The Basics of iPhone Photography: How to Make your Snapshots Look Tasteful

With more and more individuals using smartphones as their camera nowadays, I thought it’d be a good idea to give a few tips on how to make each one look really great. While many folks just point and shoot, there are several functions that can be strategically used to make your camera phone seem more professional. I’ve listed some of the ways I take my images from mediocre to magical.
Lighting is Everything
Landscape Images

Before Sunrise

After Sunrise 

The ideal time to take a landscape image is in the early morning just after sunrise or just before sunset, where you'll get natural, steady light. You can see the difference just a half hour can make in the landscape photos above. Additionally, when you're taking horizon images, take advantage of the gridlines that appear on your camera phone to make your horizon straight. Horizons that are off-balance are distracting and obvious to viewers, taking away from the beauty of the image.

This image is an example of what not to do: notice the imbalance?

Portrait Images
Without proper lighting in a photo, chances are you could get lots of dark spots or bizarre shadows. If you're taking a portrait image, the ideal place to take it is outdoors in the early morning or late afternoon. If the sun is too high, your subject will be squinting because it's too bright, so it's best to take it when the sun just barely over the horizon. And if you think you only need to use flash in low light, think again: flash is helpful in making sure that subjects are evenly lit, just as long as they're only a few feet away. Any farther and you can skip it.

No flash, indirect sun

Direct sun and flash - not totally necessary for both, but can help enhance the photo

Focus, Focus, Focus

One thing that always makes a picture worse is blurring. When your main subject is even the slightest bit blurry, your eyes automatically take notice. Next time you’re taking a smartphone photo, simply tap on your subject and wait for it to come fully into focus, so you won’t have to worry about missing a once-in-a-lifetime shot.

Exposure

When taking smartphone pictures, you want to make sure your subjects are neither too bright or too dark. Normally, auto-exposure works fine, but when your subject is backlit or if there's a dark background, you'll want to expose it properly. To adjust it, just tap on your subject and slide the little sun up or down to change the exposure of your subject. Once the light looks well-balanced, you’re ready to take the picture!

If you’re looking to get real professional photos done, I’m happy to help. Plus, if you mention this blog post I’ll give you 10% of your purchase. Call me at 713.723.5535 or email me at mark@markkatz.net.