Ten Iphoneography Tips That Will Instantly Improve Your Photos
The quality of Iphone cameras are getting better and better with every release, but are you aware of the full potential of your Iphone camera? We’ve put together a list of our top tips for nailing Iphone photography to give your social profiles that WOW factor.
1. Lighting, lighting, lighting!
If we could only give you one tip when capturing photos on your Iphone it’s get the lighting right! To take good quality photos, an Iphone needs a good amount of light - and it’s near impossible to save a photo in editing that’s been taken in bad lighting (we learnt this the hard way). So, if you’re indoors, sit nearest a window to get as much natural lighting in the shot as possible.
If you’re taking a photo outside - don’t be put off by dull and cloudy weather! Cloudy days are perfect for photos as the light is distributed evenly as opposed to super sunny days where there is too much dynamic range - resulting in the shadows being too dark and the highlights too light.
Another tip for if your lighting isn’t the best is to underexpose the photo. Brightening an image is a lot easier than fixing an overexposed one. Simply tap the brightest part of the photo before taking it, position where you would like and snap away! You can brighten the image later in editing.
2. Use The Volume Button
Using the volume button on the side of your phone to take your photos makes it a lot easier for you to hold the phone steady to avoid the camera shaking and your photo turning out blurry. It also makes it a lot easier for when you are shooting landscape.
3. Avoid flash
The flash on your Iphone is simply an LED light which can sometimes wash out photos. When you can, try shooting with natural lighting as this provides the best quality photos. If you are shooting at night or in a dark room, use the Camera’s app exposure slider to boost the brightness of the photo. Simply tap the screen and you will see a little sun appear, slide that up and down to adjust the brightness.
4. Follow the rule of thirds
The rule of thirds is the golden rule of photography and if used correctly will improve the composition and balance of all your images. The good news here is that your Iphone has a grid option available which divides the screen up in a grid for you, so you can align your photos so they follow the rule of thirds. Turn on the grid setting by visiting Settings - Photos & Camera - Enabling the Grid Switch.
5. Turn on HDR Auto
HDR stands for High Dynamic Range and is a feature that allows your IPhone camera to capture photos that have high contrast light sources eg a sunset, without distorting the whole image. Instead of capturing one image, it snaps a number of images all at different exposures and merges them together to create the best quality image.
6. Shoot in burst mode
Burst mode is a feature of the Iphone camera that many people aren’t aware of! It allows you to take 10 photos in 1 second, perfect for capturing action shots or unpredictable moments! To activate burst mode simply hold down the shutter button for just over a half a second and your phone will immediately start continuously shooting.
7. Set the focus
Usually your Iphone will automatically focus for you, but on the occasion that it fails or you want to focus on something that isn’t the most obvious subject in the frame - you may need to focus the photo yourself. It’s super easy to do, just simply tap the area of the screen where you wish it to focus and voila!
8. Use portrait mode
If you have a 7 plus, 8 plus or X you will be blessed with ‘portrait mode’. It’s really easy to use and can completely transform an image and make it look super profesh! The feature creates the ‘brokeh effect’ which is usually associated with DSLR cameras. Just make sure when you are using it that the subject is not too far away or close to the camera and is in focus.
9. Experiment with different angles
Because we view the world from the height of our eyes, it's natural for us to snap our images from the same height - eye level. A different angle or level instantly makes an image more interesting as we wouldn't normally look at other people/objects from that angle. Have a go experimenting with different angles and see for yourself how much of a difference it can make!
10. Edit your photos!
Lastly, editing! You may have a good photo but it can be AMAZING with a slight tweak on some great editing apps. We wrote a blog post on all our 'Must Have Editing Apps' so have a read and get downloading!
Stick to these simple tips and you’ll soon be on your way to Instagram stardom! Let us know how you get on or if you have any other Iphone photography tips! We’d love to hear them.
And as always, don’t hesitate to DM us if you have any questions about Iphone photography or social media in general! @lucyhitchcock_ @sassydigital