iPhone Photo Tips
This spring my web developer, Tanya, told me I needed an iPhone.
I protested.
She insisted.
In this month’s Exposed! we look at ways to improve your iPhone photos…
Photo Tip – Always have your iPhone ready and anticipate their next move…
Tanya insisted I get an iPhone to aid instant uploads for marketing through Facebook, Twitter, etc.
I was trapped in the slow quality of an SLR.
Slow? Yes.
I am used to the process of carefully creating a fine photograph, download, process, archive and then present the photos. That takes time (and makes the best photos.)
I wasn’t taking many photos for social media because the SLR process is so consuming. Our Photo Tips site lacked photos!
Photo Tip – Lend your iPhone to little people and learn from their perspectives.
So I grudgingly bought an iPhone. I wasn’t happy. It was something new to learn and I’ve never been a quick/easy learner (I am convinced that helped me be a good teacher – I know how hard it is to learn so I found easy ways to explain complex ideas.)
I bought the phone but needed a steep learning curve to propel me towards better iPhone photos. I took one of our own courses – Smartphone Photography with Blair Gable.
After the photo class I started shooting and enjoying the instant gratification of “shoot and share.”
Here are a few tips I’ve learned since buying the iPhone. This is also your homework!:
• Touch the screen where you want to expose.
This makes the iPhone useable as a camera in my mind. All cameras aim to make photos mid-tone grey – and if you are taking pictures of subjects that are predominantly white the camera will make the whites grey. In a scene with many brights and darks touch the midtown areas (blue sky, road surface, wood floors) and your picture has a better chance of coming out well exposed.
Photo Tip – Make your whites white by touching the blue sky to expose well.
• Don’t use the flash.
Just don’t.
It’s anemic (underpowered.)
And harsh.
Yuck.
• Avoid low light situations with the iPhone.
In low light the iso is pumped up high and that means big, grainy chunks of sand will texture your photo.
• Explore the world of social media.
Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and others offer fun photo communities to share and make friends.
• Take a photo course! (This is my ProPerspective!)
I was frustrated with my iPhone when I bought it.
The pictures I took were crappy. I wasn’t impressed – especially after being used to the complex control I had with my regular cameras.
Photo Tip – Learn about the colour wheel and how ‘opposite colours’ can help your pictures be better!
Taking a course with an expert like Blair Gable hurled my iPhone photo experiences into fun, smiles and better photos. All I needed was some direction and support. Easy!
… So I embraced the instant gratification of the iPhone. It’s helped our new site PrimePhotoTips and I also find I am taking more pictures of our family!
Thanks Tanya and Blair.
Explore the iPhone.
Get some help (Blair is offering On-Location Lighting this fall)
Make photos.
Have fun!