Dramatic Black & White Provides A Professional Way To Edit Photos

At its core, Dramatic Black & White is a camera app like any other. The app provides a basic shutter to point-and-snap your surroundings. In fact, there’s not even a zoom or manual focus function, making the in-app camera one of the more basic offerings available in the App Store.

However, the real godsend of Dramatic Black & White are its stellar Ansel Adams style filters. Once a photo has been taken, the app lets users first apply a style of effects, including various red-shift, green-shift, ultra-contrast, and infrared filters. After that, mobile photographers may further refine the effects using small adjustments.

The level of control offered here is quite staggering. In fact, just about every aspect of the photo can be manipulated, including the filter’s grain, sharpness, brightness, contrast, tone, and black and white strength. Using the included sliders and color modules, it’s possible to create just about any contrast combination imaginable.

From there the app heads to the Internet, allowing users to post their artwork to Facebook or send it by email. There’s also the option to save pictures to the camera roll, or even send them to a nearby printer.

I’m more than disappointed there’s no Twitter support, though. Considering Facebook is present (and so many other photography apps are using the tweet-based service) it seems like an odd, creativity-stifling omission.

That being said, the filters offered here are truly top-notch. Compared to other photography apps like Camera+, which offer only basic control over black and white functionality, Dramatic Black & White is a truly comprehensive and professional alternative.

I especially appreciated the level of control the app is sporting. Considering some of the included filters are hit-or-miss, the option to fine-tune options for maximum contrast is extremely useful.

I would have liked to see a bit more offered in the camera department, however. The inability to manually focus photos with a double-tap is particularly harmful.

Rendering times in the app also leave quite a lot to be desired. The amount of time Dramatic Black & White takes to produce a photo ranges from lightning quick to an absolute crawl. The end product of the long wait is a truly impressive photograph, however, so it’s a cursed blessing.

At the end of the day, Dramatic Black & White is an absolute steal at $0.99. The app provides a level of control not seen in other photography apps, and the included effects are easily worth a dollar.

If you’re a fan of black and white images, or are an absolute iPhotography fanatic, Dramatic Black & White will become your new favorite toy.