How to take beautiful photos with your iphone
Gloucester Newborn, Children and Family Photographer
Many times, the best camera you can use is the one you have with you. In a lot of cases that may be your phone! Join me in this blog to discover how you can learn to use your camera phone to create beautiful images and capture life's special moments.
As an iPhone user, I will be mainly providing some great tips for making the most of your iPhone photography, but most of these principles can be applied to any camera phone.
1) Use the iPhone camera shortcut
This is particularly useful when you need to get that quick snap of your running toddler or when you need speed on your side. To do this simply swipe up on the iPhone camera shortcut from the lock screen and you will be able to take a photo with no significant delay. You can also swipe up from the bottom of the screen to launch the control center, then tapping on the camera button. Another good hack is to press firmly (3D Touch) to go right to selfies, video, or slow-mo. (iPhone 6s or later.)
2. Shoot in Square mode
Choosing and shooting in square mode converts better for social media sharing, specially if you like to share your photos in Instagram. Shooting square means that you are going to simplify your composition and eliminate any superfluous elements in your images, so that you’re just left with the important stuff.
Shooting in square mode
In the square format you can forget the rule-of-thirds altogether. It depends on what you’re photographing, but placing the subject in the centre of a square frame, or close to the edge, often works surprisingly well. Other elements that become more prominent in the square format are shapes, textures, lines and negative space . Look for shapes – such as circles, triangles, and squares when composing your subject. Leading lines also become stronger as they pull the viewer’s eye through the frame. Lets have a look at some examples of some iPhone images taken by my talented photographer friend Karen Kimmins of Karen Kimmins Newborn Photography
Image Taken by Karen Kimmins
Image taken by Karen Kimmins
Karen carefully makes uses of lines, shapes, forms, textures and patterns to draw the viewer's eye into the focal point of the photo, creating an enticing composition.
Image taken by Karen Kimmins
3. Change your perspective, think outside the box.
Do you want to transform your iPhone photos from ordinary to extraordinary? One way to accomplish this is to change your perspective or choose a different vantage point when you compose a picture. This is about thinking outside the box and composing beyond a "look at me and say cheese" type of thing. Here are some great tips:
a) Stay away from the standard practice of shooting from eye level, get up, down and change your angle. Creative photography it is all about the angles, have fun experimenting.
b) Shoot from a low angle, this is probably the most popular alternative to eye-level perspective photography. It can be challenging because you may have to squat, sit, kneel or lie down to capture your image. It’s worth the effort because it provides an out-of-the-ordinary look at your subject and the results can be stunning. Lets have a look at an iPhone image taken by my lovely photographer friend Sara Brown from Rocking Horse Photography
Image taken by Sara Brown from Rocking Horse Photography
Sara's low angle gives this image a strong depth and a tridimensional effect. Her use of the foreground, mid-ground and background leads you (the viewer) to invite yourself into the frame. You see what she sees. You enter the frame by looking at the things closest to you, and then you slowly make your way into the mid-ground, and then slowly out into the background. When shooting your kids, family or friends, try to get subjects in your foreground, mid-ground, and background. Be patient and wait until all the elements come together, and think of how your photographs can lead viewers into your photograph, and then out of them.
c) Try positioning your subject in the foreground with the background out of focus. This will give a beautiful depth of field. I often use this technique in my Gloucester home studio to separate the subject from the background.
Image taken by Elisabeth Franco Photography
4. Shoot backlit portraits, use silhouettes.
Silhouettes look great and add a special feel to the photo, and they also emphasize form and composition while reducing the distraction of detail. The one factor to keep in mind is light. To create a silhouette you must be shooting against the light. Here you can find a beautiful example of a perfect silhouette created by my talented photographer friend Aliana Cassimiro Bruce from Aliana Bruce Photography. Aliana is not only an amazing newborn photographer but her outdoor photography skills are breathtaking. She has a truly gift in photographing families outdoors.
Image taken by Aliana Cassimiro Bruce
This is another example of backlit photography using an iPhone 4. This image was taken in December, around 5 pm, in Barcelona. The sun flare and silhoutte of the football together with the movement of the subject add a special vibe. Experiment with shadows, light, architecture and movement to obtain extraordinary shoots using your camera phone.
Image taken by Elisabeth Franco Photography using an old iphone 4
5. Shoot at different times of the day. Experiment with different light conditions
This photo was taken in Gloucester using an iphone 6 around 9am, it was a frosty morning on my way to work
Gloucester Park, image taken by Elisabeth Franco Photography
6. Use negative space to create a dramatic composition
Put simply, negative space is the area which surrounds the main subject in your photo (the main subject is known as the "positive space"). ... When used properly, negative space provides a natural balance against the positive space in a scene.
Image taken by Elisabeth Franco Photography, newborn, children's photographer based in Gloucester
Image taken by Elisabeth Franco Photography. Gloucester Photographer
7. Use leading lines to create dramatic compositions
A great way to capture attention and draw viewers into your image is through the use of leading lines. This fantastic tool can be used to direct the focus of your viewers and showcase the subject of your image.
In this image by Christopher J, outdoor family photographer in Gloucester, Christopher adopts the use of converging leading lines to draw the viewer into the heart of the image. Notice how the stone wall and the long grass run almost in mirror image to one another, drawing you up and into the photo.
Whether it’s the hand-rail of a staircase leading us up towards the person in your photo, or the road leading into the distance that meets the mountain range, learning to look for leading lines in your own photography will give you a key compositional tool and elevate the impact of your photos.”
Image taken by http://www.christopherjphotography.co.uk/
And my final tip:
Shoot with a purpose, don't just snap away. Prepare your shoot in your mind to shoot like a pro!
For more information about the services I offer send me an email elisabethfrancophotography@gmail.com or just feel free to browse through my work www.elisabethfrancophotography.com