Taking photos with your smartphone, or any camera for that matter can sometimes leave you with a mixed bag of results. Google Photos can help you salvage poorly shot photos or simply add a little spice to photos that lack the ability to grab your attention. Google is constantly reworking their Google Photos app to make it easier and better when working with your photos. One of the latest updates coming soon will allow the user to change the time and date of a photo. By using Google Photos automatic save feature, your precious pictures will be waiting for you when you get your new phone – just open up the Google Photos app on your new phone, and the cloud and all of your photos will find you. You can arrange the photos into albums, events, or by date.
When it comes to individual photos, some come out great on the first try, but with others, you may take several shots just to make sure you end up with one good picture. Sometimes a picture is bad, and we are trying to make it good, and other times we like the picture, but by making a few adjustments, you may add some desirable effects. We will often go to the editor in Google Photos and select another ‘look’ for the photo, be it ‘West,’ ‘Metro,’ ‘Blush,’ etc. Once you determine the look you want, you can further adjust the Light, Color, and Pop of the look that you have chosen.
One of the best ways to enhance a picture’s looks is by adjusting the White Balance, but most do not have the expertise to do this – Google Photos will now do it automatically. When your select your ‘look’ Google Photos will not only adjust the exposure and saturation, it will automatically adjust the White Balance as well. Need a little more adjustment; then you can also change the Warmth and Tint.
Sometimes a simple rotation of your photo can give it an entirely new look. Just use the Assistant tab in the upper right and rotate away. Outdoor photos that have grass or trees in them can really pop if you adjust the green to a deep, lush color by increasing the up the Saturation level. You may need to adjust down the Skin Tone and Deep Blue sliders to compensate for the other colors. Before you start making any adjustments, always be sure to keep a copy of the original photo by tapping in the upper right and selecting Save Copy. This action will ensure that the original photo is always there to fall back on to start over again.