1. CLEAN YOUR LENS
Just look at how dirty the front glass on your phone is. Or your eyeglasses. It is a good habit to * clean your lens. Either with a microfiber cloth or your shirt...whatever is handy.2. USE THE GRID LINES
*Grid lines help with getting the horizon level. It is not hard to understand that a level picture is more pleasing.
Grid lines also help compose your picture using the "Rule of Thirds" guideline. Sometimes it is nice to have the subject in the center of the picture. However, putting your subject off center can add interest. There are lots of websites on the use of the "Rule of Thirds". Here is a simple explanation...
An image should be divided into 9 equal parts
by 2 equally spaced horizontal and vertical lines.
The important elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections.
This is an example using the "Rule of Thirds". Using the grid lines, I move the subject to line up with the lower left intersection.
*On an iPhone you can turn on the grid lines in SETTINGS --> CAMERA --> GRID.
3. AVOID THE ZOOM
The zoom feature on an iPhone is an digital zoom. That means that when you zoom in it is "cropping" the picture...and if you zoom too much the picture will be grainy. This is one area that a iPhone camera is weaker than a DSLR camera with optical zoom.
The work around is to * get closer to your subject. Most pictures are taken at eye level... *try moving around your subject as well as up and down.
Sometimes that is easier said than done.
4. DO NOT USE FLASH
The iPhone flash is only good for a short distanct. It will not work for the majority of pictures. Instead of using the flash try setting the focus and exposure (see tip #6 below). Have you ever been to a big outdoor event and you see flashes constantly? The only thing they are lighting up is the person in front of them.
*Set the flash OFF (not AUTO).
5. KEEP YOUR CELL PHONE STEADY
There are a few suggestions to keeping your cell phone steady.
* Try using a tripod. I got this tripod from Amazon for $20. It can be used as a selfie stick (if only I could master that skill!) and it has a Bluetooth shutter.
* Hold your camera with two hands. Also, try bracing your hands or camera on a solid surface.
* Even if you use a tripod or have strong hold on your phone, just the act of touching the shutter button on the screen can move it. A couple alternate methods of releasing the camera shutter is using the volume buttons on the phone or the volume buttons on the iPhone headphones.
6. SET FOCUS AND EXPOSURE
This feature changed my iPhone photography experience completely. *You can set the focus on your picture by tapping on the object you want to focus on. If you hold for a few seconds the focus will "lock" and you will see "AE/AF LOCK" highlighted on the top. Try changing the focus from a close object, then a far object. It can make a BIG difference. To release the AE/AF LOCK, tap outside the focus area.
Once you have the focus set, you can *lighten or darken the picture by moving the slider on the right up and down.
7. HDR
HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. It means that your camera will capture greater detail from bright and dark areas in your photo. It works good for outdoor and landscape scenes. It doesn't work so good with moving objects.
*I leave HDR off. I am still working with this feature to make sure I know when to use it.
8. LIVE Feature
The LIVE feature drives me crazy. Actually I find it kinda creepy to take a picture and when I view it, it moves! So I turn this feature OFF.
Now that I said I don't like it, I will admit that it has some fun features. *You can make a LIVE picture bounce, loop and combine all the pictures into a long exposure. You get to these special features by swiping up on a LIVE photo. You can use a LIVE photo as your phones wallpaper...hold down your finger to animate it.
AND FINALLY...
*EDITING. Lots of pictures can be improved with editing...either by making corrections or enhancing the photo.
You can do some basic edits using the iPhone Photo app. You can rotate, crop, alter saturation, contrast and convert to a black and white photo. There is a lot of power already available on your phone.
If you want to bump up your skills, you can download and play with apps. The free app, Snapseed, does everything I need for now.
Here are some examples of editing. In the first example, I used the iPhone editor to crop the picture and convert to black and white. I also altered the brilliance, exposure, shadows and contrast.
In the second picture, I used Snapseed to crop, straighten, change the exposure, etc. I also added a "vintage" effect where the photo is darker around the borders.
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