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How To Take Better iPhone Photos (In 5 Simple Steps)
You don’t need to be a pro to take gorgeous shots with an iPhone – just follow these five simple steps to take great iPhone photos!
Want to take better iPhone photos? Use these tips!
#1) Use The Rule Of Thirds Grid
There’s a thing in photography called the “rule of thirds.” Basically, it states that if you divide your shot into nine imaginary boxes and keep the subjects of your shots corraled into one of those stacks of boxes, preferably not the center stack, it makes for a much more interesting shot.
This is much easier to grasp when you can see a grid on your screen. With this in mind, Apple built gridlines into the Camera app. To turn on gridlines:
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap Camera.
- Toggle the switch next to “Grid” ON (green).
Gridlines will now appear on your screen in the camera app, dividing it into nine squares. Now line up your shots in one of the three stacks of square grids and your photos will appear much more compositionally interesting.
#2) Lock The Focus & Exposure
Usually, when you take a picture the Camera app will refocus for each subsequent shot so you get the sharpest pictures. But sometimes shots look better with pulled focus (kind of like blurring part of the picture). This is usually done for artistic reasons.
It’s with this in mind that Apple allows you to lock the focus and exposure in the camera app so the focus and exposure settings used for the last picture are used for the next picture as well. To do this tap and hold on the screen and you’ll see rectangle contract around your finger. This means the focus and exposure are now locked. To unlock the focus and exposure simply tap anywhere on the screen again.
#3) Don’t Go Crazy With The Zoom
For as long as the iPhone has been around it’s had digital zoom. To zoom in or out, simply pinch the Camera screen with two fingers and the zoom slider will appear. This zoom slider allows you to adjust the digital zoom settings of the photograph; it lets you zoom in and out on your subject. Slide your finger along the bar to zoom in or out.
You can also tap the + or – button to zoom in or out in increments or simply continue pinching in or out. While digital zooming is great, it’s actually making your photo less crisp the more you zoom in because digital zoom only magnifies the pixels in the photograph.
If you don’t zoom in too much, this won’t be a problem, but if you zoom in a lot you aren’t going to get the crispest shot. To get around digital zoom limitations, Apple’s newer iPhones use at least a dual-lens system, and the Pro models like the iPhone 11 Pro/Pro Max have three-lens.
#4) Put Your Back To The Sun
It’s a common misconception among non-pros that it’s always good to have the sun illuminating your subject from behind for outdoor shots. In actuality, this can make the subject of your shot look darker (underexposed).
A great tip is to actually position your iPhone (and thus you, the photograph) with its back to the sun (or just over your shoulder) so the sunlight is falling on your subject. This will cast natural light on your subject’s face to make them look the best.
#5) Use The Flash In Daylight
Related to the above tip…many people assume flash is only useful in dark situations, like indoors or at night. Actually flash is incredibly useful during daylight pics.
This is called a “fill flash” and it helps scatter more light over your daylight subject, thus softening any shadows bright sunlight can cast. To activate your flash outdoors, tap the lightning bolt icon in the camera app and then tap “ON”.
Apple’s iPhone 11 Puts Most DSLR Cameras To Shame…
When I was growing up if you wanted to take a really good photograph you needed a DSLR camera. The point-and-shoots of the day just couldn’t produce optimal shots (keep in mind, this was the early 1990s–well before digital cameras even existed). Today, however, the story has changed.
The cameras we have in our smartphones have gotten incredibly good. Not only do most flagship smartphones now have dual-lens camera systems, but virtually all smartphone cameras are also capable of computational photography–meaning the software behind the camera does a bunch of work to make your pictures look the best they can.
Apple’s latest iPhone range – the iPhone 11 – features the best camera the company has ever created. Even with the base model iPhone 11, you’re going to be able to capture truly stunning images using the tips listed above in conjunction with its outstanding dual-lens rear camera.
Got an iPhone 11 Pro or 11 Pro Max? Well, now you have even more depth of field to play with, thanks to the addition of a third-lens. All of the tips above still apply, though, so think of them as best practices for whenever you’re capturing a subject with your iPhone.
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