I’m a big fan of the free Snapseed photo editing app available for Android and iPhone. It has a lot of features that you’d only expect to find in expensive desktop photo editing software. Click here to read some of the articles I’ve written about the app.
Today I’m going to show you how I use a couple of my favorite features to edit a photograph taken with my Galaxy S4. Let’s start with a photo I took at the Toledo Zoo.
There’s not much of a focal point for this picture. I decided to change that be selecting the group of people on the walkway. I opened the image in my Snapseed app.
Since the people in the group had on bright-colored jackets, I decided to apply the HDR Scape filter to make the colors really pop.
Here are the before and after shots.
Now I’m going to emphasize the little group by applying the Lens Blur filter.
There’s a choice between linear and circular blurs. I’m going with circular.
The position and shape of the circular blur can be adjusted by moving your finger or stylus on the screen. Touch the blue center dot to move the position or the edges to adjust the shape.
Once you are satisfied with shape and position, you can adjust things like blur strength and transition by moving your finger up or down to select the adjustment and then side to side to adjust the levels. With this filter, the items in the center remain clear while the surrounding area of the image becomes blurry.
When you’re satisfied with the results, save the image. Here’s the before and after images.
The image can also be cropped to highlight certain parts of it.
If you have a smartphone, I suggest downloading Snapseed now and having some fun with your photos. It’s available for free in either the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.
~ Cynthia