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How to Snap More Impressive Photos on an iPhone
Nowadays there is no doubt that iPhone’s make for great cameras, especially in the right hands. If it is in your hands you need to know how to take advantage of the quality of the camera and its capability to snap truly impressive photos.
Although there is no substitute for skill and experience, you can start to acquire both while capturing more impressive photos at the same time by following a few simple steps:
- Keep the camera still
When you snap photos you should try to keep your iPhone still. That is why as a rule you should hold it with both hands, and keep it close to you so that you can support your arms on your sides.
Unfortunately that isn’t always going to cut it, and you will have a far easier time keeping the camera still if you use a tripod or some other type of stand. Additionally it may help to use an external shutter to avoid camera movement when you tap your screen, or you could use an Apple Watch if you own one.
- Set the focus and exposure
By default your iPhone will try to decide what to focus on and adjust its exposure automatically. That isn’t always going to be ideal, especially in tricky lighting conditions.
The good news is that it is easy to manually set both the focus and exposure. All you need to do is tap on the subject that you want to focus on so that a square appears around it. Beside the square there’ll be a ‘sunburst’ icon that you can drag up or down to adjust the exposure.
- Use HDR in the right situations
The HDR mode on your iPhone can be incredibly useful to handle tricky lighting conditions. It will take 3 photos at different exposure levels and blend them together, to reveal details that may not be present otherwise.
By default the HDR mode is set to Auto, and your iPhone will decide if and when it wants to use it. However you should try switching it on yourself if you feel your photos would benefit from it.
- Turn on the grid
It may seem very low-tech, but turning on the grid can actually help you to capture far more impressive photos. It can be found under the Photos & Camera section in Settings and will overlay a 3×3 grid over your frame.
That grid can help you to apply the rule of thirds to improve your composition dramatically. On top of that you can use it to ensure your photos are level, balance them, or capture symmetry more effectively.
After you’re done you should try to make sure you have a Mac photo editor handy so you can make final touches to your photos. In many cases you may not need to make any big alterations, but a few small adjustments could really help to bring out the best in your photos.
With a bit of practice you should be able to start snapping truly impressive photos using your iPhone – now that you know where to start.
