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Apollo app for iOS creates cool lighting effects better than Apple’s Portrait Lighting

May 23, 2018 by Chad Verzosa 1 Comment

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If the iPhone’s Portrait Lighting already impresses you, then you better check out Apollo. This $1.99 iOS app adds immersive lighting effects that are–dare I say–better than what Apple’s version offers.

The Apollo app uses depth map from dual cameras to create the effects so, it only currently works with the iPhone 7 Plus, 8 Plus and X. Nevertheless, it does a great job at applying different lighting effects at any angle. In fact, you can even put a light source behind a subject to act as a rim light. You can add up to 20 light sources in one image and seamlessly adjust the color, intensity, and distance. Check out the short video clip below to see it in action:

YouTube video

As you can see, it works in three-dimensional space, and the effects look acceptably realistic. You can even adjust the shadows and the effective range for better lighting control. However, it’s worth noting that it doesn’t work in all situations. The guys from dpreview tested the app, and some of the resulting pictures looked somewhat artificial. Nonetheless, I can see it working well in certain conditions, especially if you’re subtle with using the effects.

https://youtu.be/MN5-r0qm_3s

Unfortunately, once you add the lighting effects, you can’t blur the background, anymore. So you’ll have to decide whether the background blur or the lighting is more important.

The Apollo app is still not perfect by any means. However, it does have a lot of potential if you figure out how to overcome its limitations. I can’t wait for later versions to come out and see what else this app has to offer.

[via DPReview, Apollo]

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Filed Under: Gear Tagged With: iPhone, lighting, space photography

Chad Verzosa: from diyphotography.net

About Chad Verzosa

Chad Verzosa is a freelance writer and photographer currently based in Florida. When not traveling, he likes to spend his time printing pictures in the darkroom.

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