I'm one of the millions of smartphone owners addicted to Instagram, the free camera app that makes tweaking and sharing photos miraculously easy. While it's wildly popular and the target of Facebook's $1 billion takeover deal, Instagram isn't the only camera app worth having.
I've been hooked on taking photos on my iPhone and sharing them using Instagram since I bought my first iPhone last fall.
With Instagram, I can make my photos look better by using one of the app's 17 pre-set filters to adjust lighting, color and other things. I can then share my enhanced photos on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram's own social network [1] 
But Instagram has a limited range of filters and camera effects, and it isn't always easy to edit pictures with it.
I've had a chance to test a wide range of Instagram alternatives during choice picture-taking opportunities over the past few months, including my sister's wedding in Hawaii in December and a trip to Lebanon this month. I also had my phone for shots along the streets of New York, where I live.
Of the dozen or so I tested, here are four I find myself using over and over again:
_ Photosynth by Microsoft Corp. Free. For iOS only (Apple's iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch).
My favorite among the ones I tried, Photosynth lets you take 360-degree panoramic photos that become interactive on a smartphone or computer [2]
The app guides you as you stand in one place and capture photos in all directions. Then it stitches those images together to create a sphere-like panorama that viewers can scroll around in and zoom in and out.
You can share the panorama on Facebook, Twitter or Photosynth.net.
It takes a bit of practice, and it's not an app I would use every day. But I found that in the right setting -- such as Roman ruins by the sea in Byblos, near Beirut, or my sister's beach wedding -- the results can be breathtaking.
It's a great way to capture a panoramic landscape such as mountain views, beaches or bridges. Plenty of examples -- and inspiration -- can be found on Photosynth.net.
_ TiltShift Generator by Arts & Mobile. Free for basic features, 99 cents for higher resolution and album upload. For iOS only.
Tilt shift is a camera effect that blurs the edges of a picture, creating an optical illusion that makes everything in the photo look miniature. (continued...)
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