đˇ 8 Simple iPhone Photography Tips You Should Apply Right Now to Improve Your Shots!
+ The best FREE resources you can use today to be a better photographer (find them in the end of the post)
Itâs been a few months now since I regularly receive one of the best compliment I could receive as an iPhone photographer.
âI canât believe that you made this shots with your phone, man.â
Phone cameras have been criticized for a long time because they were just an other additional feature to the phone. With a horrible quality.
But today, your phone camera is definitely your best option, for two reasons:
- Technology has improved a lot and phone cameras are now technically incredibly performant
- You ALWAYS have your phone with you
Disclaimer: Iâm NOT a professional photographer pretending he is better than the others and trying to lecture you.
Iâve just tried many ways to get better at iPhone photography, constantly learning from different sources, and applying what Iâve learnt on a daily basis.
My goal is simple: I want to have the greatest shot possible, with the fewest time possible invested in editing.
This learning journey led me to grow my Instagram Account from 5,000 followers to 17,000 in a few months.
Today, I want to give you 8 super easy tips you can apply to improve your skills right now.
Some of them apply to photography in general, but most of them are iPhone Photography oriented.
Letâs start!
PART 1/2 â SHOOTING
#1 âWhat is your picture about?
Why do you want to take this shot?
What is the story you want to tell?
What do you want to show to people?
If you canât reply to any of those questions⌠Donât even take this picture.
You can make high quality picture. If itâs a picture of nothing interesting, it will probably remain a shitty one.
Imagine going to the cinema, and watching a movie with great image quality, but with absolutely no story at all. You might leave the place before the end of the movie (you should).
Itâs the same with your pictures.
Show them something interesting!
#2 âGuide my look
So now you know what you want to shoot. But how are you gonna compose your picture to highlight it?
Most of the amateurs photographers heard about the Rule of Thirds.
I canât teach you how to get your phone out of your pocket faster that Lucky Luke, but I can tell you something cool you may not be doing, yet.
The guideline proposes that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally spaced horizontal lines and two equally spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections. (Wikipedia)
Respecting this rule is such a pain with a phone camera.
Until you realize that hey, you can actually have those lines automatically displayed when youâre taking a picture!
PLEASE DO IT:
Settings > Photo & Camera > Grid
#3 â Be quick
Itâs crazy how many shots I totally missed because I was rushing to unlock my phone, got stuck with the fingerprint unlocking lagging, then typed my password instead, andâŚ
Well, too late, I missed the right moment.
Open your camera with the locked screen shortcut.
It only takes 2 moves:
- press home button
- swipe the camera from the bottom-right angle
SHOOT!
#4 â Set the Focus and Exposure
Well, of course, the iPhone usually make it automatically. And it works pretty well!
But you might want to focus on something specific in your composition. Or maybe you wanna make a macro but the camera doesnât focus.
Then, do this:
- Tap once on the screen where you want the camera to focus
- Hold and swipe up or down to set up the exposure of the picture
#5â Shoot with the volume buttons
Well, we have something to shoot, we know how to shoot it, and we have been quick enough to open the camera.
Now itâs time to take this actual shot!
By using the normal button on the touch screen, the position of the hand is usually not so natural, and the phone is often slightly shaking, making the shot less neat as it could be.
There is a simple fix for this: using the volume button to take the shot!
It also feel more like using an actual camera and is more comfortable.
Those are the main tips I use myself to shoot with my iPhone, but there are many other tricks that you might be willing to know.
I recommend you to check THIS ARTICLE if you want to learn more.
PART 2/2 âEDITING
#6 â Uninstall all of your editing apps
When people show me there phone so I can show them some editing tips, theyâre usually so happy to ask me âhey, I have 15,000 editing apps, which one do you want to use?â
Seriously, uninstall all of them.
You want to master only one. Not to struggle with thousands.
I personally use Snapseed, because:
- Itâs super quick to use
- It does the job
- Itâs free
- I know my basic setting by heart, and can edit a pic in 20s
- Itâs simple
Learn how to use it, and use only this one for the basic settings (95% of the picture editing) + HDR filter (personal taste)
#7 â If you REALLY want to add filters, do this
I almost never use the Instagram filters, not the ones of Snapseed (except the HDR one).
When I upload a picture on Instagram, itâs usually already edited, and I post it directly.
But, well, if you REALLY want to add some filters to your picture, I would advise you those 2 apps:
- Afterlight â $1, multiples filters
- VSCO â Free, a few cool filters
Please, if you do so, try to always reduce the intensity of the filter (50% or less), so it wonât look TOO MUCH.
#8 â Basic edits
If you use any kind of editing app, you will generally have the same basic options for your settings.
Those are the ones I usually change in most of my shots (itâs an indication, adapt it for your own pictures):
- Brightness : UP+++
- Contrast : UP+++
- Saturation: UP++
- Shadow: DOWN+
- Highlights: UP+
- Ambiance (only on Snapseed): UP++
Use your own taste and sensibility to make the best edit for your own pictures.
â Press the ⤠below if you liked this story. It means a lot to me. Plus, it helps other people to discover it :)
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This post has been originally posted on my website, www.thomasdespin.com
⤠FREE RESOURCES!
There are a lot of great websites and places where you can learn more about iPhone (or phone in general) photography.
A lot of professional photographers are using their phone to shoot and edits their shots.
Why? Because it allows them to deliver faster (you can edit the pictures easily from anywhere), and to make more insightful shots (everyone has a phone and will look more natural on the pic versus if you use a huge DSLR).
But even if you use a phone, being a professional still means you have to produce a high quality work.
Youâll find below a complete list of resources I personally used at some point to get more of my iPhone and increase the quality of my content.
Send me more in the comments if you want me to add them to the list :)
â Be part of my Instagram Community (17k+)
I post landscapes, traveling, video & whatever-comes-to-my-mind pictures.
P.S: Everything there is shot with an iphone SE and edited with Snapseed.
