These are the 2 best photo-editing apps to improve your golf-course pics

GOLF’s chief photographer and visual editor Christian Hafer has mastered all the shots — no, not on the golf course (sorry, Christian), but with his camera. In our new series, Shoot Like A Pro, he’ll pass along his tricks of the trade to ensure you’ll snap Instagram-worthy pics every time you tee it up. You can follow Hafer on Instagram here.

The best camera to take with you is always the one easiest to pack. And since 99 percent of us have a phone with a high-quality camera, we’re set. That said, there are a few tricks to help bring out the best in your images, whether your plan is to post them to your favorite social media platform or frame on your wall.

In a sea of apps and programs designed to make your photos look different than all the rest, these are the two I’ve found to be the best.

VSCO – Free or $19.99/year

This app is essentially a series of high-quality filters, or film emulators, to be precise. Snap a photo and throw on one of their filters and you’ve got an immediately stylized image that looks much better than that jpeg straight from your camera roll. The real power of this app is being able to make subtle changes to colors and tones to give your image a style yet not scream “over edit.” Once you jump into the preset, fine-tune your sliders to get an image you are happy with. Export. Post. Repeat.

Snapseed – Free

This Google app is one of the most powerful apps I have ever seen. It’s a pocket version of some more expensive programs we use to edit our photos. From range masks to cloning and healing, you can do just about anything you need to clean up an image or fine-tune details. Being able to dodge (lighten) and burn (darken) areas of your photo like a sky or shadow is extremely useful. But remember, there is potential to overdo it!

Whichever app you go with it’s all about trying out what works best and getting a repeatable style you like. One option? You can always start with Snapseed to get the photo where you want it, then finish it in VSCO to work on your final colors.