Tips and Tricks for Great Phone Photos!
Today’s post is all about picturesssss!! Questions I get asked a lot are… what phone I have to take photos, what camera and lens I use and how I edit… I’m going to just touch on the basics of what I use and what has worked well for me. I plan to do a more in depth post on the editing process one day soon.
Let’s start with iPhone photos because I feel like everyone can take and edit a good iPhone photo with a little practice! I use an iPhone XS Max, but have ranged from the iPhone 4 to 8+ for pics on my instagram, facebook, and blog. I am partial to iPhone but there are many other phones that take great pictures with the right tweaking.
MY TIPS FOR GETTING PHOTOS YOU’LL LOVE
Find good lighting. I like to natural lighting as opposed to artificial/ indoor lighting. So, when inside try to open windows to create lighting rather than turning on extra lights. Also, when outside- I prefer to shoot in the shade and then brighten up when editing rather than shooting in direct sunlight and trying to edit out the harshness of the sun.
Tap the Photo to Focus. When in the camera app in phone, tap the screen to focus on the subject. I try to get whoever is taking the picture to tap to focus on my face or body. You can also use portrait mode but make extra effort to tap to focus when using this feature. I prefer regular photo mode with my pictures unless I’m taking a close up/ portrait.
Take a Ton of Photos. You can never have to many. If your kids are doing something cute, just start taking tons of pictures. Click away as they are playing, etc… you are bound to get one cute pic out of 100.
Self Timer/ Apple Watch/ Video. Depending on what you have, you can set up an area and forget it’s there while it does all the work. I do this in multiple ways. The easiest is to prop your phone up on something and start a video. Play with your kiddos, tickle them, read them a book, etc… then, go back and watch the video and pause a screen shot times that you like. You can also do this similar trick by using an apple watch as a remote and snapping pictures or setting the self timer- you just have to focus a little more on taking the actual pics doing it this way.
Lightroom is my go to app (and it’s free). I use my delightfully dale presets with minor tweaking to the exposure and sharpness depending on the photo. If you’re not familiar with presets, they are a set of preselected settings that you can import into Lightroom so that all you have to do is add your photo to the app and then select the preset you want and the preset will automatically make all the adjustments for you. There are many places that sell presets according to the look you want to achieve. After searching for a long time and not finding exactly what I wanted, I decided to create my own. If you like the style of my presets (seen in my photos here) click the preset photos at the bottom of the blog to purchase. Once you purchase, a link will be sent to you with easy download instructions that can be done straight from your phone. :)
On the majority of my pictures, I up the exposure and the sharpness a little no matter what- BUT my favorite preset is the Ezra for every day bright and crisp photos and the exposure and sharpness is already adjusted so I don’t typically have to do much after applying it.
For warmer photos with a little more mood- the Ezekiel preset is great!
One thing I tend to do- is adjust the warmth meter under colors according to the season. During the summer, I like warmer photos so I may bring up the warmth a little. During the winter, I like cooler photos, so I may bring down the warmth a little. This is totally up to you and your personal preference. After tweaking a little, you will find what you like!
This app can be used to remove stains (two boys over here) and other basic touch ups. Most people feel it is a little easier to operate than Lightroom.
That’s pretty much the basics of how I capture and edit my photos using my phone. I hope to do a post about how I shoot with my Canon 6D, my favorite lenses and a little more about my editing process soon. If you have any questions or tips and tricks that have worked for you, please comment! I love talking all things pics!
