GroupShot Can Help Create Perfect Group Shots
GroupShot ($0.99) by Macadamia Apps is an app we recently introduced to you, but does it work? The short answer is yes, for the most part, it really does. GroupShot takes the best parts of different photos to create one great photo, perfect for family and group photos where someone is always blinking or looking away. Of course, the circumstances must be right for GroupShot to work.
First off, you’ll need some photos. Here is the app’s caveat: this group of photos must be nearly identical. In my testing, I was able to get the app to work perfectly when I used an app with “burst” mode. In other words, I was taking a bunch of nearly identical photos in rapid succession, just making different faces. When I tried moving the iPhone around as I took photos, the app did not recognize these photos as being similar and wouldn’t allow me to proceed.
So, as long as the camera isn’t moving around too much as you shoot, you’ll get great results. It really does feel magical as you use it. First, I used the sample photos provided in the app. Of course, these are all ideal shots for this purpose. In seconds, I’d removed the head of the boy looking away and replaced it with a face looking at the camera. Easy peasy. You really don’t even have to “yellow out” the face that precisely; the app just knows what to do. Another cool thing is that the app recognizes whose face you’ve selected and only shows you that face in other photos.
Next, I tried it with my own photos. I took the pictures in portrait mode, and although it still worked, I’d recommend using landscape mode photos instead. The portrait mode pictures get squished in the app, making them a bit more awkward to work with. It still worked just fine, though. GroupShot really is very easy to use. I picked the shot I liked best of my dog, and then swiped over my weird face, and picked a face I liked better. Voila! The app instantly created a new photo using the best of both shots.
The bottom line is that as long as you can take a series of photos without overly moving your iPhone or iPod touch around, GroupShot is practically magic. An app with burst mode or a tripod might be helpful. Swap out the heads of people blinking, looking away, or making faces and replace them with better versions of themselves from other shots. GroupShot really can help you create the perfect group shot.
