Photo Darkroom on your Smartphone

Remember the old photo darkrooms? There's a whole younger generation of people who will answer "no" to that question. Of course we no longer need a dark room to develop our photos in a liquid bath now that everything is digital. Now you can go one step further and edit your photos, even store them using downloaded apps for your smartphone from Photobucket, Posterjack, TheDarkroom, or even Microsoft. The quality is quite good, certainly comparable to some of the best digital cameras on the market today. It's possible that even special visual effects will be available soon. In order to get people using these apps the companies are offering prizes for photo contests to be shared on the Instagram or Twitter sites of these companies. Here is the latest one from Photobucket sent by e-mail and posted on their Facebook site. They go on to promise 8GB of storage if you download their photo storage app.

You can do more with a smartphone than shoot a selfie! With the all-new Photobucket mobile apps its a snap to upload, edit and share. Show us how creative you can be with nothing more than your phone, some filters and our free mobile app! Our favorite mobile photos will win a free 16x20 canvas print. How to enter:

1. Download the free all-new Photobucket Mobile app

2. Turn your phone away from your face and shoot a stellar photo

3. Share it on Instagram, Twitter or Photobucket using the hashtag: #pbMobile

Let's look at another of the burgeoning number of online photo apps offered - www.blacks.ca, a Canadian company. Here is their tutorial.

Tutorial

  When you've captured that special moment, it has to be right. The Black's Photo Print App tutorial reviews all the features of the app so you'll know exactly how to access them when you need them. We'll even review special features like how to adjust image settings to help you create just the right mood.

• Navigate the app using the specific iPhone buttons and icons,
• Take photos directly from the Black's Photo Print app,
• Browse through photos you've already taken,
• Adjust image settings like exposure, contrast, saturation, colour, and sharpness,
• Rename an image,
• And more.

To read more click here. While some may bemoan the change to instant photos, I for one welcome the chance to have countless former specialized services at my fingertips, thanks to computers and digital software. However, it means a new learning curve, so there's going to be folks who will be happy to have someone else develop and even store their pictures. I suspect that there will be a new profession for people who specialize in "developing" photos using this new technology with smartphones.