Take a pic, start a mini-mission!
Wazzup Lab has come up with an entertaining way to better your photo taking skills on your phone. Photozeen is a free iOS app that puts you on a mini-mission to take a great photo and submit it for review. This mini-mission is called a quest in the world of Photozeen. You get to choose the type of mission, a selfie, a street pic, a group pic, or of scenery; peruse the examples already submitted or offered for that quest; take your pic; and, upload it. You can even comment on submissions provided by others, to help you on your mission. In a nutshell, it’s an interactive tutorial where fellow photographers teach each other to take a great pic.
When you first install the app, you will be asked to create an account. This can be done via Facebook or Instagram, allowing for easy sharing between apps. You can also choose to create your account by providing an email address. Upon creation, you get 100 coins in your bank account. The bank account helps bring you more exposure in the app via the leaderboard. This gets you more attention and more feedback. Want to learn more, faster? This will be the best way. These coins can be earned by submitting lots of feedback and by receiving feedback, so more participation gets you a better learning experience.
Next, you can either peruse photos that have been submitted to get an idea on how to take a particular type of photo. This comes under the Inspiration section of the app. If you’re feeling ready for it, dive into a Quest, which is a list of photo taking genres. Read the quest, take a photo that fits and submit it. It’s that easy. You can go in and Rate other photos, which helps other photographers and you.
As you quest, you will earn points for every submission and comment you receive. The comments, of course, are key because you are looking for pointers on how to take that photo better, or you may even get kudos for taking it so well, so you know that what you did was just right! You can move up the ranks in quests as you complete increasing levels of complexity; but, there’s no pressure. You move at your pace; this is not a race. This is an app for the fun of it. It’s like a social networking tutorial, where the members are teachers and students at the same time.
Photozeen is rated for age 12+, so be aware that you may come across photos of a nature inappropriate for kids. Don’t let you your kids go to town with this app and be sure to know what quests or categories they may be looking at…there are no locks or filters in this app, so everything is fair game.
Overall, this app is a fun and interactive way to learn how to take better pictures with your phone. You get feedback from your peers and you can help others out as well. Because the learning is wrapped up in a gaming and social networking setting, it makes for a fun and constantly energizing way to engage and improve on your skills, while setting your own goals and pace. Photozeen is a definite download if you are looking to take pics worth posting and make the most of your mobile.
