Take Photos like a BA: IPhone Photo/video Hacks!
- Brooke Adams
- May 29, 2020
- 4 min read
Believe it or not, you don’t need a fancy camera to spice up your photography skills. Sometimes all you need to do is to educate yourself on the latest iPhone camera hacks. Check out these tips and tricks to navigate your way to taking outstanding content from just your iPhone camera!
1. ae/af lock
One of my favorite features of the iPhone camera is how easy it is to change the exposure of the photo. Exposure can make or break a good photo because it makes the editing process much easier and you can change it depending on what mood you're going for.
You can access this command by tapping once on the screen where you want to focus your exposure. A yellow box should pop up where you should then be able to slide the sun icon either up or down depending on your exposure preference. This is great for when your taking photos in direct sunlight as it should automatically adjust the focus/exposure to the area that you tapped.
The best part about the exposure slider is that you can lock it into place. I find that as soon as I move my camera around, the exposure readjusts. This can be problematic when you want to keep your exposure focus on a specific item. Therefore, to get the best use of this feature, you should hold down on the object you want to focus until the yellow box clicks into place. This tells the iPhone to keep it's focus and you can adjust the exposure from there. Play around with this feature to get the perfect shot!
2. Video Settings
I take A LOT of videos on my iPhone, and the most asked question I get is "how do you get it to look so clear?!" This setting has been my secret weapon for a while now, and I honestly swear by it. Most iPhone video settings come at a lower resolution than they can actually record at. You have to manually change it in your settings if you want any different look. My video settings is selected on the 4K 60fps, which is the highest resolution for my iPhone. This selection creates the smoothest video experience and crisps the whole frame. You will notice a difference in the camera's video quality instantly. Be mindful, however, this setting does take up the most storage, but it should not be an issue for those of you with large storage capacities.
3. Snapshot feature
This hack occurred to me when my family went to see the Blue Angels fly over our local hospital. My parents were discussing whether they were going to take photos or videos of the planes because they thought obviously that they couldn't do both. Much to their surprise, I showed them the feature that allows them to do both at one time. All you need to do is start video recording, and then when you see a moment you want to capture, you just have to click the white circle at the bottom corner of the screen to take a photo. This will save you more often than you think!!
4. Self Timer Clicker
My favorite way to take Instagram photos is on self timer, but I couldn't do it without a little help. This self timer clicker is a life saver. This little gadget syncs to the Bluetooth on your iPhone, and all you have to do is launch your camera app. Once you press the button on the clicker, the camera will snap the photo for you. the best part is that you can find one for only about $10 on Amazon!! Super easy way to take self portraits or group selfies.
5. live photos
Many of you are aware of the live photo feature, but I SWEAR by it! This feature is so handy because it creates more options for you in post.
If you slide up on a live photo in the Photos app, your iPhone will give you three options: loop, bounce, long exposure. The loop option will blur the beginning and end of your live video together, the bounce feature creates a boomerang effect on the photo, and the long exposure is helpful when you want to blur the sequence together. All of these options are super fun to spice up your photo taking skills and will give you some cute candids!
6. Pay attention to lighting
This should go without saying, but you always want the subject of the photo to be facing the light! If you place the subject in front of the light source, you will end up with a very back-lit photo and can be very tricky to fix in post.
Also, you want to avoid any dramatic shadows on the subject. Shadows can occur when you have an uneven light source on the subject (e.g. the sun or bright lamp). Instead, the best photos are taken in the shade or a evenly lit area to ensure that your subjects face is shown without shadows.
7. Head space
Left = with head space, Right = without head space
This one is more a pet peeve than a hack! Whenever I ask someone to take a photo of me and my friend, there tends to be a lot of blank space in the photo especially at the top of the frame. A lot of people think it is best to center the heads of the subject in the frame, but most of the time, this is not the case. It looks more professional to have the subject fill the frame especially in a group photo because this focuses the attention of the viewers. It also allows more space for the subject's outfit/full body.
Thanks for following along & I hope these iPhone photo/video hacks were helpful! Give them a try for yourself!
With love, BA♡
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