09 Aug

IPhone Camera Tips and Tricks That Will Improve Your Photographs

Our phones are constantly evolving and their features vastly improving. DSLR and Film cameras have, historically, been the go to if you wish to capture professional looking photos. It seems that nowadays however camera phones have evolved to a point where they are able to hold their own against the traditional heavy hitters.

In 2021 the IPhone, with a myriad of features, is able to capture sharp, sleek and professional looking photos. In the following article we are going to run through a number of new and established IPhone camera features. We hope by the end you will be able to explore some of the features mentioned in more depth to really up your photography skills.

HDR Mode. You May Have Seen It, But What Is It?

Unlike some of the features we are going to dissect HDR mode has been a tool on IPhones for some time. You may have stumbled across it at some point and never questioned what it is or its function. If you have knowledge of this feature you may want to skip ahead…

Taking photos in harsh lighting conditions where objects are exposed differently can be a challenge. This is where HDR mode steps in. HDR mode works by taking three photos simultaneously and combining elements of all three to produce one perfectly exposed photo. It, essentially, applies more shadow and highlights detail. The result is a photograph that is exposed correctly with balanced levels of contrast. This can be especially useful in landscape photography, for example, where natural light amplifies contrast and exposure levels. By enabling HDR you will be able to avoid this and produce a photo that is well balanced and seamless.

Capture In Quick Succession

One cool trick, if you will, with the latest iOS is the reduced firing time. It may be worth highlighting that there is a separate feature which you can enable which functions very similarly. Burst mode allows you to hold down the shutter button and take multiple photos in quick succession. What we were referring to, however, is the time it takes to shoot and process a single photo. On older IPhone models it would take considerably longer to capture your subject or landscape. On newer IPhone models we have seen a pleasant reduction in the time your phone takes the process and capture a photo. Both this feature and Burst mode are useful if you are trying to capture a moment quickly or discreetly.

We Have Finally Lost The Inverted Selfie

Admittedly, this feature will not exactly add to your photos or improve your photography skills. It is, however, a cool feature that we thought was noteworthy. The emergence of iOS 14 has brought with it a number of useful features and tricks. One of them is now having the ability to enable mirror front camera. Traditionally your IPhone would invert your selfies. Contrary to popular belief the phone is actually flipping your photo to be shown as you are seen. What we have when we look at our phone is a mirror image and the phone has always corrected this. Enabling mirror front camera allows us to capture and keep that mirror image photo. This allows your selfies to be truer to form, as you have seen them, and negates the use of external apps to invert your photos. A very useful feature indeed!

Get To Know: Portrait Mode

Portrait Mode is a relatively new feature which is flying the flag for camera phone innovation. If you own an IPhone model that is between the 7 plus and the 12 then you may have already got accustomed to Portrait Mode. This is a feature which mimics what an expensive lens on a DSLR or film camera is able to achieve. The essential focus and purpose of Portrait Mode is to provide a shallow depth of field whilst accentuating your subject. In Layman’s terms Portrait Mode blurs the background of your photos whilst keeping your subject sharp and in focus. As the name suggests this is a fantastic feature if you are using your IPhone to capture stunning portraits.

There are a number of different settings with Portrait Mode which you can freely explore to achieve the photo you desire. There are different variations. For example, Natural does little to the image whilst the Studio setting brightens the subject’s face. If you are looking to achieve a more dramatic look Stage Bright removes the background in your image and swaps it for a black one. You are also able to adjust the F-Stop which dictates how blurry the background is. f/.1.4 will maximise the focus on your subject whilst f/.16, for example, will bring more of the background into focus.

Portrait Mode is a fantastic feature and useful for those looking to capture sharper, more professional looking portrait shots with their phone.

Shooting At Night Made Easy

Shooting sharp and balanced photos at night is no small feat. It can be a challenge even when using a high end, multi functional DSLR. This makes capturing photos at night on a phone even more difficult. Thankfully, Apple has started to address the issue of night photography and the inevitable loss of quality. This next segment will, however, only apply if you are a user who owns an 11 or 12 model. Night Mode helps to improve the quality of your photos in low light settings. One cool feature that is included in iOS14 is that the phone prompts to balance your shot in the frame by use of a set of crosshairs. This helps to reduce motion and improve the shot. If you are one of the fortunate users that is able to make use of Night Mode we recommend exploring its functionality for higher quality, better balanced shots in settings with reduced light.

Let us know if you use any of our tips by tagging us on Instagram or Twitter using #framesexpress

Looking for some more photography tips? We have some right here on our blog.

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