Looking to improve your photography skills? Check out these instantly actionable iPhone camera tips that’ll 10X the quality of your shots…
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While your iPhone may not be the first tool that comes to mind when you think of professional photography, you’d be surprised by the quality of images you can capture with your iPhone, especially once you have a basic understanding of the iPhone’s basic camera settings and features.
Thanks to continuous advancements in Apple’s camera technology and its myriad camera modes, iPhone users can now take stunning photos that rival those taken with DSLRs. This applies to video footage too. In fact, this is the reason why a lot of YouTubers ditched their expensive DSLR cameras for iPhones in the past couple of years.
Here’s a collection of essential iPhone camera tips and tricks to help you make the most out of your iPhone photography.
iPhone Camera Tips
1. Understand and Leverage the Rule of Thirds
The Rule of Thirds is an essential principle in photography. The idea is to break your image down into thirds, horizontally and vertically, resulting in nine equal segments. Placing your subject along these lines or at their intersections can make your photos more balanced and compelling.
Remember, your iPhone has a built-in grid feature which you can enable via Settings > Camera > Grid.
2. Maximize Natural Light
Lighting plays a critical role in photography, and natural light is your best friend. The soft, diffused light during the golden hour can give your photos a warm and professional look. Overcast weather, with its cloud-filtered sunlight, is also a good time for photography.
Avoid harsh midday light if you can. If not, play around with shadows for a unique and dramatic effect.
3. Utilize Portrait Mode
Portrait mode is an incredible feature on your iPhone that creates a depth-of-field effect, keeping your subject in sharp focus while blurring the background. This mode is perfect for taking professional-looking portrait photos.
Don’t limit yourself to using Portrait mode for people only – it works great with objects and pets too.
4. Experiment with Night Mode
The Night mode feature on your iPhone camera allows you to capture great low-light photos without the need for a flash. This feature turns on automatically in low-light conditions, but you can manually adjust the exposure time for better control over your shot.
5. Take Advantage of Burst Mode
Never miss a moment with Burst mode, which lets you take rapid-fire photos by holding down the shutter button. This is particularly useful for capturing action shots. After taking a burst of photos, you can choose the best ones to keep.
6. Use Live Photos for a Touch of Motion
The Live Photos feature captures 1.5 seconds of video and audio before and after you take a picture, adding a touch of motion to your photos. You can edit Live Photos, add effects like Loop or Bounce, and even extract a high-quality still image from the captured footage.
7. Adjust Exposure Manually
While your iPhone camera does a great job adjusting exposure automatically, there are times when you might want to take control. Tap to set focus, then swipe up or down on the sun icon to adjust the exposure.
8. Edit and Enhance Photos in the Photos App
After you’ve captured your photo, don’t forget to enhance it with the powerful editing tools available in the Photos app. You can adjust parameters like brightness, contrast, saturation, and more. Experiment with the built-in filters for different looks.
Need To Know More?
These tips should serve as a solid foundation to enhance your iPhone photography skills. Remember, the best way to improve is to keep experimenting, so get out there and start shooting! Or, if you’d like to learn more check out our dedicated resource page on the iPhone’s camera and all its settings and modes.
