There’s certainly no shortage of “iPhoneography” apps about these days. While I dislike that word as much as the next man, there’s no denying it’s possible to pull off some pretty interesting effects with your iPhone and the right app.
Wood Camera ($1.99) is another addition aimed at the Instagram generation, and offers some interesting extra features over its free alternatives. This week we’re giving away 25 copies of Wood Camera for iPhone!
Keep reading for your chance to win a copy.
Got Wood
Wood Camera differentiates itself from the rest of the pack by giving you slightly more control over the outcome of your photo. The main feature here is the ability to stack effects, so you can add a lens, a texture and some faux-focus tilt-shift before finishing it off with a nice frame and sharing it amongst your friends.
This provides more control than Instagram, but then again this isn’t Instagram. Wood Camera is primarily an editing and styling tool for your photos, which you can then take an share elsewhere. There is no inbuilt community with the latest and greatest edits, and thus unlike Instagram there’s no popularity contest or posers to be found, just your own shots.
Another selling point that the Wood Camera team have gotten right is the ability to - at any point - preview your changes and compare with the original image. This is accomplished with a simple tap of the fx button at the top of the screen from anywhere in the edit process.
Finally there are a couple of settings for configuring Wood Camera just the way you’d like it. These include the ability to use geotagging, save images captured within the app to the Camera Roll (which is off by default, interestingly) and also the ability to launch the app in “capture” mode - i.e. to take a picture immediately (also off by default).
Editing & Styling
Using the default settings, Wood Camera will launch in lightbox mode. From here you can import pictures from your Camera Roll, capture a shot using the iPhone’s camera and paste images from your clipboard. The paste option is interesting as I’ve never seen it before, though importing images from Camera Roll is painfully slow as you can only import one at a time.
In edit mode, there are six buttons along the bottom of the screen denoting edits and effects, and they are: rotate, crop, lens, texture, tilt shift and frame. You can use one effect from each category simultaneously, though this often isn’t necessary. Try to resist the temptation to turn your effects up to 11 and over-process any redeeming qualities out of it.
There are a myriad of crop options, including the golden ratio and freeform crop in addition to the usual aspect ratios like 4:3 and 16:9. The addition of 4:6 and 5:7 are great for printing purposes, and are the two main sizes you’ll find at photo labs.
Each lens has a few options to choose from, including lens intensity (great for subtle effects), brightness, saturation and contrast amongst others. Each lens is essentially a different configuration of these settings, and the ability to control brightness and saturation certainly opens up some possibilities.
Textures are so-so in my opinion, and it’s probably just a personal thing but I find them a bit unnecessary. Again, there’s full control over the intensity and turning down the effect certainly improves the outcome. Tilt shift comes in both radial and linear flavours, and can be adjusted to modify the intensity of the effect. On this screen you will also be able to add a vignette, again completely customisable to your tastes.
The included frames could also do with some work, but then I’m not a fan of adding frames to photos anyway. It’s there if you’re that way inclined, and the preview button helps when deciding if the frame detracts or adds merit to your photo.
Sharing & Final Thoughts
Once you’ve done editing, hit Done and your photo will be saved to the lightbox. Wood Camera is non-destructive, meaning your original shots will still be unmodified. A tap of the share button reveals a plethora of sharing options including save to Camera Roll, social network integration, Flickr and even Instagram.
Wood Camera is a decent photo editing app that focuses on styling and editing rather than its own social network. The team are fully aware they aren’t going to compete with Instagram out-right, and thus have aimed higher and gone for greater control and extra features like preview and import from clipboard.
If you like Instagram but want more control and editing options then Wood Camera might be the app for you. Better still, we’re running a giveaway and you can take part by entering below!
How do I win a copy?
It's simple, just follow the instructions.
Step 1: Fill in the giveaway form
Please fill in the form with your real name and email address so that we can get in touch if you are chosen as a winner.
The giveaway code required to activate the form is available from our Facebook page and our Twitter stream.
- Adam Cooper
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Step 2: Share!
You're almost done. Now, all that's left to do is to share the post!
This giveaway begins now and ends Friday, May 18th. The winners will be selected at random and informed via email.
Spread the word to your friends and have fun!
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