#2787 fun with Snapseed

Do you know about Snapseed? It is a photo editing app that can put on your phone to edit photos in a bajillion different ways. I've been using it, rather sparingly, for awhile. Mostly I use it to crop or enlarge a photo, and to tune a photo a little bit, say to enhance shadows, brighten or darken a photo, etc. I haven't played with the filters and other options as much, but I thought it might be fun to do a bit of that today.

original

I took this photo in Chania on 28 Oct. This is part of the old monastery that has been converted into a boutique hotel. I took the photo because I thought I might like to try to sketch and paint it. I like the contrast of the green vines with the red flowers on the old stone walls. I like the little bright blue patch of sky through that window and the curve of the arches. I still may sketch and paint it, but first, I snapseeded it.

EDIT 1

Edit 1

I did so much to this photo in this first edit, I can't even tell you what all has happened. Luckily, Snapseed keeps an list of all the edits. The filter I used is called Vintage. I used the Grainy Film setting and messed around with the tonal controls. I used the brush feature to saturate the vines and flowers with color, then used the White Balance feature somehow. There's also Details, Curves, more Details, HDR Scape, and some tuning. There's a black frame around the pic. I really went to town on it! The photo looks a lot more dramatic and saturated. 

Here is a side-by-side comparison of the original on the left and the Edit 1 on the right.

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EDIT 2

Edit 2

Once again, I started with the original. This time, I lightened the most of the stones, except the dark ones on the arches, and I saturated the vines and flowers with color using the Brush tool. I did something with the curvature, but I don't think I see anything too different from the original in that aspect. I used HDR Scape somehow. I didn't use a filter. I think it looks a lot like the original, but a little more bold. 

Here's the side-by-side with the original on the left, and Edit 2 on the right.

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EDIT 3

Edit 3

I did the least amount of editing on this one, and relied on Snapseed auto adjustments to edit the photo, including HDR Scape, Healing, Perpective, White Balance, and Tune Image. No filters. I added a white frame around it. It looks clean and pretty. 

I couldn't get these side-by-side because I was getting mixed up between the original and the edit! 

original

Edit 3

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What I've learned here is that Snapseed is fun to play with and you can definitely make your photos look way different from the original if that's the vibe you want. like I said, there are a bajillion options, and I downloaded a PDF booklet to learn more about the application. 

A couple of days ago, I posted a photo I'd edited and I wondered about the integrity of the photo with such big edits. I've been pondering the question, as I do, and for me the answer is that as the photographer, I get to choose how to show my photos. I tend to prefer a cleaner look that is closer to the original, so edit 3 is really my favorite. I won't lie, though, the other two appeal to me as well, but in a completely different way. What do you think? Have you downloaded Snapseed and played around with it? It's a pretty cool app.