“Hold on, let me VSCO this first.”
I was recently at a volunteering event, where we were providing complimentary family photo-taking and instant prints. Time was tight and we had to rush through many households just so that each got the chance to enjoy this service. Despite this, my fellow volunteer kept on insisting, “hold on, let me VSCO this first!”
A minute later, he’d exclaim, “see, so much nicer.”
It’s amazing what Visual Supply Company is enabling us to do with our photos. Beyond offering digital photography tools for us to use, they have built a space for anyone armed with a smartphone to freely create, explore, and share.
“It’s an opportunity to help people and to change people’s perceptions, in our case, on what it means to value art, creativity, and being human, because taking a photo ultimately is about being human and showing that.”
— Greg Lutze, Co-Founder of VSCO, in an interview with The Verge.
Today, we have the privilege to take a sneak peek into this creator’s smartphone and see what apps he brings along with him every day!
1. VSCO
“The best app for editing, sharing and discovering photography from all around the world.”
Check out Greg’s VSCO account here.
2. Canopy
“A curated guide to Amazon. I use it to create gift lists for family and friends.”
Browse through Greg’s collections here.
3. WorldMate
“My go-to app when travelling. I store all my flights, hotel and car reservations on WorldMate.”
4. Babbel
“A great app for learning foreign languages. I’m currently trying to learn French and Spanish.”
5. Slack
“This app essentially replaces internal emails for VSCO. It’s part instant messenger, part forum, part announcement board.”
For the aspiring #vscocam photographer out there, Greg also shared a few tips on how to create great images:
Live an interesting life
“The best way to create interesting images is to live an interesting life — travel places, meet people, go outside and try things that scare you. The images you create will be a natural result of the life you are leading.”
Play around
“There is no exact formula for a “successful” image. Take risks and try something new everytime you shoot. Play around with how you frame your subject, change your height or distance, edit with a new preset or tool, or simply photograph something or someone you never have before.”
Don’t overedit
“Nothing destroys an image like over-the-top editing — a little goes a long way. My go-to editing process in VSCO generally looks something like:
1. Add Preset A1 (from The VSCO Minimalist Collection)
2. Adjust Exposure +1
3. Adjust Contrast +2
4. Share to my VSCO or social media”
Well there you have it; some pretty neat tips from Greg himself. Did you know that the VSCO website also produces many tutorials on how to use each tool? Check them out here and have a blast!
