6 Must-Have Apps for Travel Photography

The problem with taking mediocre pictures when you’re traveling is that you might never get the chance to take those pictures again. If you take a washed out picture of your car, you can always just take another one tomorrow. But if you take a washed out picture of the Eiffel Tower, that’s probably just the picture that you’re going to have to live with forever.

So! To make sure that you don’t wind up with a bunch of half-focused, badly lit, crooked pictures that are just going to spend eternity locked in your photo stream, here are our top six photo apps for travelers.

For taking photos: Pro HDR, $1.99

You know when you’re trying to take a picture of something in less-than-ideal lighting, and it either comes out totally overexposed or completely dark? Pro HDR is the absolute best photo app out there for capturing the most spectacular landscapes you’ve ever seen in almost any kind of light. It works by taking a dark and light exposure of the same image, and then combining the two. One of the best things about this app is comparing your HDR picture with one that someone else took, and then marveling at the difference.

You can purchase Pro HDR at the following app stores: Apple | Google

For editing: Snapseed, Free

Snapseed can quite make literally the difference between an ordinary photograph and an absolutely stunning one. It has a ton of exactingly minute editing options that you control by simply sliding your finger up and down or side to side, and gives you the option to either change the entire image or spot correct wherever you’d like. So if you want to change the white balance on just your eyes, or up the contrast on only the ocean waves of a beach shot, you can. It also has a straightening tool you’ll wonder how you lived without, and a bunch of different washes for when you want to get artistic.

You can purchase Snapseed at the following app stores: Apple | Google

For creating collages: Photo Collage, Free

When you want to combine a bunch of different pictures into one collage, Photo Collage is the easiest, most intuitive app out there. It lets you choose from pages of different layout options for infinite amounts and types of pictures, and then lets you position and reposition them as you choose. This one’s great for when you want to tell a story with a single picture.

You can purchase Photo Collage at the following app stores: Apple

For adding text: Over, $1.99

When you really want to get fancy, Over lets you overlay words and images onto your photos so you can add a caption or location to whatever you’re shooting. There are a ton of free fonts and insanely easy editing tools that let you choose the color, opacity, and size of your font, and then move it around wherever you’d like. There are options to pay for upgraded font sets or line drawings, but you can manage beautifully with what comes included in the basic version.

You can purchase Over at the following app stores: Apple

For when you’re alone: Photo Timer, $1.99

If there’s no one around to take your picture, Photo Timer is a step above having to just hold your camera out and hope for the best. With an audio countdown of intervals from 2 – 300 seconds, you have plenty of time to get where you need to be before the shutter goes off, and there are options for guided grids and automatic flash. This one’s also great for groups, when you want to make sure you get everyone in frame, and when you have a backdrop that you simply have to capture.

You can purchase Photo Timer at the following app stores: Apple

For sharing: Instagram, Free

If you don’t have an Instagram account yet, then you’re missing out on arguably the best photo sharing tool ever. Users can upload photos right from their photo library and apply any number of filters and effects before sharing them with only their contact list or the world at large. You can tag people you’re with and add photos to your photo map to show where you’ve been, and hashtags make searching for a topic or location easy.

You can purchase Instagram at the following app stores: Apple | Google