Taking pictures is one of the favorite things people do with their phones. Whether it is to capture a moment, to have an aesthetically pleasing photo on Instagram, or take wonderful
Images for blog posts, taking pictures can be fun, especially if you know how to take awesome ones. Nowadays, people do not have to buy a DSLR camera to take stunning photographs. Everyone can now capture and have great images using their mobile phones. iPhone Photography is on trend as iPhones have great camera qualities and features that users can utilize. With this, several influencers and iPhone users have found unique and creative ways to take pictures using their iPhones. If you are an iPhone user or planning to be one, this article is perfect for you and your next mobile photography shoot. Just follow these simple iPhone photography tips and effects and get your best pictures taken!
What's the Best Camera Setting For iPhones?
The best camera setting for iPhones depends on your or the photographer's objective and vision. If you want to take portraits of a subject, then the Portrait Mode is the best setting! If you want to capture pictures of a moving subject, then you should use Burst. If you're going to take a wide-angle shot, then you can use Panorama or your wide-angle lens if you are using newer iPhone models with the wide-angle feature. You can utilize the exposure or the blurring of the foreground to take compelling photos with its background blurred. Whichever setting you use, you can take pictures anywhere, even if you do not have a great background. You can do your iPhone photography at home and just change or edit your background afterward efficiently using the
remove bg site, which is free and easy to use.
10 Tips on How to Take Better Pictures With iPhone
1. Blur the Foreground
The first tip to kick off your iPhone photography is blurring the foreground. This tip can be quickly done using newer iPhone models like iPhone XR and XS in portrait modes. Using the portrait mode in your iPhone camera, just ensure that your subject is between two and eight feet from the camera lens. Before taking the shot, make sure your subject is sharp, and its background is blurred. For users of older models of iPhone, do not worry because you can still do it manually. Just move close to your subject and switch to Auto Focus. The background will blur more as you move closer and focus on your subject. Doing this tip manually will take some practice, but when you get the hang of it, you can get more interesting photos!
2. Turn on the grid for better composition
Whether you are new or not to iPhone photography, you may have already heard of the "rule of thirds". For starters, this is a composition guideline that puts your subject in the right or left-third of an image, leaving the other two-thirds more open, leading to excellent and compelling shots. To ensure that you follow this rule, you must turn on your compositional grid. Go to the Settings app of your iPhone to enable the grid and click the option Photos and Camera. Afterward, press and slide the Grid switch to launch the grid and make it appear on your camera screen when using your iPhone's original camera app. This tool allows you to easily visualize your subject and see if it follows the rule of thirds lines or not. Depending on your creative choices, you can also use the grid to see which part of the screen needs more elements, focus, or space.
3. Adjust the Exposure
You can adjust the exposure when taking pictures using the built-in camera app on your iPhone. Just open your camera and tap and hold any part of the screen. Drag your finger up or down with the sun icon to control your desired exposure for your photo. This feature lets you decrease or increase your exposure settings, just like a DSLR or other digital camera.
4. Lock your focus for sharper subjects
To ensure that you lock your focus to sharper subjects, you can utilize the AE/AF Lock feature. Like the previous tip or tip #3, press and hold any area of your screen while using your camera, and you will see an AE/AF Lock graphic that will pop. This will make your camera focus on your subject when you move or accidentally shake your camera. Once you have locked the focus on your subject, you may rotate your camera, whichever you like to capture the angle you desire.
5. Make Use of The Panorama Mode
The Panorama mode allows you to capture wider shots horizontally or vertically. You can use it by simply sliding the camera features of your iPhone camera app and choosing Panorama. Once you are on the Panoramic feature, slowly plan your camera to your desired subject, starting on one end and to the other side or from the left to the right side and vice versa. This tip will let you shoot subjects or places broader than the primary camera feature. People usually do horizontal panning to capture big group photos or to take wide landscape pictures of a place. But another fun way to use the Panorama is to use it vertically instead of horizontally. This can show tall buildings or trees or include the clouds and sky in your photos.
6. Use Burst Mode
People have to count one to three on regular phone cameras to capture jump shots. And if they do not capture the moment, they have to retake it until they get the best photo of the subject in the air. Good thing for iPhone users. They do not have to repeatedly jump or retake pictures to get jump shots. Users just have to hold down the shutter button of their iPhone camera to capture two or more photos in one go depending on how long they press the button. This mode, called Burst mode, is best used when taking pictures of moments in action, like jump shots. This tip is great for capturing sports action, dancing, and other fast-paced movements.
7. Experiment with the Portrait Mode
Do you want to take self-portraits, but are you tired of taking selfies with your front camera? Use your main camera with the Portrait mode instead and lower the Exposure setting. Just slide to the Portrait mode in your iPhone camera app. This photography tip will give you the depth needed to take high-quality self-portraits or portraits of other people. If you want to enhance your photographs, use the different Portrait Lighting Modes. There are five lighting modes you can choose from that will allow you to have artificial studio lighting and more. Using these modes is a great way to play with light using your iPhone camera.
8. ZOOM IN
I see you looking at my P-I-C. Just like JESSI, don't be afraid to ZOOM IN. Using the Telephoto Lens, you can zoom in twice the standard lens quickly. This lens does not exist on older iPhone models, so they have to zoom in manually on their subject, which can cause lower-quality images. The Telephoto lens allows users to use different angles for newer models, compared to swapping lenses on DSLR and mirrorless cameras. This lens can be used for tight portraits.
9. Try the Wide-Angle Lens
Introduced in iPhone 11, the wide-angle lens in the iPhone camera allows its users to create a broader range of the frame without using the panoramic feature. This lens is opposed to the general lens the general public uses, which only utilizes the standard focal length. The wide-angle camera lens has an equivalent focal length of 26mm with f1. 8 aperture. This lens does not only enable people to capture wider frames. It also lengthens the legs of human subjects, making them appear taller in photos. One just has to stand and point their legs in the picture. The wide-angle shot will lengthen their legs as a result. This tip can also be done to prolong buildings and the like.
10. Do the Vertigo shot.
This camera trick is famous on TikTok. This tip allows you to get a creative shot in an effortless way. You just have to place your iPhone camera on a short ledge, such as a street pavement or a step, and use the selfie camera. Launch self-timer capture and stand on the edge of the pavement. This effect will make you look like you are stepping on your iPhone camera. This style is cool, edgy, and famous for Gen Z.
Photography Effects You Can Try
1. Make Use of Lights
Using lights in your iPhone photography shoot can be very rewarding, and we are not talking about lighting or light bulbs, but light sticks or string lights. If you are shooting inside your home, studio, or even outside, you just have to find a dark space where lights can be seen. A tripod is significant for this effect to be done best to prevent camera shakes. You or your subject must have a string light or any bright light source like your phone screen and twirl it or move it in motion like you are painting something. This will allow you to create light paint in the image that could be behind or in front of your subject, depending on your creative choice. You can draw a number figure, perhaps the number 8, or paint simple shapes like a heart.
2. Create a Silhouette
An iPhone photography effect that you can try that is also very simple to do is creating a silhouette. A silhouette is made when you take a picture of a subject against a brighter background like a bright sky. It is very easy to achieve. You just have to be in a location where you have a clear view of the sky in the background of your subject. You can be close to your subject if you want a closeup or half-body silhouette. But if you wish for a whole-body silhouette against the sky, you can position it far away from your subject. The sky should be correctly exposed. Make sure your subject gives a black or dark-colored shape against the sky. Creating silhouettes can be very beautiful with sunsets as the background.
3. Make Use of Reflections
Another photography effect you can try that is also easy is using reflections. You can make use of a literal mirror for this. A popular photography trend today using mirror reflections is putting the mirror on the ground, usually outside on grass facing the sky. Then the subject or a person will stand and face the mirror. The camera should be from above the mirror and not be seen from the shot unless you take your self-portrait through the reflection. The result will be a stunning image of your subject with the sky in the background and a shot of themselves in the mirror with grass under it. Other reflections that can be used are bodies of water such as ponds, rivers or even seas, a puddle, and other reflective objects like metal, glass, and more.
4. Use Long Exposure
Long exposure can be used by iPhone 13 users in their camera app itself. For users of older iPhone models, they can still try the long exposure effect by taking Live photos itself and editing the photo afterward. To take Live photos, just click the round icon on top of the screen then take a picture of something in motion. After capturing, open the image in your Photos application and just swipe up to see the effects. From there you will see four effects: the Bounce, Loop, live video snippet, and Long Exposure. Choose the Long Exposure to achieve your desired result!
Conclusion
After learning all these tips and tricks, you can now start your own iPhone photography, may it just be in your room, outside, or a studio if you have access to one. Remember that you can take awesome pictures whenever your location is just by knowing and following these iPhone photography tips. Now we cannot wait to see your awesome photos posted on Instagram or other social media sites!
