaroid borders around your landscape or square images. Because we can’t give up our hipster groove.

AltPhoto. Best simulations of older classic film stocks from Kodachrome to Tri-X, as well as red filter, toy camera and antique effects.

Tilt-Shift Focus. Narrow the sharp areas in your images from a pinpoint to a basketball.

Flickr. Direct link to the mother ship

Pic Stitch. Framing templates for collages of two or more images. Drag and drop simplicity.

Use of these gimcracks ranges from the (yawn) occasional to the (yes!) essential, and your mileage may vary. Thing is, it’s truly a buyer’s (and user’s) market out there. Gather your own gold and click away.