7 Tips for Taking Better Photos with Your iPhone

You love taking photos with your phone. You do it all the time. You interrupt tender moments daily to deftly capture them for your beloved Instagram account. But something is amiss. Your photos… you know they could be better. But how? How?!

Here are seven quick and easy tips to improve the photos you take with your iPhone:

1. Pick The Right Shape

Framing is important and doesn’t have to be difficult. If you’re shooting a photo you intend to share on social media with a square frame, you can use the square option so you have a better sense of what it’ll look like. And don’t be afraid to turn your phone sideways for a wider shot!

2. Don’t Flash Anyone Unless You Have To

Using natural light whenever possible is an easy way to improve your photos. You can often lighten things up in editing if it’s a little dark. Of course, if it’s very dark, you may need something, but the built in flash on the iPhone is just not that great in terms of color and range.

You can also adjust exposure in your Camera app by tapping to focus and then pressing on the small sun icon that comes up. The sun should then become a slider you can use to adjust the exposure (exposure = amount of light per unit area allowed in by the camera).

3. Make The Most Of The Camera App

On that note, there are many tools in the built in Camera app you might not know about as well as exposure. You can tap to focus on your subject, add a grid to help you get photos that are well-balanced and aligned with the frame, use HDR and burst features to capture motion, and even add filters if you’re so inclined. Just avoid the digital zoom or your photos may come out grainy. Instead, get closer to your subject or simply crop down when you edit.

4. Turn Up The Volume On Your Photos

This is an easy one! Sometimes angles (and life) make it hard to smoothly push the button on your phone screen without messing up to photo you’re trying to take. Here’s the solution: you can also use the volume up button on the side of your phone to snap a pic.

5. Edit Your Photos With [Better] Apps

Ok, so you’ve mastered the art of the selfie and all the filters Instagram and Camera have to offer. Why not take it up a notch? There are many, many photo editing apps out there, but the best and most popular are probably Snapseed and VSCO. These are two great apps for adding a little extra flair and professionalism to your images. Both are incredibly user friendly and offer above-and-beyond photo editing, but VSCO is probably hipper while Snapseed offers more detailed choices.

They’re both free, so why not try both and see which suits you better?

6. Invest In Some Gear

Another way to up your photo game is to add a little extra swag to your equipment. This doesn’t have to mean breaking the bank: little things like additional lenses, a tripod, and a portable flash will go a long way. Even though improvements are made with each new generation, the iPhone camera itself has never reached the level of a real, good camera. Supplementing your equipment can help you enhance your phone-centric photography.

7. Play By The Rules

No one’s saying you have to spend years learning the art of the photograph, but if you want to improve your photos, the very best thing you can do is know what makes a good photo.

Not in the market for a Photography 101 class? Here’s the quick and dirty version: Pick one subject. Find details and negative space. Play with depth, line and angles. Take candid shots. Hunt for colors, symmetry and pattern. In short, try things out. Don’t be afraid to explore – in subject matter and in form.

Great, you’re an artist now, get out there and make some magic!