Tips for Taking Better Photos With Your iPhone

[MacRumors]

There's an adage that says the best camera is the one you have with you, and for most MacRumors readers, that's an iPhone. On popular photography site Flickr, the iPhone has long been the most popular camera, responsible for a significant portion of the photos uploaded to the site.

Apple has fully embraced the iPhone's position as a serious photography device, and over the years, the camera has steadily improved, but getting a great picture is about more than just the camera it's shot with -- factors like lighting and positioning can have a huge impact on the outcome.

With that in mind, our videographer, Mattdgonzalez, has created a basic introduction video on how to take better photos using your iPhone and the stock camera app.

Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.​

Following the rule of thirds and working with the ambient light around you are two of the most important factors when it comes to good photography, but there are a few built-in iPhone tools that can help you get the perfect shot, like tap to focus, exposure control, and HDR.

There are two iPhone tools you'll want to use sparingly or not at all -- digital zoom and flash. Digital zoom is just going to make your photos look grainy, and it's rare photos using the flash will look halfway decent. Simple tips like additional light sources or moving closer to your subject instead of zooming digitally can make a world of difference when it comes to quality.

Matt's also been producing our iOS Beta walkthroughs and regularly publishing videos on our YouTube channel which don't all make their way to the main site. Other recent videos include:

- How to Create an "Unread" Folder in the iOS Mail App
- Avoid Read Receipts in Messages with 3D Touch
- What happens when you block someone on your iPhone?
- 5 Cool Things to do with 3D Touch!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to be automatically notified of future videos.

Article Link: Tips for Taking Better Photos With Your iPhone

 

[zorinlynx]

Digital zoom is a big one. It is absolutely identical to cropping. Avoid zoom and just crop; the result looks better (no upscaling) and you can change your mind later!

 

[firewood]

The tip that I've found makes the biggest difference is to brace your iPhone against a hard non-movable object (tree trunk, lamp post, doorway, window sill, table, chair, etc.) With such a tiny lens, the slower shutter speed can allow far more than 1 pixel of blur. And a hand-held camera seems to autofocus slower as well.

 

[MacGod]

Digital Zoom on anything is half-baked at best. Love the camera on the iPhone 6S Plus - can't wait for the 7 dualies (if it really will be in the 7)

 

[ghost187]

How to take better photos with your phone:
STEP 1: Upgrade your phone.
STEP 2: Wait a year, than goto STEP 1.

 

[DrumApple]

Here's a tip: buy a DSLR if you want good photos.

 

[macduke]

Solid tips for those starting out and don't have basic knowledge of how to take a decent photo. But I wish the video had touched on burst mode. I'm always amazed how many people don't realize they can hold down the button to take like 10fps and then pick the best one from the stack and easily discard the rest. It's a great way to get a good action shot of your kid or dog running around, and in low-light it enables you to pick out the one with the least hand-held blur.

In addition to the benefits in the article for HDR, I like it because the stacking sometimes creates a sharper image than the original, due to small movements that might happen in the first photo that are mitigated in subsequent exposures. I often notice this when taking photos of my squirmy, blinky toddler. But you need to be careful of fast motion with HDR. Sometimes it leaves weird artifacts in the image. The easiest way to reproduce this is using HDR to take a photo of fire.

As a side note, at some point over the years Apple removed the capability to leave HDR on by default. I always find I have to tap it to reactivate it. Does anyone know a way around this? I almost always want it on as I keep both shots and then pick the best later.

 

[Lesser Evets]

Good tips, but very basic.

As for zoom on these cameras: they are the only major flaw. The moment the zoom problem is solved, Apple cameras will be incredible. Imagine all those bigfoot films finally having no excuse for pixelization! UFOs crisp and clear.... Mother Mary portraits moving in HD.... nudists perfectly portrayed.

 

[Cronowerx]

There's an adage that says the best camera is the one you have with you, and for most MacRumors readers, that's an iPhone. On popular photography site Flickr, the iPhone has long been the most popular camera, responsible for a significant portion of the photos uploaded to the site.

Apple has fully embraced the iPhone's position as a serious photography device, and over the years, the camera has steadily improved, but getting a great picture is about more than just the camera it's shot with -- factors like lighting and positioning can have a huge impact on the outcome.

With that in mind, our videographer, Mattdgonzalez, has created a basic introduction video on how to take better photos using your iPhone and the stock camera app.

Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.​

Following the rule of thirds and working with the ambient light around you are two of the most important factors when it comes to good photography, but there are a few built-in iPhone tools that can help you get the perfect shot, like tap to focus, exposure control, and HDR.

There are two iPhone tools you'll want to use sparingly or not at all -- digital zoom and flash. Digital zoom is just going to make your photos look grainy, and it's rare photos using the flash will look halfway decent. Simple tips like additional light sources or moving closer to your subject instead of zooming digitally can make a world of difference when it comes to quality.

Matt's also been producing our iOS Beta walkthroughs and regularly publishing videos on our YouTube channel which don't all make their way to the main site. Other recent videos include:

- How to Create an "Unread" Folder in the iOS Mail App
- Avoid Read Receipts in Messages with 3D Touch
- What happens when you block someone on your iPhone?
- 5 Cool Things to do with 3D Touch!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to be automatically notified of future videos.

Article Link: Tips for Taking Better Photos With Your iPhone

SOMEONE GET THIS TO TIM COOK ASAP BEFORE HE POSTS ANY MORE RUBBISH PICS

 

[macduke]

Here's a tip: buy a DSLR if you want good photos.

Here's a tip: Not everyone knows how to handle a dSLR, nor the time to take to learn it, nor the capability to buy a $600+ device in addition to their expensive phone, nor the want (or extra attention) of carrying a bulky device around their neck everywhere they go.

Source: I'm sitting here at work with my 5D MkIII 24-70mm f/2.8L. I'm also considering a move to mirrorless to minimize size and weight. I know other pros who have already made the switch. For instance the Sony A7rII is a beast. If you can't get people like us to still use dSLRs, then there is no hope for regular consumers. dSLRs are still useful (mostly for sports), but they're in decline.

 

[69Mustang]

Here's a tip: buy a DSLR if you want good photos.

/takes DrumApple's advice
/buys DSLR

/takes pictures with iPhone
/realizes DSLR purchase didn't help me take better pictures with iPhone

/hunts down DrumApple


OT: These are good tips for taking pics with any smartphone. More of us need to use them.

 

[winston1236]

That digital 'zoom' tip times a million, it's not a zoom it's just scaling the image up.

 

[zorinlynx]

Solid tips for those starting out and don't have basic knowledge of how to take a decent photo. But I wish the video had touched on burst mode. I'm always amazed how many people don't realize they can hold down the button to take like 10fps and then pick the best one from the stack and easily discard the rest. It's a great way to get a good action shot of your kid or dog running around, and in low-light it enables you to pick out the one with the least hand-held blur.

I wish there a way to tell the phone to NOT upload the ENTIRE BURST to my iCloud Photo Library. I recently took a burst of 226 photos and kept only one. Even after telling it to discard the rest it proceeded to also upload the 225 unwanted photos, which of course wasted bandwidth and battery life and took eons.

Has anyone found a way to keep this from happening?

 

[DUCKofD3ATH]

There's an adage that says the best camera is the one you have with you, and for most MacRumors readers, that's an iPhone. On popular photography site Flickr, the iPhone has long been the most popular camera, responsible for a significant portion of the photos uploaded to the site.

Apple has fully embraced the iPhone's position as a serious photography device, and over the years, the camera has steadily improved, but getting a great picture is about more than just the camera it's shot with -- factors like lighting and positioning can have a huge impact on the outcome.

With that in mind, our videographer, Mattdgonzalez, has created a basic introduction video on how to take better photos using your iPhone and the stock camera app.

Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.​

Following the rule of thirds and working with the ambient light around you are two of the most important factors when it comes to good photography, but there are a few built-in iPhone tools that can help you get the perfect shot, like tap to focus, exposure control, and HDR.

There are two iPhone tools you'll want to use sparingly or not at all -- digital zoom and flash. Digital zoom is just going to make your photos look grainy, and it's rare photos using the flash will look halfway decent. Simple tips like additional light sources or moving closer to your subject instead of zooming digitally can make a world of difference when it comes to quality.

Matt's also been producing our iOS Beta walkthroughs and regularly publishing videos on our YouTube channel which don't all make their way to the main site. Other recent videos include:

- How to Create an "Unread" Folder in the iOS Mail App
- Avoid Read Receipts in Messages with 3D Touch
- What happens when you block someone on your iPhone?
- 5 Cool Things to do with 3D Touch!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to be automatically notified of future videos.

Article Link: Tips for Taking Better Photos With Your iPhone

#1 Tip: When taking a selfie, remember to jump out of the way of the oncoming train.

 

[stu.h]

Tip for getting the FBI into someones phone without permission;

Ask U2.

 

[things]

/takes DrumApple's advice
/buys DSLR

/takes pictures with iPhone
/realizes DSLR purchase didn't help me take better pictures with iPhone

/hunts down DrumApple


OT: These are good tips for taking pics with any smartphone. More of us need to use them.

ah, what he should've said was...

put film in your old m6, use iphone to press shutter button

 

[sentiblue]

Thanks! This is a great tip!

I've always been bad at taking photos... now I know something of such value, my daughter will start having much better pix when she grows up.

 

[grblade]

The biggest mistake I see in photos is when taking pictures of other people, they put their heads right in the center of the frame. This sometimes cuts their feet off and shows a lot of uninteresting ceiling. You should use the rule of thirds to put people's eyes on the top grid line.

 

[JohnApples]

A very good guide for beginners who don't know much about photography. Hopefully the dual-lens rumor for the 7 is true, and we get optical zoom. Then Apple can eliminate digital zooming entirely from the Camera app.

 

[1Zach1]

Here's a tip: Not everyone knows how to handle a dSLR, nor the time to take to learn it, nor the capability to buy a $600+ device in addition to their expensive phone, nor the want (or extra attention) of carrying a bulky device around their neck everywhere they go.

Source: I'm sitting here at work with my 5D MkIII 24-70mm f/2.8L. I'm also considering a move to mirrorless to minimize size and weight. I know other pros who have already made the switch. For instance the Sony A7rII is a beast. If you can't get people like us to still use dSLRs, then there is no hope for regular consumers. dSLRs are still useful (mostly for sports), but they're in decline.

I shoot with a 1Dx and 7DII. I picked up a second hand EOS M and love it. I really hope Canon pushes the M4 to be a small, high quality mirrorless camera with the 80Ds sensor and AF.

 

[Popeye206]

I use the rule of 1/6's so my photos are twice as good as others!

Good tips.... one of them I did not know about.

 

[jdillings]

One word: landscape

 

[AirdanMR]

I don't understand why Apple doesn't give us a real camera APP with real camera controls...

 

[\-V-/]

Here's a tip: buy a DSLR if you want good photos.

Buying a DSLR will help you take better photos with your iPhone? Neat!

 

[NeuralControl]

Nice job, MacRumors. Those were simple and straightforward tips that, unfortunately, many users don't know.