Capture Creative, Light Enhanced Photos With Luminancer For iPhone
Luminancer ($1.99) by Tron Quixote is an iPhone photography app that lets you use creative lighting and enhanced features when taking photos.
The app uses video synthesis and light painting techniques, simulated palette swapping on live video streams, long exposure photography and other cool effects to capture truly unique photos. Luminancer is best used in a dark or evenly lit environment, while focusing on the brightest object in the frame.
To get the most out of this app, I recommend clicking the “i” button for helpful tips.
The default camera view is your starting point. You’ll want to familiarize yourself with the camera. Try light painting by holding your camera towards a bright light.
The video elements of the app are a little trippy (especially strobe), but fun to use.
Tapping the camera icon will freeze the video frame, providing options to preview and edit the image. Add rays of light by simply toggling the “rays on/rays off” button while in this screen.
Blending effects are revealed by sliding your finger to the left. Tap the up or down arrows to adjust or select default to restore the original.
Advanced features add more flare to your pictures. From the default camera view, tap “hud” (heads up display) to access. On screen buttons consist of light/dark, color/mono/strobe and trails/vortex effect options. You can also set the fade and levels.
Save the image to your photo album or export to Flickr, Facebook and e-mail.
I am a photography novice, so learning how to first use the app and effects was very helpful. I experimented by taking photos in different lighting environments, using every effect.
The app doesn’t offer multitasking, so be sure to save your photos before leaving the screen. It froze on me once after taking a picture, but that was the only hiccup I found after taking over 50 pictures.
The developer is working to incorporate VGA/Video Out features for the next release. Implementing this functionality will be an amazing feature; useful for DJs/VJs and parties.
Having the option to upload your photos and apply some of these effects would further improve this app, as would Twitter integration.
Luminancer is a fun app that delivers unique effects and encourages creativity. This app is a keeper for photography fans.
