VSCO Cam and VSCO Grid

VSCO Cam has been around for a while, and I’ve been using it off and on since it came out, but lately I’ve been spending a lot more time on the App. VSCO Cam is an iPhone (and Android) photography app. It consists of a camera and some editing tools. Ok, that’s the boring explanation! As the name implies, it’s from the same people who make the superb VSCO Film presets for Lightroom, and they’ve used their film simulation know how to make VSCO Cam.

The App includes several different film inspired looks and it has the option to buy more. It also has some extensive editing controls. I won’t bore you with the details because the App has been around for a wile now and there are plenty of reviews. It’s by far my favourite iOS camera app, although I hardly ever use the actual camera function. I find that it’s much easier to take pictures with the standard iPhone camera because you can get to it from the lock screen. Then when you have a bit of time you can import your images into VSCO Cam and edit away.

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The App has quite a few options for getting your images back out of it, including the usual options to email, tweet and post to Facebook. It also has the ability to send directly to Instagram which is handy. Another option is VSCO’s own sharing service, Grid, which is exclusively for VSCO Cam users.

VSCO Grid is a simple and minimalist sharing site that’s accessed from VSCO Cam on your phone and from the Web. Inside the App you can upload, tag and sort to VSCO Grid. On the web, Grid is a clean and simple site designed to show off your images. You have your own url which you can share (here’s mine). They also have a nice curated collection of images that their editors pick. It’s a really nice service and it’s great for both showcasing your own images and also discovering great camera phone photography from other users too. One of the other things that I like about it is that it’s retina aware so it supports high resolution displays if you have a retina Macbook pro or iPad.

If you are into iPhone Photography (or Android) and haven’t already seen VSCO Cam I suggest you check it out, as it’s great fun and the results are pretty good too. Even if you’re not planning to use the app, you should check out the curated collection, as there’s some great images in it.